Mechanics and gameplay conventions of 3D mini golf games:
Characteristics of mechanics in a mini golf game would be smooth controls that the player can use to control the ball as this is what I have found out from my research as each of the games I played had smooth and easy controls this is an important characteristic as it allows the player to reach the hole of the course in a manner that is fun and easy to control one example of what seems to be a popular convention from what I have found from my research for controlling the ball would be a power meter that fluctuates in such a way that the player has to time the press of a button when the meter reaches the desired power they would like to hit the ball at and moving the mouse so that a directional arrow moves and shows the player which way the ball is going to move when it is hit. Another common gameplay convention for 3D mini golf games that I found in my research is a variety of obstacles throughout the courses which help to create a more dynamic and challenging experience and also a sense of risk and reward for the player as they can choose to take an easy route to avoid an obstacle which may take more shots or take it head on to complete the course in less shots if they execute the timing and angle of the ball with precision. One other important gameplay convention in 3D mini golf games would be the inclusion of a par score as it gives the player a scale to measure whether they have done well or not by seeing if the score is above or below par, a par score also gives a sense of challenge and competitiveness as the player tries to do better than the average. Another common characteristic of a 3D mini golf game would be having holes in multiples of 9 as this is a convention that is carried over from real life mini golf.
Target audience:
For my game I will have to keep the target audience for 3D mini golf games in mind and create a game with aspects that will appeal to them what I found out from my research is that the target audience for mini golf games would be people of all ages who are looking for a gameplay driven experience over a story driven one. One other thing that the target audience would be looking for in a mini golf game are interesting and dynamic courses that pose some amount of challenge but not enough that the courses are near impossible. Another thing that would appeal to the target audience is an overarching theme that ties all the courses together.
Requirements for the product:
One requirement for the product will be to have at least three playable holes each with different obstacles and hazards. Another requirement will be to stay within one consistent theme with all of the assets in the game to achieve this I can use asset packs from the unity store that will allow me to stay within the same theme. Another requirement will be to have an easy method of control over the ball I will do this by having a power meter that fluctuates and the player timing the press of a button for when it is at the power that they want. Another requirement will be to create a presentable page on itch.io to achieve this I can use what i learned about “curb appeal” in my research and use presentable pictures of my courses to create an appealing page.
Potential problems I will need to solve:
One potential problem is the implementation of the control scheme into unity as I have only just started to use it to solve this problem I will practice using unity more until I am confident in my ability to implement the control another problem with the implementation of the controls is I will also need to implement a directional arrow or line so the player is easily aware of which way they are hitting the ball to solving this problem will be the same as the implementation of the controls as I will have to practice unity until I feel I am able to put this feature into the game. Another potential problem would be getting all of the assets to fit within the same theme and style one way I can combat this problem is by using assets from one or more similar asset packs from the unity store. Another problem I will need to solve is choosing a theme as I need to choose a theme that it would be possible for me to pull off well using unity assets. A problem that I will have to solve is how I will position the camera in the game as there are many ways I could do this such as a top down camera the gives the player a birds eye view another way I could do this is a camera that stays behind the ball to solve this problem I could experiment with the placement of the camera within the game to see what works best. A problem that I will need to solve is giving the ball physics that work with the gameplay to solve this problem I will need to find a way to add good collision detection to my game. Another potential problem would be the management of my time as I have a limited amount of time to complete this project a good way for me to combat this problem would be to create a schedule for myself and plan my time wisely and maximise efficiency. Another potential problem I will have to solve is the inclusion of additional mechanics to the game as it could divert a lot of the limited time I have to fight this problem I could leave the creation of additional mechanics until all of the game and base mechanics are completed if I have enough time to do so.
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