Plunder Panic
Character Controller
Early in the game's development process, I created the base character controller for all the pirates. We later created subclasses for the Captain and Crew Members. Each pirate can walk, jump, drop through platforms, and interact with objects. While carrying an object, pirates lose the ability to interact.
Win Conditions
We wanted Plunder Panic to have a variety of win conditions so that strategy would be a key aspect of the game. We eventually settled on four - killing the opponents' captain enough times, collecting enough treasure, firing a cannon three times, and rowing a rowboat to the opponents' ship. I worked with the other programmers to develop each of these systems.
Sword Mechanics
The swordfighting systems I developed were designed to favor careful attacks over aggressive approaches. If two swords hit each other, they will clash and both pirates will bounce back. If a player misses, they will be stuck for a moment before being able to move again, leaving them open to a counterattack. The end result is players moving around each other strategically to attempt to trick the opponent into making the first move.
Items
In order to keep gameplay frantic and fresh across many sessions, items were introduced to the game. I developed the mechanics behind carrying items and worked on a few of the individual item effects, including the Captain's Hat, which turns a Crew Member into a Captain until they lose a life.