Cupid's Arrow

Inspiration

I have made simple games in the past, but I have never worked with Unity or any other complex game engine. I decided to take on the challenge of making an original game in Unity 2D in only 24 hours with almost zero experience. Knowing I was not that familiar with Unity or C#, I picked a simple concept: an endless arcade game. Inspired by revolutionary endless sidescrollers such as Flappy Bird and Jetpack Joyride, I came up with the Valentine’s Day themed game that is Cupid’s Arrow.

 

What it does

Cupid’s Arrow is an endless side-scrolling arcade game where the player controls an arrow that is constantly flying to the right. Valentine’s Day themed items (flowers, coins, and chocolate) as well as flying obstacles (birds, paper airplanes, and hot air balloons) will fly across the screen. The player must control the arrow to dodge obstacles and collect items for points. However, the arrow can only move up and down, so timing becomes essential to dodge all of the obstacles. If the player hits the ground or an obstacle, the game will end and show them their score. The game can be restarted as much as the player wants and the goal is to get as many points as possible.

 

How I built it

I used Unity 2D and Visual Studio Code for the coding and programming; Piskel and Photoshop for the pixel art and graphic design.

 

Challenges I ran into

Balancing the speed of the background, items, and obstacles proved to be a difficult task. I really wanted the arrow to look like it was flying in a realistic way, so the speeds of everything on screen had to be tweaked many times.

I have followed Unity tutorials before, but this project was the first time I was on my own. Getting started was a little difficult and slow, but once I had the basic functionality working I was able to work faster. Unfortunately, I was not able to add as many features as I would have liked to due to my unfamiliarity with Unity.

My artistic talents are very much lacking. I opted for a simpler style, pixel art, to try to hide my flaws, but I think that the final result is not as visually appealing as I would like it to be.

 

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

One of the last features I added were sound effects, and I am very pleased with how I implemented them. There is a faint wind in the background and every time you get an item you are rewarded with a sound effect. The items that are worth more give more exciting sound effects. This helps to let the player intuitively know which items are worth more.

I was unsure if I would be able to complete a project for this hackathon since this is my first hackathon and also my first time using Unity to make something from scratch. So, I am very proud that I was able to submit a completed project.

 

What I learned

I learned how to do a lot of things in the Unity game engine, such as cloning objects, creating a point system, and using music and audio. I also learned a bit about game design. The art style of everything in a game has to be consistent, otherwise certain things look out of place. I also learned that game balance is incredibly important. The speeds of certain obstacles and items as well as point values of items need to be perfect for maximum player enjoyment.

 

What's next for Cupid’s Arrow?

A more detailed and established art style would be the first thing to add to this game. I have to admit that I have many flaws when it comes to art, so perhaps getting an artist to work with on the game would help make up for my flaws. Besides art, I would love to add in another game mode besides the current infinite one. Having multiple levels with a rough story could provide players with more things to do and increase the amount of time they play the game. When I add levels, I will also have to add in new types of obstacles and items. As the player progresses farther into the game, those new obstacles and items would start to appear, making the game a little harder.