Red Light_Green Light

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  gameplay

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  gameplay_redlight

Inspiration

I had seen the RollerBall platform, created by Jim Welch, at a previous show and play event and gained an interest in it. I found out that the creator was going to be at Dreamhack and it was a perfect opportunity to try making a game for it. The Rollerball platform uses a big circus ball as the input device which you can roll around. I needed a game that would utilize this mechanic in an engaging and inventive way. The idea of seeing players trying to handle this gigantic ball to stop and go in order to race to the finish led me to a childhood classic: Red Light, Green Light.

What it does

For those of you who have never had the chance to play Red Light, Green Light, it is a simple game where one person is it and stands at a goal line (usually a wall or fence) and faces away from the other players. The other players stand at a starting line some distance away and begin moving towards the goal line as quickly as they can manage. At random intervals whenever they feel like it the person who is it yells "Red light" and turns around. The other players have to immediately stop moving and freeze in place. If the person who is it sees any of them still moving then they are out. The first player to reach the goal line wins. Red Light_Green Light emulates this game with a few minor changes to allow for the new platform.

How I built it

This is a game developed with the Unity 2019.2 game engine.

Challenges I ran into

Developing for the Rollerball platform while not having much access to it was definitely a challenge. I am able to emulate it with sliding the mouse repeatedly but it leaves much out of the actual experience. When I was able to get a quick test run in the input was very different and needs to be scaled for Rollerball specifically.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Being my first time developing for this platform and the fact that this is a very new platform, I am proud that this not only came to completion but met all of my original goals for the game.

What I learned

I learned a lot about the way the Rollerball platform works and what is entailed in building for it. There is no documentation out for the development process for it so I also learned a lot about developing for innovative platforms that are in development. Also, I enjoy participating in impromptu events like these where I can see how much I have progressed in game development since I started in 2018.

What's next for Red Light_Green Light

The next step is to pitch this to Jim Welch, the creator of the Rollerball platform, as a possible game to be included with his platform in arcades and events. If successful then I will complete the development on Red Light_Green Light.

Built With

• rollerball-unity-c#