Capstone project

This is the title screen for the game I created for my grand finale at ITT Tech. For my final project at school before I walk that isle in my cap and gown, I was asked to create a game from scratch. We could use any game engine we like, but the only ones I had were Game Maker and the Unreal Editor. I picked Game Maker for this project, and pitched the idea of my game to the teacher. He liked everything I said about it, from the characters to the storyline. Except one little problem…

He saw the title was my H2O game (which I had based on the TV series H2O: Just Add Water) I had worked on a few quarters ago and neglected, and he said I’m not allowed to use anything from an existing show, game, etc. for my capstone. They all have to be original ideas. Ten minutes later, the familiar characters from the H2O series and any references to it were changed. It still has the same three mermaid heroes, their mermaid villain, the levels (although the last one had a name change), the items, and the storyline. And when pitched to him again, he gave me the green light.

When you press Enter (which flashes in the middle; the still shot has the text removed. I programmed it to do that in Game Maker), you are taken to an introduction scene that tells you the story and you are taken to the first level followwing the intro.

This is a side-scrolling shooter game (which my teacher hadn’t seen very many of) that encourages you to explore. Straying off the path will reward you with a power-up, a shortcut, or a trap. Think of it as a Metroid game without gravity.

The picture in the background was one of my photos from the beach. The production name at the bottom was something I came up in high school (which fits my username)