A Multi-Player Sports App To Participate in Pentathlons

Industry - Sports

Tech Stack

Overview

UIPM (Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne) is a governing body that looks over the popular Olympic sport - Pentathlon - a multidisciplinary event that involves 5 different athletic disciplines including pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding, and running.

The organization has been running its operations since 1997 and has contributed immensely to the evolution of this multidisciplinary sport throughout these years. The team has organized several pentathlon events across different countries to promote the sport and encourage individuals to test their physical abilities.

Even though UIPM was organizing successful events in different corners of the world, they wanted to attract more people and spread awareness about the sport. But, instead of following the traditional marketing path, the team at UIPM came up with a unique approach. They decided to launch a multiplayer mobile game that would allow the global audience to virtually participate in Pentathlons. The idea was to build a game that incorporates all the Pentathlon disciplines and provides addictive gameplay to attract non-athletic individuals as well.

To bring this vision to reality, UIPM needed a reliable game development partner. Like any other non-tech organization, UIPM started with the traditional “Google Search” to look for game developers. That’s when they came across RV Technologies. Having worked on various mobile games in the past, we had a relatively strong Portfolio that convinced UIPM we were the right development team to bring their idea to a fully functional mobile game.

Could RV Technologies Build a Mobile Game that Involved 5 Different Sporting Disciplines?

RV Technologies is one of the pioneers in adapting to new technologies and tackling out-of-the-box challenges. When UIPM first shared the idea of Laser-Run with RV Technologies, our game development team was eager to jump on board. Since it was a one-of-a-kind idea, we were pretty clear that we’d have to leave the traditional game development approach behind and adopt new practices to build an addictive Pentathlon mobile game.

Challenges

As opposed to other mobile games we had built in the past, UIPM’s Laser-Run was a completely different ball game. UIPM’s primary objective was to educate more people about the sport and probably encourage them to participate in real-life Pentathlons. It meant we had to strictly incorporate all the Pentathlon disciplines while ensuring that the game offers addictive gameplay to attract non-athletes as well.

Solution

Considering its extensiveness, our development team picked Unity3D as the gaming engine to develop a 3D layout, build characters, and set up the entire environment. Our UI designing team started with initial character modeling to create different avatars for the players. We further incorporated different features to enhance the overall gameplay and make Laser-Run more enticing. These features included:

  • Multiple Tracks/Stadiums
  • Guest Mode
  • Online and Local Mode
  • In-Game Rewards
  • Play With Friends

1 Multiple Tracks/Stadiums

To make the game more realistic, the development team at RV Technologies and the client agreed on adding 3 different cities and multiple tracks and stadiums. Like the real world, players would have the ability to participate in Pentathlons in different cities.

However, we also wanted to keep the gameplay engaging and that’s why we ensured that users would only be able to access a few cities initially and the remaining would stay locked. To unlock these stadiums or tracks, the players would have to earn XP (Experience Points) by completing the initial levels first.

2 Guest Mode

Having worked on a plethora of projects in the past, we understand the user experience is the key to building a successful mobile game. With LaserRun, user experience was a crucial factor, mainly because the target audience also included people from non-athletic backgrounds.

To ensure that players could jump right in and start with the action, we integrated a dedicated Guest Mode. This would eliminate the unnecessary hassle of creating a dedicated user account and allow players to play as guests.

3 Online and Local Mode

When it came to gameplay, the team at UIPM wanted to provide two separate modes where players could either participate in global events or play with their friends locally. For the former, the development team set up a dedicated “online mode” that would allow players to enter into the global servers and compete against international players. In case there are no players online, the system would automatically create bots (thanks to AI support) to go against the player in the selected event.

The Local Mode, on the other hand, is the offline version where players are allowed to compete with their friends. Basically, when a user would tap on the “Local Mode”, the system would automatically generate an “invite code”. He can then share this code with his friends and invite them to join the game. Both online and local modes work separately and offer a different gaming experience to the players.

4 In-Game Rewards

Giving in-game rewards is a great way to keep the players engaged and encourage them to keep coming back. But, unlike other mobile games in the market, we focused on distributing rewards that would actually help the players with their gameplay. For instance, while running, the players would get various speed/stamina boosts that would help them run faster and outrun others.

5 Play With Friends

In addition to the local mode and the online mode, the development team also integrated a dedicated “Play With Friends” feature. This way players would be able to invite their Facebook friends and create exclusive rooms to play with them.

 

The Testing Phase

After designing different modules for Laser-Run, the next step was to test them to ensure that the game didn’t have any hidden bugs. To do this, we separated the entire game into smaller testing modules. This allowed the Quality Assurance team to test each element of the game with extreme precision and suggest the required changes accordingly. During the testing phase, we followed an iterative process so that it becomes easier to test each update in real-time.

We implemented different testing methodologies and ran automated testing environments throughout the testing phase. Based on the results, we continued implementing solutions that Eradicated the potential bugs and improve the overall gameplay for the end-users. And, once all the bugs were removed, the team moved towards final deployment.

Results

A Feature-Packed Multiplayer Sports Game for Athletes and Gaming Enthusiasts.

With continuous testing and deployment, our development team successfully deployed Laser-Run on Google Play Store within one year. Today, it has become one of the most popular sports games on the platform and already has thousands of downloads.

As of now, we continue to deliver our maintenance support to Laser-Run by constantly monitoring its performance and integrating new features. We also monitor the user feedback to ensure that Laser-Run provides an engaging gaming experience to the end-users.

Entrepreneurship Offer:

Flat 50% off

Across App Development Services

Want to discuss your idea?

Hi I am Ryan, a Business Consultant at
RV Technologies. We are excited to hear
about your project.

...

Drop us a line and we will connect
you to our experts.

Let’s Get Started

We’re here to help you. Fill the form below and we will get you in touch with our experts soon.