Prototyping Progress

Last week, we focussed on the initial prototyping phase. This week we continued on that, but we also had a look in bringing the art and code together.

Art x Art

Animation

During research last week, we already found a great animation and model for our frogs, but there was a key consideration. Our game is presented in a 2D orthographic view, while we looked at these assets from a 3D projective perspective. We had to ask ourselves, does this shift change the look and feel of the animation and model?

Luckily the answer was no, but we couldn’t have known without looking at it ourselves.

Shaders and Unity

Additionally to the animation, we revisited our shader research. Would the Kuwahara Shader, which produces a painterly effect, and the Outline Shader still look good in this orthographic view? Testing this was essential to ensure the visuals aligned with our intended art direction. Testing these shaders took us a little longer due to them being made in Unreal Engine previously. But since our decision was to continue working in Unity, we had to create or find the same shaders in Unity.

Art x Code

Soundwaves and Sonic Booms

Last week we prototyped the Soundwave and Sonic Boom visual effects. Just like the shaders, we had to convert them from Unreal Engine to Unity 6. After some tweaking, and refining, we updated the RFX, now in Unity. Furthermore, we added another prototype with projectiles and a sonic boom to implement these new RFX in a gameplay setting.

Animation

We now had our frog model and animation ready, but how does that translate into code? How do we connect animation to player inputs and movement? And once implemented, does the animation still feel natural within the game’s mechanics? I think you already know how we figured this one out… that’s right, we prototyped it!

Code x Code

Lucky Clover Mechanic

Lucky Clovers bring good fortune… or in our case, frogs bring good fortune to each other. During certain boss attacks, or periodically throughout the game, Lucky Clovers will spawn in the arena. You, as the player, must grab such a clover and bring it to your teammate to shield them from incoming damage. Our previous iteration of this mechanic didn't quite hit the spot. We decided to rework the idea to incentivize cooperation more.

Level Shifting

Another feature we’re implementing is level shifting. At certain moments throughout the game, the platforms will dynamically rearrange themselves. This will force you to get used to new surroundings and always keep you on your toes. At first we were a bit uncertain how we would go about this. So that’s why we prototyped this! It actually turned out to not be that hard to implement, but it gave us a nice view on how to achieve this mechanic.

Team Update

Unfortunately our artist Chris has left the team. We’re grateful for his contributions in these early stages of development. Despite this change, the rest of the team is still excited and committed to bringing Ribbit Rampage to life.

That’s it for this week’s DevLog! Stay tuned to see what we have in store next week.