Microsoft
Edge - Surf Game
Edge surf game was inspired by "Ski Free" a game that was included in windows 95.
Masterminded by Parker Young, we developed an interpretation of ski free to be playable on your browser when you did not have access to internet. A direct competitor to chromes dinosaur game!
My first direct contribution was refreshing the artwork by creating more discrete artstyle that is readable & bright!
Gameplay
A good idea is something that does not solve just one single problem, but rather can solve multiple problems at once
- Shigeru Miyamoto
Standard gameplay loop
Every function that is game altering can have its presentation summarized in 4 distinct parts.
Gameplay
Incentive
Challenge
world/player
alteration
success
feedback
Current Game
Feel
Player responsiveness is defined by the time it takes our character object to move from one extreme horizontal to the other.
Objects and Functions can be more consciously placed along the Y axis depending on what point of time you want the player to focus in their mental timeline.
Note that a sensation of “air time control” can be built into this type of character model to increase player responsiveness. Ex. Mario Kart drifting function can slide the vehicle left or right to increase precision around corners and passing other players.
Quality of Life elements
Breadcrumbs
Using coins or other points of interest you can guide the player to upcoming functions such as ramps well in advance before they see the function allowing them the prepare beforehand.
Grazing
Build a power meter when passing obstacles extremely close but not colliding with them. Use said power meter to stun enemies and give a momentary i-frames
Air time control
Air time control can be built into the players movement model to alter & increase accuracy of where the player wants to be in the future, rather than the literal direction of the player itself.
Even though unrealistic this effect creates better sensation of precision of the player model & gives more opportunity to put actions into players hands
Controls
To simplify the control scheme we can reduce the number of buttons down to 3. This allows the game to be played easier on mobile devices and quicker to pick up to new player. In addition this can reduce our character sprites down to 3 angles for movement (down, left, right).
Key factor that will contribute this new control schemes successs is how the player slows down. As you hold [SPACE] to slow down you are able to make sharper turning angles. This helps the player 2 fold
Slowing the player allows the user to think about their choices
As the player slows down their turning radius becomes more sharp and thus more responsive.
This 1:1 connection of the players choices to action gives a positive impression of control and decision making during real time movement.
Maintaining Playability
with challenge
To keep the user engaged and the player character tactile, play testing with different acceleration, de-acceleration, slip angles, kraken speed, directly in relation to the map design is crucial that all components play to each others strengths.
I propose to keep the DNA of ski-free in tact that we use a “similar” acceleration curve to speed up the player character to keep gameplay familiar.
A long acceleration curve like ski-free or 2D sonic games gives an intrinsic challenge and feedback to the player that slowing down can cause problems of the kraken catching them.
Integrated Player
challenge
Giving the player the choice to slow down to doge an obstable can intrinsicly create a challenge of needing to keep up a fast pace to outrun the kraken.
In essence
1. the player can be extra slow to dodge all obstacles but get caught by the kraken.
2. Or they can be too fast to escape the kraken but run into obstacles.
The challenge of getting good of this game is maintaining a speed that is fast enough to escape but slow enough to control and not crash.
● Credits
Microsoft
Michael Diaz
Parker Young
Daniel Krenn
Team
Figma
After Effects
Pipeline
Thanks for looking!
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