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Prototyping summary

My full time prototyping phase is over and I have not nearly reached the state I wanted to. But I learned to utilize Unity and how to implement software using it. And I have got a good base to continue the development in my spare time, so you will read, hear and see more of “Project: Evolution” in the future.

There are two main reasons, why the development schedule could not be translated into action. At first the plan was too tight and I had not enough time every single feature would have required. And the second point dramatized that even more. I abstracted too much, what does not support fast prototyping. But it will help me in the future to add new functionality and content in shorter time and is essential for the flexibility in configuration and modding.

Project: Evolution screenshot
Screenshot of “Project: Evolution” from 2014-04-11

You can still track the progress of the game when you follow my updates on Twitter and Facebook. I hope that you enjoyed and will enjoy the insights in the development I gave and will still give.

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Development Schedule: Building a game in less than three weeks!

Yes! A full game! Okay… It will only be a playable prototype. But hey, you nearly cannot have a sensational headline without bending the truth today. Nonetheless I intend to do a lot of things in short time without knowing my tools well. But I have got a plan:

Time Plan Result
Week 1
Day 1 - Set up the camera
- Import a space craft from the asset store
- Make the player vehicle controllable		 - Cameras for 3 levels set
- Free space craft imported
- Player can control vehicle view dependent with keys
- Mouse/touch input is not finished
Day 2 - Import enemies
- Create hostile movements by using mathematical functions
- Project floating-point movement to level resolution grid		 - Mouse input finished
- Two free space vehicle imported as enemies
- Enemy spawning functionality implemented
- Hostile movements created using predefined way points, but not finished
- Resolution grid missing
Day 3 - Render entities to textures and display results
- Apply shaders to the sprites for "quality downgrade" to match retro style		 - Scene is being drawn to a render texture
- Vehicles are placed on a grid
- "Retro" shader is absent
Week 2 – Research for modding options
Day 4 - Implement shooting and destruction system - Post-process shader program added
- Grid and render texture functions have been improved
- No projectile/destruction system introduced
Day 5 - Add environment (from asset store?) - Post-processing has been refined
- Weapon/Projectile system and simple destructions are included now
- Environmental visualization has not been addressed
Day 6 - Write "AI" scripts for enemy behaviour
- Integrate scoring system		 - An environment was added
- Simple scoring system has been implemented
- Projection to 2D grid was refined
- First attempt to integrate spline movement
- Research for asset loading capabilities
Day 7 - Include sounds and music
- Refine shading system		 - Spline movement between way points fully integrated
- Background music inserted
- Shoot and hit sound effects added
Day 8 - Build framework including menus - Movement of the environment added on
- Level abstraction and loading functionality assembled
Week 3 – Investigate releasing options
- Test, fix and improve
Day 9 - Level loading refined
- Colors mapped to Commodore 64 palette
Day 10 - Environmental shader for harder edges added
- Started to replace color palette constants by grading texture map
Day 11 - Finished to replace color palette constants by grading texture map
- Trying various combinations of environmental and post-process shader properties
Day 12 - Environment rendering for stage two simplified
- Directional alignment adapted to grid
- Indirect movement by mouse positioning introduced
Day 13 - Publish prototype - Vital energy for objects introduced
- Sounds can be played using an identifier
- Player is destructible and will respawn after some time
- NO DEMO HAS BEEN PUBLISHED!

I will amend and adjust items, when the right time has come.