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Unity 2D Untitled Card Game #1

  • Oliver
  • Oct 16, 2022
  • 3 min read

Updated: Oct 30, 2023

16/10/2022
 

Welcome to the first of the development blogs. Every few weeks, I will be posting progress on the various projects I am working on. I will also be sharing my research/practice of different game technologies and development tools.


I am currently working on an untitled card game along with an artist. The card game is similar to others such as Hearthstone and Magic the Gathering. My main objective for this project is to showcase my ability using Unity, while also learning new parts of the engine. There is also the opportunity of learning networking using Photon (PUN), through creating a multiplayer card game.


System Architecture UML Diagram


To plan the inner-workings of the game, I created a work-in-progress UML diagram to establish the basic framework. At present, I will manage client-based data and processes through scripts attached to a 'PlayerID' object. The 'GameManager' object will then handle sending messages through the server and holding data including turn history, the current game board and player properties such as card hand. I will continue to update this diagram when approaching application of networking and further game features.


Photon (PUN) Connecting to Server

To start experimenting with multiplayer functionality, I have decided to utilise the PUN package by Photon. The end goal will be to send messages via the server to each client and update the game UI and board. So far I have explored a simple implementation of connecting to a server and displaying the region in the console. I plan to further my understanding of PUN and multiplayer system architecture in the next few weeks.


Card Scriptable Object & Custom Inspector

The 'Card' class derives from ScriptableObject and is used to customise cards within the inspector. By using the 'UnityEditor' library, I was able to create a custom inspector that changes based on the card type selection. I only wanted some variables to be visible based on the card type, for example a mana card type needs a 'manaGain' value of type int. I created an 'EnumInspectorEditor' class to handle the custom inspector. I plan to add more variables for each of the different card types in the future as I expand the system.


Card Hand Interaction & Random Sort Algorithm
for(int i = 0; i < playerCards.Count; i++)
{
    int rnd = Random.Range(0, playerCards.Count);
    Card tempCard = playerCards[rnd];
    playerCards[rnd] = playerCards[i]
    playerCards[i] = tempCard];
}

To shuffle the player's hand at the start of the game, I used a random sorting algorithm. The algorithm has the complexity of O (log(N) meaning it is logarithmic. By assigning a random index to the current card, the hand is shuffled and swapped with the element at the random index.



To handle card display functionality, I created a 'CardDisplayManager' class. The class utilises the standard UI libraries and TMPro library (Text Mesh Pro) to handle displaying text and images on the player's heads-up-display. When the player hovers over a card, an animation activates. The player can select a card using left click and drag it onto a desired slot. The current visual is an early version of what I intend to create, and I plan to expand upon this area with animations, particle effects and card art to enhance the experience of playing cards.


Game Board

The game board is the most recent addition to the game, and I will continue to expand on how it works in the next few weeks. The idea behind mana cards is that they represent a particular biome that the player can place in one of the slots on the game board. Once a mana card has been placed, the player will be able to add a creature and structure type card to the slot.


Upcoming Plans

In the next few weeks, I plan to add the different card types to the game. The list of card types include mana, creature, structure, equipment, enchantments, spells and prophecies. I will also practice using the PUN package and implementing multiplayer functionality. I will start with creating a simple system that communicates updates through the server to each client's view.








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