1302

Build your army, command your troops, and fight in the Battle of 1302!

Overview:

1302 is a strategic deck-building tabletop game in which players must build an army and command their troops to achieve victory in a recreation of the Battle of 1302.

1302 was created for Android devices for the Digital Arts and Entertainment Group Projects course. It was created by a team of seven people, including myself, with the collaboration of the 1302 museum. The project took 11 weeks to develop.

1302 is planned to be released on Android and iOS devices via the Google Play Store and App Store, respectively. However, this has not occurred yet, so access to the game is quite limited. As such, I will provide an Itch.io link to download the APK for the game.

Please note that I will shut down the Itch.io page when the game officially launches and replace it with a link to the official store pages.

1302 was selected as a Finalist for the Rookies’ 2024 Game of the Year | Mobile category.

My Contribution:

  • Team Manager

  • Main UI Programmer

  • Main Spokesperson with Product Owner and Composer

  • Game Designer

General Info:

During the first semester of the third year, students are grouped into teams of five to seven and tasked with spending the semester creating a fully developed game. Projects are split into two types: Client Projects and Student Projects.

I was assigned to the project of 1302, a client project by the 1302 Museum of Kortrijk. They requested a game that focused on teaching players more about the Battle of 1302, allowing players to immerse themselves in the battle and possibly change the outcome from the written history.

Development was split into three distinct phases: three weeks of Prototyping, six weeks of Production, and two weeks of Polishing. It should be noted that these development weeks only lasted from Monday to Thursday, not including Friday.

My team initially consisted of six people: myself, three artists from the Game Graphics Production major, and two programmers from the Game Development major. Additionally, we had the opportunity to collaborate with a composer studying at KASK, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Ghent, who would create an original soundtrack for our game.

I was in charge of the Game Design, UI Programming, as well as coordinating with and keeping up to date with our correspondent at the 1302 Museum as well as the composer from KASK.

Prototyping and Game Design:

During the first three weeks, our group frequently met with our client at the 1302 Museum. One of the first things we did was ask what goals he wished for our games to achieve. This was because the ideas proposed to us were quite overwhelming. A PvP strategy game, being able to create your army, and being able to choose terrain that will dynamically affect the battlefield were many ideas that conflicted with each other.

Through discussing with our client, we learned what the main design pillars our game should uphold.

  • It should act as an extension of the museum’s content, allowing players to remember and recall their time at the museum by reminding them of their visit

  • It should immerse players into the Battle of 1302 and allow them to influence the outcome through strategy.

  • It should educate players more about the battle and the troops and weapons used during the battle.

Through these pillars, we eventually devised an idea for a tabletop strategy game similar to Chess. Players would choose their troops and command them on a tabletop board, taking turns between them and the enemy. The pieces would be troops that participated in the Battle of 1302. We discussed this idea with our client, who was very pleased with it, as it would accomplish the goals he wished to achieve with the game. Through this action, our group was able to scope out an achievable project that would meet the expectations of our client.

During these prototyping weeks, I focused on creating paper prototypes since our game was similar to a board game in game design. This allowed me to playtest it easily and make rapid iterations to make for a fuller experience.

Project Management:

While we, as a group, would decide on the tasks to be completed, I became responsible for ensuring that everything was going well with the team members and the project as a whole. This included reporting to our supervisors, updating our clients with our work, and checking in with our composer’s progress often. I would also check in with the team members to see their progress, make sure things were going well, and see if tasks were being completed.

I also took charge of many of the project's administrative tasks, including filling out and handing out weekly reports, instigating conversations about the progress that needed to be made, creating tasks in HacknPlan, and more. Other team members would also come to me and ask for help, and I would try to help to make things go as smoothly as possible. I also helped our team keep scope in mind and downscale where necessary. During initial planning, we initially envisioned very large features, such as a campaign mode, PVP, cutscenes, and many more. However, as time proceeded, I discussed with the team members whether to cut these features out, and they ultimately agreed. This allowed us to focus on the most important tasks to make a complete game rather than get stuck on tasks that would ultimately never be implemented due to time constraints.

As a result, while bumpy at times, production went very smoothly with no major hiccups or setbacks.

Documentation:

As the main Game Designer, I was required to write the Game Design Document for this game. However, this was a little different, as I was tasked to create the GDD using HacknPlan’s Game Design Model, rather than laying it out myself. This created some hiccups, but in the end, it was a nice learning experience.

Takeaways:

  • More thorough learning of HacknPlan, using it to keep track of what tasks were being complete

  • Better communication between clients and outside workers and coordinating efforts to achieve one unified vision

  • Learned how to work with a large group of people and make sure things were going to plan

  • Learn how to scope down and make adjustments for what was truly necessary for our game