Idea for this game were popular 2D project such as Donkey Kong, Super Smash Bros, Mario and etc. I personally am very fond of 2D games and think that they are still an important part of gaming industry even though I thought of complete opposite a few years back. Such games are always filled in with passion of their creators and can sometimes be as vast and vivid of both storytelling and game play as modern popular 3D games with open worlds. I was struggling with decision of which way to go before starting on this project and am very pleased with where I am and skills that I have acquired in the process of working.
To explain thing simpler, first I wanted this game to be as a hide and seek but it is hard to create such n environment for 2D game, as it is more compatible and fun to play in 3D games such as modern “horror” based hide-and-seek genres. A few examples of these games are “Hello Neighbour” and “Dead by Daylight”. Therefore I have decided to go with the simple seek mechanism that determines the shortest route towards the main character and enemy simply head in “for a strike”. As an enemy AI, I have researched into multiple popular 2D games and there were decisions to make such as you don’t want an enemy that goes in to strike you as soon as you re-spawn, as well as you don’t want an enemy just walking left and right like in popular “Mario” game with turtles and mushrooms as it in not making the game as fun and active as you would hope it to be. In addition to that, player can learn and time the movement and respond accordingly. Also enemy AI would be very simple in this case which is definitely not my way to go for this game. Therefore I have decided to implement a seek in a certain radius mechanism that is also smart as enemy responds and “chase” after player whether you are left, right or even above an enemy! In latter case, enemy will try and jump to reach and strike player.
As the game progression was fairly moving, I have thought of another mechanism that is completely opposite from the first enemy but would still fit the format of my game. In this case the second enemy would “flee” from the character as soon as you are in the same radius. Which led me to a complete new concept of the game: 1-st enemy defends the 2-nd one. As player progresses through the level, the final goal is to chase 2-nd enemy off the map.
Downsides: There are a few points to mention as the game is sort of in the development still and has a lot of room to expand and become a fully made game. For example the models of both enemies. They are exactly the same but with a different mechanism. This could prove as a benefit or a flaw in 2 ways. First variety, which is definitely lacking and can become boring. But in the other case, if a level was more dense and sort of vertical or even horizontal but far longer than mine. In this case I could have implemented the same types of enemies but with different functions. As main character has only 3 hearts, his goal is to chase bad enemies off the map and not to perish in the process as any contact with enemies means that he has been hit once. Therefore game could become sort of “search for runners” but be careful as there are chasers which are looking exactly the same! Game has still a lot of room to expand and evolve therefore it is not considered as a final product even though where it is at the moment could be considered as a “demo” and a fun way to test before the real thing.
Unity 2D Camera settings and how to use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTY11Am0Ig
Animation and animating (fights, standing breathing animation, jumping and movement): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkaysu1Z-N8
2D Movement in Unity platform: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwcT-Dch0bA&t=151s
2D game tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on9nwbZngyw&list=PLPV2KyIb3jR6TFcFuzI2bB7TMNIIBpKMQ&index=1
Tair Game Development Blog 