Whoops, looks like I missed a week. Thankfully, the team did not.
We've accomplished a lot these past two weeks. We're designing a new character, building actual levels for alpha and beta testing, let alone release, and we've begun implementing new features. Probably the most interesting among the features are additional 'interactions,' as we've been calling them. Interactions are unique platforms or areas in the level that the player uses their shield to interact with. Smashing through barriers, getting a speed boost, pulling to or pushing away from a wall- all these and more fit into the 'interactions' that we're adding in.
Our meetings have gone very well, and something new or interesting is always brought up. We discovered a solution to a persistent bug two meetings ago, discussed new character models today, and realized a potential roadblock down the road. Our programmers will be tweaking the scripts Brian makes and coding some interactions on their own, in addition to squashing bugs. But there is a strong chance that there could be a point where we've run out of meaningful ways to put our strongest programming resources to the biggest trouble areas- where our programmers will just be doing boring or ineffective work. This is something to keep in mind moving forward, and to be on the lookout for when we're reaching release.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Week 2: Lets Get It Started
Week two has ended, and boy, what a week it's been.
That sounds much more interesting than it's actually been, but it's my blog, so there.
We've met twice since our first in class meeting, not counting our first in-class meeting. These meetings have all gone smoothly, if a little longer than we anticipated. The latest meeting has gone swimmingly; we got through all items on the agenda with some great discussion and conclusions. One of the most important goals we had was figuring out how we would theme our levels. We decided on having a factory section, a mine section, a city section, and a catacomb section. These would all link together to form a continuous level and follow a narrative.
I have an idea for a story thread on our Facebook page. Some entity finds a journal from a scientist that ran an expedition to the mines, cataloging the events that lead up to the current game. This could walk our audience up to the narrative our designers are working on. We'll discuss this at our meeting on Monday.
That sounds much more interesting than it's actually been, but it's my blog, so there.
We've met twice since our first in class meeting, not counting our first in-class meeting. These meetings have all gone smoothly, if a little longer than we anticipated. The latest meeting has gone swimmingly; we got through all items on the agenda with some great discussion and conclusions. One of the most important goals we had was figuring out how we would theme our levels. We decided on having a factory section, a mine section, a city section, and a catacomb section. These would all link together to form a continuous level and follow a narrative.
I have an idea for a story thread on our Facebook page. Some entity finds a journal from a scientist that ran an expedition to the mines, cataloging the events that lead up to the current game. This could walk our audience up to the narrative our designers are working on. We'll discuss this at our meeting on Monday.
Friday, January 10, 2014
And now, the end is near
After three and a half years, I face my last year of school. My last set of grades. My last classes. My last team, my last project, my last chance to put everything I've learned to the test, and get just that much better at recognizing my strengths, my weaknesses, my limits. Hopefully this blog will both reflect the challenges and successes we have, and that I can go back learn much from this with reflection.
Last semester's capstone project was not the best experience I've had at Champlain. I had a trainwreck of an incredibly public presentation. I had a teammate who brought the whole team's schedule down in shambles thanks to his always dissenting opinions, awful communication of schedule, and constant tardiness of his work. Managing that team was a nightmare thanks to one man. But I learned some valuable lessons. The necessity of putting your foot down on distractions- while they're a great way to keep comradery high, bring the topic back to the project once you get a good laugh out of it. Point out problems that cause some serious issues rather than try to deal with them alone. Delegate. All of this leads to a successful team.
We had a fantastic first meeting during class. We brainstormed, identified problems, identified solutions to those problems, and the whole process went surprisingly naturally for a new team. I made up a checklist so people could account for their weekly tasks, we figured out which team members would step up to take the lead positions, and have an after-meeting event already planned out. This semester is definitely looking up, and I cannot wait to see what our team will come up with when the bell tolls.
Last semester's capstone project was not the best experience I've had at Champlain. I had a trainwreck of an incredibly public presentation. I had a teammate who brought the whole team's schedule down in shambles thanks to his always dissenting opinions, awful communication of schedule, and constant tardiness of his work. Managing that team was a nightmare thanks to one man. But I learned some valuable lessons. The necessity of putting your foot down on distractions- while they're a great way to keep comradery high, bring the topic back to the project once you get a good laugh out of it. Point out problems that cause some serious issues rather than try to deal with them alone. Delegate. All of this leads to a successful team.
We had a fantastic first meeting during class. We brainstormed, identified problems, identified solutions to those problems, and the whole process went surprisingly naturally for a new team. I made up a checklist so people could account for their weekly tasks, we figured out which team members would step up to take the lead positions, and have an after-meeting event already planned out. This semester is definitely looking up, and I cannot wait to see what our team will come up with when the bell tolls.
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