-
The start screen (the black overlay is helpful for debugging). The menu has been streamlined for 2-click matchmaking.
-
A match underway. Teams must bring dust (white particles) back to their scoring zones, but if their balloons pop, they lose dust!
Inspiration
A few months ago, I made an animation of a bunch of Roombas with balloons and knives, so it seemed like the perfect chance to turn that into a game!
What it does
It connects 4 players in a completely online lobby (no local or LAN tricks here), then takes them into a timed 2v2 competition to collect the most dust possible. Players must drive over dust particles to pick them up, then transport them back to scoring zones. However, carrying too much dust will slow them down, and if their balloons are popped (by enemies OR friends), they will become immobilized for a short time and drop a portion of their dust. Players can also perform a charge at the cost of some dust to quickly attack or retreat. After two minutes, the team with the highest number of points wins. It's also got music and sound effects, so turn your volume up!
How we built it
We started with assets that I made previously in Blender, optimizing them for game engines. Then, we worked in a "following" workflow - Sarah would make the base code, and I would adapt it for multiplayer networking. Sarah also worked in Photoshop to produce various graphics in the game, like the logo and the instructions.
Challenges we ran into
Networking is naturally really really difficult. I was stuck for more than an hour figuring out why the clients seemed to have double the dust particles as the servers, and when I was creating the lobby code, I had a lot of trouble working with unfamiliar APIs and deprecated/poorly documented functions.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're super proud of not only creating an online multiplayer game within 24 hours, but having a working prototype within 3 hours and basically finishing it during this time!
What we learned
I learned a lot about networking practices, like RPT calls and server-side commands, and for Sarah, this was her first Unity project in 3D. I also got some experience working with UI elements, and Sarah got into a bit of networking as well.
What's next for Roomba Rumble
We might introduce obstacles into the playing field, or different skills besides the dash. Currently, Sarah will be hosting the product on itch.io.
Note: Video is in the google drive link.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.