Critter Caliber  

Summary  

Critter Caliber is a monster collector bullet hell. The primary mechanic is that each monster has an attack ability and a support ability. After you set what 2 monsters you want to bring with you into level and after upgrading them, you may switch between them using one as a gun and the other as a dash or some other form of utility as you are swarmed by enemies and potential monsters to add to your team. As your monster’s gain experience and grow stronger, more levels with new monsters become available as you explore this new planet.

What I Did

I made the entire profile system, movement, and monster system. I also programmed a skill tree, catching mechanic, item feature, multiple different guns with 25 unique skills. Basically everything that relates to the bullet hell section’s player was what I coded. Alongside this, I worked with my teammates to help create the abilities and paths that each monster could undergo.

What I Learned

This game taught me the necessity of UI in games. Our game faced a lot of issues regarding group morale, effort, and communications which was the primary downfall of this game. One of the main issues this caused was the lack of UI in a game that required a ton of UI whether it be from the skill tree, to the confusion that the main game faced without cooldowns showing or popups for items/exp. This ended with the death of a project that was supposed to be continued for another half of a year. This experience taught me how important a team leader is and how the absence of the leader can end up causing so much harm and disfunction to a project even with very skilled people working on it. Besides from the team issues, I learned a lot about how to make module guns with a profile system that can make for an unique gameplay experience for each player. I also learned how to work well with another person to help their ideas come to life while being balanced and fun. Along with this I also learned a lot from messing with a lot of the movement and bullet system.