Stranded

Overview

Stranded originally started out as a project for my college Game Programming course. Once the class finished, I went back to the game and added some new features. While most of the art assets were downloaded from the Unity Asset Store, the scripting (with the exception of the 'CameraMovement' script) and overall level design are original.

The biggest challenge in making this game was figuring out how to program the enemy AI. Originally, once each enemy spawned, it would immediately target a tower, or if there were no towers, it would stand in place. I thought it would look and feel much nicer if each enemy rose in the air first before targeting, and rotated around the island if there were no targets.

The game has 2 game modes:

1. In Stranded, the player starts out on a deserted island with a single watchtower. The goal of this mode is to defend the tower from the enemies coming from the sea long enough to signal help and escape, beating the game mode. When the player defeats enough enemies, they can construct a new tower.
2. In Endless, the player is on two islands, but there are no towers. The goal is to simply destroy as many enemies to increase their score before the player loses all of their health. 

Game Mechanics

Aiming - Move the mouse to aim and the left mouse button to shoot

Enemy AI - There are five variants of enemies (blue, green, orange, purple, and red). In the Stranded mode, they are programmed to either circle the island if there are no towers, or target the nearest tower if there is one, depleting the tower's health and exploding upon impact. In the Endless mode, all enemies immediately target the player's location.

Towers - In the Stranded mode, the player's task is to construct towers long enough to escape. Each tower has a health bar that will deplete whenever a enemy collides with it, destroying once its health reaches 0. If a tower is present, it will fill the meter at the bottom of the screen. In order to create a new tower, the player must defeat 5 enemies, at which a meter will be filled and they can press the 'E' key to create a new tower on their location. The new tower must be a certain distance away from all other towers to be constructed. Once a new tower is built, the meter will empty and will need to be refilled.

Ammo - There are two types of ammo, Light and Heavy. Light ammo deals 1 point of damage, while Heavy ammo deals 2 points. Firing Heavy ammo requires a 3-second cooldown.  There are several ammo spawners in each game mode that randomly drop either Light or Heavy ammo. Press the 'Spacebar' key to switch ammo types.

Win/Lose Conditions - In the Stranded game mode, the player wins if the green meter at the bottom of the screen fills completely before the timer runs out. If the meter is not filled before the timer reaches zero, the player loses.

Asset Credits

Ball Pack by YounGen Tech

Fantasy Wooden GUI: Free by Black Hammer

Jelly Monsters by Render Shed Technologies

Military Shooter Music Pack by Augusto Mazzoli

Towers PBR Pack by ATOMICU3D

Low Poly Tropical Island Lite by JustCreate