The Importance of Powerful Story-Telling in Game Development

Have you ever played a video game that was so captivating, you felt like you were part of the story? This is thanks to the power of storytelling in game design. Storytelling is the backbone of creating a great video game. It’s what makes your game more than just a bunch of levels and obstacles – it’s what gives life to your game. This is the goal of game design and development.

In game design, the story guides the player through the game. It provides a reason for the player to keep going, to keep struggling, and helps make the game world feel real. A great story in a video game makes the player feel attached to the game world and gives them a reason to want to try and save it… assuming that’s the kind of game it is anyhow.

Game development is the process of bringing the story to life. The game developers work with the game designers to make sure the story is told in a way that makes sense and is fun for the player. They also make sure that the game is visually appealing and that the game mechanics (how the player controls the game) are smooth and easy to use.

When you’re playing a video game with a good story, you might not even realize how much it’s affecting you. But it’s making you care about the characters, the world, and what’s going to happen next. That’s why storytelling is such an important part of game design and development.

Next time you play a video game, pay attention to the story. Think about how it’s making you feel and why you’re playing the game. You might just be surprised by how much the story is affecting you!

How You’ll Affect Your Player

There are many different ways that the story can affect the player in a video game. Let’s take a closer look at a few of them.

Emotion: A good story can make the player feel a range of emotions, such as excitement, fear, sadness, or happiness. This emotional connection with the game can make the player more invested in the story and can help make the game more memorable. For example, if the game tells a sad story, the player might feel empathy for the characters and be more motivated to help them.

Decision Making: Some video games give the player choices that affect the outcome of the story. These choices can range from small ones, like what items to pick up, to big ones, like who to save in a crisis. These choices can make the player feel like they have control over the story and add an extra excitement to the game.

Immersion: Storytelling can help create a sense of immersion in the game world. When the player is fully immersed, they feel like they are actually in the game world, and the story becomes more real to them. This can lead to a deeper connection with the game and a more enjoyable experience.

Replayability: A good story can make the player want to play the game again, even if they already know the outcome. They might want to see how the story would change if they made different choices, or they might want to experience the story again just because it was so enjoyable the first time.

In conclusion, storytelling plays a huge role in the game design and development process. It can affect the player in many different ways, such as making them feel emotions, affecting their decision-making, creating a sense of immersion, and increasing replayability. Whether you’re a player or a game developer, it’s important to understand the power of storytelling in video games.

Things to Avoid

Just as there are things you should do as a storyteller in game development, there are also things you shouldn’t do. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Don’t make the story too complicated: Players want to enjoy the game, not spend hours trying to figure out what’s going on. Keep the story simple and easy to follow.
  2. Don’t make the story boring: Players will quickly lose interest if the story is dull and uninteresting. Make sure the story has excitement, twists, and turns to keep the player engaged.
  3. Don’t ignore player choice: If you’re including player choice in the game, make sure that it actually affects the story. Players will feel like their choices don’t matter if they don’t have any impact on the outcome of the story.
  4. Don’t make the story inconsistent: Make sure that the story and the game world are consistent and make sense. Players will quickly become frustrated if they encounter inconsistencies in the story or the game world.
  5. Don’t make the story too predictable: Players want to be surprised and entertained. If the story is too predictable, the player will lose interest and won’t be as invested in the game.

These are just a few of the things you should avoid when it comes to storytelling in game design and development. By keeping these things in mind, you can create a story that is both engaging and enjoyable for the player.

In conclusion, storytelling is an important part of game design and development. It can make or break the game experience for the player. Make sure to keep the story simple, interesting, consistent, and surprising to create a great game that players will love.

You Have So Much to Gain

Storytelling and game design go hand in hand when it comes to creating a great video game. A well-crafted story can add depth and meaning to a game, making it a more enjoyable and memorable experience for the player. Here are some of the benefits of telling a great story alongside building a great game:

  1. Emotional Connection: A great story can make the player feel emotions such as excitement, fear, sadness, and happiness. This emotional connection with the game can make the player more invested in the story and can help make the game more memorable.
  2. Increased Immersion: A good story can help create a sense of immersion in the game world. When the player is fully immersed, they feel like they are actually in the game world, and the story becomes more real. This can lead to a deeper connection with the game and a more enjoyable experience.
  3. Player Choice: Some video games give the player choices that affect the outcome of the story. These choices can range from small ones, like what items to pick up, to big ones, like who to save in a crisis. These choices can make the player feel like they have control over the story and add extra excitement to the game.
  4. Replayability: A good story can make the player want to play the game again, even if they already know the outcome. They might want to see how the story would change if they made different choices, or they might want to experience the story again just because it was so enjoyable the first time.

In conclusion, storytelling is a vital component of game design and development. It can add emotional depth, create a sense of immersion, give the player choices, and increase replayability. Whether you’re a player or a game developer, it’s important to understand the importance of storytelling in video games. By combining great storytelling with great game design, you can create a game that is not only fun to play but also has a memorable and impactful story.

A Comprehensive Look At A* Pathfinding Project Pro

A* Pathfinding Project Pro

A* Pathfinding Project Pro is a top selling Unity 3D asset that will help you deal with the some of the grittiest details of game development. It can be exceedingly difficult to get your AI controlled characters to move through your levels in ways that don’t feel too robotic. The path may be set up in such a way that it’s quite obviously the long or just plain wrong way, or maybe they just keep walking into a wall for no reason. A* Pathfinding Project Pro works to rid you of that absolute pain in the indie game developer butt.

Available on the Unity Asset Store, A* Pathfinding Project Pro is the easy way to answer the question, how do I make the enemies in my game come and find my main character? Not only that, but it has so many other uses as well.

What are the Benefits of Using A* Pathfinding Project Pro

Unity 3D game development is already a massive undertaking. Even for a relatively small game, as an indie game developer you are going to be in charge of a LOT of details. What this asset can do is take a huge chunk of that burden off of you, at least as far as getting your NPC characters to move around realistically and thoughtfully anyhow.

A* Pathfinding Project Pro supports grids, navmesh, and even point and hexagonal movement graphs. Even better, it can handle the navmesh generation automatically to prevent you from even having to set it up in your level. Like the best assets on the market, it’s multithreaded so that it doesn’t impact your games performance when it counts. Pathfinding will be handled alongside your other calculations in a non obtrusive way. The result, your NPC will have great local avoidance in three different planes, as well as it only requires a single line of code to get your pathfinding call set up.

How Do I Get Started?

I’ll say you’ve made a great choice buying this Pathfinding Project, and the developer has not left you out high and dry. The Unity Asset Package contains 16 examples scenes that you can open and inspect. These scenes will help you to see the multitude of use cases for A* Pathfinding Project Pro, and figure out how to apply them to your own game.

Further, if you need more information they have demo videos and more linked from their website. With hundreds of reviews on Unity’s Asset store, and a solid just about if not 5 star rating, you really have made a great choice. You’ll be done your game in no time!

Note: This asset supports Unity 2019.3.5 or higher.

Poly Universal Pack for the Best Stylized Models

Poly Universal Pack

Polyperfect has their work cut out for them but they are providing an excellent asset. The Poly Universal Pack for Unity 3D is an outstanding collection of models. Perhaps most intriguing about this collection, is that Polyperfect intends to continually add to this asset. Currently the asset is only about $30, however it already has almost 500 prefabs for your unity projects.

Currently the models are all divided into several different collections. We have nature, primevil, Steam punk, and survival. The almost 500 prefabs of course being divided among these categories.

What Polyperfect is trying to achieve however, is that they intend to both increase the price and assets available within this pack as they add to it. This means that the earlier you buy the Poly Universal Pack, the more value you’re going to get as they provide free updates into the future.

What Does the Poly Universal Pack Contain Now?

As of now the Poly Universal Pack contains about 500 Prefab items for your Unity 3D projects. Further, it contains multiple inspiration scenes, and multiple colour textures in the texture atlas for the models to let you customize the look and feel for your project. Also the included characters are already rigged and ready to use the new projects.

The entire package simple to use well organized and ready to go. This pack has the potential to be an incredibly valuable investment as it is. Let alone as Polyperfect continues to add to this asset in the future. This pack has the potential to be an incredibly valuable investment as it is. Let alone as Polyperfect continues to add to this asset. We can’t be sure what assets that probably perfect will continue to add, but they’ve definitely demonstrated that their quality is what we expect for our games.

Now we can’t see what tomorrow brings, but if the video up there’s any indication and Polyperfect continues to add to the size that you will definitely get your moneys worth. With the amount of models that you pick up with Poly Universal Pack, you’ll have no problem making Your Game Today.

(STP) Survival Template Pro: Unity 3D & Game Development

(STP) Survival Template PRO

The (STP) Survival Template PRO is a game template that has been created to help you make your own survival game in Unity 3D. It is designed to act as a starting point so that you can build your own survival game, but you can use it just to learn game development as well. and can be used to create games like Minecraft, DayZ, and Rust.

This template was created by Polymind Games who wanted to make it easier for people to create their own survival games in Unity 3D. It provides the user with all the necessary components that they need to create a survival game.

Features Of (STP) Survival Template PRO

Core

(STP) Survival Template PRO is a Unity asset that provides a template for survival games. It includes a character controller, simple character components, and player vitals. It also utilizes Unity Input system and texture based footsteps. The time of day can be set with the in-built Day Night cycle system, which also includes an in-built skybox.

Inventory

A generic inventory system is the backbone to any successful game, don’t waste time building your own instead spend it on making your game. This inventory system in (STP) Survival Template PRO has slots with customizable weight and you can auto-move, drag and split items to keep your players on their toes.

Buildings

What survival game doesn’t have building? Buildings are more than just shelters. They can be enjoyed as aesthetic pieces that provide a glimpse into the past, future and culture of the place where they are located. Within a survival game they can represent safety as you build up your fortress. Alternatively, they can represent terror and suspense as you move through unexplored ruins.

Weilding Weapons and Items

(STP) Survival Template PRO also provides wieldable system that gives an attachment system, decoupled camera and animations, spring based motion and forces, camera effects, a modular crosshair system, and durability and weight systems.

Weapons

Weapons are a breeze to handle with (STP) Survival Template PRO. You’ll have access to controllers for melee and ranged weapons. With component based weapons you’ll be able to use custom features on both styles, as well as take advantage of aiming and physics when using them in game.

Crafting Stations

Another hallmark of the survival genre is the ability make your own supplies. This asset comes with the ability to create workstations, and plenty of storage options for your characters to take advantage of.

User Interface

The user interface is what allows the player to interact with the game. It’s what you use to open up your inventory, switch between characters, and take a look at your stats. It also includes a pause menu, heads up display, sleep dialogs, and so much more! (STP) Survival Template PRO has these features set up for you and ready to go.

All of these features, plus even more that I haven’t listed here are ready for you in this amazing template. With (STP) Survival Template PRO you’ll be started on your survival game in no time at all. This is the best way to start working on your survival game and still make your game today.

How Do I Get Started With (STP) Survival Template PRO

When you’re using (STP) Survival Template PRO with Unity 3D, it’s quick and easy to get started. Once you’ve purchased the asset do the following:

 

  1. Make sure you’re using at least the 2020.3 version of Unity or newer.

  2. Make sure you’re using the Built-In rendering pipeline.

  3. Ensure that you have at least 10GB worth of space. This asset is fantastic but you’ll need a little space for your game.

  4. In the player configuration menu – Edit / Project Settings / Player / Configuration – set the input handling to either “New” or “Both.”

  5. In “My Assets,” find STP: Survival PRO and download/import it into your game.

  6. Once you’ve got it imported, STP: Survival Pro provides scene setup tools in “Tools/STP/Scene Setup.” Double-Click “Setup Scene.”

  7. Now all you need to do is place some spawn points and you’re ready to test it out. If you don’t, you’ll just be where the player controller was originally placed.

As you can see from above, this will really take a lot of the work out of creating your survival game today. The team at Polymind Games have really put together a great little piece of software and they include a great set of documentation. If you’re making a survival game you owe it to yourself to take a look at what (STP) Survival Template PRO can do to help you get your game done sooner. For Unity 3D this is an amazing kit to help you along your way.

Amplify Animation Pack

A Big Win. The Amplify Animation Pack on the Unity Asset Store

Amplify Animation Pack
Amplify Animation Over a Multicoloured Background

If you’re looking for high-quality Unity3D animations, look no further than the Amplify Animation Pack on the Unity Asset Store. This pack comes with a new start screen config wizard, ladder mechanics, plunge attack, and movement leaning. It also includes Blender source, 600+ animation sequences, and so much more. This pack contains many high-quality animations that you can use to build your game today.

Unity asset store link: Amplify Animation Pack

Features of the Amplify Animation Pack

– A new start screen config wizard

– Ladder mechanics

– Plunge attack

– Movement leaning

– 600+ animation sequences

– Blender source code

Why Should I Buy the Amplify Animation Pack

With the Amplify Animation Pack Unity asset, you will be able to quickly add animated characters to your game without having to create those animations from scratch. It comes with 600+ animation sequences and full source code so you can modify the animations however you’d like!

The Amplify Animation pack is still getting new features over time. Most recently, a new start screen config wizard, ladder mechanics, plunge attack, and movement leaning. Developers who stand by their work like this are the type you want helping you make your game today.

Again, it’s over 600 animations. That includes animations for weapons, boating, swimming, vehicle use, ladders, locomotion, cover, climbing interactions. Melee and throwing. Swimming, and so much more!.

What are the benefits to you using this asset from the Unity Asset Store? High-quality animations that you can use to build your game today without having to create them from scratch! Also includes Blender source code so you can modify the animations however you’d like.

How Will This Speed Up My Game Development

Developing all of these animations from scratch can be difficult and time-consuming. That’s why this Unity asset is such a valuable resource- it takes care of all of that for you! With over 600 different animations included, you’re sure to find what you need to get your game up and running quickly and easily.

If you consider how much time you’d save going with the Amplify Animation Pack over developing each of these animations on your own, you’d see just how useful that is. Further, rather than buying individual packs that contain just a few animations here and there, you’ll see consistency in your animations. Consistency helps to give your game a unified look and feel which helps prevent breaking the illusion on the player. Large packs like this help to speed your development, and make a better game.

Another option of course if you’re looking to having more unique animations made for your game would be to check with Fiverr. There are plenty of freelance game developers there who could help you along your journey. Check out their Game Development section!

So if you’re looking for high-quality Unity animations, the Amplify Animation Pack is the way to go! It’s still getting new features over time, so you can be sure that this pack will only get better and better.

Have you any experience with the Amplify Animation Pack? Perhaps you’ve got a different favorite pack you’d like to share? I’m always open to suggestions. Drop a comment below and let’s share with everyone the best way to make your game today!

Thanks for reading and happy game dev!

5 Common Unity Game Development Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

 

Photo by Garrett Morrow from Pexels

 

 

Unity is an extremely powerful game development engine that has been used to create some of the most successful indie games in recent history. However, Unity can be tricky to use, and many developers make common mistakes while working with it. In this blog post, we will discuss 5 of the most common Unity mistakes, and how you can avoid them!

Understanding the Built-In Physics Engine

Unity has a built-in physics engine that can be used for things like character movement and collision detection, but all too often developers either don’t know how to use it or do not know the full extent of its usefulness. This often leads them into trouble when they try implementing their own systems instead of relying on Unity. The best way to avoid this mistake is by learning how Unity works before building anything in it!

A good place to start would be Unity Learn. For example, you could use the lesson Physics Interactions: Colliders and Triggers to nail down some of the more difficult concepts. There are definitely plenty of other lessons there as well to fully flesh out your use of the Unity physics systems. If you don’t want to take the time to learn the intricate means that Unity has to sort these things out, you can also make use of the many assets available on the asset store such as Hurricane VR (Affiliate Link).

Make Use of Mechanim Animation

A lot of Unity games rely heavily on animation, so if you’re not using the Mecanim system then you very likely may spend much more time developing your characters and npc’s then you otherwise would need to.

When I first started using Unity I spent way too much time developing features that were already there. There’s absolutely no need to reimplement a system that is already available in the Unity Engine. Make use of the tutorials, that’s why they’re there! It’s important that anyone who wants their animations done right learn about mecanim first before making any attempts at implementing it themselves. You’re probably going to save yourself a lot of work.

Unity’s Built In Audio Features

Unity has an audio mixer and a number of other features that can be used for things like sound effects or music playback in your game – but many people aren’t aware of these tools because they don’t know where to look on Unity’s website or even what Unity is capable doing with them (such as mixing multiple tracks together into one, for the record, here’s the link to the documentation).

The best way to avoid this mistake is to make sure you take the time to learn the features of Unity. Don’t make any assumptions about what Unity does or doesn’t do until you’ve actually explored its capabilities first hand. If there’s something specific that seems impossible then ask yourself “how would I go about achieving this goal using another engine?” and use those answers as your starting point. Just remember that Unity is powerful enough to do anything you want so don’t give up!

Unity’s Particle System

Continuing in the vein of making sure you use what Unity has to offer, Unity has a built-in particle system. You could definitely go ahead and try and design your own, but that may lead them into trouble when they try implementing their own systems instead of relying on Unity’s. So before you go about generating 11,000 game objects that are simply sprites pointing their normal at the camera try looking into the particle system first.

If there’s something specific that seems impossible then ask yourself “how would I go about achieving this goal using another engine?” and use those answers as your starting point. Just remember that Unity is powerful enough to do anything you want so don’t give up!

Unity is a powerful engine, and with the right knowledge it can be used to create some amazing games. By avoiding these common mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a Unity master! Check out my blog more for!

 

 

 

A Look at the Amplify Shader Editor for Unity

One of the most complex and complicated tasks you will face while developing your 3D game is likely to be shaders. Game mechanics jumping from 2D to 3D aren’t even that much more complicated, you’re simply adding another dimension. Technically you could probably even add a 4D in there without too much over-complication, but that’s really beside the point. The Amplify Shader Editor for Unity won’t make learning shaders any easier, but it will make it easier to lend your project industry leading effects!

In the video above, you can see the Amplify Shader Editor in use. You can see the enormity of different options you have to make the very same polygons represent very different things. Shaders are a complex piece of the game development puzzle. Quite honestly, I think that the Amplify Shader Editor will increase the complexity rather than decrease it. However, it is going to make your life a whole lot easier using this asset, rather than trying to build the same or similar functions on your own. Seriously, save yourself the development time. Spend it on making your game mechanics more amazing. The story pop. Or really just keep that time for yourself. 

Does the Amplify Shader Editor Help That Much?

The reviews on this asset are immensely positive. They rave about how many more features are available in this asset than there are in ShaderGraph that comes with Unity. They even go so far as to state that there are far fewer bugs which quite honestly I can’t speak much to that as my experience with ShaderGraph has been all right. Best of all, many of the reviews mention just how positive their experience has been with the support from Amplify Creations.

Honestly, for the price, you’re not going to see many products that are going to expand your games look better than the Amplify Shader Editor. Sure, you’re going to have to spend the time to learn how shaders work regardless, but the vastness of the new features this will bring to your Unity powered polygons is going to overshadow that bit of work. Once you have jaw-dropping graphics in your game, you’ll agree.

Better yet, if you’re using UModeler, then when combined with the Amplify Shader Editor you may find that your entire workflow, from basic polygon to ultra-realistic canoe (lol) can take place entirely within the context of Unity. How much better could it get?

Have you already given the Amplify Shader Editor a shot? Let me know how it went below!

#YGTInspiration

#YGTInspiration April 10, 2021

I know I don’t get around to these as much as I’d like, but I’m making an attempt I swear! I’m currently thinking that I’m going to reduce the number of featured games to five, and then do them whenever I get the chance, no more limiting it to Saturdays! As such, here we go, the indie games and tricks that caught my eye the most this morning! Check it out if you need the inspiration to make Your Game T0day!


A Wooden Sculpture for the Ages

Now I can’t be positive, but it seems to me this is the silkiest wooden-looking sculpture ever, and I absolutely love it. The fluid movements coming from the low poly body give off a vibe that I actually really enjoy. The developer states that it’s just a test, so this may not be the end result, but I’m featuring it today so that  I can share this important fact about independent game development… AAA graphics don’t matter at all. The big studios have to do it because they think that’s what sells. Do yourself a favour though, look at the most popular independent games out there. The vast majority have great graphics, but they don’t go for hyper-realism. Work within your means, and make a great game!

 


Test, Test, Test…

This tweet from Bittor shows one of the greatest and most rewarding aspects of game development. The testing cycle. You’ll test every little tweak you make until the world that you’ve built comes to life. With tools like the Unity 3D Engine, Unreal Engine, and even Godot, you have everything you need to make your games feel like your own. Little tweaks and tests like this culminate in your vision becoming reality. Plus, as I said on Twitter, a super cool and rewarding explosion at the end!


Nom, Nom, Nom…

Apparently, I’m big on three-word subtitles today. Ah well, such is life. I do however want to share this awesome little clip. I love how the electricity, or energy, or whatever just envelops the little guy and then suddenly he has entered a different location. It’s smooth and clearly works well in the context. Plus, I just love the… I guess you could call them 3D pac-man type games. Very cool!

 


Harvesting Lumber Is a Chore!

Well of course it is, but it’s imperative to most city-building games out there that you have resources to build your cities. That being said, how you have to do it matters, and when it’s as smooth as what Against the Storm pulls off, well, it just doesn’t feel so bad. Very cool!


So Many Different Activities!

Well, in this case, it’s shelves and arcade cabinets, but look how the developer made use of scripting to enrich their world. Rather than having one cabinet and having to keep changing their selected prefab, they’ve gone and made it so that each copy is instantiated with it’s own features. This allows them to much more quickly build out their world. Super cool.


Well, that’s it for today! I’ll try not to take two months to do my next one. If you ever need help making Your Game Today, come and check back for more tips, tricks, tutorials, and inspiration!