Project · 1 min read
Project Mountaintop
A Unity rhythm game about hiking, played with custom Arduino hiking-pole controllers.
· Unity · Arduino · Game Dev · C#
- Year
- 2023
- Role
- Game developer, UI/UX and music
- Stack
- Unity · Arduino · Game Dev · C#
Project Mountaintop
Introducing Project Mountaintop!
Alongside Abigail Schefer, who made the amazing bespoke physical controllers, we built a rhythm game revolving around the concept of hiking!
This was our Creative Tech & Design capstone and was shown off at the ATLAS Institute at CU Boulder during ATLAS Expo '23.
An entire "rhythm engine" was built on top of Unity. This allowed us to use any song and create a level for it within the game using MIDI information- which would allow music artists to easily create a level within their DAW without having to spend hours in a dedicated level editor.
The physical controls were built on an Arduino system, and an interfacing script was developed for Unity to be able to read inputs, as well as negate any input-based delay so that scoring would remain accurate.
Overall, it turned out to be a huge hit as an in-person attraction, which was the main design goal for the experience, and a great learning opportunity for utilizing Unity's lesser-known capabilities. It was also fun designing the UI/UX and writing the title theme. With more time, I would have loved to add some polish, especially to the 3D animations and VFX, but I'm glad to have delivered a memorable experience.
Progress log
First Steps - Week 1→2 Recap
Starting Project Mountaintop’s rhythm game from scratch in Unity: a modular rhythm system, ghosts, and a hilariously buggy first prototype.
Stay on Beat - Week 2→3 Recap
Fixing a shallow-versus-deep copy bug that broke ghost movement, then adding scoring, lighting and theming on the way to a playable demo.
Week 3→4 - Integration
A short week with one big milestone: hiking-pole controls finally talk to Unity from custom Arduino hardware over a serial connection.
Week 4→5 - Deluxe Combos
MIDI-driven beatmaps, music, combos, SFX and the first standalone build of Project Mountaintop, plus playtester and mentor feedback.
Week 5→6 - SPAAAAACE!
T9Hacks week: a space theme, a new UI, a Hans Zimmer beatmap made in 15 minutes, and a humbling attempt at 3D character modelling.
Danny Rankin - Mentor Extraordinaire
Playtest feedback from mentor Danny Rankin that shaped Project Mountaintop: the hiking pole controls, polish priorities and a six-input scheme.
Week 6→7 - Rest Week
Week 6 to 7 of Project Mountaintop was mostly a recovery week.