QWOP in a ballet class

Keanan Pucci

Class: Intermediate Game Design - 2017

Instructor:  Robert Yang    

Play BAUB at:

https://kcp320.itch.io/bienvenue-au-ballet

Summary

This is an autobiographical game about experiencing my very first ballet class, as a high school freshman, in a class of all 4th graders. I chose this topic because it was an hour of my life where I was diving into a world completely alien to me, and I feel often that’s what games do best. It’s a memory that stands out to me as a big obstacle in life, and one I’m proud I overcame. However, I thought that the chaotic fumbling through the first class would be more uniquely entertaining than a representation of myself knowing how to dance. After learning about the physics joints in class, I knew I wanted to make a game that used physics in an interesting way. Upon thinking of this memory, I thought a hinge joint rag-doll would be the perfect way to articulate how out of place and inexperienced I felt in the class at first.

Development Reflection

I found most of the development process to be fun, especially experimenting with the rag-doll to create wacky, impossible positions. The final week was a bit of a crunch, but I knew it was coming. Therefore, I reduced the scope in order to spend time polishing, so none of the game’s components ended up being exceedingly stressful. I would say in general it was just difficult deducing a way to accomplish my tasks at first (modelling a human head in a reasonable amount of time, manipulating the ballerinas into their positions, etc.), but after working through a solution the first time I found repeating these tasks much easier.  This is also why after struggling with programming last semester, I found that working in C# came much more naturally to me with this project.