Remaking My First Game! | Devlog #1

Mythic Legion

24 Aug 202015:49

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRA new YouTuber and game developer recalls beginning their game dev journey in 2015, teaching themselves Unity and slowly improving their skills over time. They share the process behind developing their current game about a magical metal ball that can collect cubes and use various magic abilities to attack enemies. They detail the coding challenges faced and solutions discovered in implementing custom mechanics like a third person camera, projectile shooting, teleporting dash, and more.

Takeaways

😊 Narrator started as a new YouTuber and game developer in 2015, inspired to make his own games after discovering Unity game engine
👾 First game was a simple rolling ball game with basic mechanics and particle effects
💻 Struggled with developing more advanced games on an older laptop with limited capabilities
😵‍💫 Spent days figuring out and implementing a controllable third-person camera using quaternions
🔫 Added various magical weapons and abilities like a machine gun, portals, almighty push and time stop
🚀 Implemented raycasts and spherecasts for shooting mechanics to properly detect collisions of fast moving projectiles
🌀 Created flashy effects for abilities like portals, almighty push explosions and a magic dash using particles
🛡️ Developed a shield ability with outline, intersection and distortion shader effects for visual flair
😈 Later enemies to battle will include turrets and potentially more advanced AI enemies
🚘 Created a tank by rescaling the player ball and adding a turret - surprisingly fun to drive around

Q & A

What was the first game engine the narrator learned to make games with?
-The first game engine the narrator learned was Unity, a free game engine with lots of potential for creativity.
What was one of the first games the narrator made?
-One of the first games the narrator made was a basic rollerball game in Unity.
What kind of computer was the narrator using to develop games in the beginning?
-The narrator was using a laptop from 2005 that could barely run Minecraft on low settings.
What camera technique did the narrator struggle to implement at first?
-The narrator struggled with implementing a controllable third-person camera using quaternions to handle rotation.
What were some of the magical power ups the narrator added to the game?
-Some of the power ups included a magic dash, shield, laser portal gun, machine gun, almighty push, and time stop ability.
How did the narrator implement projectile shooting?
-The narrator used raycasts and sphere casts between a projectile's positions to check for collisions instead of relying on the physics engine to capture impacts.
How does the magic shield work technically?
-The magic shield uses a trigger collider to block bullets and raycasts while allowing normal objects to pass through. It has shader effects for the glow and distortion.
What was a hacky solution the narrator used to get the shield shader working?
-The narrator combines separate shader parts that were only working individually by duplicating the materials and toggling them on/off.
How do the teleportation portals work?
-The portals use trigger colliders to detect objects entering. When an object enters, its position is instantly changed to the other portal.
What's next for the narrator in game development?
-The narrator plans to work on more advanced AI, likely for enemies to battle in the game environment.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Beginning the Journey into Game Development

The paragraph describes the author's start as a budding YouTuber and indie game developer, beginning their journey by going back to their roots in 2015 when they discovered Unity and started creating their own mildly entertaining magic ball game, but struggled with lacking proper hardware and coding knowledge.

05:00

😧 Facing Difficulties with Third-Person Camera Controls

The paragraph covers the author's efforts to add a controllable third-person camera to their game, facing difficulties dealing with quaternions and rotation issues, taking two days to figure it out and still having some problems with the camera going through the floor when the ball rolls.

10:01

🔮 Adding Diverse Magic Mechanics and Weapons

This paragraph details all the various magic weapons, abilities, and mechanics the author added to the game, including things like portals, shields, lasers, guns, and more. It describes how they were implemented technically using raycasting, particle effects, shaders, etc.

15:02

🚜 Creating Fun with Reskins Like the Dirt Tank

The author shares how they created a tank by reskinning and modifying the existing ball player model, noting how such a simple change resulted in something fun to drive around. They tease upcoming advanced AI enemies and future plans.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Unity

Unity is a game engine and development platform used to create 2D and 3D games. In the video, the narrator uses Unity to build his first game as a new developer. Unity allows for rapid prototyping and iteration which helps the narrator quickly build new mechanics like the camera, weapons, and abilities.

💡Quaternions

Quaternions are a mathematical concept used to represent rotations and orientations in 3D space. The narrator struggles with using quaternions to control the game's third-person camera, taking time to visualize and understand them. Mastering quaternions allows smooth, seamless camera movement.

💡Raycasts

Raycasts are like invisible lasers used to detect collisions and get information about what they hit. The narrator uses raycasts for the guns to spawn visual effects, apply forces, and open portals. Raycasts enable advanced interactions without complex physics.

💡Shaders

Shaders control the visual effects and appearance of objects in games. Though challenging at first, the narrator creates custom shaders for the magic shield to make it glow, distort space, and let the camera see through it.

💡AI

AI refers to artificial intelligence that controls non-player characters. By the end, the narrator wants to try making advanced AI enemies like helicopters that intelligently fight back against the player.

💡Particle Effects

Particle effects are visual sprites used to create magical explosions, smoke, fire, etc. They bring skills and weapons to life with flair but bog down old hardware, an early challenge the narrator faces.

💡Blender

Blender is a 3D modeling and animation program. The narrator uses it to model custom objects like the gun for an original look instead of only using simple primitive shapes.

💡Portals

The narrator creates linked portals that teleport objects to each other across space. Portals create novel puzzles and gameplay by warping geometry in illogical ways.

💡Modding

Modding refers to modifying or customizing games by adding new mechanics, items, characters and more. The freedom to extensively mod games during development aids the narrator's creativity.

💡Prototyping

Prototyping is quickly mocking up gameplay ideas to test what works without polishing anything. By prototyping often before perfecting any one element, the narrator makes rapid progress.

Highlights

I discovered Unity, a free game engine with limitless potential for creativity

I was creating my very own, mildly entertaining game

I still had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and I fell deep into the tutorial purgatory

Now I can visualize the fourth dimension and understand quaternions

I got a camera that can freely move around the player and aside from it being able to go through the floor it works perfectly

I made a gun that any fashionable ball would use

I got a pretty neat machine gun like weapon, complete with an attempt at a muzzle flash

Creating your own good sound design is a bit more complex than I'd anticipated

The magical way around this problem is to draw a raycast between where the bullet was and where it is now to check for collisions

I slapped together a turret and blender the beat up instead. It's not very smart right now though

The almighty push works by creating a sphere, checking for anything inside or touching the sphere and then applies an explosion force to everything

The real interesting thing about this shield though is the fancy pants shader it uses

The portals are definitely one of the most fun to use

Despite their flaws and jankiness it's super fun to teleport around, launch cubes out of the map

I have a great desire to mow down a bunch of enemies with the tank

Transcripts

Browse More Related Video

Making a Game in ONE Day (12 Hours)

5 Years of Making Games in Unity!

My 10 YEAR Indie Game Development Journey

I Spent 1 Year Making Games... Here's What Happened

Making a game where you get sucked into your own (bad) code

I Accidentally Made an Evil Robot my Friend

Remaking My First Game! | Devlog #1

Takeaways

Q & A

What was the first game engine the narrator learned to make games with?

What was one of the first games the narrator made?

What kind of computer was the narrator using to develop games in the beginning?

What camera technique did the narrator struggle to implement at first?

What were some of the magical power ups the narrator added to the game?

How did the narrator implement projectile shooting?

How does the magic shield work technically?

What was a hacky solution the narrator used to get the shield shader working?

How do the teleportation portals work?

What's next for the narrator in game development?