Swimmy - A 2D Underwater Survival Game

It is made much easier using the new UI system in 4.6, but it is still rather challenging. The steps you take are easy, but there are a lot of steps to take that are very repetitive. It is a hastle to deal with, so that is why I blame @TheValar for all my troubles.

However, I do like the results of my hard work. The custom UI looks much better than Unity's standard slightly transparent buttons, so don't let the challenge curve be the decision maker of how your UI looks.

- Chris

 

Why not just use iMovie or something free for the video?

 

Also for the recording program you should try Open Broadcasting. It's opensource, and is very extensive for a free program.

 

iMovie is not available for my Windows 8.1 operating system, as it is owned by Apple and is therefore, exclusive to Apple products (such as the Mac and iPhones).

I actually did try using OBS (Open Broadcasting Software) a couple weeks ago and I found that it's okay, but it doesn't have the ability to capture only a selected portion of the screen, in which Debut does. Debut is exactly what I want! However, I will give OBS another try as it could save me $70 if I like it!

Also, I'm not just selling my games and console for Debut. I also need money to register the domain name for my website, set up a business account with Google, purchase several publishing licences to publish my finished game to various stores AND I wouldn't mind having a more comfortable chair to sit in while I work! I also wouldn't mind having a Dr. Pepper and some Doritos Jacked next to my keyboard!

- Chris

 

Ha ha, yeah.

 

CHECKLIST

• Make Hardcore mode
• Finish new UI
• Solve the issue with hooks spawning in view of the camera (although this happens very rarely, I would still like to fix it)
• Display high score and finish time on the results screen
• Have bubble particles pop when they collide with hooks
• Make global leader board that displays the high score of every player in the world
• Perfected gameplay (improved movement)
• Set up touch controls
• Pause option during gameplay
• Finalize the name, thus finishing the title screen
• Implement Google's Ad Mob for ads
• Record & upload video to YouTube
• Make Impossible mode
• Make Baby mode

 

UPDATE - IMPOSSIBLE MODE & BABY MODE
​

I am considering adding a third mode of gameplay... IMPOSSIBLE MODE. Impossible mode would be much harder than Hardcore mode, as the hooks will bob up and down at random times and at relatively random speeds as well as a random direction AND the fish will increase or decrease in speed by a random amount at random times! Impossible mode WOULD actually be possible, it's jus that the average person would not get far in it.

I'm not sure how well everything being random would work while still having it be playable, so please be aware of the fact that Impossible mode may be impossible to make, but I will try everything I can to make it happen!

Baby mode would be the fourth and final mode of gameplay. It is the simplest and easiest mode to play. In Baby mode, the fish does not change in speed at all and moves a little bit slower than in Normal mode. Since the fish will not change speed, it will never get harder than it is at the start, so you could literally go on forever and ever.

-------------
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Fears? Please, ask!

- Chris

 

Baby mode seems nice, maybe have settings to tweak it though? Just in case maybe they want to change the speed?

Impossible mode seems awesome! I don't mind a challenge, especially something like this! Most games don't even have ideas like that for hard game modes--they make the level go faster, faster walk speed, and the mobs do more damage. But having the hooks move randomly and maybe rotate randomly could be promising!

 

If you want to change the speed, then go to Normal mode. I can't have a setting to change the speed because it would mess up the global high score system. I want the global high score board to display the high scores under 4 different tabs (Baby, Normal, Hardcore & Impossible). If everyone has different settings, it would not be fair to others. Plus, the speed in Baby mode won't be that different from the speed in Normal mode.

I like having options to choose from. I'm the kind of person that always changes the game's settings when I start a new game. But don't get too excited for Impossible mode, as I'm not sure if it's possible. I won't have the Impossible mode if it isn't playable. It would be tricky to get Impossible mode to always be playable as the fish will always have to be able to maneuver around the hooks, no matter where they may spawn, and it would be very tricky to make this happen when the fish's speed in/decreases in random increments at random times and if the hooks spawn at random sizes, locations and rotations, but I will try my best to get it to work!

I've still got a ways to go before I start work on the Impossible mode; it will come after the new UI, after Baby and Normal modes are working, after setting up the ability to pause during gameplay and after the title screen is complete. Ugh... so much more to do, lol.

- Chris

 

Well, isn't Swimmy an endless runner anyways? I'm sure even if you made Impossible mode somewhat impossible, people would still be able to make it somewhere if there isn't any ending. But if it is extremely difficult I'm sure the scoreboard won't be very high!

 

Right and right. It is an endless runner, but it wouldn't be an endless runner if you can't play it indefinitely which is why I need the Impossible mode to be possible, so all modes are endless runners. And I also want the player to know that if they die... it's all on them!

- Chris

 

This will be the title graphic you will see on the title screen! Courtesy of @Silver Games. I think it looks great and will work perfectly with my game!

PS: I will be taking a little bit of a break from gave development for a week or two to work on writing an ebook to sell on Amazon. I need money to publish Swimmy, so I'm hoping I can earn enough from selling a book. Please forgive me for temporarily pausing work on Swimmy. It's just that I need to drop one thing that I'm doing right now because I'm stretching myself too thin with going through my junior year in high school, game development, web development and maintaining friendships, so I need to let Swimmy swim on his own for a bit. I'm not sure how well being an author would work for me, but I want to give it a try.

Hopefully I can resume work on Swimmy in November. Feel free to play the demo in the meantime!

- Chris

 

What kind of book are you going to write in 1-2 weeks that will be marketable?

 

I do not intend to finish a book (from start to finish) in a couple weeks. I just want to want to spend some time writing to see if I actually want to do it. If I don't like it, then I will return to game development, but if I do like writing, I will try to finish the book. I will probably continue to work on Swimmy a bit here and there, but not as much as I have been doing.

I figure that writing is the easiest way for me to earn some money to publish my game. I have always been good at writing in school, I have a creative imagination and I like to type (as weird as that makes me ), so I think it will work out for me. As a junior in high school, I don't have time for a job until next summer, and Swimmy is an impatient fish. I see two options to make money soon: publish an ebook or become a drug dealer... And personally, I prefer the later.

- Chris

 

Haha! The last part made my day! xD

 

I think you should just release and add more modes later if you feel like it. You have pretty much got to a releasable level.

I am sure your parents might help with a licence for google play if you show them what you have done!

 

I don't think making money writing is an easy thing. Definitely possible but it will likely take you some time before you make a significant amount. Honestly you would probably be better off getting a part time job at a grocery store or something. Also if you just want some quick money mow some lawns or have a garage sale or something.

 

Do you mean to release the different modes as something like DLC? It won't be that hard to make the other modes - simply duplicate the current scene a couple times and make a couple copies of the script attached to the fish that controls movement that are slightly different from that of the original script.

They just told me that they would help with the financing, so I can resume work on my game now.

I actually applied for a job over the summer, but I didn't get accepted by any of them. Now that I'm back in school, it would be harder to work, but as I've said to TheRaider, my parents have told me they would help pay for the licenses, so I no longer need to worry about the financing.

 

UPDATE - WORK HAS RESUMED
​

I am glad to say that I am resuming work on my game! I have decided that writing is not my strong suit. I can probably get some new screenshots up here by the end of this week showing off the new UI and, possibly the new modes. The web player will be updated when I post the screenshots, so keep a look out!

Also, you are now able to pause while playing. It's a minor update, so it's not worth updating the web player for yet. I have also finished the title screen. I have also removed the credits scene entirely as it is pointless. The leader board has yet to be started...

By the way, I am no longer worrying about the fancy formatting of my posts. I have been told that the formatting is not a good idea, so from now on my updates will look like this. Replies to comments won't have the centered bold title at the top, so that's how you can separate my replies from my updates.

- Chris

 

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK (11/2 - 11/8)
​

• Finish the new UI. (includes: title screen, game scene & score scene)
• Start work on or finish Baby Mode, Normal Mode, Insane Mode and Impossible Mode. I doubt I will finish these by the end of this week, so I will be happy with just starting them.
• Upload new screenshots & update web player.

NOTE: I will cross out anything that has been completed.

- Chris

 

Yay you're back!

 

Yup, and I am glad to be back!

 

UPDATE - OFFICIAL MODES
​

There will be a total of 4 different modes of gameplay:

Easy Mode... The speed of the fish starts at 0.5 m/s. The speed does not change.

Normal Mode... The speed of the fish starts at 1 m/s. The speed will increase by 0.1 m/s every 10 seconds staring after 30 seconds.

Hard Mode... The speed of the fish starts at 2 m/s. The speed increases by 0.2 m/s every 10 seconds starting after 30 seconds.

Insane Mode... The speed of the fish starts at 1 m/s. You will have to tap the screen or press the space bar to gain a small boost of altitude like you do in Flappy Bird, as there will be gravity. On top of all this, the hooks will slowly bob in random directions every 5 or 10 seconds. There will be more obstacles to dodge, one of which will temporally blind you if you touch it!!

*Speeds and times may be subject to change.

 

BE A PART OF SWIMMY
​

I need help with some new sprites I have ideas for. I am not an artist and, no offense intended to @Silver Games, I need more detailed sprites. I'm looking for lots of different types of animated fish that are colorful and flow with the visual style of my game. I am NOT hiring, I am simply asking for free work. I will gladly list you in the credits! If you are interested, PM me or email me at bluebeanapps@gmail.com for details.

 

Yes, it is fine. Mine aren't the best nor are they the most detailed, but I am still learning to do art like this; but pixel art, oh boy, I can make that quite detailed and animated. I've been doing pixel art for like 2 years now. xD

Also, my internet was pretty bad yesterday, so I can get the sprites to you in a little bit.

 

I like your work. It's just that for certain things, such as the upcoming school of fish in the background, require much more detail that is not pixilated, and you say your skill sets don't are best with pixel art.

 

Yep! I have been doing pixel art for like 2 years, but I just started regular art almost 4-5 months ago.

 

UPDATE - UI IS FINALLY FINISHED!!!
​

I am glad to say that the UI has finally been finished! Here's how AWESOME it looks:

Screenshot #1: The finished title scene (main menu). Title art provided by @Silver Games.

Screenshot #2: Gameplay on Normal Mode (Part 1).
Screenshot #3: Gameplay on Normal Mode (Part 2).

Screenshot #4: Gameplay on Normal Mode (Part 3).

Screenshot #5: One of the four result scenes. This one has one star.

NOTE: UI text next to buttons is for show only. In the final build, the buttons will not have labels.
NOTE II: Times are not displayed on the result scene as of yet. That will be my main focus for next week.

What I want to know:
Do you like the UI buttons? Do the UI buttons fit with the visual style of the rest of the game? Also, what colors of text do you think will work best on the results board?

I just learned that I cannot update the web player demo for a while. I have been using Unity 4.6's new UI system to generate this beautiful UI, but when I played the HTML file for my game, it says that only I can play it. I apologize for this, but there's nothing much I can do... Hopefully Unity Technologies will release the full version of 4.6 soon! Until then, I will show off screenshots and hopefully a video!

*Screenshots taken: 11/8

- Chris

 

GOALS FOR WEEK #14 (11/9 - 11/15)
​

• Display times on result scene.
• Save the high score variable.
• Improve gameplay a bit (less lag would be nice!).
• Play a metal clunk sound when the fish collides with the hooks.
• Make music less repetitive.

If I finish early...

• Start work on Easy Mode.
• Start work on Hard Mode.
• Start work on Insane Mode (if Silver Games finishes the new jellyfish sprites he's working on).

Chances are, I won't be uploading any screenshots for this week because most of the changes wouldn't be visible (such as the improved gameplay and the sounds/music).

 

DEVELOPER DIARIES (WEEK #13)
​

This week was made so much simpler with Unity 4.6 beta's new UI system, which I must say is freakin' amazing! After 3 agonizing weeks of working with UI, my work has finally paid off.

UPDATES:

• UI is finally complete.
• Title artwork is up.
• Came up with the official names for the upcoming modes of gameplay (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Insane).

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Slight improvement to fish's movement. Unfortunately, this has created a bit more lag which I will have to fix next week.

I achieved all my goals except for starting work on the new modes. The UI took a lot longer than I had anticipated, but I'm just glad it's done!

By the way, I will post a Developer Diary at the end of every week to talk about the recent work I've done on Swimmy. To be honest, I got this idea from the developers of World of Tanks.

- Chris

 

Huh, the new UI looks better than I thought it would in game!

 

Yeah. I'm surprised that it turned out so good!

 

UPDATE - HIGH SCORE
​

I have finally achieved greatness!! I am, with great pride and honor, happy to say that the high score system is fully functional! It updates in real time when you break it and it is also stored forever using PlayerPrefs. Later on, when I make the global leader board, I will have an option to allow you to delete your high scores.

I'm sorry, but I still cannot update the web player with beta 5.6. I will upload screenshots of my best time soon.

On another note, I will be starting work on the new game modes very soon, so stay tuned!

- Chris

 

Yay!

 

I need help on deciding a final font for the UI. Here are the fonts I am looking at:

Agent Orange - Swimmy is the sexiest game ever made! 0123456789

Bumbazoid - Swimmy is the sexiest game ever made! 0123456789

Casual - Swimmy is the sexiest game ever made! 0123456789

Casual Tossed - Swimmy is the sexiest game ever made! 0123456789

Strenuous 3D - Swimmy is the sexiest game ever made! 0123456789

NOTE: All of the above fonts are in their normal style (ie. not italic and/or bold).

Keep in mind that I want the font to fit with the overall feel of the game. I'm going for a sort of cartoony look to my game and I want the fonts to follow that tradition. And, of course, the font must also be legible.

And yes, Bumbazoid is very hard to read, but it is more legible the bigger it is.

If you cannot see the above fonts, please take a look at the image in the attachment.

Thanks,

- Chris

 

with the exception of casual they are all the same (default?) font for me

 

That's what I was afraid of... It's because your browser isn't configured to display or recognize the other fonts. I guess I will have to take a screenshot of them...

Thanks for the info!

But what do you think of Casual?

 

DEVELOPER DIARIES (WEEK #14)
​

This week went by pretty slow. I actually did a lot of work, but I didn't achieve much. I spent a few days figuring out how to save the high score using PlayerPrefs and I finally got it, but then I realized that the high score maxes out at 00:59:99, just before 1 minute, and I don't know why it doesn't continue on into the minutes. I still have to figure this dilemma out, which will be the main objective for next week.

UPDATES:

• You can now get a high score to brag about!

IMPROVEMENTS:

• When you break your high score, it updates while you play, so you can watch it go up!

- Chris

 

GOALS FOR WEEK #15 (11/16 - 11/22)
​

• Make the mode selection scene
• If I decide on a font, update all UI text with the new font
• This one is for Blue Bean Apps as a whole: Finally update our website, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and Blog (this is a real pain in the ash!)

If I finish early...

• Display scores on results board
• Work on solving the problem with high score not passing a minute

 

UPDATE - RELEASE DATE
​

I expect to get this game on to the Google Play Store on January 3rd (1/3/15). I realize that it is more time than I need, but that's what I'm hoping for. I want to ensure that I will have the game finished by the time I say I will, so that I don't have to delay it more than I have to. January 3rd seems like a good date for me. I'm not sure when I will publish to other services, but it looks like Google Play is the easiest one to publish to.

- Chris

 

I am sad to say that I won't be working on Swimmy at all this week and probably not for most of next week either. My teachers thought it would be fun to give us a lot of work all due right before the 6-day Thanksgiving break, so I am buried in school work. I will still try to get at least one update squeezed in during the break next week, but I'm not making any promises.

- Chris

 

Unfortunate but you will still have Thanksgiving break! I have 5 days off for it myself and am looking forward to spending at least 20 hours on game dev!

 

Lucky you... I have a big presentation to do by myself in front of a class of 55 right after Thanksgiving break, and I get really stage fright.

 

That sucks. The teachers need to get their priorities straight. Kinda crazy to load so much work around such a big family time holiday. Anyway good luck with it. And I guess just imagine all of the audience in their underwear or focus on scoping out the girls.

 

If I were to imagine the audience in their underwear, I would start laughing stupidly and if I were to focus on the hot girls, my gf would slap me. lol All I have to do is make them laugh, which is one of my many talents.

 

LOTS OF UPDATES!!!
​

I apologize for taking so long to get something up here, but the wait has ended! I have achieved a lot these last couple weeks and now I can show it all off!

UPDATE #1:
Web player demo is now updated as of 12/07/14. Play it here!

UPDATE #2:
Mode selection scene is almost complete. I will probably get some screenshots up in the next couple of days. You cannot yet access the mode selection scene in the demo and you won't be able to until it is complete.

UPDATE #3:
Thanks to a kind soul on Open Game Art, I now have sprites for the jellyfish that will play as obstacles in the insane mode. Here's a peek:
The jellyfish has 4 animation states: move down (far left), move up (mid left), mode right (mid right), move left (far right).

UPDATE #4:
The gameplay runs slightly smoother now. I went through and removed any unnecessary bits of code to help improved performance.

UPDATE #5:
UI is finally perfected! Glossy buttons, cartoony text, it's all there!

UPDATE #6:
You are now able to pause the game and return to the main menu from the game scene.

UPDATE #7:
Slight graphical improvements in the game scene. I made the bar at the top of the game scene look better.

UPDATE #8:
I added numpad keys 2 and 8 to the list of movement controls. You can now move up and down with w/s, up arrow/down arrow OR 2 number key/8 number key.

I know this is a lot to take in, but be glad that we're that much closer to letting Swimmy out of the waters and into your phones and tablets!

QUESTIONS/CONCERNS I HAVE ABOUT THE UPDATE(S)...

1. In the game scene, is there enough contrast between the UI bar at the top and the background?
2. Is there any lag?
3. Thoughts/Impressions on the new and improved UI? Mainly, how does the font used for the text look?
4. Tell me if it takes a long time to load between scenes.
5. Let me know how or if the demo works for you. This is my first time trying it in dropbox, so I don't really know how it will work.

NOTE(S)...

• I realize the music is still repetitive. I intend to get on that in a later update...
• There is a minor glitch where sometimes when you start the game scene, the UI buttons at the top move a little to the right. Please ignore that. I will get on that eventually... It does not affect gameplay, so need not worry.
• The rankings button (right button on the title scene) does not do anything yet. There is no rankings scene at the moment.
• If you're wondering, the font I used to display the times is Casual.

- Chris

 

MAKING PROGRESS...
​

I am sorry to say that the beta release will be delayed. Things are taking more time to complete than I had anticipated. Since the beta release is delayed, the final release of the game to the Google Play Store will also be delayed. I want to have a 2 or 3 week testing period for the beta release and then have enough time to resolve any issues that may surface during testing, so the final build will come at least 3 weeks after the beta release.

I am not longer going to give exact dates on anything anymore. I will give the best estimates I can come up with, but I've come to realize that, as this is my first game and I am a noob developer, that I can't expect everything to go perfectly.

On a positive note, I am still working on the mode selection screen. There are currently two scenes (two pages) of the selection screen. Each page has two game modes on it (two modes per screen fits nice). The following screenshot is of the second page:


In this screenshot, you can see the two modes (Hard and Insane). When you hover over a button, it lights up (in this screenshot, Hard mode is selected). The treasure chest at the bottom has two animation states (it starts closed, then opens after a few seconds, and repeats). The starfish at the corner of the Insane mode button has several animation states: Its eyes move in different directions, as if it were looking around. And you can't forget about the bubbles!!

This scene is not yet complete. I still have to add text in the mode buttons to display your high score, etc. And the stars are not displayed yet.

I intend to merge both mode selection screens into once scene. What I want to do is that when you click or tap the arrow button to go to the next page, the camera will gradually slide into view of the next page, as a transition.

Lastly, the web player version won't have the mode selection scene included until the scene is complete. There is no new update to the web player demo at the moment.

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS

1. Does it look too crowded? If not, should I add anything else, such as stuff above the buttons to fill up that blank space?
   
2. Do you like the animated starfish?
3. Is there enough contrast between the selected button and the unselected button (ie. can you easily tell which button is selected)?
4. What do you think will make for a good transition between the two scenes? Do you like the idea of the side scrolling camera or would you want something like bubbles covering the whole screen, then wiping away, revealing the next scene?
   
5. Be a critic! How good does it look (please rate it on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being godlike ).

 

Yeesh, I totally forgot about this game! I think it overall looks nice. Also, sorry that I couldn't do the jellyfish(kinda late xD) but I got caught up in school and other life things.

1. Looks fine to me.

2. I like the way he looks, but we really can't if he's animated, since it is after all an image and not a gif. xD

3. Yes, and actually, I think the contrast needs to be higher-er(?) on the non-selected one.

4. I actually thought about a bubble one before I read that you said it as an option, and I think the bubble one would be nice.

5. Overall I give it a 4.8 stars. Looks really good(Being honest, no sarcasm or lying involved )!

 

@Silver Games Thanks for the feedback!

To be honest, I haven't put as much work into this game in the last few weeks as I would like to. Distractions are, well... distractions...

No worries! I felt bad for putting you through the trouble of trying to make an animated graphic, since it wasn't your strong suit. I ended up finding someone through Open Game Art who made the jelly sprites I showed off in my last update. I think these will turn out great! I still have to get around to actually placing them in the game...

True, and I thought of that while I was cropping the screenshot. I could upload every state of the starfish or I could try to learn how put multiple images together to make a gif, but that is way too much work. I hope to get the web player updated with the finished mode selection scene(s) soon, so you will be able to see the animations then.

Really? It is VERY hard to try to find colors that both look good AND contrast one another. You don't want to make the colors too dark because I am trying to give the game a vibrant and colorful look, like a cartoon, and on the other hand, you can't make colors too bright because they would take your attention away from other parts of the game.

...I suppose I could tweak the shades a little more, but there can't be much more contrast than what you see now.

That thought never crossed my mind until I was writing that post. I guess I just didn't have a creative mindset at the time. I would imagine making a bubble transition would me very difficult, unless the kind Unity team has some way to make it easier. I will give it a try!

 

Hey Swimmy followers! I apologize for not being real active here. To be honest, I haven't done ANYTHING for Swimmy since my last post here in late December. There is a reason though...

I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life. Game development was just an experiment; I never expected it to go far, such as a real game. However... the results of my experiment have shown me that I enjoy game development and would like to continue and finish Swimmy.

I am looking to form a partnership with a graphic designer to add some more sprites.

Once me and a partner are ready to proceed, we will restart Swimmy from scratch to make it much better. Also, Blue Bean Apps will be dissolved pretty soon. I don't know how I came up with the name Blue Bean Apps, but I want a name that actually has meaning behind it. I am thinking of some names, but I will work with my partner to devise a good name for our soon-to-be business. Once we find a name, I will leave this account behind and create a new one. No need to worry... I will let you know who we will become so you can still follow us.

I thank you all a bunch for helping me along the way and for encouraging me to continue my work. That is why I am not quitting, I am making it better!

It will be a while before we get a new thread up for the new and improved Swimmy, so please be patient. I will keep you up-to-date with our progress and our plans as we move ahead.

I will also dissolve all accounts associated with Blue Bean Apps... eventually (I need to get around to doing that... been meaning to for a month now... ).