State shift is a 2d sci-fi puzzle game where the player is a test subject trapped in a science facility. To escape, players must use the four major states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Examples of their uses include: Liquids flowing through pipes, solids weighing down pressure plates, gasses floating through vents, and plasmas powering generators. Combining these will let the player traverse to the end of the test. Before this, though, players must overcome deadly obstacles. Turrets and spikes will impede their path but matter can help them avoid these issues. Solids can block turrets and provide walkways over spikes. Death will respawn the player so don’t worry too much about them.
Two other designers and I collaborated to create this unique puzzle game. If you would like to play the game there is a Windows download link below. For Mac users or those that don’t have time to play our game, watch our trailer, gameplay highlights, or our full play through. For the game, my chief contributions were handling programming, gameplay design, and environment art. I detailed some other things I did in the contributions section as well.
I really enjoyed creating this game and loved how it developed each week of its production cycle. My favorite part about developing this game was researching science. I’m a bit of a geek so this was pretty fun. Science was by far my favorite subject back in high school and still is today. If you have any question about this game, contact me on my contact page. I’m always glad to answer.
Bradley University IndieCade Showcase Game
My Contributions
Programmed Gameplay with C# in Unity
I programmed about 1000 lines of code to create the functionality of all of the matter, the player (movement and animation), and various other gameplay elements. For samples look on my Git or contact me on the contact page.
Created matter functionality and visuals
I handled the design of matter and their interactions with various systems. I also created the radial wheel to change matter and all of its icons. Below are some examples of each of their functionalities.
Gas and fan to move it
Solid being dragged to reach a higher ledge
Liquid moving through pipes
Plasma interacting with objects
Solids Blocking Turrets
Combining Matter
Designed Team Logo and Game Logo
I developed our logos using Adobe Illustrator. With the game logo I wanted to convey the idea of changing the states of matter and with the team logo I wanted to convey science/matter.
Game Logo
Team Logo
Sculpted Environment Aesthetic and Text
I handled all of the environment lighting and created an overall dark environment feel. I also handled the environment tutorial text throughout every level. It went through many iterations to ensure users understood everything.
Environment Arrows
Environment Text
Collaborated to create gameplay design
Me and my team all collaborated on the gameplay elements presented. As the programmer I had the task of bringing them to life and designing some of their specific functionality such as dragging solids and fans moving gasses.
Mixed the game audio (music & SFX)
I designed all of the audio except for the AI voice overs. Most of the SFX I got from freesound.org (all are credited in the games credit sections) and the music was mostly from incompetech.filmmusic.io with a few other various sources. One edit that I am very proud of is the level 1-2 background song. I have the original and my edit embedded below if you'd like to check out the difference.
This is my edited version of the song
This is the original song Je suis un Phoenix
Background music: Je suis un Phoenix by Bluemillenium (c) copyright 2020
Link: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Bluemillenium/61325
License: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)
Tailored third-party assets to our game
I got the character sprites, the lightning bolts used in plasma, and the liquid visuals all off of the Unity Asset Store. I took the time to tailor all of these for our games needs. The plasma took the most modifications as before it was only a single lightning bolt with a static end point. The particles effects, randomized endpoints, and ball shape of it were done by me. For the character I modified the crawl animation into a landing animation. For the liquid I had to use multiple liquid balls and put them into a blob using hinge joints.
Designed Game Sprites
I designed some game sprites such as the fan (has animation), gas (uses sprite in particle systems), matter selection menu + icons, turret range arc, menu/game cursors, and a few other obscure assets.
Turret Arc
Matter Selection Menu
Game Cursor
Gas + Fan
Menu Cursor
Game Trailer
Gameplay Highlights
Full Playthrough