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Benjamin Trudell
Benjamin Trudell

Socratic Smackdown

Unity C#

About This Game
#

Socratic Smackdown is a 2.5D platform fighter where you play as animalized versions of classic philosophers as they fight for a thought in a king-of-the-hill style game mode.

Do cool combos, use special philosophy-inspired moves, and send opponents flying off the stage in a fun-for-all fighting game experience!

My Image



Project Details
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Roles: Lead Programmer, Systems & Tools Programmer, Repo Master

Team Size: 15

Duration: September 2025 - Present

Technology: Unity, C#

  • Built using Scrum and Agile methodologies
  • Pitched to Champlain College faculty & alumni and was chosen to be “Greenlit” to continue working in the following semester

State Machine
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Designed and implemented a character state machine system supporting multiple states, accurate state tracking, and smooth transitions between states.

Developed a reusable Base State template to streamline the creation of individual state classes and ensure consistent structure and behavior across all states.

Base State
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// All states inherit this class
public abstract class BaseState : IState
{ 
    public abstract StateID stateID { get; }

    public virtual void EnterState(PlayerController context) { }
    public virtual void UpdateState(PlayerController context) { }
    public virtual void ExitState(PlayerController context) { }
}

Transition
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public delegate bool Condition(PlayerController context);

public class Transition
{
    public StateID to;
    public Condition condition;

    public Transition(StateID to, Condition condition)
    {
        this.to = to;
        this.condition = condition;
    }
}

State Machine
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public class StateMachine
{
    public BaseState currentState
    {
        get; private set;
    }

    public BaseState nextState
    {
        get; private set;
    }

    private Dictionary<StateID, BaseState> states = new();
    private Dictionary<StateID, List<Transition>> transitions = new();

    // Register states for each character's state machine
    public void RegisterState(BaseState state, PlayerController context)
    {
        states[state.stateID] = state;

        if(currentState == null)
        {
            currentState = state;
            currentState.EnterState(context);
        }
    }

    // Add transitions from one state to another
    public void AddTransition(StateID from, StateID to, Condition condition)
    {
        if(!transitions.ContainsKey(from))
        {
            transitions[from] = new List<Transition>();
        }

        transitions[from].Add(new Transition(to, condition));
    }

    // Update the state and check for transitions
    public void Update(PlayerController context)
    {
        if (currentState == null)
            return;

        if(transitions.TryGetValue(currentState.stateID, out var stateTransitions))
        {
            foreach (var transition in stateTransitions)
            {
                if(transition.condition(context))
                {
                    ChangeState(states[transition.to], context);
                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        currentState.UpdateState(context);
    }

    // Changes the state once a transition is valid
    public void ChangeState(BaseState newState, PlayerController context)
    {
        nextState = newState;

        currentState.ExitState(context);
        currentState = newState;

        currentState.EnterState(context);
    }
}