Jungle Adventure

Jungle adventure is a 2D pixel-art platformer created for my first games assignment at UOG. Developed in Unity over the course of 3 months, this game contains sprites created using Aseprite, and scripts designed to be able to easily put together to create levels, and a dialogue system which uses scriptable objects to create modular dialogue boxes.

Methodology

When creating this game I wanted to make sure that I created a pipeline that enabled me to reuse assets to create levels efficiently.

Following this methodology all the mechanics in this game were developed using events that help me connect mechanics together. Such as one event box which can cause the camera to shift position and activate effects, activate an array of lasers shooting down at the player or activate an echo sound effect when the player is in an underground area.

My dialogue system uses scriptable objects which let me define characters involved and any details they might require and create conversations which can easily be created as data and dropped into a conversation starter script. This makes them easier to correct and edit.

Gameplay

The gameplay consists of a manoeuvring through the level to reach the goal. On their way players can collect a variety of artifacts including coins, gems and totems which contribute different values to their score which contributes toward their grade at the end of the level. 

In their way players will face challenges such as laser beams and moving platforms which they will have to navigate to avoid taking damage and losing all their lives. Players are able to restore their lives by eating from the health fruit plants scattered throughout the level.

Art Style

I used Aseprite to create all of the sprites, spritesheets and tilemaps featured in the game, and tweened the players scale during their animation to create a bouncy and lively feel. As well as this I incorporated shaders with the UVs mapped to the pixel size to create pixel art shaders (See the dither effect on the falling platforms). I used scripts to create a subtle parallax effect for the background which helps to player feel more connected with the world.

I also implemented some particle systems such as the leaves that fall down on the level to make the environment feel more alive.

The artstyle in general was designed to feel charming and fun with a strong contrast with the natural and unnatural aspects. The hazards such as the falling platforms are identifiable by their grey appearance and glowing blue crystals which are an identifiable motif of the active objecs in the game.