4C: Custom Clips Cleverly Cut

Description

4C: Custom Clips Cleverly Cut is a puzzle game in which you need to solve puzzles by manipulating objects like clips in a cutting software. Finishing levels grants you money to unlock new levels and customization options for your simulated pc.

Story

In 4C you are a newcomer in the video cutting scene and registered on the 4C platform to cut peoples videos with your cutting software 4C Studio 2005 to earn cash and climb the cutter rankings. Each puzzle is a task from one of your many diverse clients. Each client has their own personality and reasons for wanting to have their clips cut and uploaded on the internet. While progressing the game you slowly build a friendship with each of them.

Gameplay and Features

In 4C you need to solve puzzles by manipulating objects like clips in a cutting software. Place objects, adjust their position, and perfect their timing to give your clients the effects they wish. The shorter your solution is, the more stars and reward money you receive from your diverse cast of clients. Use your earned money to buy expansion packs for your cutting software, which include new objects or effects and makes you available for new tasks, or customization options and apps.

Workflow

The project was seperated into three phases, each lasting one month.

During the first month I collected first ideas for the game I wanted to create, landed on the idea it turned into, pinned down basic understanding of the idea and the fun, then did market research, with which I decided on the setting, visual style and USPs of the game. Then, because I had some time to spare, I created a first prototype with the basic puzzle gameplay working with a few tutorial levels. Based on this I was already able to adapt some mechanics, for example I added the possibility to move the puzzle objects in the game.

In the second month I fleshed out the technical aspects of the game. I added all menus, mechanics and most of the levels. The goal was to have the game function as intended already. Of course I also did regular play tests with friends and other students.

After the game was already working as inteded, I used the last month to add all writing, ui, graphics, visual effects, animations, sound effects, music, post processing and all other non-gameplay things. I tried to do as much as possible myself and only needed to use a font and some music from the internet. Then I finished the documentation I had to do for the final hand-in of the project. With the time I had left at the end I even managed to add another level and the star rating system and fix some things that were found during the play tests.

Key takeaways

TODO

Improvements

The main thing I would like to add are more levels. While there are 16 levels, most of them are quite simple. The reason for that is that I wanted to showcase all the different ways these mechanics could be used before making levels more complex. This would of course also mean further character development with the existing clients, as well as adding new ones. I would also like to make the design a but more true to the time and add more nostalgia and references to the early internet viral video time I wanted to reference with the setting.