The #1 spectator sport of the future
Space dunk
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My Role: Lead Designer
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Tools: Unity, C#, Photoshop, Maya, Google Docs
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Development Time: 8 months
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Platform: PC and Console
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Team Size: 9 team members total.
- Anthony Pittari (Lead Producer)
- Dan Havener (Lead Programmer)
- Micheal Hill (AI Programmer)
- Kody Corbosiero (VFX Artist)
- Hunter Gray (Producer)
- Mike Loscoco (Networking Programmer)
- Eric Kilkenny (Lead Artist)
- Aidan Grennen (Designer)
Space Dunk is the #1 spectator sport of the future! It is a competitive, high intensity zero gravity sports game which is easy to pick up but difficult to master. In the game, two teams compete in a variety of zero-g arenas with the objective of moving the golden score ball through the other team's hoop. Located around the field are Blast Balls, which players can throw to influence the game from across the stadium. Players also have unique abilities, which can be used strategically to grapple for the Score Ball. Space Dunk is being developed for PC and console.
Overview:
Features:
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An easy to learn, hard to master action focused competitve zero gravity sport.
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Both splitscreen and networked multiplayer with 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 game modes.
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Skillful adaptive AI which changes strategies based on how the match is going.
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3 unique arenas.
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Voice acted commentators and a stadium filled crowd which react to the game.
My Contributions
Conceptualization, Documentation, Pitches and Design Descisions:
Throughout the project, I worked closely with team members from all disciplines (art, programming, production, design) to make informed descisions about the mechanics and systems in Space Dunk. Using feedback obtained from professors, peers and testers, I worked to give the team a clearly defined direction for the project through the use of prototypes, documentation, and team discussion.
I was also accountable for pitching the game and its individual mechanics and systems to both the team internally, as well as to the class or other audiences externally.
Gameplay Scripting:
Working alongside my programming teammates, I developed a large amount of the systems and mechanics in the game. Player movement, abilities, ball interaction, crowd behavior and scoring are just a few examples of systems that I implemented in the game.
Testing:
Coordinating with my producers, I submitted and carried out rigorous testing on Space Dunk through the Champlain College QA Testing Lab. My responsibilities included signing up for testing through the submission of digital forms, creation of surveys for tester feedback, carrying out and moderation of testing sessions, as well as analysis of tester feedback.
Throughout development, I coordinated with my team to create surveys which directed player feedback towards specific features of the game, such as asthetics, networking consistency, AI, and more.
Gameplay Breakdown
Scoring:
Space Dunk is a competitive future sport in which two teams compete to score the most points in a 5 minute game. To score, players must get the golden Score Ball through the other team's hoop. Throwing the ball through the hoop awards players with one point, while Space Dunking (carrying the ball through the hoop) rewards 2 points.
This scoring system gives players interesting decisions while playing the game. Throwing the ball through the hoop can be accomplished from long ranges while Space Dunking requires players to move in close to the hoop. While the Space Dunk rewards players more points, it also gives more opportunity to the other team to make a defensive play.
Blast Balls:
These balls allow players to affect the game from across the arena, and add depth to both offensive and defensive strategies. Throwing the Blast Ball while looking at either the Score Ball or an opponent will cause the ball to seek towards the target. If a player is hit with one of these balls, they will lose all of their energy (discussed below) and will drop the ball that they are holding.
When we began work on Space Dunk, we only had the single Score Ball. As we refined the concept, it became apparent that there was a need for more variety in the game's mechanics. The Blast Ball was our response to this, as it allowed for more depth in the gameplay, while also remaining consistent to the aesthetic and core vision of the game.
Abilities, Boosting, and Energy Management:
To add more strategical depth to the gameplay, I designed an ability system which, like the blast balls, tied into both the offensive and defensive strategies in the game. The system gives players two abilities, the EMP Burst and the Shield, which are usable based on whether or not the player is holding the Score Ball.
The EMP Burst is only usable when the player is NOT holding the Score Ball. At the cost of a large portion of the player's energy, this ability emits a pulse from the player causing nearby opponents to drop the ball they are holding, distorting their screen. This abilitiy can also disable an opponents shield ability if they are within range.
The Shield is only usable when the player IS holding the Score Ball. This temporarily protects the player from dropping the Score Ball at the cost of energy over time.
To give the player more options when it comes to manuvering through the arena, I implemented a boosting system. Early in the project, this system allowed the player to jump or dash quickly in a burst of speed. Through our testing, we found that players wanted more fine control over their movement, so we implemented a "jetpack" style system which added extra thrust to the player's movement. With this new movement, players could move both quickly and accurately in any direction.
To encourage players to think critically about the optimal time to use these mechanics, I implemented an energy system. Though the player's energy recharges quickly over time, the abilities and boost drain it just as fast. This allows for a gameplay experience which isn't too punishing for beginner players, while still allowing for competitve depth where experienced players will need to optimize when they choose to use energy.
Arenas:
One of the most exciting things about working on Space Dunk was in being able to explore what zero gravity sporting arenas could be. I worked closely with Aidan, our other designer, to develop interesting and compelling arenas that facilitated the gameplay of Space Dunk. Of the 7 maps that we prototyped, tested, and iterated on, only 3 made it into the final version.
Orienting the Player:
While developing the levels and recieving feedback on them, we found that one of the most challenging parts of making our game successful was in orienting the player to the space. In zero gravity, there isn't really an "up" direction that players can easily orient to. Especially in our earlier arenas where there wasn't any external environment, players had a hard time understanding their position and rotation in the game world.
One thing that we did in order to help the player orient themselves in the space was to create an aesthetic up. In the half court arena, making the shape of the environment a dome allowed for a curved cieling with a flat base. This makes for a intuitive up direction, allowing players to easily get their bearings.
In the Sphere and Torus arenas, the arenas have a symmetrical floor and ceiling which means that up isn't clearly communicated by the arena itself. To account for this, the external environment is used to give players a sense of what direction is up. Similarly, the displays in the Torus Arena, which are all oriented the same way, help to give the player something to align themselves to.
--------------------------------- When concepting ideas for what a future sport arena would look like, wrapping the field into a sphere seemed like a logical first step. The majority of our challenges with orienting the player occurred in this arena, as in early versions of the level there was no exterior environment for players to align with. To solve this, we ensured that there was a clearly defined horizon, which was accomplished with the clear separation in color.
--------------------------------- Early in the project, our team was excited about the possibilities for a torus shaped arena as we felt that the concept fit very well with the future sport aesthetic. To help players understand where they should go, I implemented arrows which move along the wall towards each of the hoops. If the red team is holding the ball, the arrows move towards the blue hoop and vice versa. If no one is holding the ball, the arrows move towards the center.
--------------------------------- The idea for this arena came from half court basketball, and involves only one hoop as opposed to the regular two. To score, teams need to bring the ball into the scoring zone where upon they will "own" the hoop, allowing them to score. The other team can "clear" the ball by bringing it past the clear zone, and can then bring it back in to score. To communicate to the players who owns the hoop, the arena and the hoop itself changes colors.
--------------------------------- When concepting ideas for what a future sport arena would look like, wrapping the field into a sphere seemed like a logical first step. The majority of our challenges with orienting the player occurred in this arena, as in early versions of the level there was no exterior environment for players to align with. To solve this, we ensured that there was a clearly defined horizon, which was accomplished with the clear separation in color.
Timeline:
Space Dunk was developed over the course of two semesters as part of my senior year at Champlain College. The idea began as one of a handful of prototypes which were created during the fall semester with the original team of 4, consisting of Anthony Pittari (Producer), Dan Havener (Programmer), Eric Kilkenny (Artist) and myself (Designer). After exploring many different ideas for games, we decided on pursuing our idea for a zero-gravity handball experience.
At the end of the fall semester, we presented the game in front of our peers, professors and other faculty along with 17 other senior games. After these presentations, our game was one of the 9 games that were selected to continue development during the spring semester. We were thrilled to be able to continue development on Space Dunk, and happily welcomed Micheal Hill (AI Programmer), Mike Loscoco (Networking Programmer), Kody Corbosiero (Artist), Hunter Gray (Producer) and Aidan Grennen (Designer) to the team.