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What is Bosstown Dynamics?
Bosstown Dynamics is a 2D top-down/side view game where the player works for the robotics company Bosstown Dynamics and needs to "program" the AI of a robot so he solves different experiments independently. Each experiment is a level the player needs to solve, which can be maze-like or more like a floorplan with different rooms.
The robot has to complete simple tasks, like picking and placing objects, pulling levers, opening doors, and finding his way through the level. With direct control that would be pretty trivial. This is where the programming-like mechanic comes into play.
In robotics, planning is often done with behavior trees; a concept that interestingly comes originally from computer game design. In Bosstown Dynamics we supply a simple mechanic related to behavior trees, such that a non-technical person can easily understand the concept while still having the feeling of programming the robot AI so that the robot solves the level on its own. This mechanic is a sequence of actions. These actions are executed in an order decided by the player. If an action fails or succeeds it is skipped and the next one is executed. After the last action, the sequence starts again. The player can choose the sequence from a set of predefined actions that are inspired by the behavior of a real robots.
The caveat here is that the sequence the player can build has a limited length. While the level might require 20 action executions the maximal sequence length could be between 5 and 10 actions. Therefore, the player needs to program the robot in a clever way, so that the repeated execution of the sequence solves the level.
Bosstown Dynamics sets out to be a puzzle game with a very simple programming-like mechanics. It is not a programming game. The difference is in the details: While a programming game generally has easy levels but complex programming mechanics, Bosstown Dynamics has complex levels but an easy programming mechanic.
OUR
TEAM
Juan García de la Cruz
Lead Programmer
Martin Nilsson
Gameplay Programmer
Axel Kennedal
Graphics Designer & Project Manager
Timur Sağlam
Concept & Level Designer