I was handed this project while the studio was looking to rapidly proove out new concepts for their next game. I was given an early prototype of a broomstick control system, a team of 3-6 developers (some people where working across multiple projects), and 2 weeks to make it work as a standalone experience.

My plan was to build the game into a spell-zapping racing game where players held the broom in one hand and wand in the other, whipping spells at other players to distrupt and slow them down. Lacking the time to implement multiplayer, I implemented the game as a timetrial system with people within the studio competing for the fasted times with each major pass of the movement controls.

Despite its positive receiption within the team, the studio was shut down soon after the prototype was complete.

Contributions

Racing Controls

The biggest overhaul required was the control system itself. Working with a programmer we iterated through several variations of turning and drifting mechanics, particularly struggling with the camera. Significant improvements where made to the camera controls, however a lot of director level feedback was mixed between the controls feeling too floaty and not feeling enough like a broomstick.

The movement controls still not feeling right towards the end of the project, I implemented a drift mechanic that used the lean of the player to counteract a portion of the players velocity that ran perpendicular to the accelleration direction. In essense this combined the two conflicting points of feedback, forcing the player to engage with the broom in a more broomlike way inorder to counteract the drifty controls and acheive tighter lines around corners. The new system was very well received by the directors and internal studio playtesters.

Level Design

I worked with the level designer to define a sample racecourse that saw the player flying through a neon-lit night city (a deliberate choice to combine neon punk with the traditional depiction of a flying broom), with a focus on controlling elevation throughout the course to create a rollercoaster like effect with the broomsticks momentum system, and creating various cornering challenges to test the players ability to master the controls.