The Goal
I had a relatively straightforward intention with Meat Pie Game. I wanted a short project that would showcase my systems-design skills and allow me to work with some more dramatic visuals and storytelling. This feels like the first time I can truly say that I accomplished that goal to the fullest. I am very proud of how Meat Pie Game turned out.
The Systems
The game consists of two primary systems: the stations and the workers.
The stations are relatively straightforward. They require a pickup to run and produce a pickup when complete. Once a pickup has travelled through all three stations they can be sold. Stations can also be upgraded, which is where the more traditional systems design work came in.
Each station can be levelled up 5 times, with each level providing various stat increases. This was my first time working with .csv files to manage information for game elements. While I certainly could've pushed the .csv integration further, what was implemented was incredibly useful in designing the stations.
The workers were a little more complicated. They become available to the player after the tutorial, and once they're purchased, they can be assigned to a station - thus running that station themselves. There are a few additional layers to this system. The first being that workers have work experience that you can leverage. Another layer is the worker's years of experience. This one is more straightforward: the more years, the faster they move. The last and most obscure is each worker's "like." If a worker is working at a station next to another worker with the same like, they will both work a little bit faster. The last stat exists more to add depth to the experience than as a necessary element of the play.
What I've learned from Meat Pie Game
For starters, scope. While I had goals about what I wanted the game to be, none of them would've been possible if I hadn't kept the scope managably small. Not only that, but allowing myself to focus solely on what I want to work on: systems and aesthetics. This meant that some areas of the game, namely the UI, weren't as polished as they have been in previous games, but that's a price I'm willing to pay. Until I get paid to do it, that is!
Here are some more tangible skills I learned or improved upon:
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Economy design
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Systems design
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CSV file reading
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Progression curves
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3D environment lighting
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Narrative design
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Cutscene direction