Us, Cat & Sleeping Baby (UCSB) is a 3D fast adventure game where the players will be in the role of two siblings who are taking care of a baby and home. The game is developed for MMI 505 Game Development Pipeline Course.
Watch the video of the game:
The main inspiration for the UCSB is the old co-op NES games. During my childhood, most of the games were developed for the two players playing together on one screen. However, playing a video game is generally a solitary activity nowadays, and I wanted to develop a game where two players can enjoy.
Following games are new generation co-op games:
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It Takes Two (2021)
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Overcooked 2 (2018)
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Don't Starve Together (2016)
Main gameplay elements are decided on this stage. Figure 1 shows the storyboard of the game during this stage. Players are two siblings who try to take care of home and baby until the parents come. They have different duties about the house such as:
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Cat is messing up the house - Players are tidying the house
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Baby has different need status that player needs to satisfy
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Eat
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Sleep
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Toilet
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Figure 1 Storyboard
The game's core mechanics are developed in this stage using simple assets. Figure 2 shows an example screenshot from phase 2.
Figure 2 Phase 2 Screenshot
Players try to provide the following needs of the baby:
• Eat - Prepare a meal and feed the baby
• Diaper Change - Change baby's diaper
If the player does not satisfy the need and the bar reduces to zero, the player fails. If the player does not fail until the timer reaches zero, the player passes the level with the score based on need bars.
This need is shown with a red bar at the top left. To fulfill it player needs to first prepare the meal and serve the baby. The meal consists of the followings:
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Bowl
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Milk
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Ingredient
Figure 3 Providers
The player needs to pick up all three items and use the mixer to create the "Ready Meal" item.
Figure 4 Items at Mixer
Figure 5 Meal at Mixer
This need is shown with a green bar at the top left. To fulfill it player needs to pick up the diaper from the diaper provider and give it to the baby.
Figure 6 Diaper Provider
During this stage, the game is improved based on the feedback from the class and ideas from phase 1. Following improvements has been applied:
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Level design is improved. The level is bigger than phase 2, and the camera angle is adjusted to give a better view to the player.
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Interface improved. UI elements were so small for the screens with high resolutions. Their sizes are increased.
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Interactive objects' assets are changed and shown with different colors.
Figure 7 Screenshot of Final Phase
- Game start & game over screens are added, which shows players'
score (if they win) or how long they resist (if they lost).
Figure 8 Gameover Screen
- Cat is added. The navigation mesh feature is used for the movements
of the cat. During the game cat randomly moves from one closet to
another, and when it touches the closet, an object falls. The player
needs to pick this up, or the baby will wake up.
Figure 9 Navigation Mesh
- Eat and diaper statuses decrease at a fixed rate on fixed time intervals. Feedback from the players is used to fine-tune these rates. After tuning, a new player could pass the level after a few trials. It is good that players cannot pass on their first trial but also not frustrating to pass.
The followings are part of the phase 1 plan; however, they were not implemented in the final stage:
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Currently, all 3D models are free assets from the Unity Asset Store. The original plan was to use handcrafted models.
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Animations are not working correctly.
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The game's main idea is to be a co-op game; however, currently the game is a single-player game. Support for the second player is not added.