Falling Golems

Genre: Plataforma 2D

Platforms: Windows PC / WEBGL

Year: May 2024 / Sep 11th - Nov 30th 2024

Falling Golems is a 2D platformer where you control a fleet of golems that help dwarves collect minerals from the depths. It’s a project developed for CTRL ALT JAM 3, and we used the challenge “MY GAME IS A PLATFORMER BUT I CAN’T JUMP,” aiming to create a game with a premise that’s at least unusual.

Galery

My contributions

• Dev - Programador principal, definindo arquiteturas para gameplay, interfaces, combate, puzzles.

• Tech Artist - Servindo de referencia para os artistas, padronizando tamanhos e formatos de arquivos, criando cenas de teste e para o próprio gameplay.

• Level Designer - Colaborando com testes e posições de inimigos e ajuste de dificuldade dos puzzles.

• VFX Designer - Criação de efeitos visuais e shaders para enriquecer e demonstrar um bom nivel de polimento e apelo visual.

Tools and technologies

• Engine - Unity 2022.3 LTS

• Version control - Git + Github.

• IDE - Visual Studio 2019.

• Others - Cinemachine, ShaderGraph, VFXGraph, Sprite Editor, Skinning Editor,Animator.

Development process Part 1

The process of this project followed a path similar to previous game jams. Out of the seven available days, the first was dedicated to the creative stage: brainstorming, defining the scope, and imagining what the game could become. Meanwhile, I got a head start on the project’s foundation in Unity, developing essential systems such as scene transitions, save system, and state machines.

Exploring new fronts: art and animation

This time, something different happened: beyond programming, I dove into art. I collaborated on character design and, due to the short development window, some of these creations became part of the final published version. It was rewarding to see visual ideas come to life in the game.

Deepening visual techniques

For the first time, I delved into animations using Unity’s Skinning Editor—a tool that allows adding bones to sprites and moving them fluidly. This brought a new dimension to animated objects. I also had a lot of fun experimenting with shaders and visual effects, creating impact in attacks and reinforcing the underwater atmosphere we wanted to convey.

Workflow

The structure of Ctrl Alt Jam followed the pattern I’ve already been adopting:

• Day 1: scope definition and basic mechanics

• 4 days: continuous development and art integration

• Final 2 days: backtracking, bug fixing, and QA

Organization and delivery

Even with the tight schedule, we maintained an efficient and collaborative workflow. The clear division between creative, technical, and refinement stages allowed us to deliver with both quality and confidence. The result was a cohesive project, with a strong visual identity and well-integrated mechanics.

Links

itch.io page- Falling Golems

Unity Play | Falling Golems game

Credits

My great gamejam partners:

Leo - Sound Designer, Level Designer, Game Designer, QA
Fran - QA, Game Designer
Draguna - Game Artist, Level Designer
Amanda - Game Artist, Pitch
Altair - Pitch
Tesla - Narrative Designer, Game Designer
Dyan - Game Designer, System, Content
Rhuan - Dev
Henrique - Dev

A new challenge! Part 2

 A few months after the release of the original project, I discovered that Unity has a page dedicated to community showcases. I saw there the perfect opportunity to put new ideas into practice and test my limits. This time, I faced the challenge alone, taking care of all areas of the project with a few well-defined goals.

Goal 1: Create a WebGL port

The showcase was focused on games developed in WebGL, so I chose the last project I had worked on intensively. The code was still fresh in my memory, and it made sense to reuse and improve what already existed.

But soon the obstacles appeared: several C# functions were not compatible with WebGL, visual effects stopped working… Nothing overwhelming, but it was clear the journey would be long. I decided to remove advanced graphic options to avoid overloading browsers, keeping a single configuration that ensured a good experience for everyone.

Goal 2: Language selection system

I had never used Dictionary or JSON in previous projects, so I decided to implement a language selection system from scratch. It was a bold challenge — and a very welcome one. Although ready-made solutions exist, I like to test myself, learn, and achieve goals with my own hands. I refactored the code, integrated the new system, and made everything work together. It was a fun, enriching process full of discoveries.

Final result

The outcome left me extremely satisfied. Visually and mechanically, I consider this version superior to the original. I kept the essence and vision the team had during the intense moments of the jam, only refining and reducing bugs. In the end, everyone enjoyed the result — and I gained yet another valuable experience for my repertoire.