Kiera - art and animation
Claire - code, control mapping
Mark - level design, code
Jenna - code, cameras
Rob - music
Early Development
early concept art for our pitch by Kiera
Dolphin Dog Dash! was inspired by a styrofoam piece of scrap on the game design floor of the Dolphin Building with four screw legs like a dog and a fin like a dolphin. From the very early stages we wanted the game to be a race that incoperated both aspects of the mascot and fit together in a fun and charming 1v1v1v1 game.
an early screenshot of our original map
To compliment both aspects of dolphin dog, we decided on water and land segments, each requiring different controls. The goal of each player was to go to the other side of the map, pick up a toy, and return to the starting line. Players could knock out toys from other players by dashing or bumping into them and pick up the fallen toy.
a close up of the prototype assets and starting line
a placeholder title, instruction, and control screen
There was an idea of holding the controller, sharing it with another player, and flipping the controller upside down to play, creating an awkward but fun experience - this concept was dropped early on in development as it felt gimmicky.
Refined Prototypes
a in progress version of the game
After further feedback, the race became a single run of a larger map, picking up the toy 1/3rd of the way through. This made the game feel faster and like more progress was being made, and we were able to put more unique set pieces in the one shot track.
At this point Kiera had begun implementing some of the tilemap she had created, and had more finished animations of the dolphin dogs - complete with a unique hat for extra personality.
final tile map pieces and logo
Final game
final title screen
The final game contained one long track with various obstacles and boosts. Fighting over the various toys became a fun moment, as the loser may need to travel back to the toy spot to get another one.
final instructions
the minimap was refined and icons were added. The cameras zoomed out from our initial prototypes to give players more time to react and see more of their opponents.
Dolphin Dog Dash! proved to be an endearing and fast paced racing game.