Building a Pong Clone in Unity: UI and Gameplay

This tutorial enhances a basic Pong clone built in Unity, adding classic Pong aesthetics, improved gameplay mechanics, and a retro-styled UI. Let's upgrade our Pong game!

Part 2: Retro Revamp & Enhanced Gameplay

This tutorial builds on the previous Pong clone. Download the project from GitHub or complete Part 1 before proceeding. A working demo and the final improved game are also available.

Key Improvements:

• Classic Styling: Import black and white sprites, adjusting pixels per unit (to 64) for authentic retro visuals. Change the Main Camera background to black, and update paddle and ball sprites accordingly. Create a central divider using multiple scaled white sprites.
• Enhanced Collisions: Refine ball collision handling to calculate impact angles on paddles, making bounces more realistic. This involves updating the BallController script's OnCollisionEnter2D method to use the launchAngle function. Remember to tag the Player and Enemy paddles appropriately.
• Improved Enemy AI: Smooth enemy paddle movement using time-based calculations, enhancing responsiveness and challenge. Modify the EnemyController script to use InvokeRepeating("Move", .02F, .02F), adjusting speed and timing for optimal smoothness. Add bounds to prevent the AI paddle from going off-screen. The BoundsController script should reset the enemy paddle's position after the ball is destroyed.
• Retro Pause Menu: Create a pause menu using a custom pixel font (like SilkScreen). Include "Reset" and "Main Menu" buttons with appropriate functionality. The UIManager script manages pausing and resuming, along with showing/hiding pause menu elements. Make sure to tag the pause menu elements with "ShowOnPause".
• Dynamic Main Menu: Design a main menu with simulated AI gameplay in the background. Duplicate the main game scene, remove unnecessary elements, and add a title and "Play" button. Use the AutoPlayer and AutoEnemy scripts (similar to the enemy AI but with adjustments for speed and timing) to control the AI paddles in the main menu.
• Scoring System: Implement a scoring system that tracks player and AI scores, displays them on the UI (using the PointCounter script), and ends the game when a score limit (e.g., 7 points) is reached, displaying a game over screen. The GameOver script displays the winner. Remember to tag the game over elements with "ShowOnFinish".

Code Snippets:

(BallController.cs - OnCollisionEnter2D & launchAngle)

void OnCollisionEnter2D(Collision2D col) {
    if (col.gameObject.tag == "Enemy") {
        float y = launchAngle(transform.position, col.transform.position, col.collider.bounds.size.y);
        Vector2 d = new Vector2(1, y).normalized;
        rig2D.velocity = d * speed * 1.5F;
    }
    if (col.gameObject.tag == "Player") {
        float y = launchAngle(transform.position, col.transform.position, col.collider.bounds.size.y);
        Vector2 d = new Vector2(-1, y).normalized;
        rig2D.velocity = d * speed * 1.5F;
    }
}

float launchAngle(Vector2 ball, Vector2 paddle, float paddleHeight) {
    return (ball.y - paddle.y) / paddleHeight;
}

(EnemyController.cs - Move)

void Move() {
    if (ball == null) {
        ball = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Ball").transform;
    }
    ballRig2D = ball.GetComponent<Rigidbody2D>();
    if (ballRig2D.velocity.x > 0) {
        if (ball.position.y > this.transform.position.y + .5F) {
            transform.Translate(Vector3.up * speed * Time.deltaTime);
        } else if (ball.position.y < this.transform.position.y - .5F) {
            transform.Translate(Vector3.down * speed * Time.deltaTime);
        }
    }
    // ... bounds checking ...
}

(UIManager.cs - Partial)

// ... other methods ...

public void showFinished() {
    foreach (GameObject g in finishObjects) {
        g.SetActive(true);
    }
}

// ... other methods ...

(PointCounter.cs)

void Update () {
    text.text = rightBound.GetComponent<BoundController>().enemyScore + "\t\t" +
                leftBound.GetComponent<BoundController>().playerScore;
}

(GameOver.cs)

void Update () {
    if(uiManager.playerWon){
        text.text = "GAME OVER!\nPLAYER WON!";
    } else if(uiManager.enemyWon){
        text.text = "GAME OVER!\nENEMY WON!";
    }
}

Remember to adjust values like speed and timing in the AI scripts to fine-tune the gameplay difficulty. This enhanced Pong clone provides a more complete and engaging retro gaming experience. The GitHub link (not provided in the input) would contain the full project files.

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