In the world where legs do not exist, one must find a way to move. Fortunately, in "Slingventure" slingshot technologies are so advanced that they replace legs entirely. Soon you will have the chance to move around by taking advantage of the forces of gravity. However, you must be careful because a lot of crashes can happen if one is bouncing around.
A Slingy Plan
"Slingventure" is a 2D game for Android in an endless world where one must use a slingshot (inspired by "Angry Birds") to move the main character of this game. Because the world is endless the game is score based. In order to make the game fun to play different obstacles will try to stop the player.
The Character & Main Controls
The player can control it's 2D character by using:
- the slingshot mechanic - by touching the character, dragging it and finally releasing it to launch the character;
- swipe controls:
- swipe up to move up when flying;
- swipe down to move down when flying;
- swipe right to activate attack power to fight with enemies;
- swipe left to activate defense power to avoid damage from enemies.
An Endless World
In order to move further in the world there are checkpoints where the character has to reach. If the character is close to a checkpoint then it will latch with the checkpoint and the player has another chance to shoot its character. Also if a checkpoint is reached then the next part of the world will be created and score is increased.
Obstacles
There are several obstacles in the world of "Slingventure":
- chunks that the character can't touch;
- enemies:
- static enemies - they don't move, they stand in one place and wait for you to crash into them;
- moving enemies - they move in order to crash into you;
- shooting enemies - enemies that shoot projectiles in order to destroy you, these enemies can also be either static or moving type enemies;
- chunks that you can't touch but can destroy.
Technologies
"Slingventure" is mainly created in Unity but other software is also used:
- Inkscape & Gimp for art;
- Audacity, Bosca Ceoil & LMMS for sounds and music.
Programming is done with C#.
Art & Sounds
I will create all the art and sounds myself. Here's an example of the characters of "Slingventure".
Milestone 1 (21.09)
The Plan
I have already implemented some features but in milestone 1 it is essential for me to check what I must keep and fix/improve and what I should delete. I will be mainly focusing on players character and its controls.
Main tasks are:
- Refactor slingshot mechanic;
- Refactor swipe mechanic:
- attack;
- defense;
- move up/down while flying;
- Refactor players camera system (camera follows player);
- Primitive enemies.
Results
I finished all the tasks I planned for milestone 1 and even more. I managed to:
- refactor slingshot mechanic,
- add swipe controls,
- polish camera system,
- add primitive enemies,
- add some new graphics/effects,
- fix some minor bugs,
- create theme song for the game.
Milestone 2 (12.10)
The Plan
Milestone 2 is mainly about starting to prototype some levels and adding more visual effects to the characters and objects of the game.
Main tasks are:
- Think about level design and create test levels.
- Improve character visual effects, animations:
- attack;
- defense;
- jump;
- hurt
- ...
- Improve enemies visual effects, animations:
- idle;
- hurt
- ...
- Improve overall visual effects of the game.
If there is more time then:
- start working with the GUI.
Results
Milestone 2 changed "Slingventure": gone are swipe controls and now the player can move its character only by using slingshot mechanic. I decided that because it felt more fun and then "Slingventure" really deserves its title. I also didn't use enemies from milestone 1 - instead I created new graphics for enemy and made it stand still. Although I am not using some systems (swipe mechanics) from milestone 1, they are still ready and usable if I should need them.
I managed to finish all main tasks in milestone 2 and even more:
- level creation system;
- first levels;
- new character with some new visual effects;
- new enemy graphics;
- background;
- new block graphics;
- improved slingshot mechanic;
- learn and try out shaders in Unity;
- first GUI (pause button, pause menu, end menu ...);
- basic end state.
Milestone 3 (26.10)
The Plan
Milestone 2 was a game changer and now I will try to follow this new way in milestone 3.
Main tasks are:
- Think about GUI and improve what is necessary;
- Think about levels and make them more fun;
- Use some enemies from Milestone 1 in levels, improve them and try to create some new obstacles for player;
- Implement score.
Bonus tasks:
- Show a progress to the player: how far he/she has reached in the world.
Results
Milestone 3 improved this new way of "Slingventure" from milestone 2 and added some new ideas also for level design.
I managed to:
- improve GUI,
- improve background,
- think about levels and implement some of the thoughts,
- use old enemies from milestone 1 and make them look more awesome,
- implement score system,
- show player how far he/she has reached,
- create new obstacles for player,
- fix some minor bugs.
Milestone 4 (09.11)
The Plan
Now it is time not only to create new content but also test what is already made.
Main tasks are:
- refactor level creation system,
- try to add some randomness to levels,
- start adding sounds,
- test everything that is done so far and make improvements where necessary.
I managed to:
- refactor level creation system,
- create random level creation system,
- add some sounds,
- test the game myself and on 1 person.
Remarks from the tester:
- level layout or block graphics should have more meaning;
- pre-made levels looked more polished;
- the game is somewhat hard (especially when you are in corners);
- cookies should have more meaning.
Milestone 5 (23.11)
Milestone 5 will be the milestone where old systems and assets should be polished.
The Plan
Main tasks are:
- give cookies meaning,
- improve sounds,
- polish randomly generated levels,
- again test everything and fix encountered bugs and make improvements where necessary,
- create more balance to the game.
Bonus tasks are:
- try to make sprites look better.
Results
I managed to:
- give cookies meaning (cookies give the ability to use slingshot mechanic),
- improve some sounds,
- polish randomly generated levels (for example cookies spawn correctly now),
- create a litte bit of balance to the game,
- make some new sprites,
- fix some minor bugs,
- test the game myself and on two persons who haven't played this game,
- create more comfortable controls.
Remarks from the testers:
- the game is somewhat addicting,
- the game is a little bit hard,
- controls are good,
- tester found some new bugs,
- maybe the gray background is not good.
Milestone 6 (07.12)
Milestone 6 will create the first version of "Slingventure" for everyone to play.
The Plan
Main tasks are:
- create main menu (volume control, play button, exit button, player can see his/her score),
- create some kind of a tutorial,
- try to optimize (delete unnecessary objects ...),
- fix game over screen,
- fix all encountered bugs and make improvements where necessary.
Bonus tasks:
- Release the app on Google Play,
- try to implement Play Games Services for scoreboard.
Results
I managed to:
- create main menu,
- create a tutorial,
- optimize,
- fix game over screen,
- fix some minor bugs,
- do minor improvements.