Computer Games Design Blog
Week 1-----28/09/10-04/10/10
This week we started off our first meeting after class in an attempt to come up with some ideas and kind of define what it was that we wanted to do. This proved to be a bigger effort than imagined! After sitting down for a couple of hours and going through some stuff the only thing we had managed to define was what platform we wanted to design the game for, eventually deciding on Iphone but with a backup plan of for PC as we weren't sure what the rules and requirements were for Iphone development (we later discovered that this wasn't feasible as it requires a Mac and $400 which none of us have!). We also narrowed down what type of genres we were interested in developing, finally settling on an arcade/puzzle style game, a side-scroller game, or a 3d platformer.
After spending more time going round in circles a little we decided to go away individually and brainstorm ideas with the intention of coming together later in the week and sharing and seeing if we could settle on something final.
By the end of the week we got together online and started throwing around the things we had come up with and after a couple of hours of discussion and narrowing down made some reasonably solid decisions about what it was we wanted to do and what kind of games and other factors we were looking to bring in as influences.
Finally we had rooted out four or five ideas that we determined werent suitable and combined a couple of others to implement as a 3d platformer with a problem solving feel to it.
The next steps are to define each individuals roles and responsibilities over the life of the project as well as set down some milestones and timelines of how we would like the project to progress. More importantly though we need to flesh out the story a little and define various details of the idea to take it from concept to implementation.
Overall, I'm feeling quite excited to see how this project will go :)
Week 2-----05/10/10-11/10/10
This week we were focussing on solidifying ideas into an actual plan. We managed to outline the game ideas into actual levels as well as the components that we wanted to see in each level. We decided the best plan of action was to each take a level and go away this week and implement each individually, with a rough goal of having each "finished" a level within two weeks. Of course there will likely still be work to do in each of the levels but at minimum we would like to each have something to show by the end of that time. As well as that we will meet again next week to see where we are all at and share ideas etc.
As well as that Josh intends to get at least some of the lead character artwork done by then so that we can include that in the game design document which will be due in a few weeks.
I also had to meet with Dr John as the rest of the group decided that I would represent them at meetings etc until the teaching situation is sorted out. This meeting was really productive and it was interesting to see what other groups intend to implement.
Personally I started my level design and it came along nicely. Its amazing how simple it is to get an idea into something solid very quickly. Unfortunately I cant spend as much time on this as I would like as I have other things due for our other subjects.
And finally on a negative note, Unity is still not working in the labs >.<
Week 3-----11/10/10-20/10/10
A bit late on blogging this week, its easy to forget and also getting a bit swamped in other uni work etc. Excuses, excuses blah blah blah.
The team has been getting on really well this week. After last weeks meeting we were all to go away and start moving towards actually creating levels. Personally I was looking forward to actually getting down to things and went straight into the lab and started creating. It is remarkable how easy Unity3D is to use, within a couple of hours I had more or less the basics of the map drawn out, without colour, but it was easy to see how easily my grey land could be transformed into the lush jungle which I envisioned. A bit more work on it through the week with textures applied and it is already close to how I want it to look.
No online meeting with the group this week but when we met after the lecture on Monday I was really impressed with how the group had progressed working individually (if that isn't a contradiction in terms). Two of the guys had demonstratable levels with them on memory sticks and they seem to be in a similar position as me, with largely laid out levels and some great texturing applied. The other guys didn't have their stuff with them, but one had done some great artwork for their enemies in the level which they will design and the other had very clearly laid out his level in the form of a drawing and has a full idea of how he wants to implement it. So all in all on that front, everything coming along very nicely indeed!
After looking at how long we have left before the Game Design Document is due in (2 and a bit weeks!), we decided to shift the focus of the group a little and concentrate a bit more on that. So we spent the majority of Tuesday putting together a framework and filling it out with the bits and pieces that we could do easily as a group. Some parts require us to go away and do individually then bring together next week, such as levels etc as they will change for each of us. As well as this we decided that, for the bits we were struggling with it was a good idea to all go away and write a little bit then mash them all together when we get back together next Tuesday.
Oh and also, we came to a concrete decision about who our main character will be, a paintbrush named Stanley!
Also the meeting with Dr John and the other groups was really good again, seems to get my brain in gear for being creative and all that!
My worry this week is that I'm not going to have as much time as I would like to focus on the group project as there is stuff for other courses to do as well as the fact that I'm going up to Aberdeen for the weekend. Hopefully I'll manage to get something done though!
Week 4-----21/10/10-27/10/10
Not the most productive week in the world for me. Didnt really manage to get much Unity3D work done and had to cobble together some bits and pieces for the GDD at the last minute.
Also had a bit of a set back as for some reason Chris has lost his level which was pretty much designed, something to do with the fact that it was opened in a different version of Unity.
Also we were talking this week and realised that we need to have a far greater knowledge of scripting in order to implement what we have conceived.
Not the best week on many fronts then.
Game Design Document is coming along nicely, just waiting for some bits and pieces to come in and then I'll stick them all together. Mostly artwork and prettifying that is missing from it really.
Week 5/6-----27/10/10-10/11/10
So forgot to post a blog last week! Just been getting snowed under with a combination of uni work part time job stuff as well as actual life. I very much hope that this is just a temporary problem. I think it might kill me to keep up this level of time input, basically at the moment I'm at the stage where if I'm not at work or doing housework. I'm doing uni work or sleeping. Not the best way to be I feel.
Anyway! This week we finished and submitted the Game Design Document which is available on this site under the "Game Design Documents" section. The process of submitting was a lot more complex than I intended it to be. The Thursday before it was due the intention was simply to put it all together and submit it. This somehow turned into a four hour process that left me frustrated and having wasted an afternoon.
Nonetheless it got finished and personally I was pretty happy with the result. Looking at some of the other groups documents as well I felt we had a pretty strong piece of work by the end.
This next week we will be focussing on the Technical Document. It means pulling away from spending time on the actual Unity3D stuff again but the group are all in agreement that as well as having a game it would also be nice to pass the course.
Starting to have a few problems with this module; Namely, i'm having doubts that I'll manage to keep the team motivated to actually make the game once the Tech Doc is handed in as the only other assessed part that we have to do is the reflective blog. In reality I think this unit is going to take a back seat to the other modules we do this semester. This isnt to say it has less merit than the others, its simply a fact of amount of time necessary to pass everything (yes I know University isnt just about passing, but at a certain point I dont want to have to repeat this year because I failed RT3D). We shall see but with the Java and OpenGL projects both looming I feel that much of my life will be spent in the company of code....
Week 7-----11/10/10-15/11/10
Literallly nothing to report this week. Most of the group had to focus on studying for a Java assessed lab at the end of last week, myself included. The lab itself, however, turned out to be not too much of a challenge, which hopefully is a good sign!
The group have decided to meet tomorrow and bang out the Tech Doc. Think we are all pretty confident about what we need to put in it, its simply a matter of it being written up. The only thing I'm worried about is people bickering over insignificant stuff, i literally have no idea how to steer people away from that lol.
The game is still stagnant right now as we concentrate on other areas and I still have this lingering worry that after the next couple of weeks, nothing is going to progress any further.
