Alright, let’s talk about mavs night of games. This was something I jumped into headfirst, and lemme tell ya, it was a learning curve!
So, first things first, I had this idea to, you know, create a game night thing inspired by the Dallas Mavericks. I started by sketching out some very basic concepts. Think basketball trivia, some kind of shooting game (digitally, of course, I’m not setting up hoops in my living room), and maybe a memory matching game with player cards.
Next, I had to pick a platform. I considered a few options, but ultimately settled on Unity. I know, I know, it can be overkill for simple stuff, but I’m relatively comfortable with it, and it gave me the flexibility I wanted.
Then the real work started. I began by prototyping the trivia game. I figured I could pull player stats and history from some sports websites (used some basic web scraping, nothing too fancy). I then wrote a simple script to display the questions and handle user input. Getting the UI looking decent took way longer than I expected! I spent hours tweaking fonts, colors, and layout.
After that, I moved onto the shooting game. This was trickier. I wanted a simple arc-based shooting mechanic. I tinkered with Unity’s physics engine, but it was too realistic for what I was going for. So, I ended up writing my own custom trajectory calculations. It was a lot of trial and error to get the “feel” right.
The memory game was probably the easiest. I found some Mavericks player images online and wrote a script to shuffle them and handle the matching logic. Still, I ran into snags. Like, how to prevent the same card from being selected twice in a row? Small details, but they matter.
Throughout the process, I was constantly testing and iterating. I roped in my family to playtest (they’re not huge basketball fans, but they were good sports). Their feedback was invaluable. They pointed out things I completely missed, like unclear instructions or confusing game mechanics.
Finally, after weeks of late nights and copious amounts of coffee, I had something presentable. It wasn’t perfect, but it was functional and, dare I say, kinda fun. I even added some cheesy sound effects and background music.
The biggest takeaway? Game development is hard! Even simple games require a lot of time and effort. But, seeing people actually enjoy something you created is incredibly rewarding.
Lessons learned:
- Start with a clear vision, but be prepared to adapt.
- Don’t underestimate the importance of playtesting.
- UI design is harder than it looks.
- Coffee is your friend.
Now, I’m thinking about what to tackle next. Maybe a mini golf game? Or perhaps something completely different… Stay tuned!
