I would like to see Ben and Sam consolidate an RTS, RPG and MOBA like games all in one full set tutorials series.
There’s several reasons for this:
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All are highly sought after subjects.
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All share A LOT of similar systems.
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They can also share the same assets.
So let me expand on the suggested sections:
SECTION 1: Clicker Knight!
Game Summary: Click on enemies to destroy them and buy upgrades to strengthen your clicks. A simple starter game where students will learn how to:
- Create enemy types from a master class.
- How to give enemies health based on level, and drop gold based on level.
- Enemy death upon reaching 0 Health.
- Basic level progression for the player.
- How to subtract health from enemy by clicking it.
- Buying upgrades with gold that increase damage (with other bonus effects).
- Simple UI.
- Simple transform animations for hit enemies.
Section 2: Tower Constructor!
Game Summary: Construct defenses, collect resources and upgrade abilities to defend against waves of enemies!
- Enemies now have simple AI (Approach Player Base) with path finding. As well as a more comprehensive enemy manager.
- Player can build structures that have their own simple AI (target enemies). They can be upgraded with resources (dropped from enemies).
- Introduction to abilities. Player has some global abilities than can be used with cool downs. (meteor shower, base buff etc)
Section 3 ARPG ARENA!
Game Summary: Players enter an arena as a click-to-move character with several abilities. They are tasked with fighting waves of enemies that will try and attack the player (Melee, Projectile Shooter, Magic Area Dealer). At the end of each wave the players is rewarded with a chest which bursts out with random items to collect.
- More advanced AI (but still pretty simple).
- Player click to move and player tied abilities.
- Proper implementation of inventory system.
- Loot drops.
- Player can level up to unlock new abilities.
- Equipped items affect players stats.
Section 4 MOBA Defense!
Game Summary: Players will face off in a 1v1 situation as click-to-move characters. Each player will have 2 towers and a nexus, which will constantly spawn minions to attack the opposing tower. Players will gain experience and gold to purchase items from a shop.
- Introduction to networking 1v1.
- All enemy behaviour already created!
- Existing items modified.
- Existing abilities modified.
Section 5 To infinity & Beyond
Summary Each section is just a small introduction that lays the foundation for many popular types of games. From this foundation one can expand the tower defense into an RTS, the ARPG arena into a full RPG and the MOBA defense into a full moba. The goal would be to get players started then let them cut loose on fleshing out their systems. Yet they start with strong architecture on creating enemies, items, abilities and the player class. What else do you need?!
Advanced future features may include:
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RTS AI pathfinding & grouping.
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RTS advanced AI strategy.
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RPG abilities expansion.
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RPG random dungeon generator.
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MOBA greater networking.
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MOBA hero expansion.
All these systems have SO MUCH in common. Attributes, abilities, resource collecting, item collecting, inventory system, save/load game states, enemy manager, item manager (lists? data tables?) it may even unlock the holy grail of reusable code.
COURSE INTENT & ENGINE CONSIDERATION
The course is not a step-by-step guide to creating a feature complete game. Rather it’s about starting with strong architecture and a good understanding of OOP that allows students to expand the games themselves. Once these “Templates” are completed, it should be fairly easy (intellectually) to expand these games.
Another benefit is it gives students reasonable milestones. They can get to section 3, stop the course and go off and build their own game. There will be less burnout and higher completion rates.
As for engine. Let me say that I’ve completed Ben & Sam’s complete Unity developer course and I’ve made 2 games in Unity including the example I gave in section 1. Which is why it may surprise you to hear that UE4 should be the engine of choice.
Unity already has an RPG course, but furthermore building in unreal will allow for a “cleaner” code database. The unreal prefab system is a little more robust than Unity. This is not just about coding anymore, but making a game. All of UE4’s built in tools are just that much cleaner for larger projects. Let’s not forget about multiplayer either. Unreals GamePlay Framework will make the MOBA game a lot more easy. Also EPIC has actually created a MOBA game and re-structured the engine to be more MOBA friendly. These gametypes fit well within the standard framework allowing us to take advantage of the existing architecture.
I’m not trying to say UE4 is better than Unity. It’s not. Unity reigns supreme when it comes to prototyping, 2D games and ‘small’ games. However, games that seek to replicate AAA games lie in the domain of Unreal.