MouseVentures

My work:

During the development of MouseVentures, I took on the role of lead game designer. The journey began with sketches and brainstorming sessions aimed at developing ideas for the main character, environment, core mechanics, and puzzles.

In the early stages, I focused on designing what would eventually become the game's puzzles. Most of these were initially hand-drawn and later translated into Unreal Engine, using temporary assets to approximate the final vision.

My first major task, once the ideas were solidified and we had a clear picture of the game's style, was designing the first level in collaboration with the artist responsible for its visual development. I created a diagram outlining the key moments of the game, such as a major puzzle, interaction with the main character, or the introduction of a new mechanic. Using this as a foundation, we began conceptualizing the game's various divisions and rooms, ultimately arriving at the desert-themed temple featured in the final design.

While the art team worked on the level, I shifted my focus to the main character. My next significant task was creating a player states diagram, which would guide the artist in animating the player and help the programmer implement these stages and transitions. This was a new challenge for me, but despite the learning curve, I produced a diagram that was successfully used during development.

Throughout this process, the Game Design Document (GDD) evolved. One of my ongoing responsibilities was keeping the GDD up to date, ensuring it reflected any changes in the game's design.

As the Christmas season approached, we neared the end of the first phase of development. By this point, the desert level and hub were nearly complete. Over the holidays, my task was to begin designing the puzzles for the second book so that we could dive into work as soon as the team returned from break.

Once everyone returned, we divided the team into two groups. One focused on polishing what was already done, fixing bugs, and preparing the game for a playtesting day we had scheduled for a month later. I was part of the second group, tasked with getting a playable version of the first book ready for the same deadline by integrating the magnetism mechanic and the puzzles I had designed. This process was challenging, as the puzzles I had created were not as compatible with the magnetism mechanic as we had initially thought, and we struggled to make everything work.

With the levels in development and the puzzles designed, I started working on Unreal, creating the UI system for interacting with objects. This was my first major Unreal task during development. Although I had contributed to class examples and smaller tasks, this was the first large-scale feature I worked on. The UI system consisted of three parts: a detector that identified which object the player was near to display appropriate hints, a text system that changed based on the language and input method (controller or keyboard), and the hint itself, which showed the buttons and actions on-screen. The text system proved particularly challenging due to the numerous checks required to ensure the hints displayed correctly.

Playtesting day arrived, and we postponed the magnetism mechanic for later, focusing on the early parts of the level where the player learned movement and solved push/pull mini-puzzles. This day was a major milestone for the team. We all had a great time watching people play our game and seeing their joy when they completed a puzzle or level. We also gathered valuable feedback that would help polish the game in its final stages.

In the last stages, my primary focus was ensuring all the puzzles—both the magnetism and light puzzles—were perfect. We made significant changes to how the magnetism mechanic worked, and alongside another programmer, I helped redevelop it from scratch. While they handled object interactions, I was responsible for the magnetization and demagnetization system.

Finally, April arrived, and it was time to ship the game. This final month was quite stressful, as we had numerous checks and requirements to meet before publishing the game on Steam. My main responsibility was to ensure that all these requirements were fulfilled, either by assigning fixes and changes to teammates based on their previous work or by handling those adjustments myself.

In the end, we were all proud of what we had achieved. I'm incredibly happy with the game we created, and despite the many challenges and sleepless nights, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire development process.

I also want to take a moment to thank the team. Working alongside such talented and dedicated people was an absolute pleasure, and I couldn't have asked for a better group to bring MouseVentures to life. I will truly miss collaborating with them and look forward to seeing where their skills and creativity take them in the future.