CAGD 370: Sprint 2

ePortfolio

Sprint 2: Refining the creation

Publication - 10/26/25

The Goal

            By the end of the semester, a functional prototype of our game, Vinebound, will be displayed to our peers. The prototype should emphasize the iterative design process and agile development.

Lead Designer

            Vinebound is an original idea conceived by me. This means that there are no external sources to find information about it. For my producer and programmer to understand the game we are creating, I must fulfill my duty of presenting a clear vision of the game to prevent confusion and misdirection that don’t align with my mental image of the game. As time has progressed, I have become more adamant in ensuring my team understands the specifications I listed for certain mechanics. I have also established that I am free to answer any questions they have about the game, to prevent additions to the game that don’t align with the overall goal. 

After an addition is published to GitHub, I play-test it continuously to provide feedback to my team, ensuring they understand whether the mechanic is properly done or if it needs some adjustments later on. During the course of this sprint, I have provided visual examples to my team of key mechanics that I envision for our game to reduce confusion. As time progresses, I am furthering my ability to clearly convey my design goals for Vinebound.

The Sprint

            Compared to the start of Sprint 1, Sprint 2 was carried out much more smoothly, and the kick-off was properly done. My producer was directed towards creating additions that benefited both playtesting and gameplay. Most notable was a development room, which allowed for isolated testing of each mechanic. My programmer was advancing down the list of necessary mechanics, those being an enemy system and a UI. My designation for Sprint 2 was to refine the existing mechanics from Sprint 1 to make them align with the game’s vision and improve the overall feel while using them. The mechanic I refined and iterated on was the grappling hook. This mechanic was crucial as it was the game’s signature movement ability. Ensuring this mechanic was properly functioning and giving players satisfying feedback would help make the gameplay more fun for the player.

Mechanic Inspiration

            The grappling hook mechanic envisioned for this game takes inspiration from Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4. In Uncharted 4, the main character Nathan Drake utilizes a grappling hook to traverse difficult areas. The mechanic itself relies on a gravity-based swing and has the ability to have free movement in any direction the player wants. Additionally, it also has a precise hook point to allow easier platforming

The Original Grappling Hook

            The version of the grappling hook developed during Sprint 1 was made by my programmer. He created a very efficient system for the hook with precise hook points that automatically attached with a single button press. This enabled simple yet precise movements in platforming. The only issue with the system he made was that the mechanic itself pulled the player to the point, which was not the goal of the mechanic, as this made it seem more like a grapple gun. This discrepancy was created during the time of me preparing the paper playtest, so I was not able to provide proper feedback on the mechanic. If I had, this could have been resolved sooner without the need for a dedicated revision process for it.

The Revised Grappling Hook

            While revising the grappling hook, the main thing I wanted to ensure was conveying to the player the feel of a real rope swing. I tried to reuse most of the code my programmer used, but most of it was not applicable because I needed additional nodes to calculate the pendulum swing effect. Calculating the optimal numbers for a realistic swing was tedious, as I wanted the player to feel the weight of the character without compromising the swing potential. To leave a swing, the player has to manually hit the release button, giving them full control over the swing, unlike the previous version, which cut the swing once the player ran into the grapple point.

    Also, during the revision process, I added a feature where if the player shoots the hook out and it hits no target, it will automatically retract back. This was done to visually show the player that the hook doesn’t reach an object. An issue I tried to fix, and am still trying to fix with the aid of my programmer, is utilizing the predetermined hook points he used in the original version. This revised version lacks those predetermined hook points, which assisted the player in platforming. Forcing players to choose a swing point manually adds unnecessary difficulty, so we aim to fix it in the upcoming Sprint 3.

    The extensive work on the pendulum calculations while on the rope resulted in an optimal free directional swing if the player chooses to do that. With the mechanic being able to do this, it opens the door for more complex platforming as the player is not limited to just the platform in front of them. An issue I faced doing this was regulating the amount of rope length I could allocate to prevent the character from falling too low below the platforms. I’m hoping to add the ability of being able to decrease and increase rope length on the fly. Those will be attempted in the upcoming sprint.

The Result

At the conclusion of Sprint 2, I have revised the grappling hook mechanic to provide a more design-accurate experience of what I envisioned for Vinebound. The revised mechanic provides a more fun and engaging experience, which is what I was hoping the main mechanic would accomplish. While revising this mechanic, I realized that if I had conveyed more clearly to my programmer what I wanted from the mechanic, this revision wouldn’t have been required, as it would have been made more design accurate the first time. This furthers my pursuit of clearly conveying to my team the design of Vinebound to prevent such incidents from occurring again. I am currently doing this with the enemy mechanic that my programmer is developing to ensure it lines up with the game’s design. As our team continues making progress, I will continue helping my team coordinate the implementation of each feature that is planned.