Thursday, September 14, 2017

Sphere50: Insights


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Sphere50: Insights


How did it all begin?

Sphere50 screenshot version 1
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:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Sphere50 player + 7 bots
Sphere50 2player


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”.


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