Meteoric Wars

Project Overview

On Meteoric Wars, I designed and developed all gameplay features and systems, created all art assets, developed custom shaders, and built editor tools to streamline development.

Inspired by classic arcade shooters and roguelike mechanics, this game features procedurally generated spaceship designs, dynamic difficulty scaling, and local multiplayer support.

The game combines fast-paced action with strategic decision-making through its shop system and upgrade mechanics, while custom shaders and procedural generation help overcome art limitations.

Concept

Meteoric Wars is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up roguelike set in a galaxy overrun by mutated machinery and aliens. Players must stop the mutation by destroying black hole generators.

Features 5 unique heroes with distinct ships and abilities. Enemies are procedurally generated from run to run, ensuring players rely on skill rather than memorization.

Combines classic arcade gameplay with modern roguelike mechanics and procedural generation.

Procedural Spaceship Generation

All non-boss enemies are procedurally generated from ship components (body, wings, tail). Randomized dimensions, colors, and part combinations create varied spaceship designs that fit the game's style. Developed due to personal art limitations — allows for rapid enemy creation while maintaining visual variety.

Procedural Enemy Behavior

Enemies have randomized behavior parameters (shooting, movement, abilities) loaded from CSV files.

System takes a difficulty value (0-1) to control stats like HP, damage, and speed.

Procedural wave generation ensures varied enemy composition that ramps up difficulty as players progress.

Local Multiplayer

Supports 1–2 players locally with dynamic difficulty scaling based on player count. Designed to encourage cooperative play while maintaining challenge balance.

Natural Hazards

Environmental hazards like meteor showers and gravity shifts add unpredictability to gameplay. Meteor showers destroy both enemies and players. Gravity shifts rotate the screen orientation, requiring players to adapt controls. These hazards keep players engaged with constantly changing challenges.

Enemy Drops System

Enemies drop collectibles upon destruction:

• Coins for purchasing abilities
• Experience for leveling up
• Health packs for survival

Drop rates and values dynamically adjust based on enemy strength and player status.

Abilities Shop System

Players purchase abilities between waves from an interactive shop that can be attacked for rewards. The shop offers both common and character-specific abilities that modify gameplay through buffs, summons, and special attacks. It has multiple difficulty levels with increasing rewards when destroyed.

Abilities System

Purchasable abilities include:

• Consumable items (used once)
• Reusable skills (cooldown-based)
• Relic effects (permanent)

Up to 4 abilities can be active at once. Abilities range from direct damage to summons and transformation mechanics.

Player Leveling System

Collect experience points to level up and permanently improve weapons:

• Increased damage
• Faster firing rate
• Expanded coverage area
• Special effects

Leveling provides tangible progression while maintaining roguelike challenge.

Unity Editor Tools

Developed custom tools to improve workflow:

• Game Editor Window: Central access to project components and scenes
• Component Cacher: Streamlines reference management in the Unity Inspector

Shader Graphs

Created custom shaders to enhance visuals:

• Procedural Planets: Dynamic planet generation using noise textures
• Nebula Clouds: Layered sprites with custom shaders
• Animated Stars: Efficient shader-based star animation system

Additional Responsibilities

• UI Programming: Scalable UI for keyboard/controller compatibility
• Asset Creation: All game assets including custom font and sound effects
• Visual Effects: Particle systems and screen shake effects
• Sound Design: Audio effects and music composition