Devlog #2 – True Beginnings! (Research)

This Week’s Prototypes & Findings

Shader Refinements & Unity FTW!

This week was all about refining our shader and locking in our engine choice. After testing, we’ve officially chosen Unity—it handles our stylization best! 

Shader Progress 

Our shader now has thin outlines, subtle gradients, and cel shading, giving it that Moebius-inspired look. It uses normal and depth information to calculate shading, while a Blinn-Phong setup splits light into three tones: light, shadow, and mid-color. The result? A clean, expressive style that stays readable in motion.

What’s Next?

• Starting environment design

• Bringing our chibi gladiators to life

• The pieces are coming together—can’t wait to share more soon!

Character Selection

Goal: How can we design and implement a player selection system for our game?

Findings:

Clear and Intuitive UI for Character & Team Selection

• Players need a visually distinct and easy-to-navigate selection screen. 
• Using a platform-based system where players physically stand on their selection areas enhances engagement. 
• Real-time updates (e.g., showing selected characters above players) improve clarity. 
• Dynamic Team Allocation Based on Player Count

2 Players: Only Red and Blue teams are available (1 player per team). 

3 Players: Introduce a Green team to ensure balanced gameplay. 

4 Players: Red and Blue teams allow up to 2 players each. 

This approach ensures fair team distribution while keeping team sizes balanced.

Real-Time Feedback & Confirmation System

• Players should be able to preview their character and team choice before confirming.
• Locked-in selections prevent last-minute changes that might cause confusion.
• Highlighting confirmed players and teams helps everyone stay aware of the game state.

Bomb and weapons

Goal: Setting up a prototype where we can interact with the bomb and pick up one time use weapons within the level blockout.

Findings:

• Players should be able to pick up weapons by walking into them.
• You should only be able to hold one weapon at a time.
• Projectile weapons should deal less knockback to the bomb than melee weapons, because it is easier to reach the bomb with them.
• Projectile weapons are used up after they've shot once.
• Melee weapons are used up after they've hit something once, as it is easy to miss with them. (or 3 chances to hit? will be tested in the future)

Level Layout/Blockout

Goal: Testing out a level blockout to see if it matches with our current game mechanics.

Findings:

• The playable area cannot be too cluttered.
• We need to find a way to make it make sense that the bomb can't just fly over or into the audience. Perhaps with barriers.
• There was a tree in the middle of the blockout, but this blocks the view of the camera so it had to be removed. We experimented with making it semi-transparent, but this doesn't work.
• The octogonal shape works well and can be adapted easily for multiple player counts.
• We have found a base layout to improve upon.

Plans for Next Week

• Making a game demo
• Trying to make the game nice to play. Basically experimenting with the player feel.
• Continuing work on art style and direction.

Thanks for checking out our latest progress! We'll be back with more next week!

We'd love to hear your feedback :)

Cya next week!