Khanate Showdown
Khanate Showdown is a project completed in the academic year of 2022/2023. This project involved creating a controller based, split-screen multiplayer game allowing between 2-4 players. Khanate Showdown was developed using the Unity engine and was a solo development project.
Khanate Showdown derives its name from the title “Khan” referring to the Khans of the Mongolian empire. The game is a full player versus player, first person arcade shooter; however, players may only use bows. The scenario the game takes place in is a duel to the death between two archers in burnt out battlegrounds and other dramatic environments.
Split Screen Multiplayer
This project was my first time ever attempting to create a multiplayer game. It involved several months of work both in design and programming to get the feeling of gameplay mechanics to be just right and establish a balanced playing field for a PvP game. Specifically, the arrows fly using the unity physics engine and therefore required careful manipulation in order to simulate how an arrow is expected to act. All code for this project was written in C#.
Designing for PvP
Since Khanate Showdown is a full PvP game, this involved a significantly different approach to design compared to many of my other projects. I had to create levels that were focused around player congestion and maneuverability.
Since the only objective of the game was to eliminate the other players whilst surviving, I decided to include a stealth mechanic, as well as a wall-run mechanic, to allow for skill to shine in combat scenarios. The players are normally highlighted by a red outline when visible, however should they crouch down in grass said outline would be invisible. The grass would obscure the vision of the player hiding in it allowing for a balanced and realistic approach to both sneaking up on enemies and running away. This stealth mechanic, combined with the ability to run along walls, provided for further granularity in a limited player versus player game environment.
The Idea
Khanate Showdown is a game that was created as part of an academic assessment. The assessment only asked me to create a multiplayer split-screen game that supported hand-held controllers, and with this brief, I decided I wanted to make a PvP game above all else. As I tend to focus on features such as level design, environmental design, and gameplay design, I wanted to put my skills to the test and attempt something different from what many other students would traditionally go for. I was able to develop my programming skills further as well as my experience designing various types of games by doing this, and that opportunity is one I am very glad I took. I am personally a big fan of PvP games in general, both online and older split-screen style games, and by undertaking this project I was able to add a touch of my own creativity and skills into shaping what I would say is a simple, yet fun arcade game.