Unstable Star was developed in collaboration with the Video Game Development Club at Arizona State University. This action-packed, lighthearted adventure spans three unique levels and two challenging boss fights. Players play as a former Border Guard of the Intragalactic Coalition as he becomes entangled in a rebellion to save the galaxy.
As the club's vice president and systems lead, I oversaw project management, task organization, and project scheduling.
Unstable Star features top-down bullet-hell combat across three levels, each with distinct challenges and unique boss fights. Swappable weapons and abilities are offered to the player to encourage gameplay diversity, while a dynamic dialogue system brings the characters and narrative to life.
Each level includes unique objectives such as defeating all enemies, surviving for a set time, or eliminating enemies within a time limit. The levels follow a linear progression based on this system.
A dynamic wave system selects from a pool of unique waves for each level.
Players use abilities like Phase Shift (temporary invulnerability) and Pulse Bomb (area damage), with cooldown timers and usage limits displayed on the HUD.
The player has access to a variety of weapons they can unlock throughout the game, including the Pistol (slow fire rate), the Laser Gun (charge for more damage and pierce through enemies), and the Gatling Gun (rapid fire with cooldown).
The game features two challenging boss fights. The first boss requires destroying shield generators to disable his defenses while fending off minions. The second boss has a flurry of attacks, including a burst attack that sends out bullets in a fan, and a sweep attack where the boss goes back and forth continuously firing bullets rapidly.
A full dialogue system with animated typewriter text and character portraits, along with eight cutscenes, immerses the player in the narrative.
Visual effects are inspired by classic arcade games, featuring Unity's Particle Pack and voxel-style effects made by members of the club.
Original music and sound effects created by talented members of the club.