crose52@protonmail.com
resume
Untrashed (2024). Restore a polluted micro-biome to its former wonder! Navigate the arcade claw machine environment to dispose of trash.
I made Untrashed independently for the Ubisoft Australia Game Jam 2024 in just a few days.
Untrashed features a little biome in a claw machine where the player has to use the claw to grab pieces of trash out of the environment. I wanted the player to confront the corruption of serenity but also give them the tools and determination to fix it.
I quickly got the claw moving and grabbing using Unity’s physics system with a spring joint and colliders, although I needed to edit lots of values to get it moving naturally and feeling like a realistic claw machine. While doing this I also whiteboxed the world and claw using Probuilder.
By the end of the first day, I got it to the point where it felt like a real claw game. However, in real claw games, the claw is sluggish and difficult to position exactly where you want it and will even drop items before getting back to the prize chute. This proved to be frustrating more than anything and went directly against the intended player experience.
So, when I felt this disconnect, I modified the game to feel fair and fun. I gave my claw more bounce, swing and “weight” while also making it quickly settle in its position so players didn’t need to wait for it. The claw won’t drop things on its way to the prize chute. If the player misses and doesn’t pick up anything, the claw will speed up to give control back to the player quicker. I added camera angles so the player could look directly front and side on to see if they were aligned properly but I made it even easier to see this by adding a spotlight that points directly down from the claw. Every design choice I made was to minimise the frustration and annoyance that can be found in real claw machines.
I wanted to focus on design and art for this project, so rather than programming complex systems, I steered my design towards whatever I could use Unity’s existing functionality for. This gave me more time to spend on these aspects.
I rarely got to do art and sound for games so I was excited to jump into these aspects. I used Adobe Photoshop for all the 2D pixel sprite art and used a voxel modelling program called MagicaVoxel for the 3D environment. I made shaders using Unity’s shader graphs for the water and the glass surrounding the world. I also added some post-processing effects to help capture the mode and tone of the polluted landscape and a confetti particle effect for when the player successfully removes a piece of trash.
Sound effects and ambience were pivotal in order to capture the feeling I was going for with this game. I sourced free sound effects from freesound.org but then I combined and edited them in Audacity to get exactly what I wanted.
After release, I got positive feedback reporting it was cute, peaceful, creative, and relaxing. Specifically, the 3D environment art and claw light were praised by my peers.
There were a few reviews from people that said they felt the game was too slow and suggested the claw move faster. I’m unsure if these players just weren’t the right people to enjoy this experience or if their suggestions truly would make the game more enjoyable for more people.
However, I hesitate to increase the speed of the game since it would clash directly with the intended player experience. I wish I could’ve done more active playtesting to find a method to address this.
Upon review, I’m quite proud of myself and the way the game turned out. My design and goals were scoped well as evidenced by the fact I made a complete game and I achieved what I set out to do. I utilised a unique mechanic that allowed me to stand out amongst the other submissions; I used particle and sound effects to construct responsive interaction feedback systems; I gave myself enough time to get the game to a high degree of polish, with only occasional, minor bugs showing themselves; and players’ responses have aligned significantly with the intended player experience.
You can play the game for yourself here.
