Bird Game

An RPG that takes to the sky

Bird game is a RPG prototype where you explore a world from both the ground and sky.

My Role

With a team of three developers, we worked to design two prototypes that have a shared mechanic.

I worked in Unity to implement gameplay mechanics, such as nav mesh based guard systems, camera controllers and audio.

I was one of two core programmers on the project. I worked on the flying system, guard patrol system, camera controllers and dynamic audio controls.

I sourced all audio for the project and implemented a dynamic audio system using FMOD's unity integration.

The Challenge

Create two different game prototypes that have a shared core mechanic.

Project Breakdown

The Plan

Getting Started

After getting our team together, we started brainstorming some possible mechanics that we could start working with. We drew out a large number of ideas on a board and eventually decided on creating a time manipulation game. It would be a puzzle game based around plant growth, with the goal being to move time around to get a piece to the end of a level. After some ideation and rapid prototyping, that idea failed and we went back to the drawing board.

We wanted to make a mechanic that would be fun to interact with itself, and one we could build a game around. We then decided on a bird flying simulator. This would be my first attempt at a 3D game in unity with a fair number of challenges to overcome, but we went for it.

Early gameplay design

Click on image to zoom in

Early plans

Here are some early examples of the plans that we had for this game before changing direction. This was a time based platformer. The idea was much cleaner on paper than it would have been in engine for us at the time.

The Core Mechanic

Our core mechanic for both games was a realistic bird flying system that simulated the aerodynamics of a bird. This included some basic aerodynamic systems that we could implement. Our goal was to make the controls feel realistic to the players, and ideally have it intuitive how flying should work, when they should accelerate and decelerate and so on.

The player character can flap their wings to move upwards at the expense of their stamina. When the character is facing upward, flapping cost more stamina but gives more lift. When facing downwards, the bird will accelerate based on the incline, and flapping is essentially useless and costs very little stamina.

We decided to build a RPG style game as well as a stealth game from this core mechanic, both with different considerations when interacting with the core mechanic.

Bird Game: RPG

Core Concept

In Bird Game: RPG, we wanted to create a world that players wanted to explore. We would put something new around every corner and players would be able to interact with the world from a new angle. We set up a basic level where the player could get a simple quest, explore a small area and interact with some enemies.

We also wanted to create a sense of realism. We did not offer the player any real options when combating the enemy birds. They would have to use the birds mobility to dodge enemies and be very careful when exploring the world.

Bird Game: Action Stealth

Core Concept

In Bird Game: Action Stealth, We wanted to simulate a birds life in a way. Your goal is to steal food from the farmer so that you can feed your children. This one takes place in the cover of night. You need to fly around the farm, looking for food while avoiding the famer and his dogs. The farmer has a rifle with him, and he can snipe you out of the sky, while the dogs have a way of smelling out the bird.

It is important to save your energy in this game mode, and to stay low to the ground. Even though the gameplay is very similar, the playstyle is very different when compared to the RPG game mode.

Stealth game, level overview

Take-aways

My Take-aways

This project came with a large number of technical issues. We tried to create a flying mechanic that felt real, which meant there were many little components that weren't in the initial design.

This project helped teach me how to create and maintain complex code and iterate upon it.

This really proved to me how much consideration you must put into complex mechanics. In the time that we made our flying system, we could have created a number of simpler mechanics, and polished them all.

I learned about play testing and how to gather and interpret data from users. It was something that I learned more about on later projects as well.

Game & System Designer