Description:
Shutter is a horror alt-control game with a Halloween theme at Sheridan College. It takes place during design week. Students are randomly assigned into a group to design and develop a game together within four days. Our group members are Sydney Davio, Ben Dryburgh, Todd Brooks-Marling, Camden Malowany, and myself(Kitty Chen).

The topic was alt-ctrl control with a Makey-Makey.

Role:
Game Designer
As a team, we all engaged in expressing our game ideas and knowledge. We also conducted research on alt-ctrl control. After seeing various creations, I had one idea that popped into my head. Camera, which was inspired by the game Outlast 2. Thus, the essential problem was about how to make a good connection between players and the game and how to engage them in the game. One of our team members suggested using a gyroscope with a phone [as a screen] that could rotate by the phone’s orientation. We were concerned about having a dance mat for player movement. However, we thought it could cause cognitive overload, as players could not look at the screen and watch the mat at the same time. We also wanted to create an intuitive player control with a horror scene that was suitable for the coming Halloween.

Programmer
My primary job was to create player movement with one single button to go forward and a mouse to alter the orientation. After getting approval from other members, we continued to add more features, such as a health system, camera functionalities, collection system, monster movement, and loss & win conditions. When I had difficulty fixing a bug, my group and I would review the logic of the codes. Then we analyzed and figured out the issue, and we found a solution each time. In the playtesting phase, one member indicated that the mouse was sensitive and it rotated a little bit fast, so we decided to create a Pause Menu that allowed players to adjust their mouse sensitivity.

UI Designer
We aimed to create a game that was aesthetic with high performance. I designed the layout of the Title page (Main Menu) and collaborated with an artist to create an animation of clouds, which enhanced the creepy vibe. We also offered an instruction that explained the gameplay and objectives.

Team Player
The time constraint that we had to complete a game was four days. It was the most challenging for us. I started working on the programming and Unity implementation immediately and finished as much as I could. The next day, I would share all the updated work with the group, in order to receive their critiques and suggestions.


Takeaways:
1. Communication is crucial; good communication will give you more perspectives and
concepts.
2. Sometimes, simplicity is better than complexity.
3. Always be open-minded and listen to others, so that negative feedback can be used for improvements.
4. Do not hesitate to ask a question, and you will learn more from it.