Game Overview:

This game is called “Seagull Express”.  The player is a seagull that works at the Seagull Express package center delivering packages to various customers.

The player starts the game in the package center where they need to go to the computer and select which packages they want to deliver. Each selection includes information about it: income, weight, location, etc. Depending on which deliveries are chosen, the player will need to fly to different locations. In addition, the weight of the packages will affect the player’s flight. 

Players need to avoid obstacles while delivering as it will decrease the packages’ integrity, resulting in a bad customer review and an income penalty based on the damage! After finishing all deliveries, the player will be able to use the money they have earned to purchase upgrades that make their deliveries faster and more efficient.

Development Overview and Playtest Feedback:

Week 1

On the first week, we decided upon what kind of game we want to create. We had two different ideas and thought it'd be cool to combine them both and that's how we came up with Seagull Express. We created a rough prototype of the game with placeholder sprites (pixelated) and then verified that the Android builds work on our devices. 

Week 2 (Alpha Testing)

This week, we decided we wanted to move from making the art pixelated to lined art. The walking animation was created for the seagull. We added a cloud obstacle where the player's packages will get damaged if they player collides with the cloud. The income the player earns will decrease depending on how damaged the package is. The player can also pick up packages and drop it off to its respective customers. Background music for all locations (package center, open world, and destinations) were also added. A results page is created to show the player how they've done after finishing all deliveries. The player transitions from walking to flying when they enter the open world. Since the open world is top-down, the player is able to move in all directions for flying.

Feedback:

1. Package Integrity (fewer decimal places/consistency)
2.  Notifications (pops up to tell you when the package is damaged)
   1. So the player will not need to check the backpack too often
3. Add "$" to money values
4. Fly a little faster
5. Minimap (second camera/can be just a map or can show player's current location)
6. Have packages be deselected initially on the selection screen
7. Add upgrades that you can buy with the money earned
8. Consistency with sprites
9. Blankness in results page

Week 3 (Beta Testing)

On the third week, the idle and flying animation for the seagull is created. The four destination scenes and the four npcs were drawn and placed in their respective scenes. Package integrity is fixed so that there is more consistency with the decimal places. We decided to keep the speed of the seagull for the sake of keeping the game challenging. A company logo was created so that when the player transitions from one scene to another scene, there is a logo that swipes from the left to the right. The pause menu, sound effects, and upgrades shop was added. The "$" was added and notifications pop up when the package gets damaged. The results page is now centered to help remove the blankness felt when the text was only on the left side. The packages are now initially deselected. 

Feedback:

1. Visual way to distinguish different types of packages
2. Button for landing 
   1. Automatically enter OR show button only when you arrive at the destination
3. Don't check "developer build" when building apk 
   1.  Can be used for debugging
4. Refine game difficulty balance 
   1. Make sure to keep the player motivated
   2. Can have beginner, medium, and hard modes (lose less money in beginner vs hard)

Week 4

On the final week, we replaced the placeholder for the icons and machinery objects around the map. The open world map was also completed. A minimap was added. The AI for generating eagles as obstacles were added. An option to select difficulty was included in the beginning of the game. Some more sound effects were added. The button for landing isn't present until the player reaches a certain distance from the entrance way. When selecting packages, each package has a color. When the player clicks out of the machine, the player will see packages on the ground with different colored tapes which corresponds to the orders on the machine.

Assets:

Music and sound effects from https://freesound.org/