Nearing the end of prototyping


Engine

We've been testing out both Unreal and Unity to see which one we'd eventually use for out final product.
After some initial issues between Unity and Perforce, the Unity project seems to be going pretty smooth.
When testing Unreal, we ran into issues with Perforce and multiple people using the same blueprint.
Added to that, one of our devs has been having technical issues with Unreal, it seems like the final decision goes to Unity.

Code

In the past week we've been creating both basic mechanics, and tried out alternative version of certain mechanics.
These alternatives consist of:

  • Movement: Do we stick with the original idea of spinning in a circle by default, and using a button to go straight? Or maybe we just always to forward and we have buttons to turn left and right.
  • Map edges: Does hitting the edge just reset you? Maybe it instantly kills you, or you warp to the other side of the screen. What if it's walled off and you collide off the sides? Or maybe a mix?
  • Weapons: We started with default bullets to shoot other tanks, but wanted to try placing a timed bomb that would explode and leave a floor hazard. And a combination where you can launch the bomb.
  • Health: Do we just die in 1 hit? Or can we take multiple hits before we die? Maybe not multiple hits, but we have multiple lives and we die once we run out.
  • Floor Hazards: In combination of the different weapons and health, we wanted to try different floor hazards. Would we die in 1 hit if we drive over them like a pit, or deal damage over time like lava? Are they permanent, or do they decay over time?

The next step is to test these different mechanics and mix and match to see which ones work best together, and try different values such as movement and turn speed.

Art

Asset wise, not a lot has happened since the start of our project, a couple basic prototype assets were made like some bombs, a tank, building etc, but mostly only things that were needed for the programmers to implement. Two HUD mock-ups were also created to get a feel for the interface style of the game.


The focus of the art team has instead mostly been with choosing an art style and theme for the game. First, we decided to go for a flat color style, with almost no textures, with an art style similar to the game "overcooked". we later decided that a hand-painted art style would be better, since our game does not need a lot of props, so we have more time to improve the quality of our props.

The overarching theme was decided to be time travel, this allows us to have vastly differentiating levels with smaller sub-themes, such as western, modern, stone age, future and perhaps more depending on how fast we can create the necesary assets for each level.


Latest Build

The latest downloadable build has following settings enabled:

  • 2 players
  • Tanks have 5hp
  • Tanks always move forward, but can turn left and right by the player
  • Tanks shoot bombs that explode after a few seconds
  • Exploding bombs leave hazards that stay for a few seconds
  • Hazards deal damage over time (1 damage every 0.5 seconds)
  • The edges of the frield warp around. Leaving the left side makes you come in from the right

Controls are as follows:
Start the round by pressing G
Tank1 (red)

  • Turn left: A (controller 1 dpad left, or L)
  • Turn Right: G (controller 1 dpad right, or R)
  • Shoot: W (controller 1 button A)


Tank2 (Green)

  • Turn left: J (controller 2 dpad left, or L)
  • Turn Right: L (controller 2 dpad right, or R)
  • Shoot: I (controller 2 button A)

Get [group 23] Time Tanks

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