About the Project
During my 2nd year studying at Sheridan College, I participated in design week, an event in my program where you meet a group of new people and work together on creating a game in 4 days. Our challenge was to develop a micro-game that would be hosted on an arcade cabinet.
Feline the Beat is a rhythm game where 2 players take the role of the backstage crew for a pop star. The goal is to keep the show running smoothly by having one player hold the spotlight on the star and the other player activate stage effects on cue.
Gameplay Video
My Roles in the Project
UI / UX Designer
Designed user interface to show information clearly and quickly
Artist
Made backgrounds and Icons in collaboration with other artists
Game Designer
Designed core gameplay loop to be fast to learn and fun to replay.
Quickly prototyped and pitched ideas.
Designed for specific hardware.
Pre-Production
Arcade Cabinet
Why Design Week?
Micro Mix Framework
The Challenge
• Our challenge was to create a micro-game in 4 days
• A microgame gives the player a challenge to overcome in 60 seconds or less
• My team game would be part of a compilation with games from every team
• We would be working within a framework made by the faculty called Micro Mix
• The game would be played on an arcade cabinet
Team Rules
My brainstorm of ideas
Pre-Mortem: Writing down possible ways the project could fail
Breaking the Ice
• My team got to know each other with some team-building exercises.
• Created a charter of team rules
• Shared game ideas
• Conducted a pre-mortem that details possible ways the project might fail so we can avoid future conflict.
Game Design
Dance-off Concept
Cooperative Stage Crew Concept
Concept Development
• My first concept was a rhythm game with players compete in a dance-off
• I noticed many other teams were also considering a competitive game
• I sketched a new concept that focused on collaboration instead of competition to make the game more unique
• I shifted the concept to one that involves players working together to put on a great show.
Pitching My Idea
• People need to understand to get invested
• Visuals help communicate my concept clearly
• I created a proof of concept video in Adobe Premiere Pro (editing software)
• This pitch successfully sold my team on the concept
UI / UX Design
Instruction Prompts
• Both players have different responsibilities that require unique instruction
• Very limited amount of time and screen space to display the prompts
• I returned to Adobe Premiere Pro to rapidly mock up a concept
• Quickly iterated upon the design with quotes from my team members
Art
My Assigned Segment
Ratios of Each Segment
Rough Sketch
Final Background
Making Backgrounds
- Made a guide that divides the screen into thirds accounting for its exact dimensions
- I worked on the Button Controls background (bottom left)
- Designed to fit a pair of large buttons overlayed in engine
- The final background is lineless so the bold buttons stand out
- Pink lighting was added to maintain continuity with the other backgrounds
Final Product
Arcade Cabinet at Sheridan Trafalgar Campus
Design Showcase Video
