hoops&yoyo Coffee Run!
Game Development | UI / UX Design
Role: Game Developer, UI / UX Designer
Client: Hallmark
Platform: Adobe Flash / ActionScript 3.0
Collect all the donuts and get to the coffee before it's all gone! Play levels created by players around the world or take time to create your own!
Project Brief
To promote their hoops&yoyo™ brand, Hallmark wanted to develop an online experience where users could create their own adventure game. Users were provided with a standard game board and a library of built-in objects to customize the game to their liking. Additionally, they could choose the time limit for completing the level and select the background music that would play during gameplay.
Helpers were objects that helped the the player to complete the level.
Traps were objects or NPCs that made completing the level more difficult.
Furniture such as cublicles, planters, and coat racks could be placed as obstacles for both the player and any NPCs that were added to the level.
Users had the ability to save their creation to an online gallery where other players could play and rate the level using the built-in rating system.
Challenges
Z-index. That's what stands out the most when I think about this project. Since Flash (at the time) had no concept of 3D space, I had to get creative with how things were placed on the stage from front to back. As characters moved across the screen during gameplay, it was important to maintain proper z-index sorting so that things showed correctly from a depth perspective.
Testing posted another significant challenge as some of the in-game obstacles really, REALLY slowed you down (I know, that's the point of them, right). I can't tell you how many times I heard hoops&yoyo sing their rendition of Happy Birthday.
Oh yeah... the office phone ringing. I still haven't forgotten what that sounded like.
Conclusion
As for favorite projects I've ever worked on, this one is up there. It had everything - music, voiceover, custom UI, sprite animation. Combine all of those elements with logic to create your own game and play it? Now you're talking! This one was a LOT of fun and the client seemed very pleased when all was said and done.
Note: This work was completed during my employment with Blit, Inc.
