Looking back on this unit has been rather interesting due to the unforeseen circumstances of Covid 19 and working from home due to lock down. This has made this unit rather a challenging. As this has affect the outcome for our game and the quality of our work. Even though we have carried on with our game where we got it to a playable stage. I am proud that we have got our game to a point that it gives us some what of a view on how our game could have looked like if we didn’t have the issues of Covid 19. However I am disappointed that we had to down grade our game cutting out a lot of game play mechanics that we intended to add. As we would have added a city AI that will give the player a tutorial to the game and a game play mechanic where the more items you carry the more challenging it gets to move around the level. As it would have added more to the game play making it fun and challenging for the player. But I am proud of how we a a group have managed to carry on with our game when others have stopped. Even though we had our highs and lows.
I am especially glad that I was put in this group with amazing teammates. As we have been working well together and working hard. As with these unforeseen circumstances we have managed to carry on with the game. Which I thought that we would have stop working on the game before Easter holidays. I am just grateful of my team for carrying on with the game even though we had set backs. I am glade we had Roxi as our team leader who kept us motivated and organised with developing the game. I also want to thank the Dev team (John, Cameron and Marc) who have carried on working hard with sorting out mechanics and fixing bugs/glitches. Overall I just want to thank everyone in the group with the work we have done and keeping each other motivated to get through this unit during this tough time.
One positive of carrying on with the game is that it challenged us as a group to carry on with the game from working at home due to the lock down. Which was a challenge for us as some of us were unable to do work due to not having the equipment/software or were working. With this as a group we understood these difficulties and made it so we would try to carry on with the game to get it to a playable stage. As with communication we had no issues as we have a Discord Group set up at the beginning of the unit which made it easier to communicate. As at the beginning of every week we would have a team meeting to keep up to date with everyone and how every one is getting on with their targets. Which proved vital as it allowed us to help each other out with any issues with the work. Especially for me trying to access the game on GitHub which I had Cameron help me through how to use the software and access to the game. With this its something I wouldn’t of expected to learn which can be useful in the future when working on a game as a team.
For me I think that I have done alright with my work for this unit but I feel like I could have been more productive and improved the quality of my work. As I started off well for the unit but after that I just found it difficult to keep myself motivated at times. As with the unforeseen circumstances of Covid 19 it just messed everything up. This made it difficult for me to work out what we have to do and how much is expected for us to do. As for the assets for the game we had to downgrade the amount and the quality of them. Which makes me feel like my work ins’t up to my standards, this affected my motivation at times. As I felt a bit annoyed that I couldn’t see what the game could have looked like with the completed assets without the set backs. As I was looking forward to seeing the polished low poly assets. As I wanted to play around with the low poly style with the static mesh and the textured styles. As I like playing around with the low poly style where I could create my own version. On top of this I was looking forward to putting my skills to the test and improve my skills with the software. So to improve from this I will carry on practising my 3D skills in my spare time. As it will allow me to improve my skills/strengths ready for the third year when aiming for a job for a 3D asset artist.
Another reason for why I feel like I didn’t do as well as I expected. Is that I find that I work best when I am in a working environment. Because I don’t have any distractions which improves my work efficiency and that I have the right software at hand. So to improve from this I will find a way to improve my workflow for working at home. Especially in the future when it gets to the 3rd year of this course as with Covid 19 and lock down we might still be working from home. So its worth looking into as its a possibility that it might happen. Overall this unit has taught me a lot even though we had some set backs due to Covid 19 but that gives me experience that I can use in the future. With this I have learnt a lot about set backs with the game and the ways to overcome these issues. Even with the set backs its taught me a lot about what it takes to work as a team when developing a game. As it gives me an insight and experience as to how games are developed and working as a team. With the communications skills I didn’t have that much of an issue but I do feel like I have improve my confidence. As at the start of the unit I was shy when talking to my group but now I feel like my confidence has grown. On that note it has been an interesting unit in many ways but I have enjoyed working with my group and hope to carry on with the game in our own time.
Thomas Morphew Games art 