P2: Same game structure, two different feels

For your second project (first game feel project), you should create a simple side-view, orthographic “platformer” toy (not really a game, since there are no enemies or goals).

The project is due at 5pm on Friday Sept 13.

There should be a floor at the bottom, walls on the left and right edge, and at least 3 platforms.  The screen should be fill a 4:3 aspect ratio display.

You should create an avatar that can jump between these platforms.  This avatar should be very simple:
  • built out of Game Object that has two children (a Sphere and a Cube).
  • the two parts should have their movement coordinated to make them appear to be one moving avatar.
The avatar should move around using the ASWD keys and the space bar to jump.  The main task of the assignment is to create two different avatar behaviors that give two different feels:
  • Heavy, metallic, machine
  • Quick, nimble, elf
You should use textures, motion of the avatar parts, graphical effects, and sounds (background sounds and/or sound effects), as you see fit:  do whatever you can to create a compelling experience for the player.
You should NOT use the physics engine, except for detecting collisions between objects.  All avatar motion should be done by changing the transformations on the three game objects representing your avatar.
You should be able to switch between these two by pressing the 1 and 2 keys.
A simple starting point for your toy might look like the image below.

You will turn your project in two ways, as you did in P1:

  1. By zipping up the entire Unity project and attaching it to t-square assignment submission.   Please keep your assets small (if you use textures and sounds), and remove any unused assets before you zip up the project, so that the upload is as small as possible.  Include in the URL of your blog post in your submission.
  2. By creating a blog post on this blog, under the category “Project 2”.  As with Project 1, these will not show up on the home page, only under the category page.  Include a description of what you did to achieve the desired feel.

Updated 9/4/13:  here is a link to the sample code I showed in class.

Updated 4/11/13: here is a link to a more elaborate version of the sample code, that I showed in class today.

Updated 4/13/13: here is some guidance on how each of you are to comment on the games.  These comments should be posted before class Monday.

The TA’s will create a wiki page that assigns 5 or 6 games to each person.

For each of those games, you are expected to write a comment that addresses the “game feel” qualities of their prototypes.
When you are commenting, try to be specific and positive.  Some things to think about when playing the game:
  • what are some things you LIKED about what they did, and why do you like them?
  • what are some specific things that could be improved, and how might  they be accomplished?
  • do the two motions feel like they meet the assigned “feel”?
  • do the interaction aspects help create game feel (controls, avatar movement and how it interacts with the world, polish effects used directly to emphasize these interactions)
  • are the other parts of the prototype (textures, sounds, etc) helping or hurting?
Remember, this exercise is aimed at helping both of you:
  • each of us gets better at building games by articulating specific details of what we like and don’t like
  • well written, constructive feedback also helps us improve
Please keep in mind that everyone in the class is at a different level of experience (with gams, with Unity) and proficiency.  When you are playing the prototypes, please be sensitive to that.  Even if a given prototype might feel too simple or incomplete to you, it is up to you to find something constructive to say.    On the other hand, if a prototype is really nice and you couldn’t imagine how they did it, you should still strive to provide constructive, useful feedback.