Mellowmares was a game pitched for the 2nd year major project as a side scrolling puzzle platformer. It is a cute but dark 2.5D game about marshmallows escaping the appetite of the evil humans.
We had a five week period to plan and create a prototype for the game before it was pitched to an industry panel - this was also side by side with another project I was required to work on. The aim of the game is to reach the end of the level having 'rescued' as many fellow marshmallows as possible - through solving puzzles. The primary mechanic was the ability to shrink or grow your marshmallow in order to solve said puzzles. After saving a marshmallow they then follow you around and act as additional lives with the player possessing them after the prior is killed.
With a game built around puzzles using kitchen utensils I very quickly realised I could utilise my prior mesh slicing side project. As such I updated the project for use in the Mellowmares game. I also worked on the overall character control and the possessing of the other marshmallows. This, funnily enough, was a complete nightmare. As we were so restricted on time, the majority of the code was layers upon layers of hastily written programming and was a complete mess - although functional.
Without a doubt, working on this project has ingrained in me the need to focus on code clarity from the start, even if drastically restricted on time. At the end of the five week period, the game passed the industry panel, but I was relegated to the other project I was working on at the time.
Designer: James Wilson
Artists: Jaymie Sibree, Robert Dickson, Christopher O'Neill
Programmers: Sean McCarthy, Justin Cragg