Sonne So Kalt

• Description of your initial concept
  • Our initial concept was a maze generator based on the Schubert lied. It would have a limited view radius and generate increasingly difficult each time a maze was completed. We originally planned to use ASP for this project.

• Difference between final product and initial concept
  • Our final product stayed really close to our initial concept. We limited the user’s view with a small light radius. Additionally, we have new mazes being generated whenever the player finishes a maze. The main difference between our concept and the final is that we used a Depth First Search algorithm instead of Kruskal’s algorithm.

• Discussion of your playtesting process and any false starts/unsuccessful designs
  • There are two main unsuccessful designs, Maze generation by ASP and using environment light to achieve the view circle.
  • In our initial plan, we decided to add hazard environments as the game level increased, but this was removed after we changed the way we generate the maze.
  • The main strategy for playtesting our game was to allow users to experience it without interference. Then, we prompted them for comments and criticism. As the mechanics of our game were pretty simple, it was relatively straightforward to implement them in the game. Some comments described the difficulty of mazes being too hard, for example, and we remedied that by starting the player with smaller maps and increasing the size after each completion.

• The technical or creative aspect(s) of your project that you are most proud of
  • Our maze generation algorithm is based on a modified depth-first search, and always generates completable, but not particularly easy mazes. 
  • Another aspect we are very proud of is our combat system. This was the portion of the project that took the longest to implement (besides the maze generation itself). It was a neat experience going from knowing nothing about how to even begin with this to implementing a complete, unique combat system.

Use WASD or arrow keys, and the spacebar. Solve a map to generate a larger and more difficult map. You can wander forever, because Schubert's wanderer never finds his desired land.

Luke Knudsen, Grey Jenkins, Yi Qiu, Stuart Pelletier