Is This Project Realistic?

Background
I am a high school student in a game programming class who has just started a semester project in Unity, and I was wondering if my proposed game idea would be realistic for someone who is just beginning in the engine.

Experience
As a complete beginner, I have gone as far as completing the Unity 3D Roll-a-Ball tutorial and creating a simple parody of it. Outside of this, I have not gone far.

Proposed Game
I want to make a 2D adventure RPG (probably a top-down view or platformer) that features different weapons, unique enemies, a health mechanic, a level up system, and 64 x 64 pixel sprites, complete with simple animations. Right now I am planning to start the Unity 2D Roguelike tutorial to get a grasp of the 2D aspects of Unity, and I am using the pixel editor Piskel to draw the sprites from scratch. I want to put a good amount of effort into these sprites.

The Question
Is this project idea realistic as a semester project? If it is too big, what should I cut back on? Can you advise me on a good method of tackling this project (what to learn first, complete first, etc.)? Is there anything in particular I should be careful of? Thanks for your time!

 

I don't know how long a semester is, but a project like this is hard work. I have seen many students start working on projects that are too ambitious, and the outcome is rarely any good. I'm not saying that you can't do it, I'm just saying that it might be tough. Especially if you have other classes that need your attention.

I would personally choose something smaller, that I could finish before the semester was over. And when the project was "Done" I'd spend the rest of my time polishing the crap out of it. Give it some juice.

But that's just my opinion

If you want a starting point on making an RPG with Unity, this seems decent.

 

I agree with GooseNinja, you're going to have a tough time of it with a project like that. Your main struggle will be tile map handling and you will bang your head against the wall for a good 6 months on that alone if you're going it alone. As a newbie I suggest you read my Tile Mapping in Unity guide here

https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/2d-tile-mapping-in-unity-demystified.441444/

It covers the difficulties you will come across with such a project.

 

Too much for one semester-- take it from a follow lone-wolf. I detect you have a penchant for quality, and so polishing up all of those features on top of graphics and audio will be your whole life with that schedule.

I have some suggestions on what to scale back if you want to keep the theme of your proposal:

-Remove variable weapons. Design one hero and one weapon, and you'll save a butt-ton of time on graphics, animations, sound effects, damage tables, and writing the system to switch between all of these things.

-Level-up is doable, but keep stats limited to attack, defense, and health. Don't worry about attack types/elements, and focus on some decent (don't get crazy) AI for your enemies to keep combat interesting.

-Change the format of the game to a dungeon dive or tower climb survival-type crawler. You can still have a surprising amount of flavor if you're creative. Focusing on survival mechanics rather than progression will simplify player/enemy balancing.

Take to heart what you will. I hope you'll come out of this feeling proud of your project. After your deadline is gone, you'll be able to add more features, or start from scratch on a new game using what you've learned.

 

Just wanted to come back and say thank you much for your feedback and this resource, it is extremely helpful. Thank you to everyone who gave advice, as it has shined (shone?) a light on things and has been helpful. I have taken it all into consideration.

 

Any progress? Let us know if we can be of any more help!