We are living in a high-tech world that is changing too frequently to really be sure that you have the skills and knowledge to take you through a lifetime. This is a fact that most experienced software developers are aware of.
At FreezePro Software, we have decided to spice things up a little for the team, so we found available time, aside from developing client projects, and proposed to make a hackathon inhouse. Our internal team had a vote prior to this and the decision was clear to use new technology to build a game. Unity 3D was used as a tool to develop a game, so we gathered 3 teams of 4 people, which includes one designer in each team to provide graphics assets. All of the participants used C# as it is the preferred programming language at FreezePro Software.
Schedule:
30 mins-Oleh Mykhaylovych read a presentation regarding 3D development and game development in particular, touching main concepts of computer graphics as well.
40 mins- Oleh Mykhaylovych showed example of 3D game with simple interaction covering main aspects of what is needed in the Unity environment to create simple games.
7 hours- 3 teams were developing a bowling game with Unity3D, Visual Studio (C#) and 3D Max studio.
Results: There was great engagement throughout the entire process. Teams were happy mostly because they got to develop their first game and that was challenging due to new IDEs being used and the discovery of wrong and right approaches in the development process through trial and error.. The right approach was thinking in detail about what needs to be done and how to do it well, instead of being concerned if they will complete everything they need to on time.. The wrong approach to the process was the issue of setting up IDEs and managing the project at the very end of the time allocated.
Deadline: The approaching deadline shows how developers behave if they do and do not have appropriate planning. In the results, we witnessed 3 working demos,, mostly due to concerns from the teams themselves that they could do better, and we are sure they will next time. Great prizes were awarded to the winning team.
Gameplay and presentation:
The concept of the first game involves hitting the ball using your mouse. The game calculates the point of the hit and launches a ball. The addictive part was that you could launch as many balls as you want just by using your mouse.
The second game was a recompilation of a bowling game into an old game called "Gorodky", that was popular 20 years ago. It had a well-managed points system as well as good presentation, and that lead to it being awarded first place in this competition.
Third game was an adventure (a map of as island) game mix and bowling. The user could walk through the land and play mini games at certain locations.
Here are a few screenshots:
FreezePro Software would like to thank the judges and participants of our first Hackathon.Now we can assure, with our results, that we are moving forward and already prepared to take part in Unity Development projects. Stay with us...