Upgrades & Economy

The Upgrades & Economy system manages the roguelite progression between waves. Players earn money by destroying enemies and spend it on random upgrades to improve their ship.

What You Can Customize

This guide covers upgrade system customization:

Creating and configuring upgrade options
Setting cost ranges for upgrades
Setting value ranges for upgrade effects
Adding new upgrade types
Configuring upgrade icons and descriptions
Number of upgrade choices per wave

All configuration happens through the UpgradeManager component.

Upgrade system configuration in Unity Inspector

How The Economy Works

Shape Storm’s economy is simple:

Earning Money:

Players earn money by destroying enemies
Each enemy has a “Kill Reward” value (configured in enemy prefabs)
Money accumulates throughout the run
Money persists between waves (until game over)

Spending Money:

Between waves, players see 3 random upgrade options
Each upgrade has a randomized cost
Players choose one upgrade and spend money
Wave continues after purchase
Unable to afford an upgrade = button disabled

Roguelite System:

Upgrades only persist for the current run
When player dies, all upgrades are lost
New runs start fresh with base stats
Players start each wave with $25 bonus

Upgrade Manager Configuration

The UpgradeManager controls all upgrade generation and options.

Location

Game Scene > === GAME MANAGER === > UpgradeManager (Script)

The UpgradeManager component is attached to the game manager object in the Game scene.

Potential Upgrades Array

This array defines all possible upgrades that can appear between waves.

Inspector Fields

Upgrade Options:

Potential Upgrades: Array of upgrade configurations

Each element in the array contains:

Name: Display name of the upgrade
Type: Upgrade type from enum (what stat it affects)
Icon: Sprite displayed on the upgrade card
Description: Text explaining what the upgrade does
Min Cost: Minimum money cost for this upgrade
Max Cost: Maximum money cost for this upgrade
Min Value: Minimum stat increase from this upgrade
Max Value: Maximum stat increase from this upgrade

How Upgrades Are Generated

When the upgrade menu appears:

System randomly selects from Potential Upgrades array
For each selection, generates random cost between Min Cost and Max Cost
Generates random value between Min Value and Max Value
Displays upgrade card with randomized cost and value
Player can purchase if they have enough money

This creates variety - the same upgrade type can appear with different costs and values each time.

Available Upgrade Types

The system includes these upgrade types by default:

Movement Speed

Increases player max speed
Has upper limit of 10 (configured in Upgrade.cs)

Fire Rate

Decreases shoot cooldown (faster firing)
Has lower limit of 0.15 seconds (configured in Upgrade.cs)

Bullet Damage

Increases damage dealt by player bullets
No limit

Shield Capacity

Increases max shield health
Fully restores shield when purchased
No limit

Rotation Speed

Increases player rotation speed
No limit

Dash Speed

Increases dash speed boost amount
No limit

Configuring Existing Upgrades

To modify an existing upgrade’s properties:

Steps

Navigate to Game Scene > === GAME MANAGER === > UpgradeManager
Expand the Potential Upgrades array
Select the upgrade you want to modify
Adjust the fields:
- Name: Change display text
- Icon: Drag new sprite
- Description: Update description text
- Min Cost / Max Cost: Adjust cost range
- Min Value / Max Value: Adjust power range

The changes affect all future generations of this upgrade.

Cost and Value Ranges

Each upgrade has min/max ranges for cost and value.

Cost Range:

Controls how expensive the upgrade can be
Higher costs make upgrades more expensive
Lower costs make upgrades more affordable
System randomly picks value between min and max

Value Range:

Controls how powerful the upgrade can be
Higher values = stronger upgrades
Lower values = weaker upgrades
System randomly picks value between min and max

Example:

Min Cost: 10, Max Cost: 50 → Upgrade costs between $10-$50
Min Value: 1, Max Value: 3 → Upgrade increases stat by 1-3

Adding New Upgrades

You can add new upgrade options to the Potential Upgrades array.

Steps to Add Existing Upgrade Type

Navigate to UpgradeManager component
Expand Potential Upgrades array
Increase array size
Configure new element:
- Set Name (e.g., “Fire Rate II”)
- Set Type (select from dropdown)
- Assign Icon sprite
- Write Description
- Set Min Cost and Max Cost
- Set Min Value and Max Value

This adds a new upgrade option using an existing type.

Creating New Upgrade Types

To add completely new upgrade types (e.g., bullet speed, dash cooldown reduction):

Steps

Extend the UpgradeType enum:
- Open Scripts/Upgrades/UpgradeManager.cs
- Locate the UpgradeType enum
- Add new type to the enum list

public enum UpgradeType
{
    MovementSpeed,
    FireRate,
    BulletDamage,
    ShieldCapacity,
    RotationSpeed,
    DashSpeed,
    BulletSpeed,        // New type
    DashCooldown        // New type
}

Add upgrade logic:
- Open Scripts/Upgrades/Upgrade.cs
- Locate the BuyUpgrade() method
- Add new if statement for your upgrade type

// if the upgrade type is bullet speed
if (upgrade.type == UpgradeManager.UpgradeType.BulletSpeed)
{
    // Deduct the money
    ScoreManager.instance.score -= upgrade.Cost;

    // Apply the upgrade
    player.GetComponent<Weapon>().bulletSpeed += (int)upgrade.Value;

    // Optional: Add limits
    if (player.GetComponent<Weapon>().bulletSpeed > 20)
    {
        player.GetComponent<Weapon>().bulletSpeed = 20;
    }
}

Create upgrade in Inspector:
- Navigate to UpgradeManager component
- Add new element to Potential Upgrades array
- Set Type to your new enum value
- Configure name, icon, description, costs, and values

The new upgrade type is now available in the game.

Upgrade Icons

Each upgrade displays an icon on the upgrade card.

Steps to change icons:

Import your icon sprite into the project
Set Texture Type to “Sprite (2D and UI)“
In UpgradeManager > Potential Upgrades, select the upgrade
Drag the sprite to the Icon field

Icons should be clear and represent the upgrade visually (e.g., arrow for speed, shield for defense).

Upgrade Descriptions

The description text appears on the upgrade card below the title.

Format:

Keep descriptions concise (1-2 lines)
Clearly state what the upgrade does
Use consistent language across upgrades

Examples:

“Increases the movement speed for your ship"
"Increases the firing rate for your cannon"
"Increases the maximum shield capacity”

Edit descriptions in the UpgradeManager > Potential Upgrades array.

Number of Upgrade Options

Configure how many upgrade cards appear between waves.

Inspector Fields

Upgrade Configuration:

Number Of Upgrade Options: How many upgrade choices to show

Behavior:

System generates this many random upgrades
Each upgrade is independently randomized
If fewer potential upgrades exist than requested, system caps at array length
Default is typically 3 options

Location: The upgrade cards appear in Game Scene > Canvas > WaveComplete > Content

Upgrade Card UI

Each upgrade card displays:

Upgrade Icon: Visual representation
Upgrade Name: Title from configuration
Upgrade Description: Explanation text
Upgrade Value: How much the stat increases (e.g., “+2 Movement Speed”)
Upgrade Cost: Money required (e.g., “$35”)
Buy Button: Purchase the upgrade

The Upgrade.cs script manages each card’s display and purchase logic.

Understanding Upgrade Limits

Some upgrades have hardcoded limits to prevent game-breaking values:

Fire Rate:

Minimum shoot cooldown: 0.15 seconds
Prevents infinitely fast shooting

Movement Speed:

Maximum speed: 10
Prevents uncontrollable movement

Other Upgrades:

No limits applied
Can be upgraded indefinitely

To modify limits, edit the corresponding if statements in Upgrade.cs > BuyUpgrade() method.

Upgrade Application

When a player purchases an upgrade:

Money Deduction: Cost is subtracted from player’s score
Stat Application: Upgrade value is added to corresponding stat
Limit Check: If upgrade has limits, stat is clamped
Wave Progression: Next wave starts immediately after purchase

Upgrades apply to the player object reference stored from shape selection.

Starting Bonus

Players receive $25 at the start of each wave as a bonus.

Purpose:

Ensures players can afford early upgrades
Provides starting capital for first wave completion
Helps maintain upgrade momentum

Location: This is set in Upgrade.cs > Start() method:

// Experimental bonus to get the player started
ScoreManager.instance.score = 25;

To change the starting bonus, modify this value.

Removing Upgrades

To remove an upgrade from the pool:

Steps:

Navigate to UpgradeManager > Potential Upgrades array
Find the upgrade to remove
Either:
- Remove the element from the array, OR
- Decrease array size to exclude it

The upgrade will no longer appear between waves.

Enemy Kill Rewards

Players earn money by destroying enemies. The amount is configured in each enemy prefab.

Location: Enemy Prefab > Enemy Component > Kill Reward

How it works:

Each enemy has a Kill Reward value
When enemy dies, that amount is added to player’s score
Different enemies can have different rewards
Rewards accumulate throughout the run

See Combat & Enemies for details on configuring enemy rewards.

Getting Help

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help:

Email: [email protected]
Social: Find me on GitHub, Twitter, or any of the platforms linked in the header

I built these tools to help developers, so please use me as a resource. Questions, bug reports, feature requests—I want to hear all of it.

Next: Configure Audio & Effects to customize sound and visual effects.