#2 Basic Level Blocking

Basic Level Blocking

This is the second devlog for my game Gone Fishin', and its purpose is basic level blocking.

For this checkpoint, I have further expanded on the basic layout I deployed in week 1 by deploying the first level of my game. I took my illustrated background image from the first checkpoint and resized it into three separate images, as the original did render correctly to the canvas resolution of 1280x720. The photos are one file with multiple layers of background elements, such as textures and rock elements, with a hand-painted theme. The background image is displayed below.

Next, I gathered some marine plantlife assets to add some scenery: tall seaweed (Chatgpt, 2025), Coral (free-game-assets, n.d.), and Kelp (Freepik, n.d.), which was used to populate the bottom of the canvas and create some depth. I had some trouble cleaning up the background on the Kelp asset, which a third-party tool helped me with (removebg, n.d.).

Next, I created four sprite game objects with box colliders and placed them at the four borders of the canvas to create boundaries to avoid game objects from clipping outside the game world. Once I had a basic functional game world, I replaced the crab sprite used in #1 Player Movement with a fish suitable for testing. I wrote a basic enemy spawner script to spawn a maximum of 5 objects and spawn more as the player consumes targets. Next, I wrote a script to facilitate growth upon collision with three enemy target objects that continues infinitely for testing purposes. The following GIF displays this core gameplay loop interaction.

I also implemented basic AI interaction to make the enemy fish flee upon the player getting close. However, it's not functioning correctly. I will return to it for checkpoint #3; I just wanted to demonstrate the gameplay loop for now. The AI could be further expanded by adding logic that changes the behaviour upon the player eating a target, creating more unique interactions for the player. I also had issues with the enemy fish clipping outside of the map once I made their triggers, so to solve this problem, I created a child collider on them that was not a trigger, which corrected the issue.

Next I added a placeholder sprite of a shark (free-game-assets, n.d.) to serve as the primary threat to the player with a script to track the player with increasing speed over time; This functionality was incomplete so for testing purposes I turned off the collider as was impacting ability to test the player interaction with the enemy fish. The interaction GIF is shown below:

Also added was an object to serve as a power-up shield against the shark, but it still serves no function outside of a placeholder. I also added a cosmetic crab that crawls along the bottom of the canvas to add depth. I am also considering manipulating the coral and seaweed object layering to allow the player to hide behind them from the shark, and adding a mechanic to simulate ocean currents through manipulating the physics engine and creating a zone of less resistance, to allow for hiding from a shark in marine plantlife.

Got quite a lot of helpful feedback that I plan to use for the next stage of development. During week 1, I received feedback on the boost mechanic, pointing out that I could not change direction during boost, while another student thought it was a helpful feature, as it creates a feeling of risk in choosing ur boost direction. In week 2, I received good feedback, Ian led me in the direction that I could make it possible to eat the shark once u get big enough which could allow the player to beat the time mechanic, he also helped me fix the sprite quality scaling issue by correcting the render setting under filter to point which I have implemented improving visuals significantly. One player gave an idea that the size of the map becomes an issue as you grow in size, manipulating the camera as you grow in size would allow for more satisfying exploration as the player gets larger.

Goals:

Correct layering of marine plant life to allow for swimming behind objects

Implement a power-up system

Attempt to implement the feedback regarding camera manipulation.

Further expand the Enemy Fish AI script, as it is malfunctioning.

Fix the shark behaviour script.

Attempt to add a mechanic that allows the player to eat the shark if the player becomes large enough, allowing for a gameplay option to bypass the time requirement and move onto the next level faster. (potentially earning a time bonus for scoring)

Fine-tune the fish and shark logic to allow for a longer gameplay loop by tweaking the fish-eating mechanic parameters and fine-tuning the difficulty balance between shark and player once they are functioning.

Complete levels 2 and 3 and implement new marine life to create variety between levels.

References

ChatGPT. (2025). Shared conversation: Sea game asset suggestions. OpenAI. https://chatgpt.com/share/6815d0a3-c8c0-800e-b6c9-42a1bc92621a

free-game-assets. (n.d.). Octopus, jellyfish, shark and turtle free sprite. Itch.io. https://free-game-assets.itch.io/octopus-jellyfish-shark-and-turtle-free-sprite (Accessed April 27, 2025)

Freepik. (n.d.). Green seaweed transparent background [PSD]. https://www.freepik.com/free-psd/green-seaweed-transparent-background_404260844.... (Accessed April 27, 2025)

Freepik. (n.d.). Hand-drawn cartoon coral illustration. https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/hand-drawn-cartoon-coral-illustration_496855... (Accessed April 27, 2025)

remove.bg. (n.d.). Upload – Remove background from image. https://www.remove.bg/upload (Accessed April 27, 2025)