Jetpack Lerpz Mod
Lerpz is a tutorial game designed to teach developers the basics of the Unity game engine. The first class project in my Game Design course at the University of Arkansas was to finish the tutorial and to expand it with a simple mod.
A basic collect-a-thon platformer, Lerpz has some shaky combat and gameplay mechanics. Lerpz, the titular playable character, can jump and slow his descent with his jetpack. In an attempt to save the gameplay the best I could, I decided I would ignore and remove the most uninteresting game elements and expand upon the most fun mechanics. As such, the following changes were made:
To elaborate, the flight function is an entirely new gameplay mechanic that I added to Lerpz's code. By holding down the spacebar, Lerpz will use his jetpack to fly. However, flight will drain his Fuel. When Lerpz runs out of Fuel, he will no longer be able to ascend and will slowly begin to fall. Fuel will automatically replenish whenever Lerpz is grounded.

Flight is the new focal point behind Lerpz's gameplay. Instead of a mish-mash of arbitrary platformer mechanics that are just there "because it's a platformer", flight provides a decently interesting mechanic that can be explored through various level designs. Lerpz has a limited means of exploring a 3D space, but the Fuel mechanic ensures that Lerpz's gameplay is anchored to the layout and positioning of the level design.
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For my limited demo level, I wanted to quickly and easily explore some of Lerpz's new gameplay potential.
– Combat, being incredibly simplistic, frustrating, and shallow, was removed.
– Collectible items were dramatically reduced. In the previous design, there was an indefinite number of collectible items, many of which were scattered about haphazardly and some of which could be randomly collected from defeated enemies. An extraordinary number of collectibles were required to finish a level. This resulted in an unfocused design with monotonous gameplay and uneven pacing.
– Collectible items were enlarged and made focal points of the level. All collectibles are required to complete the level, and each one represents the completion of a major game objective or challenge. This makes it easier for level designers to know exactly where players will go and to design experiences around them. Furthermore, it makes collecting each item feel like a greater, more satisfying accomplishment to players.
– Most importantly, a flight gameplay mechanic has replaced the descent function.
I enclosed the introductory environment in repurposed "jump pad" props. This serves two purposes: 1) To prevent players from falling to their deaths on their first platform, and 2) To encourage the player to move "upwards". This is because players will first be introduced to the flight mechanic, most likely in an attempt to grab the shiny collectible on the first platform.
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Players that can escape the introductory environment will have demonstrated an understanding of the flight mechanic and will be prepared for the future challenges. Until then, this enclosed environment provides a safe location for players to fly around and explore the mechanics and limits of the flight mechanic without any possibility of dying.
This area of the level provides a simple platforming challenge involving floating platform. While not terribly impressive, it serves to provide a contrast to the original Lerpz game, where such a challenge would be impossible with the basic jump mechanic. Flight makes platforming and an exploration of 3D space such as this possible.
The second challenge was an attempt to explore an underutilized mechanic from the original Lerpz: Jump Pads. The original Lerpz used jump pads simply to ascend a short platform, serving a similar role to a staircase. Combining the jump pad mechanic with the flight mechanic, my plan was to create a more spatially interesting challenge.
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A needed collectible sits on a distant platform that is normally unreachable. However, by touching a jump pad, Lerpz will be shot into the air. Using this newfound height, Lerpz can flare up his jetpack to land on an intermediate platform, and from there use another jump pad to fly to the distant platform with the collectible. From there, Lerpz can use one last jump pad to launch himself extra high, enough so that he can fly all the way back to the main platform without landing on the intermediate platform.
The final collectible lies at the top of a narrow shaft. Attempting to fly straight to the top will prove useless as Lerpz will simply run out of fuel just below the collectible.

Once again, this is an attempt of mine to explore another underutilized Lerpz mechanic: Wall Jumping. Lerpz could wall jump in the original game, but there was not a single gameplay instance where this was at all useful. In this challenge, Lerpz can only reach the top of the shaft by wall jumping back and forth. It's simple, but I still thought it would be worthwhile.
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Unfortunately, the wall jumping mechanic is disappointingly unreliable. Its buggy nature might explain its absence from the original game. Regardless, it's certainly possible to complete this challenge, even if it might take an extra couple tries.
And just like in the original game, collecting all of the items lowers the shield surrounding his ship, and touching it results in a victory. Nothing special needed, it does the job. :)
