Dodgeball Duke-out
Custom Player Hitboxes
The green bubbles show where the system detects a players bones and creates a hitbox / collider for each. This allows for more accurate, model-specific hitboxes for any avatar a player wants to play as.
Player Augments
Player augments adjust attributes of the movement of a player for a short time, such as in the Sprint Burst shown above. These Augments are visualized with icons above a players head when they are affected.
Gameplay Augments
Gameplay augments include changes to the next-thrown ball, such as the Big Ball shown above. Augments are visualized above the heads of players and change the ball in some aspect as a visual indicator.
Project Overview
Dodgeball Duke-out brings the game of dodgeball to new levels in VR. Players face off against an opposing team which they must eliminate by striking with thrown dodgeballs. Unlike the standard high school experience, in this arena there is cover in the form of foam barricades which have limited health before breaking completely. In addition, platforms provide augments to either the player or the ball, allowing for their functions to change. Once all players from a side are eliminated, the game ends and are brought back to the lobby to start another round.
Following feature completion of Dodgeball Duke-out, the scripts / Udon code of the game will be made publicly available through Github.
This project is the culmination of my knowledge from Game Design programs I have learned from. Dodgeball Duke-out was created to explore different ways of implementing a players choice of avatar into a game. In this game, the players avatar drives their mobility as well as the size of their hitboxes.
Project Responsibilities
Lead a team of 5-6 students, introducing team members to the project, VRChat and its related software
Introduce the team to VRChat and its community, educate them on how to developing features to meet player needs, and publishing the first version of the game.
Design, Document and communicate with team about the functionality of different mechanics
Created and maintained design documents allowing for all team members to understand the intentions of each aspect in the design documents.
Programming, scripting of design approved gameplay functionality
Learned how to work with Udon, VRChat's node based visual scripting language. Worked with team members to create prototypes, refined gameplay systems such as Augments, and added optional functionality for players to change the game.
Level Design, Iterated upon design of the world, the lobby, and the arena
Drafted, fleshed out, and finalized out different concepts of the spaces for players to use. These were compared and contrasted to determine the benefits or drawbacks of different designs and aesthetics of the environment.
Production management, maintain timelines of features and general tasks delegated to the team
Communicated between my team and my professors the progress of the project keeping all parties up to date with current timeline, priorities, and tasks.
Udon Scripting
The script to the left presents the formulas to determine a players speed. An avatars height defines the speed at which the player will move.
The shorter the avatar the slower a player will move because of the smaller hitbox. The taller avatars gain speed up to a point of diminishing returns since their hitboxes increase significantly the larger their avatar is.
Speed and Jump Augments temporarily give a multiplicative effect to the speed of the player, however this will be reworked as large avatars can gain ludicrous speed.
Additional Augments
Jump Boost, an additional augment to give players higher jump, possibly to avoid a low-flying ball or catch a high toss.
Ghost Ball, an augment that causes a ball to be destroyed and be respawned the next time it hits the floor.