Forem: Cansu Aysagdic

🛠 Dev Log #3: Fixing Bugs, Adding Polish & Building Sumo Battle Mechanics

Cansu Aysagdic — Mon, 19 May 2025 15:11:00 +0000

Hey everybody 👋

Welcome to my third dev log where I share what I’ve been building and learning through Unity Learn’s Junior Programmer Pathway.

🔧 Bug Fixes on My Endless Runner Prototype

After publishing my previous prototype, I got some thoughtful feedback from @damalgar from daily.dev — and it pushed me to dig deeper and fix what wasn’t quite working.

Here’s what I tackled:

~~Fix the guy dipping into the ground~~
✅ Turned out to be a collider height issue.
~~Fix the running animation mid-air~~
✅ Increased jump animation duration, tweaked gravity/mass, so running resumes only when grounded.
~~Add a proper Game Over screen~~
✅ Now there’s a UI panel and a restart button after crashing into obstacles.
~~Fix dirt particles still showing after death~~
✅ Dirt effect now checks game state before playing.
~~Prevent jumping spam and air-running~~
✅ Added jump cooldown, and froze Z position + all rotations on Rigidbody.

-✅ Disabled root motion on Animator to eliminate unwanted movement.

Every fix taught me something deeper about Unity’s animation blending, physics system, and scripting best practices.

Here is the updated game's link : https://play.unity.com/en/games/39c35814-65a1-447b-b18e-521c2c4510f6/street-runner

🎮 Chapter Highlight: Arcade Sumo Battle Prototype

This week I also completed the Sumo Battle mission in the Unity Learn Pathway. The goal? Knock enemies off an island while collecting powerups and surviving increasingly tough waves.

What I learned:

How to program powerups with time-limited effects
Creating escalating waves of enemies
Balancing challenge vs. reward in gameplay

⚽ Bonus Challenge: Soccer Chaos

Then came a bonus prototype: a broken soccer game where enemy balls try to score on you. I had to debug and rebuild core functionality using skills from the Sumo game:

Enemies chase your goal, and you can deflect them
Powerups give temporary strength boosts
New enemy waves spawn with +1 enemy each time

🧠 Reflections

This week reminded me that fixing bugs = real learning. It’s not always fun, but when something finally works, that "aha!" moment is worth it.

Thanks again to @damalgar for the feedback — you helped me level up!

Stay tuned for next week’s updates 🧪

💬 If you're learning Unity too, drop your blog link or say hi! Let's support each other.

Weekly Dev Log #2: Sound, Effects & Debugging Adventures — Junior Programmer Pathway

Cansu Aysagdic — Sun, 11 May 2025 20:45:03 +0000

Hey folks,

Welcome back to my second weekly dev log where I document what I’ve been learning and building on my journey into game development.

I’ve been making my way through Unity Learn’s Junior Programmer Pathway, and this week I wrapped up Chapter 3: Sound and Effects. It was a really fun chapter that helped me understand how much sound and visual feedback can enhance the feel of a game — even a simple one.

Project 1: Endless Side-Scrolling Runner

The first task was to build a fast-paced endless runner. The player has to jump over obstacles while the world scrolls by. Here’s what I tackled in this project:

Built a looping background to create a seamless side-scrolling effect
Added animations for running, jumping, and falling
Integrated particle effects for jumps and collisions
Implemented background music and sound effects for player actions

It was surprisingly satisfying to see how these elements made the game feel more alive. Even with basic placeholder assets, just adding a few effects and sounds made the game way more engaging.

🕹️ Play the demo:

https://play.unity.com/en/games/39c35814-65a1-447b-b18e-521c2c4510f6/street-runner

Project 2: Debugging a Flappy Bird-Style Game

The second project was a bit different. Unity gave us a pre-made — but totally broken — balloon-flappy-style game and challenged us to fix it.

There were all sorts of problems: the player couldn’t jump properly, the background wasn’t moving, and collision detection was all over the place. I had to read through unfamiliar code, spot the bugs, and fix them one by one.

I won’t lie — it was frustrating at times. But when things finally started working, it felt great. Debugging taught me a lot more than I expected. It helped me better understand how each part of the codebase fits together and showed me the value of patience and problem-solving.

Final Thoughts

This week wasn’t the easiest — personal stuff and some difficult news from my country made it hard to focus — but I’m still proud I pushed through and got something done. Progress is progress, even if it’s small.

Thanks for reading and being part of my journey. I’ll keep sharing what I learn and build each week, and I hope it’s helpful (or at least relatable!) to others learning game dev too.

See you next week!

My Game Development Journey: Finding My Path

Cansu Aysagdic — Sat, 03 May 2025 15:03:29 +0000

As an aspiring game developer who wants to improve every day, I’ve decided to document my learning process and share it with others who have similar interests. Since this is my first post, I’d like to talk about how my coding journey began.

How It All Started

During my time as an economics student in college, I realized it wasn’t my true passion. While searching for what truly excited me, I discovered that I’ve always loved games and dreamed of creating my own — bringing my ideas to life.

Though I haven’t achieved that goal yet, this passion led me to discover coding.

My First Steps Into Programming

I started exploring bootcamps and tried web development first, just to see if I could grasp and enjoy coding. I made the decision to stop pursuing economics and enrolled in a computer programming course at Istanbul University.

Around the same time, I joined a free backend bootcamp where I learned:

Node.js
Working with databases such as SQL and MongoDB
Basic backend development principles

While web development wasn’t my ultimate goal, I used this opportunity to enter the tech and programming world. After feeling lost for some time, I wanted to take every learning opportunity I could find.

Transitioning to Game Development

After completing college and the bootcamp, I felt more confident with tech and ready to pursue what I really wanted: game development.

I joined online courses and started watching tutorials — but quickly found myself trapped in tutorial hell. I wasn’t sure what to do or how to apply what I’d learned. Game dev felt overwhelming.

It’s such a broad field, and I thought I needed to learn everything:

3D modeling and asset creation
Music and sound design
Unity development
Programming and scripting

While I know I don’t have to master every area, part of me wanted to try. Unfortunately, diving into everything at once left me feeling overwhelmed and burned out — more than once.

Finding a Better Approach

After a lot of frustration, I finally took a step back to figure out what I was doing wrong.

Mistake #1: Relying Too Much on Tutorials

Tutorials gave me a quick sense of progress, but I realized I wasn’t really learning. When I tried to start my own project or write code from scratch, I was stuck. That sent me right back into watching more tutorials — creating a frustrating loop.

Realization #2: I Learn Best by Doing

So, I changed my strategies. I started using Unity Learn, reading official documentation, and building small things on my own. That hands-on experience helped me gain a deeper understanding of Unity and C# — bit by bit, day by day.

Insight #3: Documenting Helps Me Stay on Track

To stay focused and avoid distractions, I’ve started documenting everything I learn. It keeps me accountable, helps me track my progress, and makes the whole journey feel more meaningful.

My Current Focus

Right now, I’m focusing solely on:

Unity development
C# programming
Math for game development

I plan to learn physics later, but I’m taking things one step at a time instead of trying to learn everything all at once. I’ve realized that focus is key.

Looking Forward

I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I may have lost some time jumping between topics — but none of it was wasted. Each experience taught me something valuable. I’m finally starting to feel grounded in my path.

By sharing my journey here, I hope to stay consistent, learn more effectively, and maybe even help others who are on a similar journey.

If you’re a fellow dev or learner, I’d love to hear your thoughts and advice in the comments.

Thank you for reading, and I can’t wait to keep documenting this adventure! 💫