LogInPixel Fish Creative's Noah and Irina spoke about the production process behind Arcade MiniGolf, explaining how their latest game jam title was developed and sharing some wisdom for those who'd like to participate in game jams.
Introduction
We're Noah and Irina, and we are not only a two-person studio, but a couple as well! Pixel Fish Creative was created not necessarily as a studio, but just as a place for us to collaborate and build a space for our shared work. We met working together at a creative agency, Paradowski Creative, and started collaborating in our free time for fun since our skills as a 3D Generalist and a Developer with a focus on XR pair nicely to set us up as a great small team. We just wanted to create a space to build neat things together!
Pixel Fish is only a few months old, but in that time, we have already created a variety of work, including immersive AR experiences, VFX projects, and even some games. We're excited to dive further into the web, XR, CG, and potentially even the event space in the future.
Participating in 8th Wall's Game Jams
We built an educational AR experience using VPS and Gaussian splats, featuring the Nydia statue at Saint Louis Art Museum, which won the VPS Grand Prize for 8th Wall's Real World Impact Challenge. We also built a 3D platformer-style game about a Parasaur on their quest to find their lost eggs, which was awarded 2nd Place in the 8th Wall x VIVERSE Forge the Future Game Jam.
We keep saying we're going to skip the next challenge to focus on other work, but just can't help but come back each time because the community is just so fun to be a part of and full of such kind and talented people whose excitement about everyone's work is contagious.
Additionally, 8th Wall keeps having great prompts for their game jams that spark new ideas every time. We initially were drawn in to join since Irina is really excited about VPS technology, and Noah is enthusiastic about Gaussian Splats, and it was just the perfect combination we couldn't pass up. Now the great community and creative space keep encouraging us to stay around.
Arcade MiniGolf
The theme of mini golf immediately excited us! Noah mentioned how he has always wanted to create something mini golf. We knew 8th Wall was creating a template for the mechanics, so the main question was, what could we make that would visually and conceptually stand out? As any project must, we needed to start with research!
So we went to the nearest Puttshack, a mini golf place for…research purposes. And it worked! While realizing that golf is, in fact, not our secret calling, we were inspired by some of the course designs. Two of which stood out to us: a Tetris-inspired hole and a bowling-inspired hole. This made us wonder, what if we could make a mini golf course entirely based on other games, like retro arcade games. We're both big fans of the retro arcade style, so visually we really leaned into bringing that to life when designing and modeling our 3D environment.
Our first phase is always concepting. We love to go for a long walk through a nearby park and brainstorm while we take a stroll. No bad ideas here, just word association and bouncing thoughts around. Once we nailed down a direction, we moved to paper. We made a list of potential arcade games and started sketching out course designs. Since 8th Wall so kindly provided a template for the functionality of the game, this was a 3D-heavy project for us. This allowed Noah to take time to focus on modeling, setting up the materials, and animating each concept.
First, starting with a greybox version of each course to test out the physics, then coming back through with a more refined version. Initially, all collisions were done in Blender, but then this ran a bit too heavy, so we had to revisit it and place all collisions one by one with cubes created in Studio. As the developer, Irina then came in to add a few custom components for certain aspects, such as specific collision events and audio effects. The core mechanic for putting was then altered to make it so that the user holds down the putt button to charge up the putt, then releases to trigger the putt. This made the experience a little more intuitive in our opinions. Once we had all the courses stitched together, we published and created our trailer for the game.
Tools
We used Blender for all asset creation for our courses. Then we imported that into 8th Wall Studio to bring it to life. All development from that point was done in 8th Wall's editor. The entity component system is really great for game development because reusable components can quickly be created and applied to objects throughout the experience to create the desired effects. 8th Wall's ability to prototype, test, and quickly publish on all devices without having to re-create and rebuild features per device is also incredibly helpful.
Making the Game in Time
8th Wall has useful documentation to guide us through the process. Additionally, 8th Wall has great support both in their Discord and forums to assist with development throughout the project, which is always incredibly helpful. We even asked the community a question partway through our project that changed the way we approached the physics setup for our objects.
Their approach for this game jam, of having a template, along with the information sessions for it, helped build a great jumping-off point for people to get creative and not have to worry about developing each feature from scratch, which sped up the process.
Our typical approach for ensuring we manage timelines for any project is to prioritize only the absolutely necessary features and components first, and then add polish layers later as time allows. It's best to just make the things exist first, then make it good, then make it great. Focusing on perfection and every minute detail too soon can cause a project to become overwhelming, especially with a small team.
Advice For Beginners
One of the best ways to learn is by doing. 8th Wall has great templates that can be used as jumping-off points to get started on a project. Whenever we have an idea, we like to first see what templates have similar functionality and can be stitched together, then refined to get the experience we want. Then working from that base, customizing and enhancing as needed. Just cloning a template and digging through it can be a great way to learn and understand what’s going on behind the scenes.
If you don’t know where to begin, that’s okay. Just keep an eye out for different communities and see when they are hosting a game jam. When there’s one that sparks interest, don’t be afraid to just hop in and see what you can make. It can seem daunting at first, but the parameters of a game jam can be great guidelines for creativity and prevent decision paralysis about what to make. Don’t stress about it, just make something you enjoy, and it’s likely others will enjoy it too. A fun concept or creative approach will often resonate stronger with audiences than the most polished game.