Retro Arcade Open

Retro Arcade Open was a School Project for my freshman year of College. The details of the assignment were to use a given base of assets and code, and create a simple minigolf game. After the base game was completed, we were tasked with adding some unique elements to the game. I went a little overboard with my redesign, as I completely overhauled the given code and assets, created new ones, and created a full 9 hole golf course.

Options Menu

For a 3 week freshman school project, I did a little too much for the options in the pause screen. The pause screen allows the player to control many different aspects of the game, such as:

• Volume
• Resolution
• Fullscreen or Windowed mode
• The ability to change the ball color

All of these changes are stored globally, meaning that if you were to quit the level and restart, the settings would persist through the game. These settings do not persist if the player quits entirely though.

Animations

At the start of each hole, an animation plays that shows a birds eye view of what to expect in the level. Each animation is slightly different, as no two holes are the same in layout.

The animation on the main menu gives the idea of a person walking around an arcade, looking at posters and then going to a single arcade machine.

Each animation is skippable by pressing Spacebar.

Level Design

There are a total of Nine holes in Retro Golf Open, each one unique from the others, and with a special challenge to complete. Below are some of my favorite courses from either a design or fun standpoint.

Hole 1 is based on Space Invaders.

In this par 5, the player has to navigate around the invaders and into the hole past the purples.

If the player manages to destroy an invader, a stroke is removed from the total (only once a shot though).

Hole 3 is based on Pong.

In this par 5, the player has to make it past the pong paddle and into the castle. The paddle follows the player, and will attempt to block and push them away from the hole.

Clever maneuvering is required to outsmart the paddle.

The lines at the bottom of the hole are an homage to Atari. and the castle represents the game Adventure.

Hole 7 is based on Gauntlet.

In this par 16, the player navigates a dungeon similar to one a person would find in the game Gauntlet.

The course contains keys, locked doors, and food (don’t hit it). It is a long course meant to be more of a scenic course than a difficult one.

Hole 8 is based on Frogger.

In this par 6, the player has to make their way past cars and cross over logs in order to make it into the hole.

This course is very challenging as cars move very fast (and they are very rude). The logs despawn after the reach the other side. To cross the logs, the player must line up a very good shot.