Scallywags
A project dedicated to adding unique functionality, Scallywags boasts first time attempts at complex AI, Multiplayer, Procedural Generation, Radar, Saving, Powerups, and more! Survive as long as possible while sinking enemy ships to earn as many points as you can. Will you last long enough to earn your place on the leaderboard?
Engine
Unity 2019.2.20f1
Contributions
Systems Design
Gameplay Design
C# Programming
AI
One of the hardest yet most rewarding aspects, adding intelligent AI that can chase, flee, patrol, and avoid obstacles was paramount to a game like this. In 2D games, it’s often okay to have the enemies move in straight lines that are bound to collide with the player. In a game like Scallywags,in order to make the gameplay more engaging, the enemy ships needed to behave in unique ways depending on their color to give them a better sense of being opponents rather than obstacles.
Multiplayer
What’s a combat game without a little player vs player? Getting the splitscreen and split inputs was a challenge, but it turned out perfectly. Each player has their own radar, score, and death screen, yet still switches back to the proper locations when playing in single-player mode. These little details don’t seem like much when you are playing a professional title yet were very apparent when left out of Scallywags.
Procedural Generation
Another fun element to add was a procedurally generated map. Given that the playspace is relatively empty because of it being nothing but ocean, I wanted the island placement themselves to be a bit more dynamic. This way, even though the map tends to feel wide open, each time the player goes into the game they can expect different powerups, spawn points, and even adjustable map sizes! A “Map of the Day” selection was added to allow the players to stay on the same map if they liked it enough as well.
Controller Compatible
Given that the game is two player, sharing a keyboard seemed less than ideal. Instead, I wanted to make sure that players could hook up controllers to play with, and even gave them the option between XBOX One or PS4 controllers. It took a while to calibrate through Unity, but the menus and gameplay are all fully compatible with those two types of controllers, allowing players to pick their favorite way to play!
Saving
Having never touched saving before, I was delighted to learn about playerprefs and to implement them wherever I could. The options menu will now hold onto whatever the player’s previous settings were through each play session, such as audio and controls, while the player’s scores themselves are saved onto a leaderboard if they manage to make it into the top three. This was a brand new concept that I was very excited to use, and will definitely be adding it to future projects.
