ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel Goodgis I Made a Maze that Insults your Intelligence? (ft. @MashUpGames )
Have you ever felt that rush of excitement when starting something new? That’s exactly what happened when I teamed up with Ollie from Mashup Games for a game development challenge. The rules were simple: we would create art assets for each other, exchange them, and then use those assets to make a game within 24 hours. It was a creative duel that promised to be both fun and challenging.
Before diving into the challenge, let me share some exciting news about Game Carnival. This virtual event, happening on May 11th and 12th, is a fantastic opportunity for game developers. With over 220 exhibitors and thousands of industry attendees last year, this year’s event promises even more with advanced networking features and insights from industry experts. It’s free to attend, so don’t miss out!
Back to the challenge, the first step was to create the artwork. We decided on a top-down art style, reminiscent of the Game Boy Advance era. This style is detailed yet compact, perfect for the kind of game I wanted to create. I used resources from the Spider’s Resource to find references and crafted assets like chests, equipment, and characters suitable for a fantasy RPG or a Zelda-style game.
Once the artwork was ready, we exchanged assets. Ollie’s creations, including houses and water goblins, sparked ideas for a survival-type game. Choosing the right game engine was crucial, and although I often use Construct for quick projects, I opted for Godot this time. Its flexibility and my familiarity with it made it the ideal choice.
I wanted to surprise Ollie by using his artwork in a unique way, so I decided to create a 3D game with pixel art. Using a Blender plugin called Spry Tile, I was able to build a 3D environment that maintained the pixel art aesthetic. Designing the maze was surprisingly relaxing, and it became the core of the game.
With the maze in place, it was time to add characters. Using Godot’s dialogue systems, I integrated various characters, including an elf from Ollie’s art set. To add depth, I included a secret storyline that players could uncover by exploring the maze and finding clues.
The final step was creating a concluding area, like a house, to give players a sense of accomplishment. With time running out, I quickly added music, sound effects, and a basic user interface. After exporting the game, it was ready for Ollie to play.
Ollie enjoyed playing the game, appreciating the 3D design and the engaging sound effects. The game was a success, filled with character and humor, proving that a game doesn’t need to be overly complex to be fun.
This challenge was not only enjoyable but also educational. It reinforced the idea that simplicity, humor, and creativity can lead to a great gaming experience. If you’re interested in playing the game or using the art assets, they’re available for free. Don’t forget to check out Ollie’s video for his take on the challenge.
Thank you to my Patreon supporters for making these projects possible. If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing and leaving a comment with your thoughts on the game’s secret lore. Until next time, happy game developing!
Engage in a hands-on workshop where you’ll create your own art assets in a top-down style, similar to the Game Boy Advance era. Use resources like the Spider’s Resource for inspiration and craft assets for a fantasy RPG. This will help you understand the intricacies of game art design.
Participate in a session where you’ll explore different game engines, focusing on Construct and Godot. Learn about their features and try creating a simple game prototype using the assets you designed. This will enhance your understanding of game development tools.
Challenge yourself by designing a 3D environment using pixel art with tools like Blender and the Spry Tile plugin. Create a small maze and incorporate your art assets. This activity will develop your skills in combining 2D art with 3D design.
Join a workshop on integrating storytelling into games. Use dialogue systems in Godot to add characters and a secret storyline to your maze. This will teach you how to create engaging narratives that enhance gameplay.
Attend a virtual networking event similar to Game Carnival. Connect with industry experts and fellow game developers, share your projects, and gain insights into the gaming industry. This experience will broaden your professional network and knowledge.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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Have you ever had that feeling of excitement? What’s going on? Is that Ollie from Mashup Games? Good guess! I challenge you to a game development duel. Oh, you are so totally on! Let’s do this!
So here are the rules: we have to create art assets for each other, which we will then exchange and use to make a game. You’ll make a game using the art I give you, and I’ll make a game using the art you give me. We have a total of 24 hours. Sounds good? Great! Now that we know the rules, it’s time to sharpen our pencils, get our big brains ready, and get this challenge started.
But first, a word from today’s sponsor: Good news, everybody! Game Carnival, the virtual game industry event that launched last year, is coming back on May 11th and 12th. Game Carnival hosted thousands of industry attendees, over 220 exhibitors, and more than 5,000 meetings last year. This year, you can expect all of that and more, with a totally new state-of-the-art virtual experience built on Gen XP’s platform, featuring advanced networking capabilities to connect with industry professionals, 101 virtual meeting rooms, and valuable insights from industry experts on two stages of speakers. Game Carnival is shaping up to be the must-attend event for developers this year. They’ve even partnered with other brands like Sega, which is exciting! It’s free to attend, and you only need a web browser to join, so make sure to sign up today.
To start things off, we need to create some artwork. What I think is really cool about this challenge is that not only are we making games, but we’re also creating artwork for each other before we even get started. To make things easier for both of us, we decided to only create top-down artwork. I’ve made a lot of platformers in the past, so I thought it would be a cool way to try something different.
For the art style, I want to create something small but with a lot of detail and character. The first thing I did was research. Yes, I know it’s not the most exciting part, but I find it really helps, especially when I don’t have a lot of time to work on a game. I thought a cool art style to emulate would be from the Game Boy Advance or Game Boy era. If you’ve ever been on one of my streams, you’ll notice that I often use this style. The best place for finding references is the Spider’s Resource; they have all the references you could ever need for a Game Boy game, and I’ve been using it for years.
Now that I had my style dialed in, it was time to get to work. I wasn’t sure what type of game I wanted to make, but I thought about creating a high fantasy top-down Zelda-style game or an RPG. To give myself some flexibility, I made various assets like chests, equipment, enemies, and players that could be useful for that style of game.
Having finished the artwork, it was time for us to exchange assets. Upon receiving the artwork from Ollie, I got really excited. He created a lot of cool stuff, including houses and water goblins, which reminded me of a survival-type game. But now came the hard part: what type of game was I going to make, and what engine would I use? Normally, for game jams or quick turnaround games, I like to use Construct because it’s super fast and easy. However, for this challenge, I felt more comfortable using Godot. After using Godot for over a year, I feel like it’s often faster than Construct.
I also had the idea of making this game 2.5D or a 3D game with pixel art. I wanted to surprise Ollie by using his artwork in a way he might not expect. The hardest part for me was figuring out how to make 3D pixel art. I didn’t want to use voxel art because that would break the rules of recreating the art, but I wanted the 3D environment to reflect the pixel art style. A handy plugin for Blender called Spry Tile came into play, allowing me to build tiles in 3D space using pixel art. I was surprised at how easy it was to use, and I quickly made a map to test it out.
I generated a maze that I felt would provide a decent challenge and used that as a base for creating my maze in Blender. I knew the bulk of my time would be spent on this maze, but surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought, and it was actually kind of relaxing to work on.
Now that I had a beautiful maze, I needed to populate it with characters because you can’t have a game without characters. Luckily, I had created a lot of dialogue systems in Godot, so it didn’t take long to integrate them. Looking back at the art set that Ollie sent me, I noticed there was an elf character. It would be a boring game if all the characters were helpful, so I thought, what if this character isn’t friendly?
I don’t want to spoil the story, but let’s just say that this game has an underlying secret. There are two ways to play: you can simply navigate through the maze and complete the game, or you can take your time to look for clues and uncover what’s really happening. Let me know your theories in the comments below!
Now that I had a maze and characters, I needed to create a final area. I felt like a house would be a perfect way to conclude the game, as it felt like the ultimate goal was to get home. However, I was running out of time, so I worked quickly to implement some music, sound effects, and basic UI for player accessibility. Lastly, I exported the game and uploaded it online. The only thing left to do was have Ollie play it.
Hey everyone, this is Ollie from Mashup Games. I’m playing Good Giz’s game, which he made using my art, and it looks amazing! I love the text and the sound effects too. I wonder if there are any secrets in this game.
Wow, this is an interesting puzzle game! Hello, William the Scholarly Goblin! I feel like I’m being tricked by this note. Is this a maze game?
That was really cool! I really liked how you did yours in 3D too, and the music and sound are great. This game definitely has character!
So that was it! That was our game challenge adventure. I know I say this every video, but it was a lot of fun to work on, and I learned a lot from it. A couple of takeaways I have are that Spry Tile is incredibly easy to use, and you don’t need to overcomplicate a game to make it fun. Adding humor and dialogue can create a great experience without needing guns or explosions.
If you would like to play the game for yourself, it’s in the description below. You can also download the art assets on the page, and they are completely free to use, both commercially and personally. If you want to see Ollie’s game and my reaction to it, make sure to check out his video, which will be coming out sometime next week.
As always, if you have any questions or thoughts about the game, please leave them in the comments below. I really want to see if you can figure out the secret lore and hear your thoughts on it. A huge shoutout to my Patreon supporters; you guys are awesome and help make these videos a reality. If you’d like to watch more of my videos, make sure to subscribe and hit the bell, and also give a like—it helps a lot, and I appreciate it. But as always, I will see you guys next time for another game development adventure!
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Game – A structured form of play, often undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool, especially in the context of computer science and software development. – The university’s computer science department is hosting a hackathon where students will develop a new game using the latest virtual reality technology.
Coding – The process of writing instructions for a computer to execute, typically using a programming language. – During the coding bootcamp, students learned how to build web applications using JavaScript and Python.
Assets – Resources used in the creation of digital content, such as images, sounds, and code snippets, which are essential for game and software development. – The game development team spent weeks creating and refining the visual assets to ensure the game had a unique and engaging aesthetic.
Design – The process of envisioning and planning the creation of objects, systems, or interactions, particularly in software and user interfaces. – In the software design course, students learn how to create intuitive user interfaces that enhance the user experience.
Engine – A software framework used for the development and creation of video games, providing essential features like rendering, physics, and scripting. – The team decided to use the Unity engine for their project because of its versatility and strong community support.
Characters – Digital representations of people, creatures, or objects in a game or simulation, often with specific roles or functions. – The animation class focused on creating realistic movements for the characters in the students’ final game projects.
Creativity – The use of imagination or original ideas to create something, particularly in the context of developing innovative software solutions or digital content. – The professor encouraged students to use their creativity to come up with unique solutions to complex programming challenges.
Development – The process of creating, testing, and refining software applications or systems, often involving multiple stages and iterations. – The software development lifecycle includes phases such as planning, coding, testing, and deployment.
Programming – The act of writing computer programs, which involves designing algorithms and implementing them in a programming language. – The programming assignment required students to implement a sorting algorithm and analyze its efficiency.
Maze – A complex network of paths or passages, often used in computer science as a problem-solving exercise or game design element. – The students were tasked with developing an algorithm to solve a virtual maze, optimizing for the shortest path.
