About
A mobile car derby game for mobile made with Unity, where the goal is to crash into other cars, score points and climb the leaderboard.
Check it out on Itch.io to see more!
Details
- Role: Gameplay and AI programmer
- Time: The project was 4 weeks
- Team: The team consisted of 15 people
- Engine: Unity
- Language: C#
Contribution
- AI logic
- Input system for mobile
Learnings
Vanhalla was my second game project at Futuregames, marking my first experience with vehicle AI and steering. Responsible for the AI, I integrated it with car physics to ensure smooth interactions across systems, developing my problem-solving skills in AI, physics integration, and teamwork.
A key challenge was working with car physics while designing steering mechanics, as we couldn't rely on traditional navigation methods like a NavMesh agent. After experimenting with different approaches, I developed a custom steering controller, using a Behavior Tree to allow the cars to respond to both AI decisions and physics-based constraints.
While I initially worked independently on the prototype and architecture, collaboration became crucial toward the end. With support from other programmers, we created a modular system that allowed for smoother integration of different components.
I also learned the importance of clear communication, particularly when presenting my Behavior Tree and AI logic to the team. Visual representations helped clarify my ideas, and research into Context Steering allowed us to explore alternative solutions. We could have improved our iteration process by testing more frequently to catch issues earlier, but the project ultimately benefited from strong collaboration and a modular approach to development.
In the end, working on Vanhalla helped me grow technically and as a team player. The modular approach, the use of Scriptable Objects and iterative work contributed to the project's success.