Time Shield

Basic sound effects are in. The game's starting to come together now. This is what it currently looks like (temporary graphics):

I got replays working, so it now replays the last 2 seconds before a goal in slow motion. I think it's about time to start looking for an artist.

Okay... functionally, the game completely works now, although there aren't any actual graphics or sound yet. Sound will be the next step I think. Once I get that done, I'll be on the lookout for someone to help with graphics. Ideally I'd want something simple (sprite-based, probably even pixel-based if it will make it easier). If possible, I'm going to try for the team to be customizable to some degree (coat/mane colors, mane and tail styles, team jersey colors).

I managed to get everything working from a single controller. The Earth Pony can hit the ball multiple ways, the Pegasus can deflect the ball towards the Earth Pony, and the Unicorn can catch the ball in the basket. So far it works with only one team on the field, so the next step is to get the second player going at the same time.

I have movement for all three teammates completed, so now I'm working on ball movement. The hard part will be calculating the direction and velocity of the ball necessary when hitting it, such that it will strike a target. *EDIT* Alright, ball physics working pretty decently. May need some tweaking though. In any case, I'm getting close to it being semi-playable.

"Terror in the Treetops": https://pony.fm/tracks/22420-terror-in-the-treetops I may be using this as a theme song for a future MLP fan game.

I'm a composer myself, so I have it covered, but thanks.

I've started on the basic engine for it. Finishing up Earth Pony movement, then I'll work on the movement of the Pegasus and Unicorn. After that, I'll start figuring out how to make the actual hitting of the ball around. Graphics and such won't come until much later. Ideally, it would be nice if the players could customize their own teams. That would be a lot of work, however. If it's not possible to do, I'll just go for a stock of different ponies to choose from.

The references were actually quite useful, and I feel like I started to make some progress with them. However, when I try to animate in Unity, I keep running into an issue where the animations won't go between the keyframes properly. For example, if the rotation goes from 10 to -10, it thinks I'm going from 10 to 350 and goes around the long way. The end result is some weirdly twirling limbs.

Prepare for adorableness:

Giving it some more thought, I think I'd definitely want to go with the 1v1 approach, and I think the right stick on a controller would be best to control the pegasus instead of the unicorn. I think I might try to make a prototype and see how it comes out.

**** UPDATE: CURRENT TEST BUILD **** **** UPDATE: TEST VIDEO BELOW **** **** NOTE: REST OF THREAD FROM THIS POINT WAS STARTED PRE-DEVELOPMENT **** While I'm not much into sports games, I've been thinking about making a multiplayer Buckball game in Unity ever since this past episode. I'm trying to decide what the best approach would be: Two person multiplayer. Pros: While internet play would be nice, this would be the easiest to pull off at a single computer. Cons: Entire team controlled by one person, and the controls might be difficult to manage. Three person multiplayer. Pros: Like the above, it could be done at one computer or over the internet, with each player playing a member of the team (earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn) and the opposing team being computer controlled. Cons: Coming up with enemy team AI, and of course it lacks the player vs. player element. Six person multiplayer. Pros: Would play like an actual sport, with three players a side. Cons: Internet only (six players at one computer is a bit too much), plus it may be difficult to get six people to play it together anyway. I'm leaning towards the first option. Controlling the whole team would look something like this: Left stick -- Moves earth pony around Right stick -- Controls basket moved by unicorn Right shoulder buttons -- Earth pony light and heavy hits Left shoulder buttons -- Move pegasus back and forth What do you think?

For a project I'm working on, I need to know if anyone can help me animate some pony models I've imported into Unity. The models didn't have any animations with them, and my own attempts at animating them have turned out to be quite terrible. Unity's animation system is mostly based on keyframes (like I'm sure most 3D animation systems are), so if someone can help me figure those out, I'll be able to get past this stumbling block. There's three animations/poses I need to figure out: Trotting Galloping Sitting (non-animated) Granted, they don't have to be perfect animations, but anything is better than what I was able to come up with on my own. If anyone has any experience with this, I'd appreciate the help. Thanks!

I have not updated it since then.

Graphics drivers up to date? I'm not sure what else could cause the problem.

As ponies attempted to follow orders and get indoors, there were several shouts from a group of royal guards, not far from where Redwood and Sapphire were. A lone blue pegasus was flying high over the rooftops, and three of the royal guards appeared to have broken off from the main group and went in pursuit. They tackled the blue pegasus in midair and struggled with him, trying to restrain him. They dropped out of the sky and skidded to a halt on the street; everypony in the immediate area backed up quickly to give them room. It was difficult to see what was going on, but there were odd sounds coming from the blue pegasus, crazed shouts that sounded more like barks or growls rather than speech or calls for help. Eventually, one of the guards struck the pegasus on the head, knocking him out. While two of the guards relaxed, the third backed up, holding one hoof to his other foreleg, cringing in pain. The others immediately assumed he had hurt his foreleg during the landing, although there was no external injury visible; perhaps it was a bone fracture?

The ponies of Manehattan began to notice the royal guard flying overhead, and the streets became filled with confused murmurs. Finally, one of the unicorns in the chariot cast a spell and began to speak in an amplified voice, loud enough to reach those indoors as well as those outdoors: "Your attention please. By order of Princess Celestia, all citizens are to immediately seek shelter indoors. This is not a drill. You must comply within five minutes; after this time has passed, do not--I repeat, do NOT--let anypony else indoors wherever you are taking shelter. Remain sheltered this way until we have sounded the all-clear. Do not panic, follow instructions, and no pony will be harmed." There are echoes of similar speech in the distance, where other royal guards are relaying the same message to each section of Manehattan at the same time. At the conclusion of the announcement, there is an immediate tension in the air; the ponies of Manehattan begin to take on a mixture of confusion and panic, many of them trotting towards the nearest buildings to take shelter as instructed. A few others here and there start galloping in other directions, attempting to head home instead.

As the conversation went on, the ponies in the area mostly continued about their business, although a few of them had stopped and were looking up at something in the sky. It wasn't unusual to see pegasi flying about the city, but this was different. High above the city there were what appeared to be two pegasi flying overhead, wearing the armor of the royal guard of Canterlot. They were only visible for a few seconds before they disappeared from the narrow view of the sky that the nearby buildings allowed. Moments later, a larger group of them appeared--about two dozen--heading in the same direction as the first two. Six of those were also pulling chariots containing more members of the royal guard; unicorns, since obviously they could not fly. The direction they were heading looked to be the outskirts of town, but whatever their destination was, they were in a hurry to get there.