Unity’s Ninja Warrior

Remember Sam? He works with instructor Mike M. as part of Game-U’s New York Accelerate program. Sam’s exploring the wonders of Unity, the industrial-strength gaming engine, and he’s learning fast. After a successful “Capture the Flag” game design, he’s moved on to ninja warriors!

As part of the dungeon-themed February-March module of Game-U’s group class curriculum, Sam’s instructor Mike M. planned a five-lesson dungeon level played by a katana-equipped ninja warrior. Mike introduced the lessons to Sam, who was keen to test them out, and the two of them built the game together. Sam used prefabricated pieces, like floor tiles, walls, torches, doors, keys, and enemies, to assemble a torchlit dungeon game complete with a key-triggered door and a boss battle! Scripts (files of lightweight coded instructions that can execute “just in time”) attached to game objects like enemies or keys allowed Sam to create custom game mechanics. Notice the different types of enemies in the video? Their cloak colors signify particular powers. By combining enemy-related scripts, each of which perform a unique function (“Chase Player,” “Damage on Contact,” “Shoot,” “Zero Gravity,” etc.), Sam populated his game with enemies spawned from several distinct templates. Each combination got its own cloak color assignment so the ninja player could know what attack to expect. Sam also added scripts to the key and door objects, which allow the player – armed with his trusty katana – to access the boss battle room and destroy the enemy spawners. Finally, Sam put some previously-mastered skills to work tweaking his game’s lightning settings, ultimately giving the environment a gloomy, dungeon-like look. Level complete!

Thanks for sharing this game with us, Sam. You’re picking up Unity quickly, and we’re excited to see your progress. Keep up the good work and stay in touch! Mike M.’s already planning new projects for you to try your hand at, and we’d like to be in on the results!