THROWAWAYS

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Game Presentation

Throwaways is a 2D roguelike, twin-stick shooter with a top-down view where players explore procedurally generated dungeons filled with a mix of strange monsters and bosses. Throwaways emphasizes randomized loot drops and power-ups that dramatically change gameplay with each run, creating a unique experience every time. The game combines fast-paced combat with strategic decision-making, as players choose which items to keep or toss, affecting both combat and character stats.

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Inputs

MOVE

• W - UP
• S - DOWN
• A - LEFT
• D - RIGHT

SHOOT

• ↑ - UP
• ↓ - DOWN
• ← - LEFT
• → - RIGHT

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Build:

UNITY EDITOR VERSION: 2022.3.40f1

The game demo can be played in browser here: https://barzoius.itch.io/throwaways
You will need this password: throwaways

Technical Contents

1. Player Movement
2. Shooting
3. Map Generation

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Player Movement

We first create our input vector:

   float speed = GameManager.currentMS;

   float horizontal = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
   float vertical = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");

   Vector2 inputVector 
       = new Vector2(horizontal, vertical).normalized; 

We normalize the input to ensure consistent speed.

Next, we account for diagonal movement to correctly adjust the speed.

    bool isDiagonal = horizontal != 0 && vertical != 0;

    float adjustedSpeed 
        = isDiagonal ? speed / Mathf.Sqrt(2) : speed;

Now, we calculate the desired speed values and interpolate between the current speed and the target values for animation purposes. This allows for a smooth transition from the idle state to a movement state when the speed is not zero.

    float targetFrontMovement 
        = Mathf.Abs(inputVector.y * adjustedSpeed);
    float targetSideMovement 
        = Mathf.Abs(inputVector.x * adjustedSpeed);

    animator.SetFloat("FrontMovement", 
        Mathf.Lerp(animator.GetFloat("FrontMovement"), 
                   targetFrontMovement, 
                   Time.deltaTime * 10f));
   
    animator.SetFloat("SideMovement", 
        Mathf.Lerp(animator.GetFloat("SideMovement"), 
                   targetSideMovement,
                   Time.deltaTime * 10f));

And for animation purposes again we set the movement direction:

        if (inputVector != Vector2.zero)
        {
            if (Mathf.Abs(inputVector.y) >= Mathf.Abs(inputVector.x))  // Vertical
            {
                animator.SetInteger("Direction", 
                                    inputVector.y < 0 ? 1 : 2); // Down or Up
            }
            else // Horizontal
            {
                animator.SetInteger("Direction", 
                                    inputVector.x < 0 ? 3 : 4); // Left or Right
            }
        }

It is important to note that the transitions between directional movement animations are done without transition time or animation blending.

Returning to the actual rigidbody velocity, we interpolate between the current velocity vector and the target velocity vector. This interpolation ensures a smooth transition between stationary and non-stationary states, preventing the character from stopping abruptly.

    float smoothingFactor = 5f;

    rigidbody.velocity = Vector3.Lerp(rigidbody.velocity, 
                                    new Vector3(inputVector.x * adjustedSpeed, 
                                                inputVector.y * adjustedSpeed, 0.0f),
                                                Time.deltaTime * smoothingFactor);

The result:

Shooting

In order to optimize the shooting action an object pooling pattern was used through a class Pool that has two main methods:

The Start() method:

    void Start()
    {
        for(int i = 0; i < poolSize; i++)
        {
            GameObject obj = Instantiate(prefab);

            Rigidbody2D rb = obj.AddComponent<Rigidbody2D>();
            rb.gravityScale = 0;

            obj.SetActive(false);


            poolList.Add(obj);

        }
    }

Which fills the pool with projectile objects.

And the GetPooled() method:

    public GameObject GetPooled()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < poolList.Count; i++)
        {
            if (!poolList[i].activeInHierarchy) // not active
            {
                return poolList[i];
            }
        }

        return null;
    }

Which searches the pool for inactive objects. In the case that it doesn't finds one it returns null. We could have chose to create a new object and add it to the pool but because of the choice in pool size, bullet fire rate, bullet speed and bullet delay the pool doesn't have time to activat all obejcts.

The Shooting action itself:

    void Shoot(float x, float y)
    {
        Vector2 shootDirection = new Vector2(x, y).normalized;

        // Offset the bullet starting position in the direction of shooting
        Vector3 bulletStartPosition = transform.position + 
                new Vector3(shootDirection.x, shootDirection.y, 0) * 0.5f;

        GameObject bullet = Pool.instance.GetPooled();

        if (bullet != null)
        {
            bullet.transform.position = bulletStartPosition;
            bullet.transform.rotation = Quaternion.identity;

            bullet.SetActive(true);

            Rigidbody2D rb = bullet.GetComponent<Rigidbody2D>();
            rb.velocity = shootDirection * bulletSpeed;

            int direction = (x > 0) ? 4 : (x < 0) ? 3 : (y > 0) ? 2 : 1;
            animator.SetInteger("ShootDirection", direction);

            StartCoroutine(ResetShootDirection());
        }

    }

The result:

Map Generation

Credits

Authors

Ghinea Theodor Traian - UI
Moisel Rares-Ioan - Gamplay & Art
Bretfelean Rares - Audio

Assets

Chests - https://cmski.itch.io/tabletop-chests
Doors - https://steamcommunity.com/id/snoochSDK/
Speed/Health items -
Bat enemy(modifed) -

-The rest of the assets were done by us-