Pre-Production
Barrel Wars started as a simple exercise that had the sole purpose of deepening my knowledge about the Unreal engine Niagara particle system. The initial idea was just to develop a series of explosion effects for barrels.
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However, after developing some particle effects and attaching each one to a respective barrel, it's pretty evident that this set-up could evolve and become a mini-game.
Pillars
Quickly
Casual
Particles
Development
Simple and fun entertainment
When Barrel Wars evolved from an exercise to a mini-game, the idea was to continue with the simplicity and casualness that it had. Shooting the barrels to test the particles was already fun enough, so I decided to keep that simplicity.
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The only elements added were to formalize the game concept within this environment. Adding features like a score meter, different scores for each barrel type (each barrel with a unique explosion) and a match timer.
Results
Everything can become a game
Although it's a simple game, in fact being just a mine-game, Barrel Wars is excellent to remind us how anything can become a game with the right approach.
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This project always reminds me of how a Game Designer should act, looking for ways to forge fun and entertainment, even from simple things.
