"Revitalise" Development Blog

Sprint 1:

During this first sprint I individually planned to start recreating my enemy character concept designs using Photoshop in order to refine the art style to fit the plan we had for our game aesthetics. So far I have redrawn one of three enemy concept designs that I had completed from the previous term. This task took a lot longer than expected because I had no previous experience with Photoshop. I managed to get the first design finished within one day but I plan to work more efficiently in the upcoming sprints in order to keep the work output on track with our scheduale in order to hit our deadline.

In order to complete the user story of creating a “cohesive game aesthetic,” I have asked for verbal feedback on the look of my completed enemy character and asked for any improvements that could be made. It is important that I get the initial designs for the enemies completed as there are several other poses I will have to draw in order to animate the character and pair the animation with sound effects and audio.

Sprint 2:

During this sprint, I have completed 3 more enemy designs in photoshop and I’m still designing more on paper which I can then tidy up in photoshop in and out of campus. I have gotten a lot quicker at using photoshop over the past week which helps since for every enemy design I’ve created I will also need to create at least 5 separate poses in order to animate the characters. As soon as I’m able to work on the different poses, the faster we will be able to animate the enemies and pair them with the combat system.

Sprint 3:

Due to being ill over this week the progress on my user story was halted but I want to ensure I make up for lost time from now until the next sprint. I will do this by drawing the poses and finalising them in photoshop outside of ACM. This user story won’t be finished in one sprint anyway so I will be extending the task into sprint 4.

Sprint 4:

My individual progression regarding the enemy animations has been slow due to my lack of knowledge regarding animation as well as being unfamiliar with Maya. Despite this I have completed the leaf enemy animation cycle in Maya. I had several issues when it came to rendering the animation, I tried several computers and I was working late with Ronnie to fix this issue. We couldn’t figure out what the specific issue was but I will continue to work with Ronnie on this issue in order to have the animation ready to be implemented as soon as possible. This issue shouldn’t hinder the rest of the team or the overall game since I shared all of my static enemy poses with the rest of the team so they could be used as placeholders in the game.

Sprint 5:

During this sprint the leaf enemy animation has been finalised and fixed, I just need to grab the final copy of the animation off of the computer I use during my art lessons in order to implement this animation into the final game. With one of the enemy animations completed, we have discussed the overall plan for the game once again and altered our plan. I now know I need to finish the enemy animations and draw out the temple ruins. As of right now these are the tasks I am aware of and that I’ll be working on over the next few weeks. Having this in depth discussion with the whole team has really made all of our tasks as well as our final goal really clear. I feel that production will really increase in the upcoming weeks.

Sprint 6:

During this sprint I completed my user story of creating the temple background line art and to start redrawing this design Photoshop. I’m aiming to have this background ready to implement by the end of the next sprint in order to further improve the overall progress of the team. This week we also discussed the level design of the platforms when relating to the gameplay style we want to achieve but also the actual background of the game itself. As a team we are really considering the relation of the art and the audio to the level design and the narrative of the game.

Sprint 7:

All tasks are suspended due to COVID-19, I also don't have access to any software other than photoshop at home. Completing work is extremely difficult from home and the online classes aren’t helping.

Sprint 8:

All tasks are suspended due to COVID-19, I also don't have access to any software other than photoshop at home. Completing work is extremely difficult from home and the online classes aren’t helping.

Sprint 9:

During this sprint I have mainly focussed on getting the software I need on my mac in order to complete all coursework. Now that I have access to Photoshop I have drawn the two base enemies from home and have forwarded the final PNG’s to my teammates so they can be implemented into the game. I will now work on the two backgrounds that I have been assigned to draw which are the cave and the tree which I hope to be completed by the next sprint.

Sprint 10:

Over the Easter break I have had to take up art tasks from another team member that have been in our backlog for months now. Overall I have completed a projectile and three backgrounds over the break. This art has now been implemented into our game so that Nico can actually design our level. Now that I’m picking up other tasks than my own as well as my art module tasks, I’m finding that I am needing to set out weekly plans for myself in order to keep on top of all my work. I’ve tried communicating with Hayley to find out what they are working on and to see if they can help lift some of the tasks off of the team but to no response. I will continue to try and work on as much as I can in order to keep productivity up for the next sprint.