Developing A Cross Platform 3D Game (Infinite Loop)

This 3D game was developed by myself, Sarwin Rajiah and Levynkhs, from A4 Studios as part of our university project from Dec 2021 — Jul 2022.

By the end of this article, you will get an overview of the different tools that we have used to build the game from scratch.

Background

Basic concepts

In the game Infinite Loop, we have implemented a game environment that features 3D views of objects with a moving camera, lighting and material modifications, and texture mapping. To improve the gaming environment, we used many libraries to integrate sophisticated features such as collision detection, AI, and sound effects. The fundamental aspect of our game is its mysterious environment, which makes it unique, and game features such as help and interacting with NPC, as well as background music, make the game more challenging while remaining intriguing and entertaining to play with. The game also features a multiplayer mode whereby the character can team up with allies to help him/her get through the level but with increase in difficulty.

Why Unity game engine?

Unity has many of the most important built-in features that make the game work such as physics, 3D rendering and collision detection. C# is the main programming language used in Unity. It also includes an “Asset Store” where developers can upload their work and make it available to the community.

Alternatives: Unreal Engine & Godot

Unreal Engine is the most powerful real-time 2D and 3D creation tool, it gives the creators across the industries the freedom and control to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences and immersive virtual worlds. The program supports C++ language, OpenGl and Direct3D.

Godot is completely free and open source under the permissive MIT license. Godot supports a variety of programming languages for making games, including integrated language GDScript, C++ and C#.

The 3D computer graphics software used: Blender

Blender is a free open-source 3D computer graphics software application for developing animated films, visual effects, 3D games, and physical simulations. Blender is written in C, C ++ and Python, and users can write custom Blender extensions in any of these programming languages.

Alternatives: Cinema 4D & Maya

Cinema 4D is a professional 3D modeling, animation, simulation and rendering software solution. A fast, powerful, flexible and reliable toolset makes 3D workflows more accessible and efficient for professionals in design, motion graphics, VFX, AR/MR/VR, game development, and visualization of all types.

Maya is an animation and modeling program for creating 3D full motion effects. It uses natural physics laws to control the behavior of virtual objects in computer animation. Maya not only simulates the movement of objects and particles, but also improves facial expressions and body language realism to allow you to express the emotions of your animated character.

The 2D computer graphics software used: Photoshop

Photoshop is Adobe’s photo editing, creation, and graphic design software. The software provides many image processing capabilities for raster (pixel-based) images and vector graphics. You can use a layer-based editing system to create and modify images with multiple overlays that support transparency.

Alternatives: GIMP & Affinity Photo

GIMP is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image processing (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between various image file formats, and more specialized tasks.

Affinity Photo is a photo editor. It can perform very complex image editing tasks. Affinity Photo is suitable for advanced editing for most photographers.

The Integrated Development Environment used: Visual Studio

Microsoft Visual Studio is Microsoft’s integrated development environment (IDE). It is used to develop computer programs as well as websites, web applications, web services and mobile applications. It uses Microsoft software development platforms such as Windows API, Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Store, and Microsoft Silverlight. It can generate both native and managed code.

The code hosting platform used: GitHub

GitHub is an online hosting service for software projects built using the open-source Git version control system. When software developers create programs, applications, or browser extensions, they constantly change their code, releasing new versions before or after the first stable release.

Details of the game:

Status: Released
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Author: A4 Studios
Genre: Action, Adventure, Role Playing
Made with: Unity
Tags: Fantasy, Hacking, Indie, Low-poly, Multiplayer, Singleplayer
Code license: MIT License
Average session: A few minutes
Inputs: Keyboard, Mouse
Multiplayer: Server-based networked multiplayer

You can download the game from A4 Studios — itch.io and support the developers by making a small contribution if you wish.

Some screenshots of the gameplay: