How to Make a Shooter Game
If you’re looking to make a shooter game, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you’ll find a curated list of resources that will help you get started. Included are tutorials, tips, and templates that will guide you every step of the way.
Essential Elements
- Weapons: A shooter game is not a shooter game without guns. Your player will need access to a variety of different weapons, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. You’ll also need to design a weapon upgrade system that allows players to improve their arsenal over time.
- Enemies: Your player will need something to shoot at, so you’ll need to design a variety of enemies. These can range from simple targets to complex AI-controlled opponents. You’ll also need to design boss battles for the player to overcome.
- Levels: Your game will need a series of levels for the player to progress through. These can be linear or non-linear, but they should all be designed with the player’s experience in mind. You’ll also need to design a system for unlocking new levels as the player progresses.
- High scores: A good shooter game will keep track of the player’s progress and reward them for their achievements. This can be done through a simple scoring system, leaderboards, or both.
- Replayability: A good shooter game will have enough content to keep players coming back for more. This can be achieved through the level editor, mod support, or other forms of user-generated content.
Steps to Get Started
Choose your game engine
There are many different game engines available, each with its own set of features and benefits. Some popular game engines for shooters include Unreal Engine 4, Unity3D, and GameMaker Studio.
Find or create assets for your game
This includes both 2D and 3D assets such as characters, environments, and props. These can be either purchased from online asset stores or created from scratch using modeling and animation software such as Maya or Blender.
Implement the core gameplay mechanics
This includes player movement, weapon handling, AI behavior, and collision detection. There are many tutorials available that can help you with this step.
Create or find audio assets
This includes music, sound effects, and voice acting. Again, these can be either purchased from online asset stores or created from scratch using audio editing software such as Audacity or Pro Tools.
Test and balance your game
This is an important step to ensure that your game is fun and challenging for players. Playtest your game regularly and make adjustments as needed.
Package and deploy your game
Once your game is complete, you’ll need to package it up for distribution. This will vary depending on which platform you’re targeting (PC, web, mobile, etc.). There are many tutorials available that can help you with this step.
Resources
How does hitscan shooting work in 3D games?
Have you ever wondered how games are able to calculate where to shoot enemies when your crosshair is aimed at them? It seems like a daunting task, but luckily it's something that can be easily explained. Modern game engines use raycasting as the technique to detect object. Raycasting is a technique used in 3D games to determine the location of an object in space. It does this by shooting a "ray" out from the player's crosshair and seeing where it intersects with objects in the game world.
In this discussion, every game developer is sharing their knowledge about how hitscan shooting works in 3D games and sheds some light on the process.
Unity
Gamekits
When it comes to first-person shooters, there are few solutions that are as battle-tested and reliable as UFPS. First appearing on the Unity Asset Store back in 2012, UFPS has been constantly evolving to meet the needs of its many users. UFPS is a professional, kinematic character controller that is designed to provide the smoothest possible first-person controls. It excels in all areas, from PC and mobile gaming to console and VR gaming, AI networking, and more.
UFPS contains many unique features not typically found in other first-person controllers. The spring system allows for fluid, procedural first-person animations, and the ability system allows you to add new functionality without changing any of the core components. Other unique features include being able to change the gravity direction or the time scale on a per-character basis.
This package includes shooter, magic, and throwable weapons from a first-person perspective, making it the perfect solution for anyone looking to create an immersive and exciting first-person shooter experience.
TopDownShooter games are a popular genre of video games. They usually involve the player shooting at enemies from a top-down perspective. The TDS-TK toolkit makes it easy to create your own TopDownShooter game. It comes with a bundle of scripts that are flexible and configurable to fit a variety of gameplay scenarios.
You can easily integrate your own art assets to make your unique game. Everything in the demo is included in the package, so you can get started right away.
Universal Shooter Kit: FPS, TPS, TDS
The Universal Shooter Kit is a useful toolkit for developing shooter games of any complexity. With this kit, you can create First-person, Third-person, and Top-down games for all major platforms: PC, Mobile, and Web. The kit is designed to be as simple as possible to use, so you can spend less time developing your game and more time playing it.
It is constantly updated with new features, so you can always have the latest and greatest game development tools at your disposal. Plus, we listen to our users and add the features they ask for, so you can always be sure that your game is exactly what you want it to be.
If you're looking to create shooter games that amaze and impress, then you need the Ultimate Character Controller. This powerful tool gives you everything you need to create amazing characters that move and feel real, no matter what platform you're using.
This controller includes features that are not typically found in other character controllers, such as seamless first and third-person perspective switching, and the ability to change the time scale on a per-character basis.
This package includes shooter, melee, magic, throwable, and flashlight items with a first and third-person perspective.
With the Unity engine and the help of this package, you can easily create first-person or third-person shooter games with dynamic gravity, advanced moving platforms, and more. You can also create animation with your own weapons, melee attacks, magic items, and special attacks with ease. The possibilities are endless!
With more than 300 pages of documentation, you'll have no trouble getting started with this character controller.
Assets
The Guns Pack is a great way to get started on your next shooter game. It contains four different guns, each with a PSD texture and a ready-to-use prefab. The Guns Pack also comes with a mobile version, which is perfect for games that need to be played on the go. The pack includes a rocket launcher, a sci-fi rifle, a submachine gun, and a shotgun. All of the guns come with a reload animation, except for the rocket launcher.
Unreal Engine
Gamekits
FPS Game Starter Kit is a great starting point for anyone looking to create their own first-person shooter game. The kit comes with a custom-made FPS template that uses 100% Blueprints, meaning that everything can be easily customized to fit your needs. It also includes a Guns Pack, which contains a variety of different gun models that can be used in your game.
In addition, the kit features camera switching for both FPS and TPS perspectives, as well as an objective system and animBP's set up for both perspectives. Camera shake and gamepad vibration feedback are also included, along with aiming down sights, sprinting, crouching, and other common features.
Movement tweaks and overrides are also included to help you fine-tune the gameplay to your liking. The kit includes templates for different types of weapons, including rifles, launchers, shotguns, pistols, and sniper rifles. It also comes with a dynamic crosshair, minimap, melee attacks, swimming, and much more.
Plus, there are bonus blueprints for faster-level prototyping, such as ladders and elevators. The kit also features in-game currency, vending machines, and basic AI enemies. You can even customize the key bindings in the settings menu. Best of all, the kit comes with exclusive first-person animations for rifle, pistol, and melee weapons.
Assets
FPS Weapon Bundle is the perfect gun pack for any first-person shooter game. It includes seven different weapons and four attachments, all of which are rigged for animation. The pack also comes with alternative textures for all of the firearms, so you can customize them to your liking. With 40 different meshes, this bundle has everything you need to create an amazing first-person shooter game.