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Rebekah Bledsoe
Technical Designer - TheTinyDeveloperStudio@gmail.com
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Bouncy Buds
Project type
Game Project
Date
3/30/2025-05/17/2025
Playable Build
C# Scripts
This game is a project I worked on for my AI class. The purpose of the project was to have students explore AI pathfinding, state switching, and other higher-level principles for development. I wanted the player to feel supported by their AI buddy before feeling the need to support their buddy themself. I also experimented with Unity's shader graph system and creating custom shaders, as well as visual scripting for systems in-game.
I worked on implementing multiple shaders based on research I did like linking the shader to the directional light of the scene, diffusing values, remapping values, changing texture alpha and color settings, as well as dither amounts for transparency. I used visual scripting for the majority of the player controls for movement and sprinting. This was helpful for visualizing the various processes, and I learned how to access application variables from visual scripts in C# scripts.
If you would like to play a demo version of the game in your browser, follow the itch.io link for the game above!
This instructions menu gives a simple rundown of how each level is meant to be played. Because two types of AI agents were supposed to be displayed in this project, I thought it'd be fitting to showcase them in each level.
In Level One, the player controls the blue ball with WASD, and can bounce around to avoid the red obstacles. Each obstacle will damage and send the player flying. Their health can be tracked using the blue ball in the top-right corner of the screen. The player's AI buddy switches between waiting and support states on a timed interval. The player can choose between two support types: movement or health.
I wanted to experiment with shaders while working on this project as well. I learned how to make toon shaders from a tutorial I watched by a YouTuber named Domango. This tutorial goes into using directional light as a base for shading that is applied on a sliced level. The amount of shaded slices can be changed, giving a more or less blended look. I implemented this method with a dithering method that I quite enjoy, which adds a unique transparent effect to materials.
When applied in game, the shader and subsequent materials look nice. The various values of the shader can be tweaked in the inspector for easier design implementation.
For the first level, I wanted to experiment with using Visual Scripting in Unity, so I made the player movement system in a script graph. This portion of the graph showcases the input control and subsequent movement for the player. This is handled with multiple update trees of nodes, as well as scene variables, which can be accessed in written scripts.
Within the same visual script controlling movement, this portion of the graph handles speed changes for the player. During portions where the player is holding shift to accelerate their ball more, the nodes will recognize that and change speed accordingly.
This script handles the character's health. The update method mainly checks for various boolean values and will act accordingly based on each.
When the player takes damage, the damage amount is applied to their health, which is then displayed using a UI icon. I wanted to add extra dramatic effect to taking damage for this project, so I experimented with Unity's cinemachine. With some frequency and amplitude changes on a timed interval, an effective screen shake can be achieved for taking damage.
The script for the buddy support system switches the buddy between two states based on a timed interval. Then when the buddy is in its support state, it will engage in either healing or boosting speed for the player. After the timer ends, the buddy will switch back to its waiting state. In this state, the support type can be changed by the player.
In Level Two, the player watches the buddy while they navigate back toward the player through a series of doors. The player can open each door, which will give a speed boost relative to the color of the ball in the room. Every second that the buddy is away from the player, they'll lose health, so the goal is to help the buddy navigate back quickly before running out of time. The level mainly utilizes a NavMesh system with baked surfaces, various NavMesh obstacles, and the NavMesh agent which is the buddy.
The Buddy Navigation Scipt uses the NavMesh Agent component linked to the buddy in this level, this script has the buddy naturally navigate back toward the player every update. This can be stalled if the canMove boolean is set to false, which would be in areas where the buddy encounters a set of doors.
In the Buddy Navigation Script, the buddy's speed is boosted by an external multiplier and is given a set wait time. Those are then applied to a coroutine which boosts speed for a set amount of time before returning the speed back to normal.
This instructions menu gives a simple rundown of how each level is meant to be played. Because two types of AI agents were supposed to be displayed in this project, I thought it'd be fitting to showcase them in each level.
In Level One, the player controls the blue ball with WASD, and can bounce around to avoid the red obstacles. Each obstacle will damage and send the player flying. Their health can be tracked using the blue ball in the top-right corner of the screen. The player's AI buddy switches between waiting and support states on a timed interval. The player can choose between two support types: movement or health.
I wanted to experiment with shaders while working on this project as well. I learned how to make toon shaders from a tutorial I watched by a YouTuber named Domango. This tutorial goes into using directional light as a base for shading that is applied on a sliced level. The amount of shaded slices can be changed, giving a more or less blended look. I implemented this method with a dithering method that I quite enjoy, which adds a unique transparent effect to materials.
When applied in game, the shader and subsequent materials look nice. The various values of the shader can be tweaked in the inspector for easier design implementation.
For the first level, I wanted to experiment with using Visual Scripting in Unity, so I made the player movement system in a script graph. This portion of the graph showcases the input control and subsequent movement for the player. This is handled with multiple update trees of nodes, as well as scene variables, which can be accessed in written scripts.
Within the same visual script controlling movement, this portion of the graph handles speed changes for the player. During portions where the player is holding shift to accelerate their ball more, the nodes will recognize that and change speed accordingly.
This script handles the character's health. The update method mainly checks for various boolean values and will act accordingly based on each.
When the player takes damage, the damage amount is applied to their health, which is then displayed using a UI icon. I wanted to add extra dramatic effect to taking damage for this project, so I experimented with Unity's cinemachine. With some frequency and amplitude changes on a timed interval, an effective screen shake can be achieved for taking damage.
The script for the buddy support system switches the buddy between two states based on a timed interval. Then when the buddy is in its support state, it will engage in either healing or boosting speed for the player. After the timer ends, the buddy will switch back to its waiting state. In this state, the support type can be changed by the player.
In Level Two, the player watches the buddy while they navigate back toward the player through a series of doors. The player can open each door, which will give a speed boost relative to the color of the ball in the room. Every second that the buddy is away from the player, they'll lose health, so the goal is to help the buddy navigate back quickly before running out of time. The level mainly utilizes a NavMesh system with baked surfaces, various NavMesh obstacles, and the NavMesh agent which is the buddy.
The Buddy Navigation Scipt uses the NavMesh Agent component linked to the buddy in this level, this script has the buddy naturally navigate back toward the player every update. This can be stalled if the canMove boolean is set to false, which would be in areas where the buddy encounters a set of doors.
In the Buddy Navigation Script, the buddy's speed is boosted by an external multiplier and is given a set wait time. Those are then applied to a coroutine which boosts speed for a set amount of time before returning the speed back to normal.
This instructions menu gives a simple rundown of how each level is meant to be played. Because two types of AI agents were supposed to be displayed in this project, I thought it'd be fitting to showcase them in each level.
In Level One, the player controls the blue ball with WASD, and can bounce around to avoid the red obstacles. Each obstacle will damage and send the player flying. Their health can be tracked using the blue ball in the top-right corner of the screen. The player's AI buddy switches between waiting and support states on a timed interval. The player can choose between two support types: movement or health.
I wanted to experiment with shaders while working on this project as well. I learned how to make toon shaders from a tutorial I watched by a YouTuber named Domango. This tutorial goes into using directional light as a base for shading that is applied on a sliced level. The amount of shaded slices can be changed, giving a more or less blended look. I implemented this method with a dithering method that I quite enjoy, which adds a unique transparent effect to materials.
When applied in game, the shader and subsequent materials look nice. The various values of the shader can be tweaked in the inspector for easier design implementation.
For the first level, I wanted to experiment with using Visual Scripting in Unity, so I made the player movement system in a script graph. This portion of the graph showcases the input control and subsequent movement for the player. This is handled with multiple update trees of nodes, as well as scene variables, which can be accessed in written scripts.
Within the same visual script controlling movement, this portion of the graph handles speed changes for the player. During portions where the player is holding shift to accelerate their ball more, the nodes will recognize that and change speed accordingly.
This script handles the character's health. The update method mainly checks for various boolean values and will act accordingly based on each.
When the player takes damage, the damage amount is applied to their health, which is then displayed using a UI icon. I wanted to add extra dramatic effect to taking damage for this project, so I experimented with Unity's cinemachine. With some frequency and amplitude changes on a timed interval, an effective screen shake can be achieved for taking damage.
The script for the buddy support system switches the buddy between two states based on a timed interval. Then when the buddy is in its support state, it will engage in either healing or boosting speed for the player. After the timer ends, the buddy will switch back to its waiting state. In this state, the support type can be changed by the player.
In Level Two, the player watches the buddy while they navigate back toward the player through a series of doors. The player can open each door, which will give a speed boost relative to the color of the ball in the room. Every second that the buddy is away from the player, they'll lose health, so the goal is to help the buddy navigate back quickly before running out of time. The level mainly utilizes a NavMesh system with baked surfaces, various NavMesh obstacles, and the NavMesh agent which is the buddy.
The Buddy Navigation Scipt uses the NavMesh Agent component linked to the buddy in this level, this script has the buddy naturally navigate back toward the player every update. This can be stalled if the canMove boolean is set to false, which would be in areas where the buddy encounters a set of doors.
In the Buddy Navigation Script, the buddy's speed is boosted by an external multiplier and is given a set wait time. Those are then applied to a coroutine which boosts speed for a set amount of time before returning the speed back to normal.
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