About Skeletons In Hats
What is it?
Skeletons In Hats is a 1 - 4 player game currently being developed by myself and other members of the UMBC game developers club. Development began in August 2018. Taking inspiration from Kirby Air Ride’s City Trial mode, Skeletons In Hats aims to innovate on the ideas that were introduced by the game. Each player is spawned in a small open world and given 5 - 10 minutes to collect what they need before a winner is decided in a final battle(victory conditions set to change). During the collection phase, players must gather stats by destroying objects and participating in random events. While collecting stats and participating in events, players may find hats lying around that will grant them special abilities that are affected by their stats.
Why are we making it?
After development on Little Golem came to a close, the team all agreed that it would be best to work on a game that we believe could be finished by the end of the year, as opposed to Little Golem, which resulted in a finished tutorial level.
By focusing on a 1-4 player game, the project will not require extensive AI development, but can be included if time allows. Level development will revolve around a single map. The art direction aims to present an exaggerated spooky cartoon vibe. By making all the characters skeletons, the artists will be able to create the characters bone by bone instead of stressing over one big organic model.
While working on the game, we are planning ahead so that when the first playable build of the game is complete, introducing new hats, abilities, and events will be streamlined. The various hats and models that will be made for the game will grow our artists’ skills and portfolios. The streamlined structure of the game will contribute to our programmers’ abilities to create well structured code. The multiplayer nature of the game will also allow our programmers to gain experience with online multiplayer if we choose to introduce online.
Our Team
Zachariah Hale: Project Lead, Programming Lead, Input Programmer, Gameplay Programmer,
UI Programmer, and Texture Artist.
Skyler O'Neill: Gameplay Programmer, Network Programmer, Music, Sound Effects, and Level
Designer
Josh Ludlow: Art Lead, 3D Artist, Particle Effects, Textures, and Level Designer
Miguel Fuentes: 3D Character Artist, Textures, and Animator
Eric Saulsbury: 3D Artist
Mario Moya: 3D Artist, Concept Artist, 2D Artist
My Programming Work
Multiplayer Controller Input Manager
Since Skeletons In Hats is a local multiplayer game, we need a system in place to handle multiple controllers and assign them to players. Some features I want this system to include are the ability to handle multiple kinds of controllers(both PlayStation and Xbox), the ability to handle controllers connecting and disconnecting, and to be able to assign controllers to specific controllable entities based on the player they belong to. I also want to work on tuning the input on the analog sticks of controllers by creating special dead zones.
Character Components
[Section in Progress]
Gameplay Abilities
[Development in Progress]