Warzone Dynamics: Commander's View

Overview

Modern-era war game that represents a novel fusion of real-time strategy (RTS) and third-person shooter gameplay. Designed to appeal to audiences who enjoy both strategic depth and direct combat engagement, this game features a dual-phase mechanic where players can switch between a strategic RTS view to manage units while switching to the third-person perspective, demonstrating how the scenario could look from the perspective of a soldier.

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‍Genre Hybrid RTS & 3rd Person shooter
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Game Engine Unity Game Engine
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Control Combined RTS & 3rd Person Controller
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Team Project Yes, and my role was coordinator and lead developer

Theme Realistic & Simulation
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Version Controlling PlasticSCM

Idea The idea of the game originated from a simple class assignment that asks for control of a flying object.
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Codes of Project LinkToCodes

Licenses

Technical Highlights

Unity Engine
Optimization Approaches
Multi-Threading
Custom Multi-thread Explosion System
Custom AI & Vision System for Soldiers
Transition between RTS & Third Person Controller
Physics based Projectiles for AI soldiers
Physics Engine Integration for Projectiles, Missiles, and Anti-Missiles
Central Management System for Anti air System
Use of Kinematics science

Technical Details

Optimization approaches

- Multi-Threading: Using Unity's Job System, I distribute the heavy load associated with the explosion effects of explosible objects and AI agents.
- Caching: was employed to reduce the frequency of GetComponent<>() calls or any other method that searches through the scene to find a component or a Game Object.
- Object Pooling: Due to the presence of many objects that shoot projectiles with an extensive rate of fire. Object pooling helps to avoid the heavy load of Instantiation of those projectiles.
- Layering: By modifying the collision matrix, I ensure that only layers that can collide with each other are considered for collision detection, thereby increasing the frame rates.
- LOD: Since there are many details in the game's environment, most of the objects have different levels of detail.
- Data Structure: Since the game has two phases that the user can switch to, every bit of optimization is beneficial. Each time a data structure is required for a task, I carefully select the most optimized option. For instance, when both Queue<T> and List<T> are suitable, I choose Queue<T> due to their efficiency.
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Custom Multi-thread Explosion System

With the implementation of the Unified Damage System, objects designed to explode do so after receiving a specific amount of damage. The Explosion System replaces the object with a shredded version and then, depending on the explosion's location, applies an explosive force. This ensures that the exploded objects tear apart in a manner consistent with the position of the missile or rocket causing the explosion.

Custom AI & Vision System

The game involves AI for both friendly & enemy units. The AI in these units is slightly different since the friendly unit should be ready to accept commands from the player. As soon as they receive a new order from the player, they should stop doing whatever they are doing and execute the player's command. Also, the environment of the game is undulating. Consequently, the height differs across the X and Z planes. This makes the Vision system of the units more challenging, as a straight line of raycast is not good enough to cover all the environments within their vision range. A custom state machine is created for the AI of the units, and a number of rotating ray casts are responsible for the vision system of the units.

Unified Damaging System

The game has many objects that might explode or get killed or destroyed. This needs a unified damaging system in which any object that could damage another object is used to apply the appropriate amount based on the target object and its characteristics. As an example, a cruise missile explodes, kills, or destroys anything within its destruction range. On the other hand, Helo's bullet can only penetrate the armor of objects and cause them to annihilate if its armor-piercing attribute is more than the target's armor value. This unified system is created with the help of interfaces and polymorphism and ensures scalability for the game.

Polymorphism and Class Hierarchy

All vehicles in this game inherit from one base class. Additionally, there are two interfaces that contribute to the unified damage system. The design of the unified damage system and the base class for all vehicles ensure scalability in the game.

Central Management System for Anti Air System

As there are several types of missiles in the game, different anti-air units should respond to them accordingly. For this purpose, there is a central managing unit for all anti-air units, which receives its information from a radar station. This unit decides which anti-air should target each of the incoming missiles or the player's helicopter.

Physics Engine Integration for Projectiles, Missiles, and Anti-Missiles

The game aims to appear as realistic as possible, and as a result, in many cases, a physics engine is used for projectiles and missiles. However, in some scenarios, other techniques are leveraged to ensure the precession of the missiles without disturbing their realistic looks. For instance, Lerping is used seconds before the missile hits the target to ensure the missiles do not miss their target. This technique is activated only at the very final stage of the missile's lifetime.

Use of Kinematics

Understanding Kinematics aids in achieving the realistic appearance that the game aims to illustrate. Additionally, in certain scenarios, Kinematics can simplify complex concepts into simpler ones while maintaining the level of realism the game strives for. For example, instead of employing a missile type that varies in velocity with increasing acceleration, the game uses a constant velocity. This simplification makes it easier for its counter Anti-Air system to predict the missile's location. This approach ensures that players may not realize the game is not entirely realistic, yet it still presents a very natural appearance.

Path Finding

The Unity NavMesh system is utilized for this purpose.

Problems & Solutions

Explosions shutters the main thread

To address this issue, multi-threading is employed. When an object explodes, all calculations related to the position and behavior of the exploded object are offloaded to a separate thread. This allows the main thread to continue executing other game logic without causing any perceptible lag for the player.

Custom Vision System blind spots

Raycasts are fundamental to the mechanics of the vision system in the game. Given the uneven terrain of the game environment, there are multiple blind spots for the agents. To mitigate this issue, the raycasts are cast from various angles and programmed to rotate in a circular pattern. This ensures comprehensive detection, effectively covering all areas and ensuring that no enemies are missed.

Objects rapidly firing physics-based projectiles

Instantiating multiple objects per second can significantly impact the game's frame rate. By benefiting from object pooling, everything in the game that shoots projectiles utilizes object pooling. As a result, the game performs smoothly despite the high number of projectiles being shot.

Multiple AI-controlled agents

To ensure that the number of AI-controlled agents does not impact the game's performance, the load of AI logic is distributed across other CPU cores with the assistance of Unity's Job System.

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