Hi again!
To summarize the previous article: we had planned to make a co-op adventure game. Players crash-land their spaceship on an unknown alien planet and must explore and complete tasks to collect scrap parts. The scrap parts are used to repair the ship so that they can eventually escape.
Starting Point
Coming into spring, we had rough drafts of systems for player input, "artifacts" (basically items you can interact with), and multiplayer. Our first tasks this semester were to clean things up, get the systems talking to each other, and create a streamlined system for building artifacts.
What Have We Done?
Throughout the semester we held weekly meetings where we discussed the direction of the game, summarized what had been done, and planned the way forward. The meetings were also used to actively work on the game. Communication outside of meetings took place over Discord. In addition to the weekly meetings, we did the following during the semester:
The weekend leading into February, Hackerspace hosted Global Game Jam, open to everyone. Five games were made on the theme "Mask". You can find the games here: NTNU Trondheim GGJ 2026 The game group didn't enter a game at NGA this year, but we still took a little trip there in March to get some inspiration and see what others have been making.
We also had a longer session where we ordered pizza and put in some extra work on the game.
Game Status
This is perhaps the most exciting part of the article, so what does the game look like now?
The player now has an inventory and can pick up items, hold them in hand, use them, and throw them away. The player also has a health bar, can be pricked to death by a cactus or fall to their death, and respawns at the ship. The player has also received a proper 3D model made in Blender, complete with animations.
The game now features a range of artifacts, including: an anti-gravity potion, a grappling hook, a lasso, a ball that summons lightning, a weapon that shoots a lightning ball, and a scanner that can be used to find secrets.
The game has NPCs that you can talk to and that wander around. It also has mounts, such as a giant ant and a Mars rover.
The world is large and divided into chunks that load dynamically.
Sound effects have been implemented using FMOD, and visual effects have been added in the form of shaders.
Work is also underway on other features, such as a way to choose your color and name in the lobby, a 3D model for the ship, a creature implemented with procedural animation, desert rats, and a lightning staff artifact.
The Road Ahead
The most important thing going forward will be to expand the game world with content that makes it more exciting to explore. We also want to make it more challenging to collect scrap parts by introducing tasks and obstacles that require players to use the artifacts in creative ways to progress.
All in all, it has been a fun, educational, and demanding semester. I wish the team the best of luck in continuing to develop the project, and I'm excited to see what it looks like next time!
Thanks for a great semester!
-Project: Game