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Blackholes and Nasteroids

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by Jussumman, Sep 26, 2015.

  1. Jussumman

    Jussumman

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2014
    Posts:
    15
    I was doing the Unity Space Shooter tutorial and got a little carried away with making my own variation. Fortunately (to save you guys from yet another space shooter top down game) in the process I came up with a totally different game with a very simple game play. I call it the Blackholes Game for now. I'm actually a fan of the classic "Chopper" with it's one touch controls that dictates direction of an already moving player object (for mobile phones). I have it working and made some videos of game play. Here are some screenshots.




    I have two modes so far for both the games. No levels; both are endless. They are NASA themed. I've taken NASA 3D models available in the asset store (I can and will change the models if this is a problem using them but from what I read it's not). I've been focusing on the game play code mainly and learning each day new things.

    In the first mode "Classic" the lost astronaut is wearing a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) but one side is not working so when he fires his thrust it propels him forward but in a rotation. He has about 7 shots before he is just in space moving following Newton's law of momentum (mind you most of the physics here is total fantasy of course and is only based on maximizing game play) The black holes descend down in waves slowly, as you have to maneuver your way around them. There is a crewlock bag that periodically floats by that you have to get and refuels you for another 7 shots (or whatever the setting is for). You score a point every time one black hole goes past the screen entirely. That's it. That's the game.



    There's another mode I'm working on that is more comical, "Flatulence" mode the player is without his MMU and has resorted to alternative means of propulsion. I showed Flatulence mode to my 6 yr old nephews and they laughed and really seemed to like it and asking if it will be on the iPhone. Also I am playing it more than I need for test purposes, so both are good signs I think.



    What I need to do and if anyone can help me or direct me are the following:

    1. The black holes. How can I make them more realistic (obviously not real physics here) but maybe look more like black holes. I looked into glass materials here and I found I need to buy the pro version to use it. I was thinking of using a donut mesh around the black hole that will have a glass material and warp the stars behind it. Also I found simulations of real black holes that show how they warp the "space-time" fabric, but not sure if there is a way I can mimmick that here while maintaining the integrity of the game play.

    2. Also I need to make an animation showing he's being sucked in. What is a good way to go about this? Transforming him so that he gets stretched out and goes around the horizon line of the black hole before being destroyed and sucked in. What do you think. Suggestions?

    3. Need to make a menu and UI. Maybe settings for how many times you can fire the thrust and how much you get for refueling. Or just make it Easy, Normal, and Hard modes.

    Nasteroids. There are a thousand and one shooter games out there we know, and here I found what I think the best version it can be made as far as basic top down game. I have no intention of going the complex route, but wanted to make a NASA themed game. In the Classic version you not just destroy incoming asteroids but also save lost in space Astronauts to score points and reload weaponry by nabbing rockets and crewlock bags (everything's in the bag I assume lol). The controls haven't been put in yet for any builds and just set up for desktop play. I read that I need to buy the Unity Pro version to use certain controls that require two separate touch controls, is this true? (like on the left the directional controls and then the screen or a button to tap like a mouse click).

    I will need to change the shot and explosions in this game as they are largely from the tutorial.



    The "Orbit" mode has the ship orbiting around the Earth and you have to defend Earth from incoming asteroids. The shuttle has been weaponized (of course) but you are limited to number of shots. Periodically a gun representing a reload of weaponry will come around. I am thinking of making the world spin but concerned about the size of such a model. Right now the game build (for each mode with the complex models) is about 10mb so that's not bad I think.



    So that's it so far. This was supposed to be a practice but I think the game play of black holes (at least) has enough pull for me to want to make it an actual first game. I might just focus on this game if not combining both into one depending how they come along. Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions (especially) about the black hole improvement and animation I need to get done.
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2016
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  2. Jussumman

    Jussumman

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2014
    Posts:
    15
    Update

    I made some web player builds. You can play and test them here Blackish Holes Web Player Build (non Chrome desktop only) : ) You might have to zoom in to fit your screen or adjust accordingly.

    Renamed the game Blackish Holes. The game is not fast paced and requires some patience. If you select the easy mode you get the most amount of thrusts to propel yourself. I was able to do some things I wanted originally, but not other things. There was a glitch in Unity I had to re-install the program.





    The Good

    • A fully working UI using the canvas : )
    • Easy, Normal and Hard modes with High Scores table
    • More appropriate name I think for the game

    The Bad
    • After several attempts at making a more dynamic look and physics of the black holes I was not able to make it work. I would need the pro version to use a warping of the background effect (using Glass). For now I'm just working with the personal version. I tried coding so the hole sucks you in for your death, but it wasn't working like I wanted. I will keep eyes open to improve the look and feel of the blackish holes but for now they are very basic with a simple particles effect around it rotating. It works.
    • I had lots of trouble implementing the scores table within the canvas UI itself, I ended up making a separate scene dedicated for High Scores. It works but if you pause the game and then select the scene it won't go back to the game, it's a minor flaw but the scores work so far.

    The Potentially Ugly
    • The screen bounds are working on web player but I don't know how these will work across different platforms and devices, I guess will have to take it one by one. I don't have any specific device settings in the code as of now and will see to test out on some simulations if possible.
    I hope the game doesn't totally suck and someone other than me likes it. This was inspired by the classic "Chopper" so it's pretty simple.

    blog
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2015
  3. Jussumman

    Jussumman

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2014
    Posts:
    15
    Blackish Holes is now available in BlackBerry World in both free and paid versions. Most people here probably don't use BB but if you do try out the lite version and let me know what you think. For the full version I added an unlimited fuel level to the mix.

    Blackish Holes Lite

    Blackish Holes

    Next up is Google Play store, I already have tested the game on a Galaxy but it's going to be much more complicated with all the Android devices around. This time I am looking to include Google Play Services so leaderboards can be stored in a cloud for all the levels -hard, normal, easy and unlimited.

    IMG_20151111_105439_500.png
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2015
  4. Jussumman

    Jussumman

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2014
    Posts:
    15
    I published this game in the Play Store! (woohoo).

    Blackish Holes Android

    I actually published another one Flippy Bottlecap, but that one was much easier and less time to make being the second one (so I didn't make any In Progress thread for it).

    Flippy Bottlecaps Android



    I'm happy with both games as these came out pretty much how I envisioned them. There were things I couldn't get done, but nothing major. The black holes I will hopefully in future apply an effect that warps the surrounding background. For now this alone doesn't justify buying Unity Pro, but maybe in future. Flippy my iteration of flappy birds I wanted to make years ago but now only got to materialize. I was at Jury Duty today and I played these games in the waiting room for several hours, made the time go fast and enjoyed playing both getting high scores.

    I still have to learn how to optimize the size of the files, here they are between 15 - 20MB. Not huge but for these types of drop down games should probably be smaller in size. I've yet to ad any ads or leaderboards, I'm not sure if I want to for these starter games. Anyway, give them a try!
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2016
  5. pauladam316

    pauladam316

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2014
    Posts:
    10
    Wow! This is really cool! I always love seeing people make space games that (somewhat) follow the laws of physics. I like the way that you have done the black holes as well, while not fully accurate they are perfect for showing what they are in a game. Good luck!