Smuggler’s Run: Interstellar Escape

Smuggler’s Run: Interstellar Escape is an alternate-control survival game where physical movement and a custom controller blur the line between player and cockpit. You must pilot a damaged cargo ship, physically dodge incoming threats, and maintain your vessel to survive a high-stakes space escape.

Title

Smuggler's Run: Interstellar Escape

Role

Lead Gameplay Programmer & Controller Programmer

Quick Stats

• Unity (C#)

• Arduino (C)

• Alternate Control

Vision

Smuggler’s Run: Interstellar Escape is an immersive alternate-control space survival game designed around tactile physical interaction. Players take on the role of a rogue pilot attempting to navigate a heavily damaged cargo vessel through a lethal asteroid belt while evading pursuers.

Instead of traditional gamepad inputs, the player's physical body and custom physical hardware form the core cockpit interface. The goal of the project was to bridge physical hardware and digital feedback, forcing players to divide their physical focus between ship navigation, system maintenance, and real-time hazard mitigation.

Key Features

• Dual-Space Multitasking & Cockpit Management 

• Classic Arcade Play

Key Features

1. Serial Parsing & Latency Optimization: How data was sent from the Arduino Uno to Unity.

• Asynchronous Byte Streaming: Implemented a robust thread-safe C# serial reader inside Unity to parse incoming micro-controller data without causing main thread framerate hitches or input delays.

• Debouncing & Signal Filtering: Wrote custom C filters and serial filtering algorithms to ensure clean state reads from physical pedals and sensors. This prevented noisy hardware reads from triggering false gameplay inputs.

2. Event-Driven Controller Architecture: Mapping input data to Unity's input system.

• Input Reader: Created a decoupled Custom Input Manager that mapped serial hardware packets directly to Unity's C# Action events. Allowing the game to be played the same between the custom controller, or mouse and keyboard.

• Player Controller: Implemented a modular controller listener so gameplay scripts (Player Health, Score, Level transitions, Game Manager) acted independently, keeping gameplay systems completely decoupled from serial transmission details.

Development Timeline

1 Month cross-class project

Team

2 Game Developers

4 Mechanical engineers

My Role

During this project I was the primary game developer. I created the main movement systems and serial interface to read inputs from our custom controller. I also was responsible for programming the Arduino that powered the custom controller, ensuring it provided clean, readable data to Unity.

Results

• Over 100 Itch Players

• Showcased at 4 Different Innovator Conventions, with hundreds of players.

  • University of Tulsa Open House

  • Maker Faire 2025

  • Maker Faire 2026

  • Tulsa Game Con

Links

• Play Now