Swarm Alpha

Hi and welcome to Swarm Alpha! Swarm Alpha is a fast-paced, action-packed player-versus-environment game focused on automated base defense. Earn money by defeating waves of monsters and use it to buy auto-targeting turrets to defend your base against increasingly intense swarms—from low-threat Omega-class enemies to brutally challenging Alpha-class beasts.

This is a very early-access version, with many animations and features still in development, but it’s already a blast to play—I hope you enjoy it!

🎮 Inspiration

Swarm Alpha is my very first game! I’ve always dreamed of building something like this, and this hackathon gave me the perfect opportunity. That said, I may have been a little too ambitious for a first project! I worked full-time on it for about two weeks, and while I couldn’t implement everything I planned, I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.

⚙️ What It Does

Players defend their base by purchasing weapons and placing automated turrets that target and shoot enemies. With each new wave, enemies get tougher and more numerous, putting your defense systems to the test.

🛠️ How I Built It

I followed all the provided tutorials and stitched together systems to build the game’s core features:

Shooting mechanics
Custom UI
Spawning & object pooling
Multiplayer lobby support
Mobile development
Camera API integration
Scripted NPCs
Text-as-asset system

I also created custom scripts, especially for the turret system.

Additionally, I relied heavily on AI tools:

o4-mini for code generation
Suno for the dynamic soundtrack (note that each swarm has its own track!)
ElevenLabs for voiceovers

While I initially tried using Meshy for 3D assets, the results weren’t satisfactory, so I purchased asset packs and customized them in Blender.

🚧 Challenges

As a first-time game developer, I had to learn nearly everything from scratch—except TypeScript, which I already knew. Time was the biggest constraint; I couldn’t check off every item on my to-do list, but the game is fully playable and already fun. One of the major features still missing is enemy animations.

🏆 Accomplishments I’m Proud Of

Publishing my very first game is an achievement in itself! But if I had to pick one standout feature, it would be the turret system. Players can purchase turrets that spawn automatically, target enemies in range, and respond to physics—meaning they’re grabbable and movable. A neat trick shifts their center of mass so they always land upright!

Turrets

📚 What I Learned

Just about everything about game development on Meta Horizon—from systems architecture to visual scripting, asset creation, and more!

🚀 What’s Next for Swarm Alpha

There’s still a lot I’m excited to add in the coming weeks:

Full animation for enemies
More enemy types and swarms (currently 7, aiming for 26—one for each Greek letter!)
Drivable vehicles (already have 5 models ready)
New props like solar panels and generators, with a power management system to power turrets
Satellite arrays to improve turret targeting and fire rate
Destructible turrets and walls
A wall-building system (currently the base layout is fixed)
PvP mode by cloning the base and placing a second one for turret-vs-turret combat

Thanks for checking out Swarm Alpha! I can’t wait to keep building on it and see how far it can go.