The Dev Journey Continues
I've caught the game dev bug, I'm afraid. Making games is so much work, but SO MUCH FUN! The game dev process for this latest installment - Lord Hyperion Star Hammer - had its lion share of ups and downs.
This project started with humble beginnings. I was following the Unity 2D tutorial byGameDev.TV (those guys are awesome). As is my wont, I wanted a bit more of a challenge. It began with playing around with the Unity physics system, and after I figured out how to get enemies to fly fluidly along a path while also reacting to other forces (like bullets and such), I was hooked. Literally everything from then on had to be dynamically force-driven... no manual velocity setting anywhere, well with a few exceptions.
Then, playing around with particle systems and VFX put me into a frenzy where I turned into an idea generation factory. The laundry list for features I wanted to implement in this game grew exponentially. Things like a free-roaming mode, docking with space stations, flying through a gauntlet (where you have to navigate as the environment moves around you), were just a few of the many features. Sadly, these didn't make the cut... for THIS game!
I'm part of a monthly game dev meetup, and one of the other devs suggested a model where, instead of polishing a single game ad perpetuum only to release it 4-5 years later, it's better to release iteratively. That is, release a game early and often. Then release a sequel, and then another sequel, and before you know it you have an entire game series instead of a single game. Plus, the skills and knowledge you've gained make it such that you'll be able to execute more nuanced and well-polished pieces than you could by just focusing on a single game. That's the theory anyways...
In terms of sustainability and life balance, I felt pretty good for the most part. This game release was a bear, though. I set a hard deadline and stuck to it. That forced me to cut scope quite a bit, but it also caused me to pull an all-nighter over the weekend to get the thing ready for prime time. It was kinda fun in a way, reminded me of my college days. But I'm not as young as I used to be, haha!
Like I said, this game was a learning experience and a way to challenge myself. I also wanted to make a fun and engaging game! Let me know if I succeeded or not. I'm primarily in this at the moment for the learning opportunity.
I'm SO STOKED at the systems I was able to pull off in this game. To name a few:
- Dynamic physics - enemies reacting to bullets, explosions, etc.
- Weapon management - switching weapons, ammo, reloading, weapon cooldown, etc.
- A weapon upgrade system!!
- Dialogue UI - NPCs talking to you with scrolly-text
- Gameplay hints - e.g. "Press Y to switch weapons"
- A spawning grid system
- Lots of various weapon types - nukes, missiles, bullets, lasers, and my favorite, the epic beam laser
- A shield system that I practically stole from Halo C.E. (I made all of the sounds myself though)
In addition to these systems, this game really hones my skills on some Unity fundamentals:
- Global state via ScriptableObjects
- Async actions via Coroutines
- Event systems && action delegates
- Copious use of prefab variants
I even started on the path to more intelligent A.I. - I delved into Finite State Machines, and when that limited my options too much, I learned all about Behaviour Trees. I even implemented a working one in the game before I aggressively de-scoped a bunch of stuff so that I could get the game finished in a timely manner.
All in all, I feel like I downloaded a freaking encyclopedic volume into my brain this time around. The amount of stuff needed to learn gamedev is just astonishing. And I'm loving every minute of it. :D
So let me know what you think, if this resonates with you at all, and I'd love to hear your story, gamedev or otherwise! Cheers!
xoxo
Don
Files
Lord Hyperion Star Hammer
Retro arcade space shoot-em-up game
Status | In development |
Author | donjuanjavier |
Genre | Action, Shooter |
Tags | 2D, Bullet Hell, chiptune, Retro, Shoot 'Em Up, Singleplayer, Space, Unity |
More posts
- Major Upgrades in StarHammer 1.2.0May 26, 2022
- V 1.1.0 Released!! Tuning, playtester feedback, etcMay 25, 2022
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