Independent Project
March 2025

SpaceX (Rocket Runner)

Expertise

Gameplay Engineering, Physics Tuning, Level Design

Platforms

WebGL (Playable), Windows (Standalone)

Deliverables

  • Playable demo & level pack

Links

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SpaceX (Rocket Runner)

Project Overview

SpaceX (Rocket Runner) is a Unity-built arcade game where players pilot a rocket through increasingly hostile courses—narrow gaps, rotating gates, and dynamic hazards—while unlocking upgraded hulls and engines. The loop is simple and sticky: survive, collect, upgrade, try again.

Note: a personal, fan-made project not affiliated with SpaceX; naming reflects the theme of space flight.

Unity 6 Overview

Execution

Systems & implementation

  • Flight model: Rigidbody-based thrust/torque with tuned drag and clampable max velocities; fixed-step input for deterministic feel.
  • Obstacles: rotating gates, moving asteroids, laser sweepers; timeline-driven patterns plus seeded randomness for replayability.
  • Progression: coin shards → engine/handling/armor upgrades; ScriptableObject configs for level and item balance.
  • Level building: modular lanes, spline-guided sections, checkpoint system, and dynamic difficulty ramps.
  • UX & juice: Cinemachine camera, URP post-processing, hit stop, screen shake, trails/particles, and haptics (where supported).
  • Content pipeline: addressable bundles, object pooling to minimize GC, and a simple save system for progress & cosmetics.
  • QA & performance: Unity Profiler passes, CPU/GPU frame time targets, and GC allocation budgeting during gameplay.

Security & ops

  • Sandboxed WebGL build with safe input handling; crash repros captured with logs and device stats.
  • Automated build profiles (Dev/Release) with stripped assemblies and texture atlas sizing.

Results

Measurable outcomes

  • Performance: median FPS ≈ 58 (WebGL) · CPU frame ≈ 7.8ms · GPU frame ≈ 9.2ms.
  • Stability: crash-free sessions 99.7% on latest playtest; GC alloc per frame ≈ 0.9 KB.
  • Package size: WebGL build size 32 MB after texture/mesh/Audio import tuning.
  • Engagement: level 1 → 3 completion funnel 64%; median session length 11.5 min.

Before → After (snapshot)

Before: jitter on dense hazard clusters and occasional GC spikes. After: object pooling + trimmed materials → GC spikes ↓ 62% and steadier frame pacing.