Golf On The Moon
Zombie Apocalypse Mini Golf
BEHIND THE SCENES
Design, UI/UX, Art, Visual-Scripting, Sound, Testing, Publishing.
Design, UI/UX, Art, Visual-Scripting, Sound, Testing, Publishing.
This is a multi-purpose project. From a production point of view, my objective was to see how Unity's new visual scripting tools compare with Unreal's Blueprints. Visual scripting has been baked into Unreal forever, while Unity is playing catch-up. The next part of the project was to make a core gameplay mechanic, and then skin it two different ways - once as a family oriented "for all ages" game, and then again for a horror genre (definitely not for all ages!). Both games are in VR.
Here's a look at the basics: managing simple concepts like scene navigation and tracking player-progress variables across the application. I normally begin any project with gray-box testing to get the functionality working. In this case, the starting visual assets are literally manifested from gray boxes.
With the core basics of data management working, I iterated forward to see how implementing the hand controllers would go. At the time I did this, there were no built-in functions such as snap rotate, so I had to figure out how to bridge between the visual scripting and the hardware. So far, so good. Visual assets begin iterating forward also.
With the systems working, I began to create the environments and fill in the assets. Decisions soon had to be made for questions relating to the UI. Should there be a heads-up display in your space helmet to see your progress? I tried that but it was only good for 5 minutes - soon after if felt cumbersome to have a virtual helmet further obscuring an already narrow field of view. I decided instead to go for a retro-looking display panel affixed to your gloves.
The zombie game uses much of the same visual scripting infrastructure, but it's not as simple as an asset swap to make a game with a different genre that feels right. Each game has its own unique visual style and feel, so each needs its own TLC for additional scripting (both for visuals and functionality) to ensure the overall UX fits the theme and mood.
Although Unity's scripting language (called "Bolt" at the time I started this project) is still relatively new, it seems capable enough. Blueprint is definitely more battle-tested, and integrates seamlessly with Unreal's overall slick implementation and friendly development environment. Naturally, Blueprint is noticeably ahead of the curve.