How do you plan out your 2D project?

Hellow,

I think I'm comfortable with the engine and scripting API. Now, It's time to move on and planing the project. I usually start off my small project by import sprite, make animation and make script for camera and player and enemy. I feel like I'm missing something. Making levels is not that hard but time consuming. I'm trying to make a 2D platformer but missing a lot of feature. It does feel great when I do it with controller except it got no where to go because I have no idea what to put in. I play Super Mario since I was 4-5 barely beat the first level and I can't understand why the game was so much fun. My game does feel that fun but the level design and planing the project make me doubt.

What is your plan during your project? Please list it or describe it as you want.

Additionally, what are some good way to make level faster beside using Tiled? Can photoshop or Illustrator be use to create levels?

Sorry, English is not my native language(Correcting is accepted with no offense)

 

Before making animation, etc start making an core of you game, a playable core!

As example, place a black bar as ground (replaced later with you used sprites) and script your movement, jump, ropes, ladders climping etc

If all this works start making your first level, it must not be big just to run a bit around testing your sprites and animations

When your Level is finished start the animations and effects for your games

If everything is finished add startmenu help credits levelmanager etc

After this start finishing your gam by adding more levels



For your question on Photoshop, yes you can, you could draw your full level in 1 picture, important here is to draw on different layers, if your level is finished in potoshop save your each of your layer solo as png and add them to your game in the right order - sucess

You can try this with an easy level, layer 1 behind everything highest layer is in front of everything
Layer1 - Black Box where you could walk inside
Layer2 - some platfarms, hills etc
Layer3 - some tiles which could kill you
Layer4 - dekoration

Add them now to your game
Layer1-2 need rigidbodys collider etc to interact with
Layer 3 need layer/tag so you can acees is from script and kill your player
Layer 4 needs nothing

 

Your technique is to make finish game and add extra feature later. This is cool!

About making levels, how do you know which size the project should be? how do you know if it equivalent to the size of unity. Asking this because I'm afraid of losing quality of the sprite when import it to Unity. I never make anything that related to digital art in Photoshop beside flyer, leaflet and other advertisement project.

 

I don't know which size my Photoshop project should be, but i start making it big as example for a mario 2d level height 1920 width 5400.

Start making a ground layer as explained above and save your layer solo as png and import it to unity. Then building your core on this image (running, jumping etc) when finished test the size, if the level is to big reduce the size else increase, when you found a good level size start building a test level as mentioned above

After this start making IN this photoshop file (your level) a character sprite, because the size of your level fits your need now you can draw a character sprite in the size you want and can see how the size fits in your level.

When done then save this file to character.psd you should now have 2 files on level.psd one character.psd in th level.psd delete the character and use the file for more and detailed levels (with more layers) with the character.psd can be the done the same, keep character layers(head, hands, arms, etc for animation each on its on layer) and delete the level layer. Resize now the file to your needs.

You can now use this character psd as referenz for ai enemys