Console.log(“Hello World!“);

Hello all, welcome to the SlimeBoiz Interactive website and to our very first blog post! We are excited to begin documenting the development process behind our current project nicknamed Slime. Slime is a 3D action-puzzle-platformer where the player leaves a permanent trail of slime as they move along surfaces, losing out on the limited amount of slime that makes up their body and interacting with environments that will greatly alter the dynamics of movement. This growing list of blog posts will be updated weekly and tailored to an audience wishing to know what the team is working on, but will also invite enthusiasts of the game and design critics to foster a reciprocal relationship between SlimeBoiz and its community. We strongly look forward to iterating on feedback from members outside the dev team and creating a compelling platforming experience for our beloved fans!

Catching up on Thingz…

Bringing our development up to speed for the community, here are some things we have accomplished since the inception of our project:

Player movement Using Unity physics system, the player is moved through several forces acting on each other. Standard jump mechanic implemented. Dashing is a mechanic we are forming in order to allow the player to traverse the environment faster, as well as to create second-order dynamics, similar to “wave dashing” in Super Smash Brother’s Melee where the player is able to get to the ground much more quickly. Very Experimental – Currently we are testing out a mechanic that acts like a grapple hook where the player will be able to pull themselves towards previously slimed surfaces from a certain distance.

Slime trail As the player moves along surfaces in the game, they lose out on some of their limited slime, creating a permanent trail behind them If the player runs out of slime on their body, they lose the level, and have to retry Slime Backtracking – The pinnacle of our experimental mechanics we are prototyping include allowing the player to move along their trail (atop previously slimed surfaces) and not lose out on any slime from their body. This creates a dynamic where backtracking in the game is engaging and we are focused on utilizing space as a limited resource for our level designs rather than the standard time trial. We are unique to this effect in many respects!

Environment/Level Design In order to traverse through the level and collect the required slime balls, the player will encounter several environment types that will affect the dynamics of movement when moved against. Bouncy surface: When collided with above a certain velocity, the player’s kinetic energy will be returned to them in the opposite direction, i.e. “bouncing” against that surface Sticky surface: This surface allows the player to stay in place and carefully plan their next encounter, once the player lands on a sticky surface, they are unable to move and can only jump off and onto the surface. This will be useful for creating a similar mechanic to “stalling” in skateboarding, as well as utilizing walls and ceilings as viable surfaces to move along! Icy surface: Surfaces that are made of ice will have no friction for the player to interact with, making movement direction much less controlled and high speeds easier to reach, this allows the player to slide across these environments, which we are using for ramps and keeping up player momentum. There will be environments that span the spectrum of these properties, such as rough surfaces that slow the player down and adjacency combinations that make for interesting level designs and puzzle scenarios.



Looking Forward

We are currently in our first real week of production and development for Slime, executing on our 2-week planned sprint and will be looking forward to documenting our processes as well as reaching out to potential community members! The dev team has set out to experiment with many preconceived mechanics, casting a big net for interesting features, as well as prototyping level designs for different environment types and backtracking on the slime trail. We are also looking into what our world will consist of, the overall theme, story, and aesthetics of the game’s characters and environment. We really hope to hear feedback and inquiries for the game’s design and look forward to creating room for discussion on our social media sites!

-Slimeboiz Interactive