why we did it?
A big part of game development is being able to breakdown and understand what a game is made up of, in essence game dev is a big puzzle where each element needs to be put into place to create the bigger picture. What we like to do is take an existing game such as Flappy Bird, breakdown its core components and replicate it in a similar way, once you know and understand how something works you can create something new, The result of which can be played below.
the tools we used
Adobe Photoshop CC
Each and every sprite used in the game were created in Photoshop. We have worked with Photoshop for years so it seemed like a natural fit.
Unity
We Used the Unity game engine to create the game, using its canvas ui and sprite assets. Our previous experience allowed us to create the tools needed without much issue.
Libre Office Calc
Libre Office Calc was a great help to composing a breakdown of assets and predicted times, as well as keeping on track understanding where we are as development progresses.
the bird
The bird is the most important element of Flappy Bird, it is the element controlled by the player And it is restricted by the following rules:
The bird will only move vertically and be locked in a horizontal position.
The bird will always fall when the game is running.
When the screen is tapped the bird will flap adding vertical force making it bounce upwards, stopping at the top of the screen.
The Bird will rotate to face the direction of movement so it will face north east when going up and south east when going down,
When colliding with the ground or a pipe the player will lose control and crash into the ground, losing the game.
pipes
The pipes are the main obstacles of the game, offering the challenge and using the following rules.
Two pipes will spawn off screen with a gap between them vertically.
All pipes will move left at a constant speed
Pipes will spawn randomly offscreen
the ground and background
The ground and background are key elements to setting the theme and making the app take shape, without it everything is a bit plain. The ground follows the folllowing rules:
The ground will kill the player if it collides with them.
The ground can move constantly matching the pipes, although this is not set in this version for simplicity.
how it looks
