Development Blog 2/9/17

Chuggin' Through

Design team is moving really quick. This week development for the design team has been pretty fast paced, with us generating content as quickly as possible. We are currently pushing through our 2nd ward, and are about to begin work on the 3rd ward's levels. Because our book development being more about designing mechanics and then giving them context, it has been easy to move them around, which is what we have been doing with the 3rd ward. While an idea may have spawned from a pirate element, because it is primarily a mechanic, it is easy for us to give it an alternative context to use in another part of the game. What was initially a rum book, can just as easily be put to use as a poisonous flower. The flexibility of the team has allowed us to be more effective, which is only helping us. I'm hopeful that we can be content set in a couple of Sprints so that we may entirely focus on polish.

Elsewhere, the team seems to be moving along well. The art team is knocking things out as they come up, with assets being built as fast as we can ask for them. Animations are coming along, with many of the character ones being, at least in my mind, complete. I particularly love the hat bob of the running animation, as it gives the little cute touches that our game thrives from. Our pirate assets are bright and fitting of a summer beach, which gives a surprising amount of life to our previously dark environments. I, personally, can't wait to see what they will cook up next.

As usual with the tech team, they are ever moving forward, knocking out bugs one-by-one. Features are being implemented and the next set of books will be the next thing tackled. It's beginning to be almost difficult to predict when things will be finished by, as it seems every week we move twice or three times as fast as last semester. Things that previously would have needed countless hours are being whipped out in no time at all. It's an encouraging place to be in, and I couldn't be more proud of the team. To top it all off, we received an incredible offer a couple of days ago that I will be exploring today. If we goes as we hope it will, it will be the cap to an incredibly productive week.

Development blog 2/2/17

Moving on

Our first world is just about done! Which is good and bad. This week, as team, we solved our repo and Unreal issues, and finally got everyone working together. Our programmers began working through the laundry list of small issues that currently need solving, as well as developing our gameplay for the boss.

The design team got to work, and in our meeting we were able to concept several books to partner with the Water book, before eventually settling on the concept of the Squid book. The Squid book sprays ink in a fountain like spray, rotating around it's designated bookcase at a slightly slow pace. If player's get hit with ink, then they will have a layer of ink applied to their screen. The more times they are hit by the ink, the more layers of ink that are applied to the screen. While this does effect both players, we believe that because it can be an annoyance that won't directly prevent the player from acting, it is a suitable challenge for both players.

We are currently developing ways for the player to deal with this, though we have already settled on one: when the effected player is hit by the water book, it wipes away the ink on screen. We like this idea, as it doesn't give additional punishment to the player for hitting an obstacle, and can be considered a risk / reward aspect of the game. While the ink will be wiped away, the player is still trapped by the water book. We are currently exploring different ways that the player's could get rid of the ink on their screen without the water book. The primary idea is that the other cooperative player would use one of the water buckets currently used to make potions to clean the other player. This has raised questions, however, of if the player effected could use the bucket on themselves, though we are shying away from this idea due to it avoiding the cooperative aspect of our game.

This coming week, I will be doing an analysis on the possible solutions. We will also be building out the tutorial, and I will be working on building out that. I will also be working on the development of the coming levels and making sure that they function with our vision. It seems that this is going to be my primary role for now, though I will remain in design as much as possible as it is one of the things that makes me happy.

Development Blog 1/27/17

Ironing out the wrinkles

This past week was spent preparing for greenlight and moving forward with our initial plans, but it had it's own set of hurdles that we had to get past.

Early on in the project, we had to jump over several hurdles in order to get the repository and Unreal to work on our computers. Eventually, we got it settled, but it did take time in the beginning, which wasn't awful as we didn't have as many things that needed to be transferred or opened by many people. Unfortunately, with new members comes the problems again, and we have learned that we should have written down the various solutions that had worked for different people in the project. We are still working through the issue with Unreal, as the error isn't exactly clear on what the problem is with it. 

Aside from the errors we have endured, it's been as productive of a week as we could hope. From the design side, I was able to complete a redo of a previous level as well as the development of the boss level. Our weekly design meeting went as well as I could hope, with us reviewing the past levels and the changes we made, as well as beginning prep for the next world. We were able to prep 3 potential books to pair with the water and begin talks for how the world will behave. We also got a music sampling of what's to come and were able to give feedback on how to improve it and where we want to go. 

This week was a check in lead meeting, and it also went well. We finished our work in the greenlight presentation and presented the work of each of our divisions. We cleared up a few questions and prepared to move forward as best we can.

Spirits are high and work is going fast. Hopefully, we can keep this up.

Development Blog 1/20/17

Well it's time to get back into the groove. It's been about a month since I finished development and the onboarding of my new team members, but it feels like it was only yesterday. It's always difficult getting back into a project you take a break from. Not in the sense that you don't want to or that you have forgotten everything, just looking up once again at the mountain you'll have to climb.  

This week was less about developing and more about planning. Our focus for this week was to get our team's minds problem solving, as we needed to figure out solutions to things that had been dogging us prior to vertical slice. We also spent a solid amount of time planning out our moves in the coming months and how to best orchaestrate our pipeline. Due to the nature of the people we brought on, we did not to have to change very much. 

For the design team, we are going to be redesigning some of the levels that we built in vertical slice to fit with our new vision and form a base for us to move forward with. We have distributed the levels among ourselves, along with coordinating the other tasks we will need to do. I will be building the first boss level and will be responsible for it's design and systems. I feel relatively confident in this, as our design meetings prior eliminated many of our possible problems that we would run into. We have a decent plan for what to do going forward, as well, and will be meeting on Monday to test and plan further. 

The team as a whole is doing well so far. Everyone seems to be very engaged in our game and seems to be becoming self motivated by it, which is a great sign for us. It was going to be difficult to fully engage the people we took on, whoever they were, but I'm glad to say that that process went by quickly and everyone is excited to see what we can make. I'm sure I'll be updating this blog quite frequently, as we are hoping to make very fast progress. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. 

First half postmortem

Until January

It's been almost three weeks since I last posted, but it feels like I only updated this yesterday. When I last wrote here, I was getting ready to present to make it past vertical slice and to take Spellbook Rush to the next level. I was scared and nervous that I would mess up, or that what we created would not be enough. That the project that my team and myself poured our lives into was going to be all for not. It was terrifying and I doubt I will ever forget it. 

I'm am glad to say that Spellbook Rush has made it through to next semester! Over the past few weeks we have spent time recovering, drafting members from teams that unfortunately did not make it through, and prepping materials for their on-boarding process. We have more then doubled in size going from 4 to 10, and I can't wait to see where our team will go from here. 

Beyond that, however, I want to talk about the game and the team behind it. I poured my soul into making this game work, and I asked my team members to do the same. To say that they followed me in that vein is an understatement. Each and every member poured all of their passion and love into this project, endlessly fussing over the smallest of details to make sure it was perfect, or as perfect as we could make it in the short time we had.

Emma's energy and talent was like an unstoppable wave throughout this project. The original idea that had sprouted in her head, rooted itself in the team, and she never let it go dry. In a project where artist are often criticized for not putting forth enough effort, she was the antithesis of that. Pushing farther on our project than any of her other work, we were the lucky recipients of her wealth of talent, as she pushed further then any of us could have ever asked or dreamed for. She was reliable, creative, and focused, and I'm proud to have had the pleasure to work with her.

Ryan kept our project grounded, polished, and technically agile. As always, he was determined in every task we gave him, hardly ever turning down an idea or possibility from a technical perspective. He made our lives easy, streamlining the design and art pipelines to a point where it was nearly plug-and-play. His work from a graphics end gave life to an otherwise static screen. He was, in many ways, the structure of the team, the skeleton to the teams body.

When we were putting the team together, we had myself, Ryan, and Emma. We had no idea who might be added, and there was a small fear that we would have to simply carry the person added. When Winston was added, we no longer had to worry. Winston immediately meshed well with our style, our ideas, and our group as a whole. He has added engaging systems, developed all of the levels in our game, and been a bright spot on the team since the beginning. He has been professional, skillful, and engaging to work with throughout.

And to complete this entry, I simply want to say how proud I am of what we have made. We spent so much time working on the game, and it is truly something that I believe can be great. I have always been a very harsh critic of myself because I want to be regarded as great by my peers and by those around me. With this project, I truly believe that I can look at the work that we have done and call it great.

Development Blog 11/20/16

It's almost time

Well, there is less then 24 hours before the Winter Showcase. I have been working on this project for 86 days, and it all comes down to the next two. The past seven have been spent working on the trailer for our game, a project that took me an incredibly long time. All of this time and all of this passion will essentially be out of my hands for the next two days. I can practice and bug test as much as I want, but it will be out of my hands come decision time. 

The past week, I have spent all of my time making the trailer for our game. Before this week, I had never touched Adobe Premiere Pro, and now I feel rather comfortable with it. It's difficult to pickup a program in a week and do well with it, but I think given the circumstances, I did as best as I can hope. My friends, family, and teammates have enjoyed it and praised it, so I can only hope the professors agree. Over the next 23 hours, I hope to put the finishing touches on the presentation, meet with one of the professors about my presentation and my last second nerves, and to practice, practice, practice. It's a little maddening, but I can't do anything else right now to help myself or my team. We all just have to try and relax and be confident that everything will solve itself. 

As far as confidence goes, I'm middling. We have been very lucky to receive assurances from our professors, with one going as far as to near guarantee it, but I still have my doubts. It's been a similar story with some of my classmates calling us one of the obvious ones. And while it does feel good to me to hear them say that, this feedback does two things for me: 1) makes me second guess myself; 2) puts pressure on me to perform even better. While I would never reject positive feedback, part of me wishes that things weren't so clear. It's, in my mind, easier to just do stuff and see what happens as opposed to being considered to be on the top. And, in some regard, I have come to terms that what will happen will happen and to just let things happen. However, this hasn't helped my anxiety about the process of everything happening. I'm sure others share my same feelings, but knowing that has never made it easier for me for some reason. Jeez, this is starting to ramble a bit. But, I guess it shows that I care about the project and my team if I am this nervous about everything. 

I would guess part of my nerves about this has to do with my previous problems with stage fright. For whatever reason, being on a stage is much more terrifying to me then giving a presentation to a class room. I can present to pretty much anyone in a class room and be relatively fine, but a stage seems to pressure me more. I was starting to overcome it the last time I was on, so hopefully that will continue. Best way to help is just to be as comfortable as possible right now. 

Well, that's enough for me to say right now. Just gotta wait and see.

Development Blog 11/13/16

Home Stretch

Well this is it. The final week of Capstone. I have to say I am incredibly stressed by all of the work that work that is going to go into it. Getting ready for everything and being prepared as a group is one of the more nerve wracking things I have ever been a part of.

At this point in the semester, I am not even concerned about making it through, and I think that sentiment is ever present with my peers. The biggest concern now is just living to see the other side of Capstone. At this point, we are all just tired. It has been a long journey, and we only desire to rest. This isn't to say we aren't passionate about our projects, either. We would love dearly to go through, but I think we have generally accepted that much of it is out of our hands by now. There isn't too much we can do as far changes to our games, so we really just have to stick with them. I'm happy where our game is, and while there are things that we will constantly need to change if we were to make it through, I have accepted where we are now. I think the team is still quite happy, too. Spirits seem generally quite high at our meetings and their is a bit of confidence going around in the team as we have received well wishing from both Professors Boyd and Bemis. It is always uplifting to the team when we get positive feedback, and what we have received this semester has been a huge boon to the team.

As for my work this week,  I am going into uncharted territory. Having to produce and edit a trailer video has me stressed, as I have absolutely no background in any video making whatsoever. I have always found it interesting and cool, but more from a directors perspective instead of an editor. And most certainly not anything that has to do with trailers, only for films. So trying to learn advanced equipment and find everything that we need for it has me on edge. I'm hoping to have my discipline review on Monday so I can get some tips on what to do to help my game and myself. Also on my agenda is developing the presentation. We will have a special meeting for the on Wednesday, but still, putting it all together and practicing it numerous times is still stressful. You can know everything by heart and still mess up and that terrifies me as well. For whatever reason, getting on stage has always put me into a bit of a bind as far as being comfortable. I am fine in front of everyone, but on stage kills me. Not sure why, and it is something that I have always tried to work through. On top of this, we have our usual assortment of upkeep to do with the game and have to update our documents. Maybe I'm psyching myself out, but I can't help but feel overwhelmed by this week. Hopefully I can pull through, and put my team in a good place. One can only hope.

Development Blog 11/4/16

Still Moving

This week wasn't as eventful as the past several, and I think that was a good thing. Coming off our weeks of churning out every bit of work we could, we were starting to get burnt out. There is only so many weeks you can keep moving at break neck pace before you can't handle it anymore. So for this week, we were, comparatively, less focused on Capstone. Sure we still spent the majority of our time working on it, but it was no longer burning in our minds that we have to do everything we can to work on it. I think it was sorely needed to be honest. Personally, I have been having a lot of doubts about myself, and having time away helped that. Its been a rough couple of weeks, and having a breather always helps.

As for what I did last week, I worked on sounds for the gameplay and trying to find new music. I spent a long time listening, tweaking, and searching this week for all the things I could think of that would add to our game. Music continues to be a thorn in my side because I just can't find the right stuff, no matter what I do. Our game requires a just right blend between fantasy, reality, upbeat, and downtrodden. I have worked music into many other games before, but I have never dealt with a problem like this one. I will be asking QA this week what they have for ideas and while I don't expect any gems, hopefully they can spark something in my brain that I have been missing. For the sound effects, though, I am pretty happy with them right now. They are pretty spot on with the actions in the game and they are very rewarding to hear. In my mind, part of having great mechanics is having great user feedback. Without it, the mechanics appear dry and listless. Many match-3 games utilize the same core mechanics, and what varies are the secondaries and the feedback. I am a big believer in the magic that polish can have over any game, and I think it is something that we need to value more. 

This week, we also did not have our usual professor supervising us. We had another design member come over, and to our delight, he also found the game to be moving in the right direction and the criticisms offered were more about small aspects of our game rather then the game itself. So far, many of our faculty have been very receptive to our game and its aspects and it is something that is helping with the confidence of the team. We have also had several members of other teams approach us asking to join our team if theirs gets cut. While I sincerely wish for the best for all of my friends' teams, I am glad we look like a team they would like to join. The big goal now is to stay on track and to try and keep my spirits up as we head towards the finish line. Anything can happen and you just have to keep on your toes.

Development Blog 10/27/16

Vertical Slice

For this week, my group challenged for vertical slice. In order to challenge, we had to run two QA sessions, complete our research, finish our market and cultural analysis, as well as answer the questions that were posed for our presentation. My personal work included: making the QA plans, forms, and reports; finishing market, sound, design and culture research; completing the market and cultural analysis; fine-tuning the waves, lighting, and sound effects in the build; as well as building the skeletal structure of the presentation and answering the questions posed by the checklist.

QA this week was a roller coaster. Feedback on our first session was not inherently negative, but it wasn't where we wanted to be at this point in development. We believed that we should have been farther along in the development of mechanics then where our testers believed we were. Players, for whatever reason, were not communicating during this session and that had a direct impact on the amount of fun that they were having in game. In the next session, however, players communicated more and the positive feedback for our game was much higher. Players also gave incredibly positive feedback on our aesthetics, which reassured our vision for them. Based off the feedback, though, we will be looking to try and rectify the gameplay situation by adding in a vial station and environmental hazards. The thought behind this is that players will need to work together in order to deal with these new problems.

Most of my work this week was in production and is not something I am incredibly fond of. I do it because it is necessary and I tend to be a leader in my team and understand our game the best, but it is not something I yearn to do. Organizing PowerPoints, coordinating the team to be effective, and managing our marketing and cultural understanding is vital, but I know I am not great at it, and merely try to do my best. Similarly with sound design. I love music and the impact of sound effects, but I am not what you could call good or skilled at them. I have made several sound heavy games before, and I never have really been able to make them do quite what I wanted, so it is difficult to have to do all of the sound for our game as well as the production and not doing any design.

Development Blog 10/20/16

Feeling good

Well, our first week in Proof of Concept is complete, and I gotta say, I feel pretty good. Over the past couple of days, I have been working heavily in sound design, our narrative plan, and exploring our secondary mechanics moving forward in our game. The rest of the team continued along our current path, with our artist, Emma, beginning work on our characters and making some beautiful assets for our main game loop. Our programmer, Ryan, worked on developing some super cool particles and is now moving forward into developing some of our more complex books, which he is excited about. Our level designer, Winston, has spent the past few days developing props, but is getting ready to start rapidly prototyping levels which we will be testing in engine.

This week, I really want to talk about our team. Honestly, right now I feel really good. One of the things that is really encouraging about it is the energy that everyone has while working on our project. No one is feeling bored or like they don't want to do it. Everyone is engaged and just having fun with the tasks that we have, and I think it has been a huge asset to our development. From the get go, the plan has been to make a game that we enjoy making, and if we make it through to next semester then awesome, but if not, at least we made what we wanted to. I think this has been a huge benefit to team spirit and we are not as stressed as we would be otherwise. By choosing something that we want to make and that we would want to put our energy into, we were able to benefit down the line because people are putting in more work then they would necessarily need to. Sure, at the end of the day, we are all professionals, but there is some true benefits to your project when the team is happy and moving forward together. We have done a good job with talking out our difficulties with each other, and we have been able to assist or rework things to make sure no team member is being held back by anything. It's been excellent for team spirit. And I think that our excitement as a team has been translated onto our peers and professors. It's always hard to gauge exactly how you as an individual are performing within your group, and similarly how people perceive your group to be performing. It's something I personally struggle with, and it leads me to second guess myself quite often, and I know our team has quietly wondered how everyone else would react to our game. The positive feedback we got through our QA sessions and from our peers who have seen our game, I think, has really helped our team's confidence. It's always shaky when you first start a project, because you aren't really sure how people are going to react to it. So whenever you start getting those lit-up faces and bright smiles, the whole thing really starts coming together.

Over the years at Champlain, I always was quietly dreading Capstone. We were always told that it was going to be the worst experience at Champlain because of the stress and difficulty of what we were being presented with. Whether because of my experience in other classes, the people in my team, or my own personal development, all I know is I am having more fun working on our project this semester then I have in a very long time, and I can only hope that this is just a sign of things to come in my future.