Roadster Run: Technical Report

Horner, Jake (2021) Roadster Run: Technical Report. Undergraduate thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

‘Roadster’ is a vehicle-based endless runner, made in ‘Unity Engine’ for mobile-based devices. The core gameplay Loop is to survive for as long as possible in the motorway wasteland, shooting at enemy cars and dodging projectiles. The player will have mobile touch screen-oriented controls such as, rotating the device to control the cars steering. The User will be able to upgrade the car cosmetics such as car colour, body type, wheel type. The player can use Augmented Reality features using the phone’s camera to project their upgraded vehicle into the real world. This will provide an incentive to cosmetically upgrade, as well as user generated content for the product with the ability for users to take photos with their personally customised car. In-game assets for the cars and various models have been made by me using the ‘Blender’ 3D software, and all User Interface and 2D Elements will be created using ‘Adobe Photoshop’, all sounds, and music will have been edited in ‘Audacity’ sound software.

The aim of this software project is to challenge my coding in ‘C#’ through procedural generated road tiles, spawning Artificial Intelligence enemies, gamification of physics-based cars, and save features that will create a consistent car model for the player. I want to improve my complexity with the ‘Unity Engine’ by making my first 3d game, dealing with a whole new game design structure. My artistic skills will also be challenged through 3D modelling and texturing in ‘Blender’, User Interface elements creation with ‘Adobe Photoshop’, and lighting and particle Effects using the ‘Unity Engine’.

I want to create a gaming product that innovates and breathes a new life into the genre of endless runners that have been in staple in mobile gaming. Most endless runner type games have the player running away from enemies and dodging obstacles in a locked 3 lane system. My gameplay loop will turn this established format on its head by not locking the player to any lane, giving freedom of movement down the endless road. My Game design features a gameplay loop that has you facing the enemies within the game head on, with an emphasis on engaging in combat with these enemies.

I want the player to feel that their actions have meaning within the game world, this is reasoning behind the ‘Store’ feature. The store allows the user to customize their personal vehicle with the customisation features they select being visible in each of the scenes of the game.

I wanted to include ‘Augmented Reality’ functionality through the users' device camera. This allows the user to see their customised Vehicle in the real world alongside them. I also see this feature as a great marketing opportunity, where users can take photo with their customised car with some branding overlay. This feature can generate more users if these photos are being shared on social media.

These 3-feature working together will create a robust, new, and enjoyable experience for all mobile gamers of any age. The complexity of the each of the features working together to drive user engagement has not be explored in many apps I have seen on the ‘Google Play Marketplace’.

Item Type:	Thesis (Undergraduate)
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > Electronic computers. Computer science T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology > Electronic computers. Computer science G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > Games and Amusements > Computer Games. Video Games. G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > Games and Amusements > Online Games
Divisions:	School of Computing > Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Computing
Depositing User:	Clara Chan
Date Deposited:	01 Sep 2021 15:39
Last Modified:	20 Sep 2021 09:51
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/4997

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