The Floor is Lava

Creative Code - Final Project

Goals:

• Combine your interests (code and not-code)

• Build something meaningful for yourself

• Experiment with a specific technology that interests you

• Flex your skills

• Learn some new techniques & revisit topics we've discussed in class

The game can be played from the p5.js web editor here:

https://editor.p5js.org/jppoulter/full/9hugbIM2s

My original plan for the final project was to use Webots, which is a robot simulator, to build something. Unfortunately, my laptop was not powerful enough to do much more than a basic tutorial with it, so I had to change directions at the last minute.

I decided to switch to using p5.js to build a simple video game. I had built games before using unity, so I decided to challenge myself by using p5.js. This way I would have to program the animations directly instead of being able to use the prebuilt animation functions.

I wanted the basis of the game to be relatable, so I settled on a game that just about everybody played at some point in their childhood - the floor is lava. I started with trying to program the animations that the character would go through for the various movements. First I drew a simple jumping position that the character would switch to when the player pressed the jump button. Next, I drew a position that the character would be in while running. Obviously, it was more important for the running animation to be much more fluid, so I then had each limb lerp between its starting position and the opposite side’s starting position before switching back.

With the character animations completed, I moved on to drawing the platforms that the player would need to jump on. To emulate the childhood game as best as possible, I decided to make these platforms into furniture. There are four furniture options that are randomly chosen for each platform throughout the game. The options were a table, a refrigerator, a dresser, and a couch.

Lastly, I had to create the environment to complete the feel of the game. For all of the elements of the scenery, I used some form of randomization or noise. First, I created a mountainous background. This is achieved by drawing a rectangle at every pixel based on the noise at that position. Also in the background, are randomized clouds that continuously drift from right to left. The clouds are assigned a random height and width, and curves are drawn to random points within those bounds. Lastly, the most important aspect of the game, is the lava. There are three layers of the lava, each a slightly different shade of orange to give the scene some more depth. Each layer of lava shows noise vertices drawn every ten pixels across the screen. These noise values are updated every frame, giving the lava the illusion of flowing.

The gameplay itself is very straightforward. The player can use either the left and right arrow keys or the “A” and “D” keys to move the character left and right respectively. The player’s score, which is displayed in the top left corner, increases as the character progresses farther in the world. The space bar is used to make the character jump, or double jump if they are already in the air. If the player falls into the lava, the game is over. The final score will stay locked in the corner of the screen and the option to play again is displayed.