Shale — CS 425/426 Senior Project
University of Nevada, Reno; Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Group 29 — Christopher Maldonado · Hunter Bickel · Justin Juera · Jennifer Hogueison
Dr. Dave Feil-Seifer · Dr. Vinh Le · Stosh Peterson · Richie White
Advisor: Shawn Treants — College of Southern Nevada
Shale is a 2D search-action platformer built in the Godot Engine, where you play as a girl with mysterious cloning powers named Shale. Shale lives in the Chasm, a cavern where monsters have started showing up as the air gets colder and colder, disrupting life in the fragile society that has developed since humanity reached the stars and all but forgot about their species' cradle.
Explore, gather equipment, solve puzzles, and find out who is causing this mysterious phenomenon and why.
Even if Shale can't handle something alone, she's never alone when she's with her clone. The clone mirrors her movements, and even the act of splitting into two can provide some benefits. Place a clone on a switch to keep it open, split mid-jump for extra jump height, double your firepower against enemies, and explore multiple areas simultaneously.
Use tools you find in the labyrinth to help with solving puzzles. The Heart of Siracus can freeze enemies in place, letting you create your own platforms. The Missile Launcher launches characters that its missiles hit, including yourself or your clone.
Find logbooks and read the history of the Chasm, the Aether lingering in its air, and the doomed world surrounding it.
Even in a bleak world, the mistakes of the past need not be the future.
Related Resources
Godot Engine
https://godotengine.org/A free and open-source 2D and 3D general purpose game engine that uses a node-based approach and can be programmed in C#, its proprietary Python-like scripting language GDScript, or extended to use any other programming language.
S. Rogers — Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design
Purchasable on AmazonA game design textbook covering video game history, roles in development and publishing, and building a game from ideas and design paperwork through camera viewports, control layouts, UI, level design, combat encounters, multiplayer management, music, monetization, and publishing.
J. Schell — The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
Purchasable on AmazonA textbook that walks through game design questions through different lenses, encouraging modular thinking, interactive design, testing, and storytelling aimed at evoking wonder and meaning.
G. Smith & J. Carette — Design foundations for Emotional Game Characters
Eludamos Journal, 2020Explores how depth in non-player characters can be enhanced via simulated emotional responses, emotional intelligence, and an "emotion engine" that encodes personality, biases, goals, and values to give NPCs agency.
J.-N. Thon — Playing with Fear: The Aesthetics of Horror in Recent Indie Games
Eludamos Journal, 2020Discusses audiovisual, ludic, and narrative aesthetics used by indie horror games and the distinctions between indie and retro aesthetics in crafting emotional responses.
P. Martin — Ambivalence and Recursion in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Eludamos Journal, 2011Covers recursion in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, focusing on Alucard's duality, labyrinthine exploration typical of search-action games, and how these elements evoke ambivalence.