Path of the Infected

A 2D pixel-art action platformer built in Unity for a Game Development class.

🎮 Features

Player System

Custom 2D Platformer Controller

A state machine-driven movement controller with ~16 discrete states:

State	Description
Idle/Walk/Run	Ground movement with velocity-based transitions
Jump Ascending/Cut	Variable jump height with apex tracking
Falling	Airborne state with gravity control
Dash	Horizontal burst with cooldown
Dash Fast Fall	Cancel vertical velocity during dash
Dash Cancel Vertical	Stop upward momentum mid-dash
Wall Slide	Slow descent along walls
Wall Jump (Asc/Cut/Fast Fall)	Three variants based on input
Slide	Quick ground-level evasion
Crouch	Defensive stance

Key Files:

Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/Core/PlayerSM.cs — Central singleton (PlayerSm.Instance) managing state machine, input, movement stats
Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/States/Player*StateSM.cs — Individual state implementations
Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/Physics/MovementControllerSM.cs — Low-level physics: velocity, gravity, ground/wall detection, coyote time

Animation System

TidiAnimInstance (base) → POIAnimInstance (game-specific)
Hash-based animation triggering via Animator.StringToHash
Animation states: StandingState, InAirState
Blended combat animations with directional input support

Key Files:

Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/Animation/TidiAnimInstance.cs
Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Animation/POIAnimInstance.cs

Combat System

Reset-Based Combat (RBC) with combo multipliers and perk subsystems:

Component	Description
Input Capture	Attack buffering with configurable window
Timeline-Based Attacks	Startup → Active → Recovery phases
BlendSpace2D	Directional punch animations based on stick input
Combo Subsystem	Hit counters, speed/damage multipliers
RBC Subsystem	Cooldown resets on successful hits
Perk Subsystem	Passive bonuses from collected perks

Combat Flags: CombatIntentFlags (input intents) and CombatFlags (active states) using [Flags] bitfields

Key Files:

Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Player/Combat/PlayerCombat.cs — Main orchestrator
Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Combat/Subsystems/ — Modular subsystems
Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Player/Combat/Attacks/ — ScriptableObject attack definitions

Health & Damage

PlayerHealth — Damage reception, hit response, UI message broadcasting
HitStopManager — Frame-freeze on impact for juice
EnemyHealth — Enemy damage handling with death events

Enemy AI System

State Machine Architecture

EnemyStateMachine
├── NoSpottableDetectedState → Wander/Patrol
├── SpottableDetectedState → Aggro/Chase
└── SpottableInAttackRangeState → Attack

Enemy Types

Enemy	Behavior
FlyingPuncher	Flying movement personality, melee punch attack
MeleePuncher	Ground-based chaser with touch/punch attacks
RangedEnemy	Projectile-based attacks from distance

Brain System

EnemyBrainBase — Decision-making core
EnemyFlyingBrainBase — Flying-specific logic
MovementPersonality — Configurable movement params (speed, acceleration, aggro range)

Spotting System

EnemySpottable — Player detection via raycasting/distance checks
PlayerSpot — Player-side spot marker for enemy AI
ISpottable — Interface for detectable entities

Key Files:

Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Enemy/ — All enemy code
Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Enemy/Enemy brains/ — Brain implementations
Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Enemy/States/ — State definitions

Boss System

Component	Description
BossBrain	Phase-based Boss AI
BossPhase	Multi-phase combat with transition logic
BossCombatState	Attack patterns per phase
BossHealth	Phase triggers on HP thresholds

Cloth Physics System

Verlet integration-based 2D cloth simulation for scarf/hair:

Feature	Description
Fixed Timestep	Accumulator with configurable substeps
Distance Constraints	Segment-to-segment length preservation
Bend Constraints	Angular resistance for stiffness
Shape Constraints	Anchor points for structure
Wind Forces	Environmental perturbation
Turn Impulse	Flick on player direction change

Key Files:

Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/Cloth/ClothController.cs — Main simulation
Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/Cloth/Data/ClothPoint.cs — Point data structure

Visual Effects

Effect	Description
GhostTrail	Afterimage trail during dash
Jump Particles	Ground dust on jump
WallSlide Particles	Wall friction sparks
Speed Particles	Motion blur effect at high velocity
Land Particles	Impact dust on landing

Modular UI Framework (UI Toolkit)

Component-based UI architecture using Unity's UI Toolkit:

Layer	Responsibility
UIView	VisualElement subclass with Show()/Hide() lifecycle
UIScreen	Controller logic (Init, Start, Tick, FixedTick, Dispose)
UIRouter	Routes controllers to views, manages lifecycle
UIComponent	Decorator pattern for reusable UI behaviors

Examples:

ControllerIconDecorator — Dynamically swaps controller button icons
UIButtonComponent — Abstracts button click handling

Key Files:

Assets/TidiModularUISystem/Scripts/Core/ — Core framework
Assets/PathOfTheInfected - UI/Scripts/ — Game-specific UI implementation
Assets/PathOfTheInfected - UI/Scripts/Router/POIRouter.cs — Game UI router

Gameplay Messaging System

Typed event bus for decoupled communication:

// Publish
TidiGameplayMessagingSubsystem.Instance.Broadcast<OnPlayerHealthChangedUI, HealthPayload>(payload);

// Subscribe
TidiGameplayMessagingSubsystem.Instance.Listen<PlayerHealthChannel, HealthPayload>(OnHealthChanged);

Features:

Zero-boxing payload dispatch via ArrayPool<T>
Re-entrant safe (queued delivery)
Signal-only channels (no payload) and payload channels
IDisposable unsubscription tokens

Key Files:

Assets/TidiGameplayMessaging/Core/TidiGameplayMessagingSubsystem.cs
Assets/GlobalMessages/ — Message channel definitions

Garbage Collection Manager

Manual GC control to prevent runtime stutters:

Feature	Description
Disabled Auto-GC	Full manual control in production builds
Heap Threshold	Adaptive threshold based on system RAM
Stutter Detection	Monitors GC frequency, increases threshold on stutter
Scene Transition Cleanup	Full compacting GC on scene unload
Memory Profiling	Exposes `GetMemoryUsage()`, `GetMonoHeapUsage()`

Key Files:

Assets/TidiGC/TidiGCManager.cs — Singleton GC manager

Input System

Unity New Input System with layered managers:

Layer	Description
POIInputManager	Raw input reading (Punch, Pause)
POIInputCommandManager	Command-layer abstraction for gameplay
InputManager (base)	Generic input action handling

Key Files:

Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Core/Scripts/Input/POIInputManager.cs
Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/Misc/InputManager.cs

Object Pooling

Generic object pooler for projectiles, particles, and prefabs:

ObjectPooler — Base pool manager with spawn/despawn
TidiGenericObjectPooling — Runtime pooling for dynamic objects

Key Files:

Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/Core/ObjectPooler.cs
Assets/TidiMovementComponent2D/scripts/TidiGenericObjectPooling/ObjectPoolManager.cs

🛠️ Tech Stack

Category	Technology
Engine	Unity 6000.3.6f1 (Unity 6)
Language	C# (.NET)
Input	Unity New Input System
UI	Unity UI Toolkit (VisualElements)
Physics	Unity 2D Physics (BoxCollider2D, Rigidbody2D)
Animation	Unity Animator with Playables (TidiAnimationDriver)
Resolution	1920x1080 (Linear color space)
Platform	Windows (Build Target 19)

📦 Assembly Structure

The project uses 11 custom .asmdef assemblies with clear dependency boundaries:

Assembly	GUID	Description	Dependencies
`TidiSystems`	`3b6257f84980fdc428a1d48db325deb5`	Core 2D movement, animation, physics, states	—
`TidiGameplayMessaging`	`75469ad4d38634e559705d17036d5f35`	Typed event/message bus	—
`TidiPathFinding`	`f5cdf24af6a043b897086d4de2582826`	Enemy AI pathfinding	—
`TidiPatjFindingEditor`	—	Editor tooling for pathfinding	TidiPathFinding
`TidiGC`	—	Garbage collection management	—
`TidiModularUISystem`	—	Component-based UI framework	—
`ClothSystem`	—	Verlet cloth simulation	TidiSystems
`GlobalMessages`	—	Message channel definitions	TidiGameplayMessaging
`PathOfTheInfected - Core`	—	Game-specific mechanics and behaviors	All above
`PathOfTheInfected - Gameplay`	—	Gameplay managers and systems	Core assemblies
`PathOfTheInfected - UI`	—	UI implementation	TidiModularUISystem

📁 Project Structure

PathOfTheInfected/
├── Assets/
│   ├── TidiMovementComponent2D/          # Reusable 2D controller framework
│   │   ├── scripts/
│   │   │   ├── Core/                     # PlayerSM singleton, state machine
│   │   │   ├── States/                   # ~16 player states
│   │   │   ├── Physics/                  # MovementController, collision
│   │   │   ├── Animation/                # AnimInstance, BlendSpaces, Playables
│   │   │   ├── Cloth/                    # Verlet cloth simulation
│   │   │   ├── Misc/                     # GhostTrail, InputManager, Pooling
│   │   │   └── Tweening/                 # TidiTween
│   │   └── TidiSystems.asmdef
│   │
│   ├── TidiGameplayMessaging/            # Typed event bus
│   │   ├── Core/                         # Messaging subsystem
│   │   └── TidiGameplayMessaging.asmdef
│   │
│   ├── TidiPathFinding/                  # Enemy navigation
│   │   ├── Core/                         # Pathfinding engine
│   │   ├── Editor/                       # Editor tools
│   │   └── TidiPathFinding.asmdef
│   │
│   ├── TidiGC/                           # GC management
│   │   ├── TidiGCManager.cs
│   │   └── TidiGC.asmdef
│   │
│   ├── TidiModularUISystem/              # UI Toolkit framework
│   │   ├── Scripts/Core/
│   │   │   ├── Screens/                  # UIScreen controllers
│   │   │   ├── Views/                    # UIView components
│   │   │   ├── Routers/                  # UIRouter lifecycle
│   │   │   └── Components/               # UIComponent decorators
│   │   └── TidiModularUISystem.asmdef
│   │
│   ├── GlobalMessages/                   # Message channel definitions
│   │   └── GlobalMessages.asmdef
│   │
│   └── PathOfTheInfected - Core/         # Game-specific code
│       ├── Scripts/
│       │   ├── Player/
│       │   │   ├── Combat/               # PlayerCombat, attacks, subsystems
│       │   │   └── Health/               # PlayerHealth
│       │   ├── Combat/
│       │   │   ├── Attack Definition/    # ScriptableObject attacks
│       │   │   ├── Subsystems/           # RBC, Combo, Perks
│       │   │   └── HitDispatcher.cs      # Damage routing
│       │   ├── Enemy/
│       │   │   ├── Enemy brains/         # AI decision making
│       │   │   ├── States/               # Enemy state machines
│       │   │   ├── Attack/               # Melee, ranged, touch attacks
│       │   │   ├── Health/               # EnemyHealth
│       │   │   ├── Projectiles/          # Projectile base
│       │   │   └── Interfaces/           # ISpottable, IEnemyMoveable
│       │   ├── Boss/
│       │   │   ├── Brains/               # BossBrain
│       │   │   ├── Phases/               # BossPhase transitions
│       │   │   └── States/               # Boss combat states
│       │   ├── Animation/
│       │   │   ├── POIAnimInstance.cs    # Game-specific anim controller
│       │   │   ├── States/               # Standing, InAir states
│       │   │   └── BlendSpaces/          # 1D/2D blend trees
│       │   ├── Input/                    # POIInputManager, command layer
│       │   ├── Damagable/                # Health, hit response
│       │   └── Spottable/                # PlayerSpot marker
│       ├── Prefabs/
│       │   ├── Enemy/                    # FlyingPuncher, MeleePuncher
│       │   ├── Projectiles/              # Projectile prefabs
│       │   └── Player/                   # Player prefab
│       ├── Scenes/
│       │   └── SampleScene.unity         # Main game scene
│       └── PathOfTheInfected.asmdef
│
├── PathOfTheInfected - Gameplay/         # Gameplay managers
│   └── PathOfTheInfected - Gameplay.asmdef
│
└── PathOfTheInfected - UI/               # UI implementation
    ├── Scripts/
    │   ├── Router/                       # POIRouter
    │   └── PlayerUI/                     # HealthBar, screens
    └── PathOfTheInfected - UI.asmdef

🏗️ Architecture Patterns

Design Patterns Used

Pattern	Usage
Singleton	`PlayerSm.Instance`, `POIAnimInstance.Instance`, `TidiGameplayMessagingSubsystem.Instance`, `TidiGCManager`
State Machine	Player movement (~16 states), Enemy AI (3-state), Animation (Standing/InAir), Boss phases
SubSystem Pattern	Combat subsystems (RBC, Combo, Perks) registered and updated centrally
Observer Pattern	Gameplay messaging (pub/sub), animation events (`OnAnimationEnded`)
Command Pattern	Input abstraction layer (`POIInputCommandManager`)
Strategy Pattern	Attack definitions as ScriptableObjects (`PlayerAttackSoBase`)
Object Pooling	Projectiles, particles, prefabs
Component Pattern	Modular UI (`UIComponent`, `ControllerIconDecorator`)
BitFlags	`CombatIntentFlags`, `CombatFlags` for packed state storage

Data-Driven Design

ScriptableObjects are used for:

Attack Definitions — Damage, range, startup/active/recovery times
Enemy Stats — HP, speed, aggro range
State Definitions — Enemy states as SO assets (EnemyWanderSO, EnemyAggroSO)
Perk Data — Passive bonuses (PlayerPerkData) - Obsolete (perks were removed late in development but the data structure remains)

🎓 About

This project was developed as part of a Game Development class. It demonstrates:

State machine architecture for movement, animation, and AI
Physics-based character effects (Verlet cloth/scarf simulation)
Combat systems with combo tracking, damage multipliers, and perk integration
Decoupled architecture using a typed messaging bus
Enemy AI with spotting, pursuit, and attack behaviors
Boss battles with phase transitions
Garbage collection management for consistent performance
Modular UI framework built on Unity UI Toolkit
Reusable component libraries designed for cross-project use

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Unity 6000.3.6f1 (Unity 6) or compatible 2022.x version
Windows build support
New Input System package (enabled in Project Settings)

Installation

Clone or download this repository
Open Unity Hub → Add → Select the PathOfTheInfected folder
Wait for package restoration and assembly compilation
Open Assets/PathOfTheInfected - Gameplay/Levels/MainMenu.unity
Press Play in the Unity Editor

Controls (Keyboard) ⌨️

Action	Input
Move	WASD or Arrow Keys
Jump	Space or Z
Dash	C
Punch	X
Return To Main Menu	Escape

Controls (Controller) 🎮

Action	Input
Move	DPAD or Left Stick
Jump	A
Dash	RT
Punch	X
Return To Main Menu	☰

📝 Development Workflow

branching: Feature branches follow Feat_<FeatureName> convention
- Example: Feat_ModularUIFramework, Feat_ExtendingAttacksAndWeaponSystem
Main branch: main
Development environment: Unity Editor (no CLI build scripts)

📚 Documentation

File	Purpose
`README.md`	This file — feature list, tech stack, project structure

Built with Unity by a high school Game Development student - Harel Tidhar 🎮

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE		.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE
.idea		.idea
PathOfTheInfected		PathOfTheInfected
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

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Path of the Infected

🎮 Features

Player System

Custom 2D Platformer Controller

Animation System

Combat System

Health & Damage

Enemy AI System

State Machine Architecture

Enemy Types

Brain System

Spotting System

Boss System

Cloth Physics System

Visual Effects

Modular UI Framework (UI Toolkit)

Gameplay Messaging System

Garbage Collection Manager

Input System

Object Pooling

🛠️ Tech Stack

📦 Assembly Structure

📁 Project Structure

🏗️ Architecture Patterns

Design Patterns Used

Data-Driven Design

🎓 About

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Installation

Controls (Keyboard) ⌨️

Controls (Controller) 🎮

📝 Development Workflow

📚 Documentation

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