Might as well give this a quick plug in case anyone finds it helpful
A simple unity project set up for quick and easy game-jamming. github link
What is this, and why does it exist?
Fed up with spending hours during game jam implementing things you know you’ve already done in every project before?
Getting close to the deadline and worrying about whether you should spend time polishing your mechanics, or implementing menu screens and audio options?
Want a better alternative?
I did, so I’ve put together a simple unity project to work as a base template for pretty much any game jam game you can think of (that isn’t networked multiplayer - but seriously don’t even think about it when you’ve got less than 72 hours!).
What's in it
- 4 Pre-made unity scenes with animated transitions
- Main Menu
- Example Gameplay Scene (set up as a 2.5d platformer with placeholder models)
- Gameover
- Testing Scene (for when you need to check model import scale, particle effects, or other stand-alone things you plan to make a prefab of)
- Options Menu
- Three audio sliders (music, effects, ambient) hooked up to an Audio Mixer
- Graphics settings
- Highscore system
- Healthbars
- Clock/Timer (counts up or down - currently rigged to 'gameover' when time runs out but this can be easily adapted)
- Interfaces for basic game objects
- Interactables - shows a prompt when in range, and then responds to a user input (signs, doors, chests etc)
- Collectables - triggers a function then removes itself from the scene (currently increments score) (coins, stars etc)
- Hazards - triggers health loss to player but remains in scene (traps, enemies etc)
- Simple prototyping assets for all of the above
- In game pause menu
- Minimap
- Camera Shake
- A handful of free models to use as placeholders while you prototype.
Everything has been designed to be as modular as possible, with prefabs you can drag and drop into your scenes, with minimal dependency between objects. Don't need something? Just delete it.
What can I do with it?
Make a game!
But seriously, don't just download this, do nothing to change or improve the project, and then pass it off as yours. See this as a foundation you can use to build off, or just as a handy reference for those basic features that the vast majority of games have in some form or another. Don't upload this to the asset store and try to make money off it.
If you have any suggestions, bug reports, or just want to say 'hey thanks for this, it helped me make my game' drop me a message and I'll make sure I read it and try to address your points. And if you did make a game with this, it would be so awesome to play it - that's what this project exists for after all. Let me know you made a game with this and I'll prioritise it for review.
Disclaimer
Everything is provided 'as is' and I won't be updating this during Ludum Dare/Global Game Jam (because I do those myself). Using this template requires you to understand the fundamentals of building games in unity engine, and basic c# programming knowledge. This project was designed and built in unity 2017 (long-term support) and I have not tested it with older or newer versions of the engine. Update at your own risk!
(Photo CC BY-SA 2.5 
