Last Sprint

I'm glad to report that much of the team is finished with there main assignments. Since this is the last sprint many of the programmers are jumping onto other peoples sections to clean it up and make it function much better. The other artist are coming to me with questions of what they can do to make the level better. I think we are a great track to a fun game. Even yesterday's guest seemed to have fun playin around with our arrow function in multiplayer.

This last week had some bumps and bruises. I finished an almost final Player Icon Texture sheet. I just need to change one aspect to fit the art style and it is a very good looking health/hat/player icon system. Also this week I was in charge of doing some animations (at least one for every hat). John called me up and told me that the model however was 40 times too big. So I had to build a new model, new skeleton, new riggin system, and rebind the character and start the animations over. During the process however the file was corrupted and I had to build another character,skeleton,rig and again start over the animations. I have caught back up with a run cycle, jump, static movement, and the 3 moves that the elf hat allows. Since I am at work and don't have access to my files I will be posting the movies/images later today.

My assignment for this last sprint is to make the rest of the moves for the goblin. There are 3 moves for each hat and there are six hats so I have my work cut out for me but with this new rigging system it should work out much better. I want to have artist work cutoff by friday though so that the programmers are not struggling to put a lot of assets in on the last day.

Getting Close To an Alpha

Ok so this week I finished a lot - I built the three enemy characters, animated them with a run, jump, die, static, and a hit animation. I also created a Viking Charge, Refined a jump, Created an Attack, and built the basis for a few more animations - but I need to fix some problems with the rig because I have no control of the elbow at the moment. I also finished the elf hat and did a lot of work with john to try to trouble shoot so exportingmodel issues.

For this week we will be working on a lot of polished items, Tom is on background, James is on weapons and enemy attacks, Greg is putting the level assets together, and I am working on the Texture layout of the user interface, I need to create a single document with all the hat, button, character, health bar, and UI icon representation in a graph layout, then once the character rig is fixed I will be trying to finish making at least one movement for each hat.

Games "they are a changin"

Ok so again some more big cuts to the game. In an after class meeting the decision was made to stick with a standard platformer game so that we can concentrate on gameplay and not visual stimulation. Although we can create somewhat of the same visual effect with background PNG items and very simple looping animations.

My progress - This last week had a lot of work. I concepted an enemy character, cleaned it up in photoshop, then created a 3D model of it. I also cleaned up the Main character - since the original was a bit feminine. I also created a basic tunic for the goblin and created the 3D hats for him. After i fixed the character I sent him to Ryan who rigged him for me and then I animated a run, jump, and static animation. The only thing I did not get done was the decisions on the text but I did take on a few things that weren't planned so they were pushed back.

This weeks sprint I have a lot as well. I know it's a holiday but this is my baby and it will be the best game EVER!!! I need to start creating a basic attack animation for the main character, and once my other tasks are done, create specific animations for the hats. My other tasks are to create more assets for the forest level, create the other two enemy 3D characters, and animate a run, static, and two attacks for the enemy, a impact, and a die animation. It is a lot but I have been doing a lot of similar forms of animation this semester with another game I have been working on called 'Fat Knight' I don't think i can do more though. The list of the hat animations is a little daunting so I will taking it one step at a time. 

Big Cuts

Ok so this week we have made the decision to cut the alpha down to one level with all the functionality in hats that we would have had in all the levels we had planned. It was a hard call because I know that it is possible to do that much work if this was everyones priority but with the rate of production it seems far fetch to produce more than just one level at this point.


This week I did a lot. I created a flipping page book for the pause menu and the level selection menu. I also researched a bunch of texts to see what we might like for the UI. Last I took Greg's outline for the forest level and input a lot of art assets and color. Last I hounded a lot of people about there progress particularly the artist who have the least marginal amount of progress completed.

For this sprint I will be converting the hats to 3D models for the new completed characters. I will also clean  up Greg's Goblin model and as a side wish add clothing for each hat (but that last part isn't part of the sprint). I will also be adding some more text to the menu and pause menu assets. The programmers are holding off on the menu till next week so after we begin on that then I will make whatever improvements are needed to the current system. Last on my docket - I will be doing concept enemy characters for the forest and once they are cleaned up by Tom to the art style I will model and animate them.

This Sprint

Ok so this week I have a lot to work on but let me first cover what I have done. This week myself and John created a finalized Player icon for the four corners of the screen. Also I finished the 3D model for the menu and mapped the menu including text, title concept, and animations, as well as pause menu concepts - so in a sense the UI is completely decided on.  I also have been harassing people about the scrum sheet - but due to some confusion William will be looking into a new style of scrum sheet and have a new system by tomorrow.

Menu Bedroom without textures

Title in works this need E,O obects

This was another concept that may be play tested for player display in case the current version is  intrusive.

Finalized version of the player display although we have not made the decisions on points or XP, and the pages are collectables that are going to be placed in the game.

For this week like I said there is alot. I need to create the final texture for the bedroom, create the animation for the pause menu, once I receive the main character rigged I will be animating a run, static, and attack sequence. Greg is mapping the sizes and shape of the swamp level and will be done thursday so I can begin doing some art for it. I will continue to keep on individuals in the group about the scrum after the new system is up tomorrow. Also greg will be sending me the main character model so that I can finish his hands and send him to chris for rigging.

We are still on track to a good alpha and I'm continuously talking with my leads and other individuals to ensure that we are create the essentials and working on a cohesive product.

Sprint

This last week wasn't as successful as I would have liked. I did accomplish a lot but I think I could have done more. I finished a 3D (not final product) model of the menu start screen - I also created a bedroom for the Play,Options,Exit screen and books that could work well opening and closing

















For this weeks sprint I need to create the animations for the books to open with a pop up and if I can get to it a page turn for level selection. Also I will be building a quick model with a skeleton - with a run and static animation for the programmers to start working with. Also I will be doing a lot of research and hopefully have a pinned down UI design by Tuesday.

Work Finished and More Begins

Ok so I got a bit done this week I finished the ideas for the swamp level and they are posted to our wiki page. Below is the image reference for the type of look and feel we want for the swamp and below that is the level blueprint. I also came up with a good menu system that will add to the story line which are the pictures posted above - NOT A FINISHED PICTURE!!!.  Last I started a 3D model for the level with basic shape fillers until I get art outline concepts from Tom.

My assignment this week is to draw up the exact pieces I want to put in the menu and send them to Tom to be refined to the art style. Also I will be receiving art assets(trees, leaves, ramps) from Tom and as I receive them I will model them and add them to my level.

A Little Stressed

Well the plan for this week is pretty simple for myself. By Thursday I will have a level blueprint for the swamp level with length, obstacles, and suggestions for art assets. I also wanted to be on the Menu art concept so I am linking up with Nick and William to create the menu for the game. I have a pretty good idea for a unique but easy to use menu that still fits our Art style so hopefully Tom will be receptive of it.

What I am stressed about it our visual organization. William has volunteered to create a scrum sheet with the list of sprints I haven't seen anything yet and I don't want to seem like an un-organized group. To make sure that we were all ready without a written plan I made sure to ask each individual from the group if they had an assignment and when the deadline was so at least there wasn't any confusion amongst ourselves.

Still Working

Well this break has been fun but I'm ready to have a full team ready to hit the ground running. Over the break we meet as a semi full team and made some decisions on what hats, levels, and goals we wanted. The goals were just for what those who were willing to work over the break wanted to get done. Tonight I have John creating a plan for what he wants in the works for future sprints. For artists all the concept art is coming together and then Tom will make some decisions, from the art, on whether we can all adapt or whether to create an assembly line type of process. After tomorrow we hope to have all the sprints worked up in writing so we can have a great Alpha by December. I still am concerned though about certain individuals inability to let go of there ideas. I reiterate at each meeting that this is now our game but for some it still seems to be about the way they pictured it. I think after tomorrow if it doesn't get resolved I will have a side discussion with the individual/s and hopefully I don't burn any bridges in doing it. I still am excited and stressed about being a team lead and finally get to some real production.

This weeks work

Ok well again we are still working on a lot to be able to start. The programmers are working on restarting the game from the ground for the basic mechanics. As a group we decided to work on the medieval levels for our Alpha. So the plan right now is to come up with the hat that we want to commit to so that artist and programmers can get to work. Today I created a google doc for the group with the hats we already have for medieval times and its available for additions with both other hat ideas and there mechanics. Tomorrow I will organize a voting with everyone to decide on 6 hats. From there I will work with the  art and tech directors to create groups to begin on working on the game. Greg has already pulled found a scrum sheet template that I will also help organize with the leads. I want to get some good work done over the break as well so hopefully the team feels the same way.

A Switch To Heroes

Ok well this last week we had some really good progress with the group. I'm happy to say that much of the group hasn't had any difficulty discussing ideas or adding on to many good ideas. Everyone also seems to be very receptive of me being the team lead as well. I'm also very pleased to see a large amount of enthusiasm for the game. We have a very long list of hat ideas and came together after tuesdays class to discuss them and story line.

The basis of what we have is that our little Gremlin is a story enthusiast and he becomes so embellished with his book he becomes a part of them. So the books become levels with enemies at the end of each book. We also thought it would be great to move chronologically through books up to the time that is now for the character. At that point he will play his final level which right now is undecided.

I have organized the hat ideas to similar mechanics and level matching so tomorrow in class we will make our general level decisions and from there about six hat for programmers and artist to begin working on. Mostly for my plan tomorrow I want to get our team broken up into smaller groups for individual sections of the game before the break. I asked everyone to in the group to come with there desired time of availability so we can match up schedules and have an idea of specific part they might like to work on more - because we all know we make things much better if we care about them.

Pitch'n in the Mornin

Ok well this week I have had a lot of work to do and finished 99% of it. In my previous post I showed you a menu that I had made but i have fixed a lot of things on it like: I made the scene lighter, added glow behind the title text and other text to make them pop more, changed some textures to make a more dramatic menu. I changed all of these purely from recommendations from other artists. Also this week I drew up several designs to help with the presentation - they aren't works of art but they will help up explain the game a lot better. I also added a few pieces for consideration on the one page design. We also had some issues with our FBX files so I spent a lot of time trouble shooting those and getting everything to a good place for the programmers so they didn't have to struggle with things they shouldn't. I'll add some of the art and I'll let you see the menu design in class.

Still working towards a prototype

Well this week I got a lot done. So far I have adjusted all the textures of the fbx models so they look really good for the protoype. I have come up with a pretty cool menu that I posted below(sorry if the quality comes up short). I have also produced some side art for a better presentation, and I produced a gameplay animation with the video filters that look really great. As far as bumps in the road. I have had issues with my Visual Studio but I believe that has been worked out as of last night. I also have several other things to handle before I can code a particle system for the demo which isn't necessary just a good feature. I have put in a lot of work but it feels like I'm not doing enough because I'm not coding with the programmers as well and I'm not use to not doing everything myself yet. I am excited to keep moving and show a really good game next tuesday.

Working on the Prototype

This week has been a lot of work for us. For me my list of things to do were:

 - Handle the transfer of 3D texturing from Maya to XNA.

 - Make an animation of gameplay for the pre-pitch.

 - Make an introduction screen for the game.

 - Code a particle system.

 - Continue figuring out how to add an image filter.

It's a lot but it is being handled. I have most of the animation done but I need to make the level move now and not just the character. I'm having a hard time think of what the main screen should look like but I'll try to come up with some option for the group so it can be a team decision. I'm waiting to finish the particle system till after we figure out the texturing problems - for now I just changed the textures to standard lambert texture so the group can still see and work with the objects. I think to fix it I need to customize the texture more. As of now I have a image that is not particular size with the UV's of the 3D objects adjusted to make it look right. I think I need to export UV maps and change the jpg images to fit standard maps cause XNA keeps giving me image sizing errors. Adding the filter can also wait till we at least have the basic objects. I would love to divulge more but I have a lot to do so till the next time.

Work'n on the prototype

 Ok so far the prototype is going well. I'm very fast with 3D art so I was able to produce the level pretty quick. Now what I'm running into is difficulty with and emitter and speed filters. I have been trying to do a lot of tutorials to catch up on emitters to make it look how I want, and I'm almost there but not yet. Next the speed filters. We came up with a few options for the change in speed one is that the obstacle course pieces themselves would change colors for the change in speed blue for slowing down time and red for speeding it up. It is simple but not as appealing as the other idea. The other option is making the whole scene change. For slowing down time we wanted everything to become a very ghostly and colorless - much like on the lord of the rings when he goes invisible or like the eagle eye vision in Assassin's Creed. For speeding up time the idea was to make the scene very vivid or something. Both looks would be great and a visually appealing piece to the game. The problem though is that it is becoming very difficult to make two filters that aren't too rough of a transition. In the game you will maybe have to change speed several times in one move. With such different transition it will make an audience sick to switch back and forth between them so I'm trying to come up with a maybe a mix of the two ideas but so far it hasn't produced much success. I'm still working no worries.

The Pitch

Well this week I will be pitching a game. During out last class my idea was shot down a bit. I first had an idea of a parody game but I threw that out myself because it comes too close to crossing the intellectual property line. Then I pitched an idea about a first person shooter that mixes the destruction and chase of GTA and the heavy guns of halo and all the other great war games. I want a single character with two mini guns to battle through 6 capital cities to take to get to the largest building in the city. Once he reaches the final challenge of the level the character must battle that countries military while simultaneously using SAPHIE rounds to blast out the supports of the tallest building to bring it down. This is a maximum cause and effect game. The group was not very receptive to the idea though. One stated that he hates war games, and the another that it didn't sound fun. When I think about this game I get excited to play it and make it so I thought maybe this is just the thoughts of two extreme games so I went out the public (not my friends, or anyone I know). Their responses were all positive and many heavy gamers gave me emails and gamertags to contact when/if we make it. So I think my problem may be in the expression of the game. I hope to I'll be able to make the prospect appealing for the pitch on tuesday.