Michael Mohan
The project created for this module was a recreation of the game Frogger using XNA. This was a team project conducted with 2 other students. We created a new take on the game, where instead of getting one frog to the end of the level you had a certain amount of time to get multiple frogs across the level. I provided art and functionality for the frog’s animation and other add-on functionalities like the HUD (e.g. the timer). I also coded the movement of the frog and the control of the states of the game (e.g. the frog count and the change from the in-game level to the end screen). The game can be downloaded here and the source code can be downloaded here.
Multi Frogger
The game has 2 frogs, 1 red and 1 green. There are 6 lily pads at the end of the level past a road and a river. The aim is to get 3 of each of the frogs onto the lily pads. Whenever a frog reaches a lily pad it will stay there and a new frog of that colour will spawn at it original position. The amount of frogs on the lily pads is shown on the HUD at the top left of the screen. There is 3 minutes to get all of the frogs onto the lily pads after which the game will end. The time taken is also displayed at the top left of the screen. With 30 seconds remaining, a sound will play to warn that time is running out. This sound will play again with 15, 10 and 5 seconds remain until the game ends. There are 3 lives within the game, represented in the HUD as 3 frogs. When all lives are used up, the game is ended. A life can be lost in numerous ways. If one of the frogs collides with the vehicles moving across the road, or if the 2 frogs collide with each other, a life will be lost. Also, if a frog falls into the river, a life will be lost. The frogs will have to hop onto logs that float on the river to get across. If a life is lost, or if a frog hops onto a lily pad that already has a frog on it, the frog’s position will be reset. This will also happen if 3 of one type of frog have already landed onto lily pads and another of that same coloured frog hops onto an empty lily pad.
To get all of the frogs to the lily pads on the other end of the screen, they need to work together. There are 3 levels in the game, and each one utilises a unique switch system to allow the frogs to cooperate. In level 1, when a frog jumps onto a switch, it will cause the water to flow in the river and the logs floating on the river to move. This can be used to line the logs up for the frogs to hop onto them and get across the river, or to move the logs while one frog is on them. One frog can hop on and off the switch to move the logs so that the other frog can get onto the lily pad without falling into the water. When a frog reaches a lily pad, the switch will move to another place on the road. If 3 of each of the frogs manage to land on the lily pads, then the timer will reset and the game will move onto level 2. The cooperative play for level 2 is more complex. This time there are 2 switches. Only 1 of the switches will appear at first until 1 of the frogs hops onto it. Then the other switch will appear but the frog is now frozen in place. The other frog has to hop onto the second switch to move the logs. This time, the logs need to be lined up in advanced for the second frog, as the first frog is immobilised and cannot move the logs while the second frog is on them.
In level, there are once again 2 switches. These switches are similar to level 2 in that only one will appear at first that has to be jumped on to reveal the second switch. This second switch will allow the logs to move, but will also reverse the movement controls for the frogs. Now down and up are switched and left and right are switched. When playing the game, there are sounds to indicate when a frog is moving or when a life is lost. There is also an instructions screen in the main menu as well as a user score screen that displays the score from the most recent game played (represented by the amount of frogs that got to the lily pads on the other end of the screen.