Gravideity
Motivation
Gravideity was the result of a "pseudo" Ludum Dare challenge - since we missed the official competition, we did it on a different weekend, but otherwise stuck to the rules of the challenge. I worked together with Saminul Haque and Jacob Alteen-Brooks to create a game using Unity in just 72 hours.
Ludum Dare
While I was in high school, a programming YouTuber I sometimes watched posted videos about a competition called Ludum Dare. The way the competition works is that a short theme is chosen, such as "Indirect Control" in our case, and an individual or team has up to 72 hours to create a game - from scratch - related to that theme.
I thought it was an awesome concept, but by the time the videos had been live, the competition had already ended. Undeterred, I pitched the idea behind the competition (to create a game in just a weekend) to two of my close high school friends, Saminul Haque and Jacob Alteen-Brooks - both of whom agreed.
Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
Given the nature of the competition, time was our most critical resource. We tried not to spend more than an hour brainstorming the concept of the game, and although we had a few good candidates, we went with Gravideity because it was both straightforward but also had a lot of potential to be extended.
Once the base idea was agreed upon, we each tried to stick to tasks we were somewhat familiar with, while also setting aside some time for learning and exploration. Saminul and I worked on the programming side of the game, and Jacob crafted the 3D spaceship model and sound effects.
By working together, we were able to barely get across the finish line in time, and managed to have a fun (and somewhat occasionally frustrating) game, and completed the challenge!
Making An Impact
Unbeknownst to us at the time, Gravideity ended up playing a role in Grade 12 as well, as Saminul and I ran a booth during our school's club fair for the Computer Science Club, and we used Gravideity as an interactive demo to get students engaged. I think it played a key role in generating interest in the club - especially amongst the younger students - and led to quite a few sign ups!
Current Thoughts & Learnings
Gravideity was a great learning experience for me in both the technical and interpersonal domains. This was the first team project I pitched to and worked with my friends on, outside of school. It was a unique opportunity to practice leadership as well, since I was the most familiar with the rules of the competition and tools like Git and Unity.
