Experimentum

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  Experimentum Logo

Tracks

We are submitting for the Gaming Track and the Best Beginner Track.

Inspiration

Experimentum was inspired by the few games which feature an AI opponent which adapts to the player's actions. While many games feature complex and intelligent AI agents, their overall behaviors are usually static and unchanging. We wanted to hack together a game in which the antagonist's AI is capable of recognizing the player's strategy and adapting to it.

What it does

Currently, Experimentum allows the player to try and avoid an AI adversary. While the AI is currently not as sophisticated as we would like, it still is capable of adapting to player behavior.

How we built it

For this hack, we primarily used the Unity game engine. We also utilized a program called Aseprite to create 2D pixel art assets. We wrote many C# scripts, and had to design and place our game objects in order to create a playable level.

Challenges we ran into

Creating the scripts and shaders necessary to create a field-of-view system was a difficult challenge, because we had never done anything like it before. It required complex ray-casting, a topic that is daunting not only at first glance, but at the second and third as well. However, we came to a solution was a satisfying and workable for us, despite it feeling somewhat "hacky" at times.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We learned how to use the Unity Animator system during this hack, and it was well worth it. We were able to create responsive animations with little overhead. We are excited to put our newfound skills to use for future projects.

We are also proud of our sound system. We feel that sound design is the most underrated part of a game demo - it's easy to overlook, but having it makes the experience much better. We were able to create a responsive sound system using open-source sound files and some creative scripting.

What we learned

We learned a lot about lighting systems, animation, and ray-casting. We also had to research AI systems to create an AI that not only patrols, but chases the player as well.

What's next for Experimentum

We plan to continue working on this project, as we feel that the concept is strong and unique. We'd love to refine the systems we've created to not only create a full-fledged game with a story, but an interesting example of AI design as well.

Built With

• aseprite
• c#
• unity