{"author_name":"petey123567","cat":"LD #32","comments":[],"epoch":1429911300,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"17687","p_author":"petey123567","p_authorkey":"4433","p_urlkey":"52993","p_title":"Tanks vs. Bicycle Post-Mortem","p_cat":"LD #32","p_event":"LD32","p_time":"1429911300","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"1","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"4433","us_name":"petey123567","us_username":"petey123567","event_start":"1429228800","event_key":"27","event_name":"LD32"},"text":"

Try the game here<\/a>.\u00a0You play as an invisible cyclist dodging tanks to deliver important intel back to HQ. Intended to be a twitchy endless runner style game:<\/p>\n

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My main goal for this jam was to do some nicer art than I usually do. I’m a programmer by trade and art is my biggest weakness so I normally go all out on gameplay mechanics\/juics\/feel. This time\u00a0I wanted an excuse to try and up the look of my games or at least try some new stuff art-wise. \u00a0In the past I tried pixel art, which turned out ok.\u00a0I wasn’t even planning to enter this time as my weekend was split up by airplane trips and work, but while waiting in the airport playing Crossy Road I though maybe I could try a voxel style game.<\/p>\n

From that \u00a0premise arises two questions:<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0How do I make voxel models?<\/strong> In the olden days I’d have to write my own tools and it’d take forever. Luckily I discovered Magica Voxel<\/a> in a matter of minutes and had a test model exported to obj ready to go.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0How do I get my voxel models in the game?<\/strong>\u00a0This turned out to be as simple as copying the exported obj and material file into my unity project’s asset folder and presto the model was in game!<\/p>\n

After that it was mostly all down hill, whipping up some controls and object spawning, hooking up the intro and tank difficulty progression.<\/p>\n

I wanted to get a lot more juice (particle \u00a0effects, camera shake, other polish) but I didn’t end up with enough time. The controls are a bit touchy and if I were to continue I would add more variety to the tanks and obstacles you have to avoid. But overall for the 8\u00a0hours-ish I put in it’s not too bad. In the end someone mentioned “really enjoyed the visual style,” which is what I was trying to aim for, so the game’s a success in my book despite it’s short-comings.<\/p>\n

If anything, I hope I’ve inspired you to try out voxel art sometime. It’s fun and can look pretty good!<\/p>","time":"April 24th, 2015 4:35 pm","title":"Tanks vs. Bicycle Post-Mortem"}