Shepard Run | Devpost

Inspiration

We are familiar with fairytales and similar stories, so we decided to create a game based around a shepherd trying to regain his flock of sheep. This idea was chosen because it is a rather calming and peaceful premise, yet it is still entertaining.

What it does

The game lets the player take control of a shepherd who, at night, is attempting to return his flock to his farm. The player needs to walk up to the sheep to collect them and then walk back to his farm to deposit them. All the while, wolves will be spawning near him, wolves that he'll have to scare off, and these wolves will try to attack him and scatter his collected sheep again. The player only has a limited amount of time to collect as many sheep as possible.

How we built it

We used java with swing and object-oriented programming. We worked as a team and divided up the work, each person working on a different class. Sometimes we collaborated on one specific issue if it was especially difficult or unexpected. We used open-source sprites.

Challenges we ran into

Most of our team was unfamiliar with using coding using different classes in different files, so new had to come together and pool our knowledge. We also weren't aware of some of the features of java and swing that we needed, so we had to look online for advice and documentation. Working with Github and having all the members of our team isolated due to quarantine also made the collaboration more difficult and made progress slower because it was harder to all work at the same time. As always, time was a challenge and we wish we could have worked on this more.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the physics and collisions, using a bit-mask, that we implemented into the game. The organization and object-oriented nature of the game is also something we are proud of, along with the size and scale fo the map. Overall, we are proud of the game itself and how complete we were able to make it.

What we learned

We learned that it is more difficult, but certainly not impossible, to work well as a team, even isolated from one another. Most of us learned how to compile and use multiple java files at once, and we all learned a lot more about the features and flexibility of java and swing, also how useful object-oriented programming is when trying to add new features. Our coding habits and organization have also improved since we have also learned to plan out the game properly before coding it.

What's next for Shepard Run

We are looking to polish this game further and realize our original intentions with it more fully. With more time, a better wolf/enemy AI will be made, extra sound effects added, and visuals updated to make things more consistent and visually appealing.