Speedblock

Speed Block is an Independent Study Project for the winter quarter with a team of 4 developers and designers. Speed Block was originally designed for a rapid prototyping class. The prototype was develop using the Flash Punk ActionScript3 framework. The team behind the prototype loved the concept that they wanted to turn this into a fully functional game for the independent study. The game was recreated from scratch within 10 weeks

Speed Block is a 2D, top-down Flash game where the player controls a blue block. The goal of the game is to complete each level by building up enough speed to break trough the door at the end of each level. The player builds up speed by making turns using the arrow keys. Each turs are made up of 90 degree angles and the player can not make a 180 degree turn in one go. The player speed is slightly increase with each turn. A number on the top left corner of the blue block indicates to the player the number of turns they must make in order to break through the door. When the player collides with the walls, cracks will appear and the player is instantly killed and spawns back to the start of the level. Each level is designed to be short and not to frustrate the player.

In addition to the basic walls, there are elements in the game that the player can interact with. This is includes switches, gates and speed pads. When a player speed pass over a switch, the switch will toggle similarly colored gates in the level by raising or lowering them. Gates act as walls when they are raised however can be passed over when lowered. Half filled colored squares are switches and the color of the switch is associated with the same color gate. White squares with an arrow contained in it is a directional pad which causes the player to turn and increase their speed. When a player passes over a warp pad, they are teleported to another location in the level with their same direction and speed.

A small demo of Speed Block will be on display at the RIT’s booth during GDC 2011. The team is currently working on implementing the Kongregate API so the game can be enjoyed by many on the Kongregate site. We hope to have 50 levels and player customization for the final version.