Sphere50: Insights
How did it all begin?
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| First version |
Back in 2012 a friend and I decided to
work on a small racing indie game, based on the old SNES Offroad
game. After spending several months on it we realized this was
too ambitious
for a first project (multiplayer online with vehicle physics
and animations). That's why we decided to work on something new, with
simpler mechanics: a game of balls moving around that should not take
more than 1-2 minutes per round.
What did I learn?
The core idea of the
project is very simple. The “main” mechanic we use is object
collision. Everything else was secondary. As such it was a big
surprise how much I had to learn and implement to create a complete
game.
When I started working on
this project I barely knew the Unity3D and most of the engine's
functions were a mystery. At first I thought I only needed some basic
knowledge and my programming skills. That was far from reality. I had
to delve into user interface, artificial intelligence, scene
management, sound control, scene syncing and many more things. The
project went through many iterations and idea concepts till we
reached the current version. My learned lesson was to organize
everything in detail before implementing features, specially taking
into account updates for the future.
What is the end result?
The end result is the game
that I am posting here. This is the third iteration of the project.
Here is a small outline of the milestones achieved:
- June 2015: Runner up at the Edge Get into Games 2015 competition. This was a early prototype that technically was built within 2-3 months.
- September 2016: Final version with upgraded visuals, UI/ UX, AI, particle effects, levels, Options, Controls, etc. Everything was improved, polished and with an original soundtrack.
- September 2017: This is the last update so far and we just focused on improving UI and FX elements.
This project has been
moving slowly as we have worked on it part-time while working and
studying and we could only manage to spend little time with it.
Nevertheless we are proud of the resulting game. I hope people will
also enjoy it.
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The game:
This is a game to play
with 3 friends in a frenetic free-for-all arena brawler. Play it in a
single keyboard (it is possible) or with some game-pads.
The goal is to acquire
enough points through collecting, stealing or pushing other balls out
of the map. It's as simple as it gets. There is the option to play
“solo” with bots, but the best feature is to play with friends.
There are 5 different spheres to choose from and up to 9 maps to play
on. For a quick peek, check the “Sphere50 trailer 2”.
