Surface Tension
Team Rocket – Idea for the Game
Team Rocket was formed at the start of the autumn semester for the GA 2D game project course. For our project we chose the classic arcade action game, Frogger (1981).
Our objective was to take the core mechanics from the original game and reimagine them with a more cute and chill setting. The design goals that we settled on for the look and feel of our game were cutesy, casual and fun.
We wanted to keep these elements in the game:
- Top-down viewing angle
- Player dodges obstacles and enemies
- Player has to get from one side of the screen to the other side
New elements we wanted to implement in the game:
- Player starts as a tadpole and transforms into a frog
- Calm and peaceful environment
- Tadpole moves under the water and frog above the water
Frogger 1981
Frogger was developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. The main object of the game is to move a series of frogs (the player) to their homes across the screen giving them points based on how fast they reach the goal and possible bonuses they pick up along the way.
The game starts with the player at the bottom of the screen. By dodging cars on a busy road and hopping on moving logs floating in a river, the player proceeds to the top of the level after which the level repeats, getting progressively more difficult.
Development Process of Surface Tension
The work of developing the game was split between five people (two programmers and three artists). Hand-drawn animations, environmental assets, UI elements, particle effects, music, and sfx were made by the art team, while the programmers focused on implementing mechanics like player movement, game object scripting, levelling system and menus.
There was plenty of overlap and shared credit in what team members worked on and everyone contributed level designs for the finished game.
The Final Product
Surface Tension is a 2D platformer where the player starts as a tadpole and by consuming a “power up” they transform into a frog and progress into the next level.
As a tadpole they make their way across the level under water, dodging enemies like pike that try to eat the tadpole.
As a frog the player makes their way across the level dodging obstacles and enemies like birds. The frog level is completed when the player makes their way to the “power up” and the player starts the cycle again as a tadpole.
By finishing all 10 levels the game is completed.
Images From Gameplay
