Game development

Mike403

I needed a break from this website so I spend the last couple of months learning Unity and C# and working on my first game(learning as I went along). I tweaked it and added touch controls and it runs great on my phone.

The player is the red/orange ship flying around the screen. Firing and thrust is done automatically. Left and right screen taps rotates that ship left and right. The goal is to destroy the ship in the center.

TxTom

@Mike403 Cool. Kinda like Asteroids.

Mike403

@TxTom - I went for that '80s retro style since it wasn't too complicated. I'm just learning.

Mike403

It's called Orbital Fortress. It's starts out easier. I started the game on level 10 in that video. The player starts with 20 lives and earns 5 extra lives upon destroying the center ship as well as the difficulty ramping up.

Here's my basic non-effort title screen for now. I registered for a developer account on Google Play, paid my $25 application fee, and after getting approved to be an Android developer, I submitted this app for approval.

CharlieBear

That’s awesome!!

Mike403

@Charlie_Bear - Thanks. As simple of a game as it looks, it wasn't easy at all. I wrote a total of 24 C# scripts that controls the game's logic and they had to work with each other.... and trying to implement a new mechanic often meant breaking a few others and pulling my hair out trying to figure out why it wasn't working.

Stuff that is reused often such as bullets had to have the memory allocated for them at the start of the game to optimize and improve performance. Constantly creating objects then destroy them when they were done being used had a negative impact on how the game performed since memory had to allocated each time an object was created.

CharlieBear

Oh yeah, I know how much effort and trial and error can go into that, even if it looks simple to the casual observer. And testing it is oh sooo much fun 😅

CuddleDuncan

Wow! That's tremendous. A lot more difficult to make than it looks.

Mike403

The music that I used is from a website called Soundraw which is an A.I. music generation tool and grants paying subscribers a license to use the music in creative works.

hey, this is an excellent freshman entry! I'm a huge nerd and a few years when I was going through the rough patch in my marriage that ultimately led to my divorce, I immersed myself in retro gaming. First, I built a raspberry pi computer and added the Emulationstation front end GUI, then I figure out where to find and then install literally thousands of coin-op arcade games and first/second generation home console games. That was so successful I then had to build myself a bartop arcade cabinet so I could play all these games on real arcade joysticks and buttons. Then I spent a year mapping button, adding description and building the ultimate game machine. Lastly, I fugured I might as well MAKE my own game and add it to the machine. I really wanted to learn Unity and C# but I need a better PC for that. So, I settled on retro gaming and programmed a game that is built on the Mattel Intellivision software/hardware. The link below is the thread I made introducing it to the community and I think it contains some gameplay videos/

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/328212-my-very-first-intybasic-intellivision-game-sasuke-vs-commander/#comment-4963788

keep at it! Right now I am focusing on playing bass in a band, but if that falls through I will probably go back to coding.

Mike403

I won't be able to release it on iPhone it seems. The software to do it is only available on Macintosh and not on Windows. Apple is funny that way. I'm not buying their hardware.

While I wait for this one to be approved on Google, I think I'll brainstorm ideas and start on a new project.

TxTom

@Mike403 How about a CuddleComfort game? You accumulate cuddles and karma, but careful!... one wrong move and you're crushed by the Ban Hammer!

achetocuddle

@Mike403 As you might imagine, lol, I don't know squat about computer/digital games, but that is a really neat thing you did with your spare time. You didn't miss a whole lot by not being on the forum a couple of months. Welcome back

Mike403

Game engines such as Unity makes game development accessible to anyone who is willing to invest some time to learn.

The software is 100% free to encourage people to try their hand game development. There is no difference in features between the free and paid versions. A paid version is only required if your game makes an annual gross revenue of at least $100,000.

https://unity.com/

TrialKing

I want to learn to code so bad but my brain cant handle the if ls thens and thats and back and forth. I just wantnto create a text based adventure with graphics lop

Mike403

@FutureHeart2023 - You can try out visual scripting which Unity supports which allows you to create a complete game without writing a single line of code.

TrialKing

Hmm ill have to look into that

PrettyLuv

@Mike403 welcome back, it’s nice seeing you in the forums again

Mike403

I got permission from @Mark to post a link to my Google Play store listing. It's free.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.DefaultCompany.OrbitalFortress

Mike403

I have an idea for my next task. It involves procedurally generating levels.

entwine

working on my first game

Looking great! Keep it up.

I want to learn to code so bad but my brain cant handle the if ls thens and thats and back and forth.

Once you realize all of life is just a bunch of ifs and thens, it's not so bad

I just wantnto create a text based adventure with graphics lop

Not a bad place to start... Text based games are fun and inspiring. I played on a lot of MUD servers when in middle/high school and started with creating my own text based 'SUD' version of RuneScape.

TxTom

I used to love playing ATC (Air Traffic Controller) in the DOS version.

Mike403

This is my idea. The player spawns in a randomized maze. A tap of the directional button will make the player continue to move in that direction until they change direction. They get points by running over floor tiles they haven't been to yet. The tile changes color to indicate where they have already been. The game ends if the player crashes into a wall.

That'll be just the foundation. I'll add features as I go along. I need to keep my projects small and manageable, but not make it look like something I slapped together in an afternoon.

Mike403

I'm scratching that idea for now to avoid pumping out too much shovelware and continue working on the game I have and polish it up more and try to market it to an audience who may be interested in a 2D space shooter.

This is a skybox I added. This new version isn't on the app store yet. I'm gonna script it to change skyboxes based on level to give a little variety in appearance. The rings around the center ship looks kinda janky looking so I may consider doing something about that.

Bear

@Mike403
Great accomplishment. That’s wonderful that you also share it.

CharlieBear

@TxTom

I used to love playing ATC (Air Traffic Controller) in the DOS version.

Was it one of these? I wanna try it ☺️

• 1992: ATC Air Traffic Controller
• 1985: Air Traffic Controller
• 1979: Air Traffic Controller

TxTom

@Charlie_Bear It was a very basic, text only game that ran on DOS.

The airplanes were assigned a letter designation and an accompanying arrow showed the direction of travel. Using the prompts at the bottom of the screen, you adjusted direction, altitude, take-offs, and landings. Some airplanes entered your airspace through one of six windows. They either landed at your airport, or you guided them through your airspace and out one of the other windows. Other airplanes originated/took off from your airport. An alarm would warn you of potential collisions.

So fun, and so addictive!

CharlieBear

@TxTom
Oh sweet! I love playing old DOS games, I will def play it. It sounds like a precursor to games like Flight Control and Final Approach. I love those.

Mike403

I was known as Default Company in the Google Play store which was supposed to be changed in the Unity editor. I'm still learning my way around. The only way to change that name is to unpublish my app and create a new listing. I'll post a new link here when it gets published.

The name I decided to put in the company name field is: GalaxyGlow Games.

Mike403

How does my logo look?

Mike403

Different backgrounds were added based on the level the player is in. Level 1 is Earth, level 2 is the moon. This video shows level 3 (Mars) and level 4 (Jupiter).