ACADEMIC GROUP PROJECT - GUNBUGS

PROJECT DETAILS

Duration: 3 Months

Engine: Unity Engine

Team Size: 10

Tools Used: Photoshop, Unity, Probuilder Plugin, Unity Collaborate, Dungeon Scrawl

Duties:

INTRODUCTION

Gunbugs is a final year University project made over the course of three months.

Co-op play was required for submission, so we created a topdown shooter with the theme of bugs.

You and a friend play as a caterpillar hired by the bees to take back their hive which was taken over by the bug mafia.

The game featured three levels: Training, Tree, and Bee Hive. I was responsible for Level 2, where two new enemy types were introduced.

Gameplay footage featuring my level.

I utilized an online map creation tool called 'dungeon scrawl' to create this map, where I edited it further in photoshop.
At this point in the project the gameplay mechanics and enemies were established, so I took the task of creating the second level.
Since the game was co-op, I wanted to provide equal opportunity to players to collect powerups, so halfway into the level it split off where they met to encounter a new enemy type.

I expanded on my design decisions so the rest of the group were clear on what the level will entail.
The level was developed in sections with different 'themes' for each one for varied gameplay and challenge.
The problems I faced with this level were the fact that it was quite large for the view of the camera, so a map would have been beneficial.

BLOCKOUT

After creating the map I jumped into Unity and using ProBuilder I blocked out the level. I left some spaces for props and highlighted the areas that needed assets using a material of different colour, but the playing space was there and free for testing.
I utilized the programmers' enemies to create a playable space with blocks to get a feel for the scale and playable space.

Unfortunately the sniper enemy wasn't ready, so it was just left to test with basic shooter spiders.
This section split in two ways with equal difficulty to allow the players to split up - encouraging a competitive side to the game.
Without splitting up, there are not enough powerups for both players, but there is less risk.

The final challenge of the level. All of the previous challenges are present for the players to take on.
The size had to be adjusted compared to the map's plan as the scale was off.

Some changes I made included removing the branching out 'pockets' that seemed like an extra path.
Originally tried to make it seem like that's where the spiders were coming from but it confused players.

We added the destructible objects to break up the pacing and show the two paths were very similar.

The final push of the level features all enemy types seen so far all in one space - the peak of difficulty. Now with a beehive to enter the third level!

The assets that were used for this level were created by other members of the group with my assistance so they were aware of the look and feel of the level that I was aiming for.
We used modular tree branches to allow us to create any shaped level we wanted for a larger-scale game if we had the time.

ART PASS AND ITERATIONS