CPSC 4170 – 6170 / Style over Substance
Maximilian Marzec
Game Description
Style over Substance is a extreme sports snowboarding game inspired by the SSX snowboarding series and based in an apocalyptic world overrun by a mysterious liquid called “the substance”. You play as a survivor riding on his trusty swordboard, an innovative transportation/weapon hybrid. You are to help him investigate the cause of the apocalypse.
The objective is to reach the level’s goal, preferably with the highest score possible, without dying. This will require traveling all around the environment, whether that be up a building or through a train station. The goal is a serum that is rumored to be connected to the substance.
Game Mechanics
The gameplay involves navigating the course, building up high amounts of speed to make large jumps as well as go up and down walls. Gain speed by boosting. When in the air, the player can rotate freely in any orientation and perform tricks to gain score.
However, the player must keep track of their health, which cannot be replenished. The player takes damage from crashing into walls depending on how fast they’re going, meaning they must manage their momentum carefully.. Going too fast may be a fatal mistake.
Technical Description
While the player can rotate freely in the air, on the ground they automatically orient themselves to the surface. In order to achieve this, the player must be rotated on the axis of the cross product between the player’s current up vector and the ground normal (obtained through the raycast to check for ground collision). This is the system that allows the player to go up walls.
Controls
The controls are separated into 2 modes: Ground and Air. In both modes the player can boost in whatever direction the swordboard is pointing.
In ground mode the player can jump into the air. The control stick also points the board in the direction it’s moved in. It may be necessary to turn sideways or backwards to manage your speed.
Game Limitations
Future Work
Future iterations of this game would add general polish (particularly collisions), more variety and depth to the trick system, and bringing back cut features such as enemies.
Game objective
Game Screenshots
In air mode the player is able to freely pitch, yaw, or roll just like a plane. Though you cannot fly, you have a large degree of control over your jumps. If you land improperly and live, you will have to recover.
Because of the extreme terrain that was present, premade assets that facilitated that goal were basically impossible to find. Some of it would have to be modeled by hand, which used a significant chunk of development time that could’ve gone to other areas. There were plans to include enemies that originate from the substance, however the idea was too ambitious for the timeframe.