At the end of production, the first person shooter idea became fully realized with all of the previous problems found in the Beta test corrected. In addition to obvious flaws and limitations, many additions were made to give the game more polish and appeal to the player.
By this time, the animations were implemented in, which featured enemies that fired at the player. Sound effects were a small addition that vastly improved the gameplay experience. Small effects were added to the title screen and end screen that helped set the mood. The gunshots were also rendered for both players. Different sounds were used, to help distinguish the sources and add more variety. Most importantly, a soundtrack was used in the game. From GarageBand, this soundtrack was simple, but easily looped as to not grow monotonous. This was also very helpful in contributing to the ‘action’ theme. Finally, the enemies now scream before they leave the scream, which adds a response to the player’s actions.
The addition of a title screen itself made a vast difference in appeal. After deciding on the title ‘Under Fire’, I decided to implant some personality in the game through a custom logo, as well as a drawn depiction of the protagonist to set the tone I was trying to depict in the game.
The mechanics were the highlight of the finished game, balancing risk and reward; the input “risk” is touching the screen for targeting, and the reward is the enemies being destroyed. The game’s difficulty level is appropriate for first time players, as it starts in a self-explanatory manner, but retains a constant challenge. The game’s replay value comes from the random spawning pattern of the enemies.
Ian Potash 