Pixelsocks: Tell me about your game.

Pierre Lemasson

Pierre: Puddle is a game where you take care of a liquid and guide it to the end of a level. We came up with the game almost an accident. It was just a student exercise that we put on the internet. It was actually a big surprise that it was selected by the IGF.

Pixelsocks: How do you do level design for a complex liquid simulator like this?

Pierre: We started by just making a lot of drawings. The programmer created the liquid simulation and a fantastic level-editing tool, and we just plugged the assets I designed into the editor. For each level, we just threw some pieces together to see if they’d work.

Pixelsocks: From what I’ve seen of the game, it looks like it all runs in silhouette. Why did you choose that art style?

Pierre: Mostly it’s simple, and that’s a good thing. We tried a lot of these shadows in 3D with a complex shader so everything would look realistic. It turned out to be overkill—too much detail that you don’t see. So we put a shadow over each part of the level except the glass parts. We also created a sort of X-ray vision level. However, it’s the same graphic style, except the black is white.

Puddle – Trailer from Pierre Lemasson on Vimeo.

Pixelsocks: Why did you decide to use different types of liquids in each level?

Pierre: We wanted to create a chemical game where you can mix different things to create explosive reactions. So we needed different types of color. In the end, we didn’t have time for the chemical feature, but we kept the colors as a graphic design choice.

Pixelsocks: Do you think you’ll have a chance to implement the chemical feature in the future?

Pierre: Yes, definitely. We’re doing an internship in a few weeks. We want to continue development of this game, for example with XNA, and create a tool in C++ that will create the chemical reactions and add gameplay tricks. You don’t have a lot of gameplay right now; you just tilt the level. You move your liquid and beware of flame, but we want to add more. We’re considering doors, bridges, and moving parts in the levels.

We’re hoping to have a good release in six months for XBLA and maybe PC after. Some people have asked for a handheld version, but the fluid simulation needs a lot of CPU power.

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Tags:   GDC · gdc 2010 · IGF · IGF 2010 · Pierre Lemasson · puddle · Student ShowcaseNo Comments

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