Marcus Engages Unity: "Roll-a-Ball" Project

After encountering significant technical difficulty with his laptop and the Oculus Rift, Marcus decided to postpone his biometric research and pursue another project.  Frustrated with virtual reality (VR) for the moment, he began to delve - once again - into game design.

This time, he found a new support in the form of Unity (@unity3d).  According to the company website, Unity is "a flexible and powerful development platform for creating multi-platform 3D and 2D games and interactive experiences."  In order to begin to learn the software, Marcus chose to pursue one of the linear "Projects" offered by the site:  Roll-a-Ball.

Per its original imagining, Roll-a-Ball allows a user to control a ball while collecting cube tokens on a flat plane.  Although a simple game, it invites its creator to learn and manipulate fundamentals of game design such as game objects, coding, etc.  The Project essentially teaches itself, for it guides the author through the design process using a sequence of videos.  Even so, the act of construction is not a simple one.  The creator must scan several screens at once, and he must navigate a multitude of textual menus to create the final product.

After having worked with GameSalad, Marcus progressed quickly through the videos until he had created a mark-up of the Project.  He could have ended his work there, congratulating himself for following the program's directions to the letter.  But, admirably, he did not do this.  Instead, he proceeded to take the game well beyond its original dimensions.  He began to experiment with stages and scenes outside of the game's flat landscape, inserting new platforms and thereby activating vertical planes.  He placed ramps too, and he experimented with appropriate shadow distribution by randomizing the arrangement of his cube tokens.

Fortunately, these updates are just the beginning.  Marcus is currently programming a vertical elevator, speed boosts, and character deaths.  He has also begun to research Autodesk (@autodesk), which is a company that provides "3D design, engineering, and entertainment software" (quoted content located on the About section of the company website).  Autodesk's programs will allow Marcus to engage in advanced 3D modeling and layering for his Project.  By the time he has finished his Unity game, it may prove virtually unrecognizable to its original imagining.

What do you think of Marcus's project? Are you a fan of video games or gamification? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  The final product of "Roll-a-Ball," as envisioned by Unity.  Photo located at https://code.msdn.microsoft.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the image above.

Description of 2nd image:  A draft of Marcus's rendering of "Roll-a-Ball."  Photo taken by IP faculty.