Pizza Bot

This next project 16 will be a small arcade style shooter for mobile phones! Control a flying bot that is on a quest to deliver a pizza! Sounds easy enough..? But other competing corporations have deployed their own drones to intervene an otherwise simple task. There will be three bosses and continuous play for competitive high scores.

Unity

In-game shop interface

Spine for all animation

Clip Studio for all the art

Tech

This game is written in C# using Visual Studio Code which I really like for being lightweight and powerful. Unity is component driven, and I forced myself to embrace the paradigm. It gets easier to implement additional enemies because it is just a matter of dragging and dropping existing components from my library. Also tiny bits of polish like spasm animations and fades can be easily sprinkled on arbitrary game objects.

This small mobile game is serving as a great learning experience for my next ambitious title. Still, despite all the newness, it does not take long until it just becomes a familiar environment, and a huge mountain of work.

I had been using Adobe Animate for HTML5 and CocoonJS to package the web games as apps. It works, but seems like a precarious setup; I am weary of support on particular phones. I wanted to play it safer with Unity - a more recognized and well-funded engine that now has a more stable HTML5 export option, with direct support to build native apps.

Art

The art is an intentional simplified style through Clip Studio Paint, so I would not obsess over the colors and lines in this small project. It is supposed to look like ink and watercolor on grid paper, and it is fairly convincing when viewed on a phone or tablet.

For animation, I bought a license for the Spine tool. It is a rather intimidating tool, but took only a day to get the hang of.

Design

This game is heavily based on the Web game Frantic Frigate with a different theme and style. Actually at first I had started a hotel management game, but that would have been an excessive undertaking because my previous apps need some time and maintenance.

A scrapped prototype

Still, I think most of my games are a bit too casual, easy, simple, and even childish. Frequently I have wanted to branch into deeper territory through darker themes and games that evoke emotional responses. Then there is the other side of me that wants to sell out by making more casual defense-genre games.

Business

I feel secure by continuing to focus on apps for Google Play, monetized with Google AdMob and in-app purchases. Immediately following this project, I will go back and update all my apps with in-game video ads or banners to further boost my income. I came out empty handed with other networks like (*cringe*) RevMob. I am wondering if I can deploy my future Unity games onto the Web with AdMob as well.

Overall

It is just a matter of plowing through all this work. I am securing my current and previous projects, in order to create a blank slate when I go abroad. I believe an appropriate environment can play a huge role in being open and creative. Despite being an introvert, I actually draw a great deal of energy from the hustle and bustle of cities - the lights, sounds, aromas; it is incredibly inspiring. Plus on the contrary, having my own furnished and minimal apartment will allow me to be closed, disciplined, and focused.