The Project
Chris’s Crash was a 2D pinball-inspired action game based on the classic Devil’s Crush, reimagined with boss battles and side rooms. Each boss was based on one of our instructors at the CMU summer program, each with unique attacks and AI states.
What I Did
I programmed nearly everything, physics, enemies, bosses, collisions, win states, and systems. I wrote a custom state machine system for boss behavior and spent a lot of time fine-tuning the ball’s physics to feel right.
What I Learned
This project taught me the value of rapid iteration and working with talented artists who could keep pace. The biggest challenge I ran into was balancing the physics and making the bosses both This project taught me the value of iteration speed and working with talented artists who could keep pace. The biggest technical challenge was balancing the physics and making boss behavior both interesting and readable. If I revisited it, I’d add polish and tweak collision precision, but overall, this was where I learned how fast a team can move when everyone’s aligned and competent.
Why I did this project
For this project, we were assigned to reinterpret the retro game Devil’s Crush, we loved how unique and intense it was. Our take expanded on those ideas while honoring the original design. It was about pushing a classic concept forward without losing what made it special in the first place.