Hero Knight

Idea & introduction

This was the first “big” project I developed, and it was the final-year project for my A-Levels in Year 13. The project had to be of a bigger scale than previous projects, but we were allowed to use different IDEs to help us achieve an end goal.

After some consideration, and brainstorming a few ideas, I decided on a 2D, pixel art, hack and slash game called Hero Knight. It was inspired by the likes of Dead Cells and Celeste, and marked my first adventure in the world of game development. Aside from using Unity to actually make the game, I planned to use a platform called Piskel for the assets (objects/characters) and animations, as well as Firebase for an online login system and a scoreboard.

Documentation & coding

This was the most important part of the whole project. What mattered was not the end product, but the documentation of the process. Therefore, midway through the project, in order to maximise my grade, I had to focus more on the documentation rather than creating original in-game art. I resorted to using free assets from the Unity Asset Store, and they did fit my game style in the end.

I coded in C# using Unity. It took a lot of trial and error, but after a while I found myself quite comfortable with both.

I tried to implement Firebase and ultimately failed. Between having too many errors that seemed untrackable and being pressured by a deadline, I was unable to implement it fully and chose to focus on the documentation of the project.

Technologies used

• Coded in Unity using C#
• Used built-in features to create the menus, adding code where necessary
• Art and sprites from the Unity Asset Store and OpenGameArt
• Documentation was made using Word, and diagrams were done with app.diagrams.net

Notable features

• Fully working menu with multiple screens
• Settings menu with sliders and buttons that affect the user’s experience in real time
• Animated characters
• Responsive controls for character movement and attacks
• Enemy tracks the player and has a responsive health bar

Conclusion

My grade for the project was not as high as I expected or wanted, and Covid certainly didn’t help me trying to complete it. It did teach me a lot of valuable skills which I still use, and it gave me the motivation to move onto other projects.

Files

The project documentation (PDF) is available if you wish to see the sort of work I did on this project. This includes coding, diagrams, design, testing etc. I cannot share the actual build/finished product as an .exe file, but you are free to look at the documentation.