Onix at the Global Game Jam: Creating a game with Unity in a week

In this post, we’ll share our team members’ experience at the world’s largest game development event – Global Game Jam – and some tips on how to create an award-winning game in a week. (Spoiler: their project ended up in the top 10!)

 

Onix’s employees periodically participate in competitions and hackathons to hone their skills and creativity, push their limits, discover new team leaders, and promote our software outsourcing company.

 

The Onix team combines extensive iOS/Android development experience with strong 3D, AR, and Unity skills; they have been creating 3D art, mobile, and virtual reality apps for years. For instance, below you can get a glimpse of a VR game, InnerVR, where players relax and learn to meditate in amazing virtual worlds.

 

 

We always seek opportunities to learn something new, get inspired, and face and overcome challenges. If you have a project on your mind – just contact us today and let the magic begin!

About the Global Game Jam

GGJ is a California-based organization whose mission is to empower people worldwide to learn and create together through the medium of games. Every year, it gathers tens of thousands of enthusiasts with all backgrounds for game-making and networking.

 

The GGJ specifically encourages the exploration of programming, iterative design, and artistic expression. Jammers explore new technology and tools, test their skills and abilities, and try on new roles in the process. They must generate ideas, prioritize features, and prototype game designs rapidly.

 

Read also: How to Move From Idea to Prototype [A Step-By-Step Guide]

 

Anyone can sign up at the global site or one of the hundreds of physical and virtual GGJ locations; 131 countries have participated and nearly 80,000 games have been created to date.

 

A game jam is similar to a hackathon: participants come together to create games around a theme revealed at the jam start. Jammers were usually given 48 hours to complete their games, but the period was extended to a week after the pandemic.

 

Generally, they are recommended to form teams on-site, but jammers may also collaborate with friends and colleagues (as did our team).

 

The team from Onix at GGJ UA 2024

Members of Onix’s Unity and 3D departments have been participating in GGJ UA since 2018. In 2024, two programmers and two 3D artists accepted the challenge again and joined 40,000+ jammers from all over the world. 

 

The GGJ of 2024 was held on January 22-28. Our team participated remotely, from Onix’s headquarters in Kropyvnytskyi. The jammers conveniently gathered in one of the meeting rooms and used their laptops/desktops and tools they use every day.

 

On January 22, they watched a short video broadcast on GGJ’s YouTube channel. Leading game developers gave their advice to the jammers, and the theme was announced: Make Me Laugh.

 

Read also: Building an MVP: 5 Main Steps

 

We started the work immediately: we had to make a functional quality game in just a week, during off-hours, after daily 8 hours of programming, 3D modeling, testing, talks with clients, etc. Some night-time work was looming, but at Onix, we’re not afraid of going the extra mile either for a client’s sake or for fun!

 

 

How to build a game in a week

On the first day, the team brainstormed for ideas: the goal was to create a game that not only challenges players but also brings a lot of fun and laughter. They envisioned a witch’s haunted house where players perform tasks to escape the witch’s charms. In the process, it would be the bumbling guests that make the witch laugh and cringe!

 

Then we built the game’s scenario around a series of puzzles that players must solve. We tried to make the puzzles as weird and funny as possible. We drew inspiration from the style and puzzles of the game We Were Here.

 

Its atmosphere and challenging tasks force players to work together and find unconventional solutions. We felt that such game mechanics would add depth and intrigue to our project without compromising its fun nature.

 

The use of unexpected and funny puzzle-solving situations is reminiscent of The Stanley Parable. In this game, players face situations that are not always logical, but always hilarious. We intended this approach to add a layer of humor and unpredictability to our game, making the gameplay more interesting and exciting.

 

Regarding the witch’s home design (we named the witch Lilith), we agreed on a sparsely lit yet cozy space where players can also move along the walls and ceiling.

Read also: Unlocking the Metaverse: Building Spatial Environments with Onix

 

Sometimes, you need to give free rein to creativity. Some mechanics in our game arose as jokes that “went too far.” For example, someone joked that we should introduce a mandrake’s shriek, and someone else recalled the screams from Serious Sam. Initially, we added them temporarily, but the sounds turned out to be quite funny, so we retained them in the final version.

 

The last, but not the least important, feature we implemented is the announcer reminiscent of GLaDOS from the Portal game. Her sarcastic manner of speech creates a unique absurdity and dark humor-laden atmosphere.

 

The team built the game development process around the Unity game engine, in which games are created by manipulating objects in 3D and attaching various components to them. The programmers coded in C#.

 

Unity game development includes the following steps:

 

1. Preparing the artwork, audio, and other assets
2. Writing code to control objects, scenes, and implement game logic 
3. Testing in Unity and exporting to a platform
4. Testing on the selected platform and deployment

 

We chose to create a game for MS Windows so that more gamers and potential partners could enjoy it without the need for VR headsets.

 

We used a variety of resources, from assets created by our artists to remade free assets from the Asset Store and AI-generated voice-over and images, to create the game:

 

• Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Zbrush, and Substance Painter were used for the 3D content creation.

 

• We used AI to create the audio for the game. ElevenLabs accelerated the work and spared Onix’s “voice actors” some hard time. (Voice acting isn’t among our team members’ talents, yet.)

 

• We also used the Midjourney AI image generator to create “spooky but funny portraits” of Lilith’s extended family and had lots of fun choosing those she would hang on her walls!

Learn more: 11 Tips On How to Accelerate Your Software Development

 

We believe that we managed to deliver the feeling of ‘presence’ in Lilith’s house fairly well thanks to our broad expertise in sensory technologies and image processing. 

 

This, the use of AI, and lots of late hours (each team member contributed some 40 hours of work without disrupting their current projects!) allowed us to submit the game in time, on the night of January 28.

 

The game we made during GGJ 2024 – Witchery & Mockery

Witchery & Mockery is a first-person adventure game for all ages. The players must use their intellectual prowess to get out of the witch’s maze while she’s watching and mocking them. (“If you burn down my house, expect lawyers, baby!”) 

 

 

The game mechanic is assisted by Lilith’s house rotation as if the gravity is changing and the room’s surfaces are shifting. Each turn reveals new challenges and mysteries. 

Here are some technical notes, if you’re curious:

 

Game executable: Build.zip

 

Game source files: GGJ2024.zip

 

Repository link: https://github.com/Grom679/GGJ2024.git

 

Installation instructions:

 

1. Download archive Build.zip

2. Unzip archive

3. Start GGJ2024.exe file

 

 

The Results of Global Game Jam Ukraine 2024

The results of the GGJ UA 2024 were announced on February 17, 2024. Again, during a YouTube broadcast, the participants received feedback from the Ukrainian and international jury and learned who this year’s winners were. Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation also congratulated the participants.

 

The games were evaluated according to 4 criteria:

 

1. theme development
2. visuals
3. commercial potential
4. fun

 

And Witchery & Mockery ranked 10th overall among 79 games created by Ukrainian teams! Namely:

 

• It had the second-best commercial potential
• It ranked 3rd among the funniest games
• The game’s visuals were ranked 5th

 

Additional recognition came from Gameloft studio that supported an additional nomination –  “The game that the judges will play even after the jam is over” – this year. Witchery & Mockery won the hearts of the judges. The sponsor mentioned our team on their blog and sent gifts to the team members.

 

“We wish them success and unstoppable inspiration to achieve their goals because we know that they are really ambitious for game development!”

 

1. Inspired by the positive feedback and recognition, Onix’s game development team plans to build up Witchery & Mockery. We’ll try to expand this demo, add new levels and mechanics, and so forth, to create a full-blown interesting game where people will want to spend their free time.

 

 

The takeover and tips for teams

The annual Global Game Jam is a great opportunity for experienced and aspiring game-makers to push their limits, try out new ideas, and challenge their way of working. The success of Onix’s team at GGJ UA 2024 proves not only our coding skills and artistic talent, but also smart use of instruments, self-organization, and stamina.

 

Here are some first-hand tips from our team of winners:

 

• Communicating and keeping each other on the same page are extremely important. On projects as short as GGJ, situations where team members imagine the product in different ways may lead to failure. (We faced the issue too but solved it quickly.) Therefore, soft skills are nearly as important as technical skills.

 

• To work effectively as a team, everyone’s role should be clear to them and to their peers. If you are an organized team, it’s helpful to get together before the jam begins to distribute the roles and responsibilities and to get tuned in to the upcoming challenge.

 

• Everyone should be able to contribute ideas and participate in brainstorming and group decision-making. Encourage teammates to think outside of the box and to feel free to bring their experiences, feelings, and most daring ideas to the game you are about to build.

 

• The team’s design, development, and testing units must collaborate closely and, if needed, assist or give advice or moral support to teammates.

 

• Unity 3D is excellent for fast prototyping required by the GGJ’s brief time span.

 

• We couldn’t recommend AI more when it comes to producing the necessary artwork very quickly. Particularly, using AI in 3D video production can speed up the creation of visuals and audio, allowing teams to focus more on game design and atmosphere.

 

Experiment early and often. What sounds awesome or looks good on a board may turn out to be a disorienting, messy experience. Even when you fail, keep calm and carry on: the more failed prototypes you make, the higher your odds of creating something great.

And the last, but not the least piece of advice. GGJ is open only for a week. The approaching deadline, creative drive, and thrill of competition may be overwhelming, but don’t forget to eat and sleep to stay at your best!

 

We hope to see you and more mind-blowing game prototypes at GGJ next year! Or you may contact us now and tell us what we can do for you!