Delivery Cat
Role:
Co-Programmer and Animator
Software:
Godot (GDScript) and Piskel
This team project with fellow UT student Nadine Permana was inspired by the old co-op games of our childhood with adorable pixel art and exciting puzzle features. Created in Godot with GDScript and art done in Piskel open-source software.
Delivery Cat is a cozy, pixel art co-op game that tells the story of a mail cat working in a futuristic city that forces its citizens to use technology to communicate. The mail cat must team up with the city's failed project, Holo-Cat, and deliver letters to help the citizens communicate with each other without the control of the city.
Some aspects of this project I worked on were the button-laser/platform interaction systems, the split-screen multiplayer functionality, the pickup tracking system, and the laser/pickup animations.
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Core Mechanics
Two Player Splitscreen Functionality
A key feature of Delivery Cat is the cooperative puzzle solving to get past obstacles such as lasers, platforms, doors, etc. These puzzles were formed by creating reusable "obstacle" objects that correspond to two "button" objects, allowing an obstacle to be triggered or turned off at two separate locations. This allows players to access hidden locations with the possibility of preventing being trapped by working together to trigger/turn off obstacles
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Pickup Storing System
A key feature of Delivery Cat is the cooperative puzzle solving to get past obstacles such as lasers, platforms, doors, etc. These puzzles were formed by creating reusable "obstacle" objects that correspond to two "button" objects, allowing an obstacle to be triggered or turned off at two separate locations. This allows players to access hidden locations with the possibility of preventing being trapped by working together to trigger/turn off obstacles
Co-op Puzzle Obstacles
A key feature of Delivery Cat is the cooperative puzzle solving to get past obstacles such as lasers, platforms, doors, etc. These puzzles were formed by creating reusable "obstacle" objects that correspond to two "button" objects, allowing an obstacle to be triggered or turned off at two separate locations. This allows players to access hidden locations with the possibility of preventing being trapped by working together to trigger/turn off obstacles
Pre-Production
Our preproduction concept came from Nadine's concept of a mail cat simulator and my idea for a dystopian cyberpunk story-based game. What we came up with for our initial idea was a co-op set in a futuristic cyberpunk city where all communication and interaction had been limited to this advanced technology from the government. Some initial ideas we had that separated this phase from the final project was the concept of holographic enemies that needed to be defeated and attacks from the players.
Initial Prototype
In our initial prototype we focused on interactable functionality (moving platforms, lasers, etc.) and communicating instructional information. We focused less on developing the story due to time crunches, and chose to make the pickups/collectables less apparent throughout the level. Our focus was delivering a working prototype to demonstrate the mechanics.
Playtesting and Challenges
Our three sets of playtests between our Pre-Alpha, Alpha, and Beta phases were overall positive. Players were in love with the story and objectives behind our game, especially the slight social commentary and themes of connection and love. Our 8-Bit/pixelated art style was also widely enjoyed by our play-testers as a nostalgic and adorable addition to the game. We did run into some reoccurring issues throughout the playtesting process.
Using the Tilemap system of Godot was a bit new and risky for us at first, especially when it came to choosing a collider type. We unknowingly chose a elliptical collider, which caused the cats to slide off the platforms if too close to the edge. We also had an issue with players interrupting the pathways of the platforms, knocking them off path and ruining the puzzle system. We solved the issue by programming in continuous "boundaries" to allow for some movement when bumped by a player but not enough to throw it off its track.
Player/Platform Collider Interaction
No Recognition of Lore/Pickups
While our play testers loved the storytelling aspect of the game, they tended to miss a lot of the lore drops we had scattered throughout the map. We started by adding UI built into the environment (Blinking LED signs, graffiti, etc.) , but it still failed to be picked up in our second round of playtesting.
Finally, we decided to tie the lore into required pickups for the game, forcing players to find elements needed to complete "delivering" the package, while also making lore elements unignorable.
Final Iteration and Future
We wrapped up our production by introducing an easier, tutorial level prior to Level 1 in order to further expand the lore,, give Level 1 more hands-free elements, and give our game more content overall. While it was a last-minute decision to create essentially an entire new level, the risk paid off and was loved by our final consumers that enjoyed the expansion of the game and the chance to practice co-op style gameplay. Overall, we got great reviews for the gameplay, story, and art, and we hope in the future to possibly expand towards a second level!
