EGAM202 - Week 2 Project

Eat as many apples as you can without running into spikes or a wall!

Control the creature using the buttons in the lower right (You can also use WASD or the arrow keys)

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Technical Content

• Github link: https://github.com/chadcableAC/egam202a_fa23

Lecture Content

Here's 3 functions used in the prototype:

• public void OnPressed()
  • This function is called when a button is pressed. The buttons in the lower right use this function to send a direction to the main box.
• public void ChangeDirection(Vector3 newDirection)
  • This function takes a Vector3 to update the direction the box. Each of the buttons in the lower right have a different direction to assign the box (Left, right, up, and down).
• public Vector3 GetDirection()
  • This function returns the current direction of the box. The buttons in the lower right compare the return value to their direction, and turn on/off when the directions match.

Creative Content

Balance

• I spent a couple of cycles getting the difficult ramping feeling good. The character speed and the frequency of obstacles are based on the number of apples collected - so the game only increases difficulty when the player succeeds (This felt more fair than a timer).
• Placement does a collision check to prevent overlapping with each other or the player.
• The apples have a collider bigger than their visuals to make them easier to collect. Spikes have a smaller collider than their visuals to make them harder to hit.

Iteration

• A couple of passes on difficulty (How quickly the player and obstacles ramp up).
• Added WASD and arrow key support after seeing playtesters use that instead of the onscreen buttons.

Communication Feedback

• Apples play a particle (and change the color of the background) when collected.
• Updated the character visuals to reinforce the movement direction, and to read better with the camera angle. Also added a trail renderer and particles to help communicate the change in speed.
• On game over the background changes color and the movement buttons are disabled.