Tasks Completed
- Fire Particle Assistance (1 hr)
- Cool Down Bars (1 hr)
- Playtest (30 minutes)
Total Time = (2 hrs 30 mins)
I helped Javier with some particle work. I also worked on some concepts for cool down bars which can be implemented later (after the class concludes).
What Went Well
We received a lot of positive and helpful feedback on the playtests, my friends really enjoyed the game and it was nice to see people having fun playing our game. I started working on something that can be included if the project is continued which it is planned to be. Things are breaking less which is great.
What Didn’t
There wasn’t a lot to do in terms of art assets and tweaks. There are some things we won’t get into the game before class ends that is a little disappointing but the project is continuing so I guess it will reach that potential. Finals are coming but I don’t think it will be that big of an issue
Upcoming
Final Sell presentation
Final Deliverables
POLISH
POSTMORTEM
Some of my strengths on this project were organization and teamwork. I usually helped Jeff and Mark divide and assign the tasks for the art team. Also I tried to be present and available to my teammates so if they needed something they could ask and I could jump in and help. Typically if someone was relying on my asset I would try to complete it in a timely manner so they had time to complete their task before class. I liked being in communication and available to those I worked with to complete certain features (for example working with Michael to complete the tutorial).
My biggest weakness was poor time management. I often waited until the last minute to complete tasks or I did not prioritize my classes and projects properly. I didn’t leave enough time for revision and review so that would have to wait until the following week. Sometimes I had concerns and I didn’t speak up enough or I didn’t take initiative. I wasn’t afraid to ask questions or reach out but I feel like I lost some initiative to call meetings and clear up concerns throughout the quarter.
Three Things That Went Right
- Scope: I think we set a reasonable scope that could be reached in the time we had. We set great goals and we met them by the end. We were aware of everyones specialities and their abilities and assigned reasonable tasks that allowed us to reach our goals!
- Teamwork: I think we were able to achieve our goals because of our team and how well everyone worked together. We have many independent people on our team who were not afraid to take initiative and get work done. It felt like everyone would tackle issues together and communicate. We all worked together to give helpful feedback and critiques to improve the game and each others work.
- Commitment and Motivation: Everyone was motivated to jump in and take care of tasks. We might have had some late nights but people got their stuff in which was great. Even when things were done there was motivation to polish and keep changing things. It felt like this team didn’t lose momentum and people were always looking for something to work on.
Three Things That Went Wrong
- Deadline: We started this quarter with stricter deadlines but as the quarter went on the deadline was pushed back later and later. Most people had late nights on Sunday and Monday.
- Playtesting: We struggled finding enough people to playtest. I’ll admit we received helpful feedback but every week it was difficult to pull enough people together to meet the set number. I know many of our team members, including myself, had a lot of personal matters since it was summer so that was also difficult to work around at times.
- What is HacknPlan?: We would always discuss what everyone was doing each week so everyone was aware what was going BUT we ignored hacknplan completely (I am guilty of this). I feel like we neglected to update tasks on hacknplan which made us forget about certain features and then we would have to pick up the pieces later.
For future projects I want to take initiative when I can and improve my time management skills. I want to complete tasks and leave time for revision and review. That way I have time to edit before the next build or meeting. I’ve had late nights because I did not stick to deadlines and I know others have as well because they were waiting for certain features. So I want to become more organized in terms of tracking my work and progress on hacknplan and I want to adhere to deadlines and give myself stricter deadlines. Overall becoming organized internally should help with my time management issues.
I am very proud of this team and how much we have achieved! I had a great time working with everyone.
Pharaoh Hound Games 