Tag: design

Task Completed:

Unit Model work (16 hours)

Sourcetree Push Shenanigans (4 hours)

Unity work (4 hours)

GDD work (2 hours)

Total hours: 26

 

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What Went Well?

After the feedback from last week I returned to the models and reduced the number of faces into nearly a third. From there, I gave each model the cloths, weapons, textures, and unique poses to make them distinct on the battlefield. One major success was the texture work. Since I knew I wanted flat colors on the models and didn’t need clean UVs, I was able to give all units the same texture map, simplifying the color assignment when spawning units.

After Sourcetree fought me on trying to push to the repository, I made a number of cosmetic changes to the game and troubleshooting other issues in the game. I also began working on GDD revisions based on balance work Kyle did back at the start of the project; however, this isn’t finished yet. The goal is to combine, Kyle’s sheet, the GDD, and the working game values consistent and balanced across all documents sot there isn’t any more balance inconsistences moving forward.

 

What Could Have Gone Better

I didn’t get to as much unity work as I would like. I spent 4 hours in one day trying to troubleshoot why I couldn’t push to our repository. It was eventually fixed, but I had to redo some work and couldn’t get to some tasks I initially planned.

In addition, I wish we were further along in development than we are. Certain features are not in the game and I’m concerned that we will not have enough time for polish if they aren’t finished soon.

 

Upcoming:

Unity work (balancing, adding missing/unfinished features, visual/audio feedback)

Additional Asset Development if anything is missing or needs modification

Continue work on GDD

Task Completed:

Group Meeting (4.5 hours)

Character Design and art (6 hours)

Document Work (2 hours)

Total hours: 12.5

What Went Well?

In terms of art and concept art, things are going well. We created strong designs for the characters and towers. We have a few good pieces of concept art to show the mood and tone of the environment. It is far enough along that I feel confident moving onto asset development over the next week.

 

What Could Have Gone Better

There is a communication issue in the team on the meeting side. While many sides had legitimate excuses, having a significant portion of the team miss the Sunday meeting was very unfortunate and limited design discussion.

After receiving critique from a senior, it’s clear the GDD will need additional work to flesh sections out and structure it better. It is currently written in shorter abbreviated comments and lack the depth and detail necessary for a game project. Moving forward, we need clearer design leadership.

 

Upcoming:

Finalize game design

Work on GDD

Begin asset development

Task Completed:

• Initial Group Meeting (3 hrs)
• Character/Environment Art Sketches (4 hrs)
• Digital Character Design/Style Test Art (3 hrs)

Total hours: 10 hours

    

What Went Well?

Overall, everything is going well. The meeting successfully lead to a lot of productive conversation regarding general design and getting everyone on the same page in terms of project direction. Character design was interesting, trying to balance Egyptian authenticity with making each unit visibly distinct. There were multiple changes to the individual outfits until I settled on each one. The final digital renderings of the units were able to pull double duty for both demonstrating the different designs and showing a few aesthetics the team could pursue.

 

What Could Have Gone Better?

There weren’t many issues for this week, but a concrete art aesthetic should be established before the artists move further. Luckily, both I and the environmental concept artist (Meagan) followed similar directions after viewing the reference material provided by team lead (Jeff).

The team also needs to establish priority in terms of art assets. While jumping into concept art was the correct decision, we should try and understand what assets are critical and must be created first versus the assets that can wait for additional development next term or can be made with less polish and detail.

 

Upcoming

• Helping create the GDD
• Making aesthetic choices for the game (art style, color palette, etc.)
• Additional concept art (maybe)
• Rough asset development