#projectarc

Sometimes it's nice to get everyone in the same place at the same time. It helps kickstart ideas, creativity, mechanics, and the whole game dev process.

For our second game jam we set ourselves the goal of creating a functional combat system.

We started the day with brekky, then we got stuck into how we would implement combat in the game. Beneath the surface of 'Someone hits someone else', combat can be incredibly complex. If we were going to finish this in a day, we would need to set some realistic goals:

Creating a combat arena to be able to test new features as we go;

Defining the concept of an ‘enemy’ within the game;

Implementing a simple UI button to set colonists to ‘combat’ mode; and

Creating models for enemy types and weapons to be used in game.

We set up our PCs and dived right in - by creating a makeshift arena. Here we could test combat without anyone wandering off, and stage some gladiator-esque action. The game came to life slowly over the course of the day: the environment was refined with some new assets, a few key props such as the caravan and a firepit were placed in the scene so it felt a bit more natural. 

With things starting to pull together and form a glimpse into what our game may look like, it's time to start talking about how this is being implemented behind the scenes!

In these game development logs, I'll be covering some of the major development problems that we face, design insights and anything else deemed interesting in the process of building the game.

The Core Problem

So we are building a tile-based real-time-strategy 2-Dimensional construction and survival simulator colony management game… *takes a breath* Honestly this can be broken down into MUCH more depth and actually we’ve done exactly that, it’s written down on a bunch of post-it notes stuck to some doors in my girlfriend’s house…

The reason this is relevant for development, not just for a 2D-TBRTSCSSCM either, is that it breaks down this huge task of this unique game/idea into a bunch of smaller ones that have already been done before. As a developer, you should be driven by killing redundancy in everything you do. This links to the commonly used statement - DON’T re-invent the wheel. This doesn’t necessarily mean download a bunch of libraries that solve your problems in several one-liners, well at least not when you don’t understand how they work.

One of the first things I did when I started development on this was google “A* Pathfinding Algorithm” and then implemented it myself just because I’d never done it before. There’s loads of path finding plugins on the Unity Asset Store and ready-made C# libraries that will do this, I knew that. But now I know how it works to its core, and how to extend this algorithm to work with what we’re building, which I already know will be a necessity in this endeavor.

Quick little progress snapshot. We’ve got trees that react to characters, a caravan that gets looted, evil mushroom men and a basic UI. 

What is going to make our game fun?

Combat! AI driven combat which comes out of making sound strategic decisions. It's the satisfaction of surviving in a hostile place by intimately knowing your people and what each of them is capable of. It’s about figuring out how to take the next step towards a colony that's more safe, secure and comfortable.

How does the caravan work?

Gives the player the ability to explore, but doesn’t force them to.

How will be get combat finished?

Item tiers for weapons and equipment. (how will this be done visually - make it easy!), more damage, more effective against certain creatures. A wooden sword might be better than an iron sword depending on the context. Terraria does this well. 

Durability might mean your item becomes less effective, but this can’t be a chore. You can’t just take things away from people, the system needs to be well-considered. 

Crafting is super important for our game and having a sense of progression.

How do we avoid the gameplay being too much of a grind? Fast-forward is a nice way of keeping track of your colony without getting too distracted.

Here we go.

We’ve thrown a few ideas around, created a few assets, assembled a few scripts, but how does it all fit together? Let’s find out over Friday night pizzas. This was our first attempt at a game jam, and there’s definitely a few learnings now that we’ve made it to the other side.

1. Have a plan.

Not the kind of plan where you think “Oh, it would be nice to have magic and cannons and realistic 3D water simulation.” It’s the kind of plan that should be more along the lines of “Let’s make this one really specific, really basic thing that our game needs in order to function”. We learned this the hard way by spending way too much time focusing on things which would be nice to have, rather than the things we NEED to have.

2. Everyone works differently

Some people work best in the morning, some people work best at night. There’s no right or wrong, just find what works. There’s always an overlap, so figure out how you can make use of this. It all comes back to having a plan.

3. You’re going to have to kill your darlings

Especially in the beginning. Think small, but dream big. Being ambitious is great but don’t let it stop you from focusing on what matters. Lay down the foundations before you even think about climbing to the top.

4. Add some other things gang!

*Stuff*