Dev Log: From Start of Project to Publishing

10/9:

I was having trouble deciding what I wanted to create as a game.  I knew that it shouldn’t be too simple and should be fun, but I also needed to make sure it was something I can realistically complete before the deadline.  I was walking at night to get some dinner, and I saw someone riding a skateboard.  Something about him on a skateboard at night in the city made me want to make an endless runner on a hoverboard.  I thought that a futuristic look would be a lot of fun to explore.  

I’ve been doing some brainstorming for my game, and I really like the name “Skyline Escape.”  The player will essentially need to use jumping and sliding around to escape from a futuristic police force.  You will need to slide across neon platforms and buildings.  I may also add some sort of combat, but I don’t think that will be necessary for this game.

10/11:

I was making some sprites before getting started on Unity, and I tried a few looks for the player.  I decided that he looked badass with a helmet, leather jacket, and a laser gun.  I want to make the gun function, but I’m still not sure how that will work.  I might just have him only be able to shoot forward to get rid of enemies and maybe even certain obstacles.  I also am trying to think of how I want the player to move.  

10/14:

I finished up a few sprites/animations, and I also added a parallax effect to the background.  It looks a little choppy for now and hopefully I could fix it, but I think it works well with this sort of game.  I don’t have much in terms of gameplay yet, but I started working on some movement controls.  

10/22:

I’ve added a lot of mechanics to the game.  It took me an extremely long time to get the movement now, as it’s a mix of code and built in physics which took some tinkering.  It looks pretty solid for now.  I was originally going to have you be able to stop and speed up, but I tried the game out with constant movement and it’s more fun and challenging that way.  The controls will include jumping, crouching to dodge shots/obstacles, tilting, and shooting in front of you.  I also started looking for some options for music and sound.  I found some nice free cyberpunk-style music that should sound great for this game.  I still need to work on the levels and the shooting mechanics as well as where to place enemies.  

10/26:

The past few days I added some more varied objects and finally made a title screen and a gameover scene.  The art/fonts on them are very simple, but I would rather focus my time working on the gameplay than the menu.

10/27:

I added three prefab levels with different layouts and challenges.  I wanted to mix up the mechanics in the game throughout the levels.  I’d like to add some more levels so that the chances of them repeating are lower, but I first need to learn how to spawn them properly.  I also fixed the issues I was having with the score, where I couldn’t find a way to have the score stay/display once the player dies and the game over scene is active.  I somehow messed something up earlier while working on this and I nearly lost hours of progress, but thankfully I solved the issue.

10/28:

Last day to work on this.  I’m currently writing this part at 3AM, with a game that is finally being exported.  On the last day I fixed a few collision/trigger issues, edited some music to be loopable (there’s also a different track for the menu scene and the game scene).  I also was able to, after hours of research and trying not to punch my computer in frustration, figure out how to spawn the prefabs.  I added another prefab after, and I intend on adding some more fun ones later on.  

I asked a few of my roommates to play the game, and turns out it’s pretty hard at first.  I guess I’ve been so close to it that I didn’t stop and think about whether the game is easy or hard.  After the first few tries they got the hang of the controls, and were able to give me feedback.  They agreed that the game can use some more prefab levels to mix things up.  They also really liked the music, sounds, and artstyle choices.

Overall I’d say I’m really pleased with the project.  It’s my first full game on Unity, and although it can definitely use some improvements, I’m happy with what I have for now. 

Playtest Notes for “Skyline Escape” (10/29):

From Hofai (not in Game Dev Class):

• Seemed to be struggling at first with the tilting and the jumping.  He wasn’t sure how high you can jump/how fast you fall back down, so he died a lot at first.  Took him three tries to get the hang of it and have a good run.
• No bugs that we noticed during his 10-minutes of playing.
• Things he told me he liked: the audio, the art, the overall feel of the game, some of the level parts were well balanced/interesting challenges.
• Things he said should be fixed/added: more prefabs, a music slider to change the volume (also I should make the menu and game music the  same volume by default), a way to make the game more challenging if you survive for a while, and a better font for the score display.
• Other roommates did not play for as long, but they agreed with what Hofai said.

From Ashley:

• Was struggling with the controls for about 10 tries.  Eventually got the hang of it and was able to get further.
• Better UI: tell the player how they died.   
• Overall seemed to enjoy the game, but was frustrated with the controls at first.

Mitu:

• Instant respawns (maybe have that be a setting), for when people are still in the learning process.  Score can be shown on the manual exiting of the game scene.

One possible solution to the challenging process of figuring out the mechanics of the game:

• Instead of starting with one of the difficult prefabs, there can be a start level with minimal obstacles, and helpful UI.  For example, when an enemy is in front of the player, a text prompt can say: “HOLD S TO DODGE, SPACE TO SHOOT!”  Or when there’s an obstacle you need to jump over, the prompt can say exactly when to jump, so that the player immediately knows how early to jump before an obstacle.