Modification Project Dev Log

Dev Log 0: Project Creation and Exploration

September 18, 2023

I started by creating a Unity project for both the FPS Microgame and Karting Microgame learning templates. I originally planned on using the FPS Microgame template to make a 3rd person shooter game; however, after playing around a bit with both projects and taking a look at the provided tutorials I decided to make a variation of the Karting Microgame.

I then went through some of the tutorials that came with the Karting Microgame template to better familiarize myself with the structure of the project.

My goals for the project are as follows:

  • Add additional driver and kart assets (maybe with a character selection screen)
  • Adjust player movement for smoother driving and possible include differnt "Characters" with different stats
  • Add a speed boost pad
  • Create at least 1 custom track (hopefully more)
  • Add custom sound effects and music

Some stretch goals:

  • Add a ghost driver to race against your best time
  • Add local multiplayer

Dev Log 1: Making Custom Track and Adding Assets

September 19, 2023

Today I added a speed pad to my track, which I thought would involve coding, but it came prebuilt as a prefab in the project. I also got a first draft of the 1 custom track I wanted to make. I found a city asset pack on the Unity Asset Store and added a few building models from the pack to my scene. I want the course to have a city theme with the track going through the city and around the buildings.

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Dev Log 2: Project Wrap-up (Crunch)

September 24, 2023

Today was the last day I worked on the Modification Project. I spent quite a bit of time trying to implement the speed pads; however, they were designed to be used only once, and I could not figure out how to get them to be reusable. In ended up scrapping the speed pads.

Next, I finalized the track itself. Because I removed the speed pads, the course was feeling a little flat, so I added some ramps and jumps. I didn't like how it felt to have a two turns in close succession, so I added a few more straights. I also filled the scene with building assets to make the level feel like a city.

I added custom music I found online and added a script that increased the music's pitch on the last lap. For the music I chose a Phonk style that I think matches the asethetic of kart racing in a city. I wanted to make a color select screen for the kart, but ended up just changing the kart color to black.

I spent a good amount of time tweaking the player movement to feel just right. I wanted the driving speed to be fast enough without launching the player off the track. In the end I would have liked to have added a drift and a jump, but the movement feels pretty good without those.

Dev Log 3: Reflection

September 25, 2023

The project I made is a karting mini-game. It has one track with the objective of completing 3 laps. The track take you through a city in an exciting drive including ups and downs, jumps, and bumps.

Working on this project, I learned just how rudimentary the code I have written for games has been. The code for this project was impressive, and difficult to understand.

The part of the project that I am most proud of is the track. I chose to design my own course instead of using one of the premade options. I think it turned out well; however, I would have liked to have added speed pads. The jumps are fun and there is a good balance of calm road and difficult to manuever sections.

The most challenging part of the project was trying to add code that worked in tandem with the existing code, or even modifying existing code to get the outcome I wanted. Like I mentioned above, I wanted the speed pads to be multi-use instead of one-time use. I tried to edit the speed pad code, but in the end could not figure out how to make the change I wanted.