Cosmic Cascade
- Jack Bird
- Nov 5, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 21, 2023
Technologies Used :
Unity, C#
Produced by Sumdog
Link to Sumdog: https://learn.sumdog.com/
While working at Konglomerate Games Link to Konglomerate Games: https://konglomerate.games/
What is the project about?
Sumdog briefed us on creating an appealing and engaging yet simple plinko game that would test students on their maths skills by intertwining questions with the gameplay.
'Cosmic Cascade' is revamped version of Plinko. As this game follows the simple rules of Plinko, [aiming a disk that will bounce down the board in order to land into a point bucket] it was important for the team to ensure there were a variety of layout strucutres of the Plinko board combined with engaging gameplay feedback. This worked to make each and every game loop feel unique and interesting to the player.
Gameplay Loop
The gameplay loop was created in a way where simplicity was prioritised. All features had their own sub-manager classes, which we then linked to an overarching game manager script. When each sub-manager class needed to trigger a new function in another script, script messages were sent with the exact information needed. This meant the game manager script could send it to the correct sub manager class, and trigger the function that was needed, making for an uncluttered and easy to manage code.
UI
The UI consisted of multiple elements: the current score, the pip bar, and the marble counter.
When answering questions, the pip bar would use a fadein tween to light up sequencially to signifiy the amount of disks rewarded to the player [two for a correct answer and one for an incorrect answer].
If the pip bar reaches midway point or to the end, an additional disk will be gifted to the player, indicated in the disk UI. This again triggers the fadein tween, alongside a punchy expand and shrink tween as a way of visually amplifying this reward to the player.
When the Plinko disk becomes droppable, the pip bars are faded out in reverse order.
As the Plinko disk is dropped, it can bounce off of the pegs and into the stars arranged across the board. This acrudes points and displays a satisyfing counting up effect. The same effect also triggers when the disk lands into a point bucket at the bottom of the board.
At the same time as the disk being dropped on the main Plinko board, the disk UI will fadeout the amount of available disks counter on the right hand side of the game page. This visual was created using an expand, shrink and fadeout tween.
Plinko Board Polish
As the focal point of the games construction was to keep the simplicity of Plinko, it was important to make sure each gameplay component had it's own flare to it. This was not just needed in the UI but also on the board itself.
Most of the components on the board had their own tween which typically consisted of a expand and shrink. This added a reactional visual element to each item the disk had hit. This was accompanied by particle effects, for example, the pegs had small rings expand off of them, giving the impression of a vibration wave. The stars, on the other hand, gave off a small explosion of stars after completing the expand tween to give the impression of it popping, signifying points gained for the player. Stars that had been missed simply gave off a glow.