About the Author

Introduction 

Hi there! Thanks for stepping on my humble blog about my very first game: Saving the Michi! AR.

In this section I will describe a little about me, my interests, my life (so far) and some other details about me and the reasons of why I did this game.

 

About the developer and first ideas for the game

About me

I'm a developer or programmer, whatever you want to call me. I studied in Mexico the career of Computer Systems Engineering from 2003 to 2008. I started using C, then python. For a few years I worked as an engineer but not as a programmer. I wasn't very good at it, to be honest. But I liked the idea about working with computers and technology, we can say that I had an influence from my dad, who is an electronic engineer himself.

Then in 2014 I decided to study a Masters in Science, focusing in Solar Energy, so I did a MSc degree in the Netherlands in Renewable Energy Technologies with a specialization on Solar Energy. It was here where I did programming for a second time using MATLAB and I found out that I wasn't that bad at it, so my interest for programming was having a renaissance. 

I always had worked with Macs, (since my older sister had studied graphic design and the Macs were a good option for that career), I did my MSc using a MacBook Pro and it was in 2017 that I decided to give it a try to do apps for iOS, even if I didn't have an iPhone at the time. This was then my first time using Xcode and programming in Swift, Apple's programming language for its OS's (iOS, iPadOS and MacOS).

 

First contact with Unity3D 

My first contact with Unity3D and the idea of making games, was in 2019, at the "Expo Game On", in Madrid. I saw the game "Gris" and in its intro, the "Made with Unity" legend had appeared, that caught my attention and after a bit of research, I learnt that it was a free tool to make video games. I learnt at that point about Unity, but the idea of making my own game hadn't taken enough force yet.

 

At Expo Game On, 2020

It was in 2020 where I took a course to make video games with Unity. I was amaezed for the power and simplicity of the engine: it was possible to develop a game for multiple Operating Systems (OS), (Mac, Windows and Linux), multiple devices could be targeted once the game was done: you make the game once and you can export it to PCs, Macs, smartphones (both iOS and Android), Play Station, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and many more, so there was no need to learn multiple programming languajes to fit each device or OS; just C# and a strong logic to convert the ideas into code, and the code into a game. It was during this course where the idea about making a game definitely was born, but I decided to focus more on the apps development with Swift because I had better chances in terms of job opportunities. So the idea of making a game was temporarily paused, but not discarded. 

 

Finally, it was in 2024 where I decided to build my first functional game. This is because I wasn't able to find a new job related to Swift and iOS, so I decided to focus on building my own projects and making a game was one of them. Being unemployed granted me the opportunity to do both things that I wanted to do for a long time: make a game to upload it to some digital store(s) and learn/reinforce new skills.

Game's Idea

 As previously stated, it was in 2024 where I decided to build my first functional game. I decided to make it a mobile game and upload it to Apple's AppStore and Google's Play Store, since I had all the required materials to do it that way. 

I decided to make a simple game, nothing to fancy nor crazy. It was meant to be a base for another game that later will be developed, with more elaborated details and probably slightly more complex gameplay. Saving The Michi! AR is some kind of apperitive before the main course, let's say.

I had already decided to make a simple but complete game. But what is the definition of a "simple" video game? A simple video game could be characterized by the following features:

1. Minimalist Mechanics:

   • Few controls (e.g., 1-3 buttons)

   • Straightforward objectives (e.g., "clear lines," "jump over obstacles")

   • No complex systems (skill trees, crafting, etc.)

2. Streamlined Design:

   • Basic graphics (2D/sprites, limited colors)

   • Small scope (short play sessions, few levels)

   • Instant readability (players understand rules in seconds)

3. Accessible Development:

   • Can be built by a solo developer or small team

   • Uses lightweight tools (e.g., pygame, pico-8)

   • Short development cycle (from days to weeks of developement)

And the definition of "complete game" could be the following:

1. Main Menu screen

   This could include: 

   • New game button (to start a new game from level 1)

   • Continue button (to continue the game from the last saving point or level)

   • Options/Settings button or some other button, in this case, a "Gallery" button was placed to see the pictures of the kitties that are found during the gameplay

2. Game scene

   • Where the game takes place, with short play sessions and few levels. The game counts with 14 levels in total

   • In the 1st level, 2 kitties must be saved to go to the next level. At level 2, the Player must save 4 michis. From level 3 onwards, the Player must save one more cat per level (e.g., at level 3, the player must save 5 kitties, at level 4, 6 kitties, at level 5, 7 kitties and so on until level 14 where 16 kitties must be fed by the Player) 

   • When a level is cleared, there is a transition from the Game Scene -> Loading Scene (where the pictures of the kitties in the gallery are discovered) -> Interstitial Ad -> Loading Scene -> Game Scene

     The ads are shown only if the smartphone is connected to internet, otherwise the flow would be Game Scene -> Loading Scene (where the pictures of the kitties in the gallery are discovered) -> Loading Scene -> Game Scene. 

     So basically, 2 pictures of kitties can potentially be discovered between each cleared level, (if the picture is not repeated, of course). 

     The use of internet is NOT mandatory to play and finish the game.

   • There is a countdown timer to save the required amount of kitties per level. The lifespan of each cat goes between 7 and 9 seconds before disappearing. The spawn of the kitties is about 4 seconds between one cat and another one. 

   • The farther the level, the faster the kitty will run away from you, so be fast to feed it before it goes away!

   • The countdown timer will increase depending of the difficulty of the level.

   • When the internet is present in the device, the countdown is over and the player didn't meet the minimal amount of saved kitties to clear the level, the Player will have 2 options: watch an advertisement to gain 20 extra seconds and try to meet the quota of saved kitties to clear the level, or go to the Main Menu screen, if the device has no internet, then the only option displayed will be to go back to the Main Menu Screen.

3. Game Over scene

   •  Once the game is finished, the game over scene appears and gives you the option to go back to the main menu 

   •  When this point is reached, we can say that the "game cycle" is complete: main menu -> game play -> game over -> main menu 

All the above description of the game can be found in the Game Design Development Outline. 

Once the definition about what is a simple and complete video game was identified, it was the time to think: what kind of simple and complete video game do I want to do? 

I decided to make it a game about kitties, since almost everyone loves kitties, and make it an Augmented Reality for Saving the Michi! AR.

You will find in this blog different aspects about how the game was built; for instance, as mentioned before, a brief Game Design Document outline can be found, detailing the main points of the game and its gameplay.

Thanks for reading and welcome!