JULIETA CRUZ
Hands on Deck
A 3D two-player game combining motion capture and arcade controls! Play as a jellyfish pirate defending its ship against enemy ships and THE KRAKEN! One player shoots while the other aims the cannon. Players must evade obstacles and ensure they have enough ammo to take down all their enemies.
Gameplay Footage
My Role
Programmer, Project Manager
Technical UI
Implemented all of the UI needed for the game, as well as developing a whole interactive menu.
Developed Real-Life Controls
Set up an arcade button for shooting and Qualisys Motion Capture to track player movement.
Programmer
Developed the core supporting gameplay mechanics, the cannon firing system, and the full player death/respawn cycle.
Project Management
Set up and coordinated team members, facilitating communication and collaboration.
Process Overview
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I am most proud of how our game has come along and how we've achieved our main goals.
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If we had more time, I would love to polish with more animations for UI, in-game characters, and scale even more difficulty with other enemies!
The project's development started with initial class discussions and a presentation review around October 7th 2025, quickly establishing that the core fun would be a physical, arcade-like experience focused on moving and evading, which led to the early decision to cut aiming and the use of wheels, as they break.
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The process grew by defining specific tasks for art, such as adding baked-in lighting, particles, and visual effects like a smoke effect, and clarifying how player death would be displayed (HALO, X's, or a transparent shader). Key changes included defining the Kraken's movement between three positions, formalizing a two-player, physical location-based task split (one fires, one moves the cannon), and outlining a specific tutorial flow. Elements like the complex rope-pulling reload mechanism were identified as a risk and had a critical fallback plan to a simple button.
