Schedule: Round 2!

9 WEEK SCHEDULE – Accidentally Plaid

9/22 – 9/28

·         Goal: To have a working prototype done.

·         Status of Goal: Completed

·         To achieve this, our artists will begin working on first passes of the models needed for the prototype, while the level designer begins working on the different level layouts that will be needed. Meanwhile, our programmers will be hard at work modding our current prototype to demonstrate the basic game mechanics that we are going for. 

9/29 – 10/5

·         Goal: To have a blockout of the first and second level segments done, with the pinball being able to move throughout. The end of the week we will begin tissue testing the blockout.

·         Status of Goal: IN PROGRESS

·         To achieve this, our artists will start working obstacles and 3D models that will be seen in these segments, while the level designers do a simple blockout.  (Should take about twenty-five to thirty seconds to traverse). Meanwhile the programmer will be working on perfecting the flippers, getting the ball speed to naturally increase, and getting the world to tilt smoothly. 

10/6 – 10/12

·         Goal: To get a first pass of level segments 1 and 2 done, while blocking out the next two or three. We will also conduct a second round of tissue testing to see how balanced and fun our game feels, using devs from both school and a local game company.

·         Status of Goal: Not yet started.

·         To achieve this, the artists will work to complete any models from the first two segments, as well as new models needed for the new segments.  The level designer(s) will work on adding the models into the first two segments, and blocking out the new segments, while the programmer(s) work on the GUI, streaming a placeholder splash screen, and bumper bouncing. 

10/13 – 10/19

·         Goal: To have level segments one and two in second pass, level segments three and four in first pass, and texturing the first two segments.

·         Status of Goal: Not yet started.

·         To achieve this, our main artist will focus on texturing the important objects, while different materials will be used for the other models, so that nothing is greyboxed anymore. Our level designer will second pass the first two level segments, and first pass the next two. The other designer(s) will work on shooting the video for the alpha presentation, and putting the best segments together, while the programmer works on Character bailing, jump/ramp velocity, and L ramp velocity.

10/20 – 10/26

·         Goal: To move into the Alpha Phase and begin our stretch for Beta by polishing what we have done.

·         Status of Goal: Not yet started.

·         To achieve this, we will bring in a couple of playtesters to test the game and see what needs to be worked on. Our sound designer will begin to implement the sound effects that will be heard in the game, while the artists work on the various splash screens/model cleanup/textures, and the level designer focuses on finalizing any level segments still in blockout or first pass. Our programmer will work on the Ball Lock mechanic, tightening up other programming aspects, and start the stretch goal of two powerups. 

10/27 – 11/2

·         Goal: To implement final art for collectables, and a first pass of the skybox, while testing the fun factor of our game.

·         Status of Goal: Not yet started.

·         To achieve this, the artist will finish the final collectables textures while the level designer begins to tweak the placement of collectables and programmers tweak the effects and add in a stretch goal of basic particle effects. The third designer will star conducting playtests with various people, compiling bug reports, and bringing them back to the team. 

11/3 – 11/9

·         Goal: To move into beta and shifting focus towards fixing bugs and polishing a complete product.

·         Status of Goal: Not yet started.

·         To achieve this, the different disciplines will take a look at the compiled bug reports/suggestions and begin to fix them based in importance. Meanwhile the third designer will once again go out and perform a final round of beta testing, this time checking for playability and fun aspects of the game. 

11/10 – 11/16

·         Goal: To finalize the game after receiving a final round of beta testing notes.

·         Status of goal: Not yet started.

·         In this week, each discipline will take one final look at the game and decide what can be tweaked, while addressing the most serious bugs. The team will also meet to determine what best portions of the game should be used to create a one minute gameplay video.

11/17 – 11/22

·         Goal: To create a final presentation for the last week of Game Mod Class.

·         Status of Goal: Not yet started.

·         In this final week, the game team will come together to determine, record, and put together a final video for our presentation. We will also put together the powerpoint and talking points for the two minutes of talking at the end.

Level Design re-cap 1

During the past week I have gone through many concepts with the group on what the theme of the game is going to be as well as the mechanics of the game. With the group we managed to draw up some quick sketches of the game layout which is what I will be working on as the level designer.

Next week I will have a polished drawing of what the overall level will look like using the landmarks of Chicago and other objects that are used in a typical pinball game.

Arguments and Powerpoint

We've spent most of our time so far batting around a lot of different ideas.  We've arranged regular meetings, and have held several long brainstorming sessions.  Everyone has contributed enthusiastically.  There's been a few occasions where we butted heads on concepts, but we've been able to resolve things diplomatically, and we'll have a better game for it.

This coming week, we're going to be banging out a playable prototype.  In addition, I'm hoping to get the team out to an actual arcade soon, so that we can make sure we capture the pinball experience that we mean to incorporate.  The biggest challenge looming in my mind for this coming week is workload, as we're all working on several projects simultaneously, but I'm confident we'll power through.

Preliminary Concept Art

Our final 'worlds' ended up being focused on pinball and the inner circuitry within a pinball machine. With Tron as an inspiration, I created the second image, while the first was just a play with general structure and color. In a second pass of the concept art, I hope to have more definitive theme for the pinball machine, in addition to some ideas regarding layout and level design sketches.

The Brain Trust

As we've been thinking about ideas this past week, I have come to the realization we are kind of like a brain trust. We all have ideas that are great, but we keep losing track of scope. We have made steps forward and now we have a solid mechanic down with a pinball runner. What is intriguing about this is that it really hasn't been done before and with the tilt aspect, we break out of the traditional runner mechanics. I think what problem we are running into right now is that our team now has two different visions of how we want to implement this and we are split as to what path we want to take.

What we did!

We as a team this week scaled our game down a very significant amount. We spoke about how to change the game so the themes would compliment each other. Thus we decided that a pinball runner where the ball rolls around and occasionally the ball will travel into the circuitry of the machine. We created a schedule for all of us to follow and we created a list of assets for our game.

Week #3 - Artist

This week's focus was scoping down the art assets and the game as the whole into a more cohesive game concept that is achievable within the confines of the quarter. Artistically, we're focusing on a pinball and Tron inspired levels in which the player transforms between a pinball and a humanoid machine ghost. The idea we discussed is that the players are basically living the life of a pinball, discovering what becomes of said pinball when it returns into the machine itself. It's a fun and quirky idea that is significantly more cohesive and ultimately, we hope, more fun to play. Asset development will begin this week. We hope to have a functional, grey-box prototype together by this time next week.

Our 9 Week Schedule

9 WEEK SCHEDULE – Accidentally Plaid

9/22 – 9/28

·         Goal: To have a working prototype done.

·         To achieve this, our artists will begin working on first passes of the models needed for the prototype, while the level designer begins working on the different level layouts that will be needed. Meanwhile, our programmers will be hard at work modding our current prototype to demonstrate the basic game mechanics that we are going for.

9/29 – 10/5

·         Goal: To have blockouts of P1-1 and P1-2 done.  We will also conduct our first tissue tests at the end of the week (10/4 and 10/5)

·         To achieve this, our artists will now begin working on the first two environment model sections (1 for each artist), as well as first passes of the obstacles seen in these zones. The level designer will be finalizing the level sketches and will be working on the blockouts for P1-1 and P1-2. The programmers, meanwhile, will be working on streaming the blockouts together, randomizing which zone appears, and implementing various effects on the world.

10/6 – 10/12

·         Goal: To get a first pass in for P1-1 and P1-2 done, using close to final objects. We will also a blockout of P2-1 done, as well as to begin texturing objects in advance of the alpha presentation video. We will also conduct a second round of tissue testing to see how transitioning from P1 – P2 will be, and visa versa.

·         To achieve this, one artist will work in Maya to complete the environment for P2-1, as well as it’s models,  while the other begins to create the textures for P1-1 and P1-2. The level designer will get the environment models and objects to create a blockout of P2-1, as well as create a first pass of P1-1 and P1-2. The Programmers will work on movement to get the player from P2 – P1.

10/13 – 10/19

·         Goal: To have P2 move from blockout to first pass, and start with first art for P2 and its models. We will be shooting the in-game footage video at the end of the week.

·         To achieve this, our main artist will finish the textures for P2 while the level designer transitions P2 from a blockout to a first pass. Our second designer will focus on shoot the gameplay presentation video while the programmers focus on integrating animations and pinball reactions.

10/20 – 10/26

·         Goal: To move into the Alpha Phase and begin our stretch for Beta by polishing what we have done.

·         To achieve this, we will bring in a couple of playtesters to test the game and see what needs to be worked on. Our sound designer will begin to implement the sound effects that will be heard in the game, while the artists work on the various splash screens and the programmers will work on tightening up the power up effects.

10/27 – 11/2

·         Goal: To implement final art for powerups and collectables, while testing the fun factor of our game.

·         To achieve this, the artist will finish the final powerup/collectables textures while the level designer begins to tweak the placement of powerup collectables and programmers tweak the effects and add in VFX for them. The third designer will star conducting playtests with various people, compiling bug reports, and bringing them back to the team.

11/3 – 11/9

·         Goal: To move into beta and shifting focus towards fixing bugs and polishing a complete product.

·         To achieve this, the different disciplines will take a look at the compiled bug reports/suggestions and begin to fix them based in importance. Meanwhile the third designer will once again go out and perform a final round of beta testing, this time checking for playability and fun aspects of the game.

11/10 – 11/16

·         Goal: To finalize the game after receiving a final round of beta testing notes.

·         In this week, each discipline will take one final look at the game and decide what can be tweaked, while addressing the most serious bugs. The team will also meet to determine what best portions of the game should be used to create a one minute gameplay video.

11/17 – 11/22

·         Goal: To create a final presentation for the last week of Game Mod Class.

·         In this final week, the game team will come together to determine, record, and put together a final video for our presentation. We will also put together the powerpoint and talking points for the two minutes of talking at the end. 

Out of the gate

Like most small dev teams would tell you, the hardest part of designing a game is not always the actually development. It's coming up with an idea that is both unique and fun to play, without making it look like something that has been done before. Accidentally Plaid faced that challenge almost three straight nights in a row, when we met to discuss what we wanted to make. We originally wanted to make a game that was based off of Mirror's Edge, in the sense that we would have an endless freerunner where the player could "flow" through the game using parquor moves. There were also different ideas in the mix, such as game featuring an art-style similar to Journey's, as well as a King Arthur based game. The only problem we kept running into was that all of those ideas have been done before, and have been successful (okay, maybe moderately successful as far as Mirror's Edge goes). We still didn't have our original idea. After sitting in the Game Dev Lab for over an our, beating our heads against a wall (so to speak), it finally hit us. We were approaching this from a very wrong angle and we decided to take a step back. We looked at all the things we wanted to do, such as a game with a strong art theme, and great ideas that didn't require a lot of programming, and we came up with Prism (Working Title). Prism features three different worlds with three unique art designs, while keeping the theme of a runner but now has a goal for the player to reach. We kept in the parquor aspects but have toned those down to something manageable for the artists and programmer, while keeping the fun aspects of what we originally wanted to do.