Creating a basic 2D runner game with Unity – GGJ14 solo session

Being quite busy at work meant that I didn’t really have any time to prepare a team or attend the Global Game Jam (14) this year, so I decided to “unofficially” participate from home. I used Unity3D (Unity2D to be precise) as my engine of choice, and created a very basic runner game. Being a solo effort, this of course meant I did the coding and artwork myself.

The tools involved were the following:

• Unity and C# scripting
• Photoshop
• Wacom Bamboo
• For the main character (a knight), I downloaded this asset from gsanimator.com

This video is a time lapse of the 8-10 hours I spent on the project. I didn’t manage to finish, so there is still more to do, but I have the following basics done:

• Runner with basic jump/double jump controls. Character speeds up the longer time goes on for, making it more and more difficult
• Box obstacles that drop and get in the way
• End game is when you fall off the edge of the screen
• Bullet time like effect every now and then – game slowly turns to slow motion, and fades to black – as the darkness hits, the landscape turns to a post-apocalyptic scene – idea being that more dangerous obstacles come down in this mode. After this, the time slowly speeds up again, and the landscape turns back to normal.
• Managed to create some custom artwork – two different backdrops for the scrolling parallax background, some debris, etc… The knight character was found for free on gsanimator.com

If anyone is interested in source or how I achieved a certain effect, please just drop a comment below.