Among my projects, Debugger is the most crucial one. As the lead programmer and designer, I played a key role in its development. The project began in a game jam with the theme "Roaming." We refined it to "programming world roaming," transforming program bugs into puzzle-solving elements. The demo pleased programmer players, fueling our enthusiasm to expand it. However, creating a puzzle game from complex bugs posed a challenge, limiting our potential player base. Continuing to draw inspiration from the word of bug, we again entered the brainstorming stage, and debugger 2.0 emerged.

 

Debugger 2.0 is an ongoing project exploring the concept of whether an AI with human-like intelligence and emotions could be considered as "bug" to be identified. The team aims to offer a unique perspective on the relationship between AI and humans by assuming the existence of 'superintelligent AI' in a civilization beyond human society. The narrative involves these AIs being introduced into an abandoned Western fantasy world within a metaverse setting, creating a story for the protagonist, a 'super intelligent AI' killer. The project faces challenges in integrating the "Metaverse Story Line" and "Western Fantasy Story Line" to depict the future. Ultimately, Debugger 2.0 becomes a METROIDVANIA game with added NPC appearances, side quests, and a "letter system" to enhance the narrative and engage players in exploring the environment.

 

After the project approval, we conducted extensive research on similar games. We adopted a high-precision pixel style, but unlike the common "Dark Middle Ages" style, we created a brighter and more dreamy Western fantasy world. Working on an action game, I faced programming challenges. I referenced multiple platform-jumping games and learned different hand optimization methods to make the protagonist's movements suitable for her body shape. In addition, we introduced the bullet time mechanism to achieve QTE and combo during the attack process, giving players a greater sense of control and achievement.

 

Debugger 2.0, as a complete project, differs from the small game demos I previously created. During the production process, I had to take a more macro perspective, and our team collaboration revolved around the word "standardization". As the team leader, I helped the team establish the standard writing format for the planning document. As a programmer, I closely cooperated with designers and art team members. I consciously created tools for designers, such as a dialogue content configuration window that planners can easily understand and use. Through this window, plot planning can independently fill in dialogue content and select text animations, events triggered in the dialogue, and template scenes that are easy for planners to implement. With this approach, everyone can carry out design and development work without my assistance.

 

So far, most of the protagonist action framework for Debugger 2.0 has been completed, and the core scene of the first map section is nearly finished. Whether the game can reach players or not, the leadership skills and advanced programming knowledge I gained during this development process will greatly benefit me.