What I've done:
- Animation Controllers (1hr)
- Bug fixes (1hr)
- Design Doc Edits (3hrs)
- Playtesting with Dylan (1hr)
- SRS Edits (2hrs)
What I'm doing:
- Design Doc Diagrams
- Putting in animations as they come
- TBD
Monday, January 26, 2015
Whaaaaaaaaaale I'm a Goofy Goober YEAH
Killer Whales
Accomplishments
Playtesting (1.0 hr)GDC Presentation Prep - practicing/video capturing (6 hours)
Art Direction (2 hours)
Meeting About how we'll move forward (1.5 hours)
winning GDC competition (priceless)
total: 10.5
WIP
The whole damn game, and the presentation.Next Steps
Get some polish on this (basically redo all the particles)Debrief
Super psyched to have won the competition, I always enjoy presenting. Especially when it's something I genuinely care about, bringing a level of authenticity to what I get to say while up there really allows me to relax while speaking.Whales in San Francisco
This entire week was spent polishing our game for the internal competition, practicing the presentation, and having all hands on deck. We are proud to say we won the internal competition and will be focusing our efforts on making Gygan Reign really awesome for GDC!
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Whale, Let's Get It Started
We won the GDC competition! What does that mean? We're going to San Francisco in March and we have a lot of work to do in the next 3 weeks. This last week I spent most of my time iterating on UI and environment mockups along with desperate searching for free domain sound effects. There was also the finishing up of the Rush Tower.
Accomplishments
- Rush Tower (1.5 hour)
- UI (4 hours)
- Environment(3 hours)
- SFX Search (5 hours)
WIP Screenshot
- Concept Art WIP
Next Steps
- Gameplay Mockup / Environment
- Branding Materials
Debrief
Big kudos this week to the presentation team of Jon and Anna and also to Kai-Lin and Miguel for playing our build for the live demo. Our team's motivation has once again been fueled and, though it's intimidating and slightly overwhelming, we're pumped up to meet the challenge of raising the bar by working our butts off for GDC.
My particular part will be to help more with environment design and branding. I plan on meeting a lot with the environment people on the team and Alex and Anna for the marketing. Henderson and I will probably also take on designing the poster, any other print media, and creating an awesome trailer to showoff at the conference.
My particular part will be to help more with environment design and branding. I plan on meeting a lot with the environment people on the team and Alex and Anna for the marketing. Henderson and I will probably also take on designing the poster, any other print media, and creating an awesome trailer to showoff at the conference.
Desiree Ann Lim
Whale would you look at that...we're going to GDC
An uneventfully eventful week for me. Environment is being redone so I couldn't work on that so I only ended up practicing with Kai-Lin to make the game look enjoyable during the live demo.
What I Did
Practiced playing for the live demo with Kai-Lin (5 hours)
I'm glad we did, it took awhile for us to figure out the most effective way to make it look fun and flashy, but after a lot of trial and error I think we got it because the professors chose Gygan Reign to go to GDC! (I'd like to think the live demo was a pretty significant part of the decision making process).
What I'm Going To Do
- Help finalize environment
- Determine the remainder of assets required
- Critique the first pass of Kai-Lin's animations
- Hopefully work on the finalized environment
Whale yeah. Whale yeah. Whale yeah.
WOOT GDC.
Crippler Tower CA
Crippler Tower Orthos
Sniper Particle CA:
Environment Mockup
Finish Line
- Orthographics and Concept Art (4.5Hrs)
- Digital Painting for background (3 Hrs)
- Researching Different game GUIs and environments (.5 Hrs)
- Researching Particle effects (.5 Hrs)
- Total - 8.5 Hours
Progress
Digital PaintingCrippler Tower CA
Crippler Tower Orthos
Sniper Particle CA:
Environment Mockup
Battle Plan
- Finalized a look for the environment
- Finalize particle effects for towers and units
- Sketch new designs for 3rd Gygan
Damage Control
- There might be some trouble trying to figure out particle effects and makign sure they look good.
- Definitely will get an iteration for each tower in terms of particles
- Finish up a lot of concept for this week
tl;dr
GDC. TIME TO POLISH THIS GAME UP.-Henderson
GDC! WHALE YEAH!!
Accomplishments
- Finished all of the first pass animations of the units and Augher (4 hrs)
- Practiced the playing the game with Miguel (5 hrs)
- Edited some animations after GDC presentation (1 hr)
Total hours: 10 hours
Next Steps
- Make the animations better
- Might contact some animation faculty members for feedback
Issues
- Finding out the best way to present our live demo so it would look flashy was the biggest challenge this week. Miguel and I tried different strategies and almost always ended up in stalemates. If we played seriously, then the game doesn't look as fun as we would want to show. We solved it by setting rules for ourselves that we would use a range of towers, especially the ones that has the best particles. Then we each did a different kind of strategy to show the audience what types of things you could do in our game.
Last Minute Comments
I'm happy that we won the internal GDC competition. It really gave our team a moral boost! Practicing with Miguel was worth it and I feel that we would have lost the competition if it wasn't for the practices. I'm glad everything ended up going great and the game didn't crash in the middle of the demo. There's more work for us now but I'm sure we can do the best we can. I'm proud of everyone on my team :D
Kai-Lin Chuang
Whale did it!
It's really nice to see your hard work actually pay off, but we've got our work cut out for us to get this game ready for GDC. Most of my time last week was spent getting the game ready for the presentation on Friday. This included a lot of bug fixes from the last play testing session, particle work, adding new models, making a map, adding a new UI and overall polish.
I'm currently evaluating the new Unity 4.6 UI system to see if it is worth it to switch from NGUI. I did a mock up of the in game UI today and was pretty pleased with the results so far. If we do decide to switch UI systems, I will go through the process of rebuilding the UI (hopefully with new assets). After that, I will be addressing any bugs that come up and taking a look at the lag spikes that happen when new waves are spawned. There's so much to do in the next few weeks. Hopefully everyone can put in some extra effort to help get this ready to show.
Total time: 31 hours
It actually looks like a game now
I'm currently evaluating the new Unity 4.6 UI system to see if it is worth it to switch from NGUI. I did a mock up of the in game UI today and was pretty pleased with the results so far. If we do decide to switch UI systems, I will go through the process of rebuilding the UI (hopefully with new assets). After that, I will be addressing any bugs that come up and taking a look at the lag spikes that happen when new waves are spawned. There's so much to do in the next few weeks. Hopefully everyone can put in some extra effort to help get this ready to show.
Total time: 31 hours
Whale-ly Proud To Be Part of This Team
Right now I am playing Dungeons and Dragons with my housemates. Very few things can pull me away from adventuring in our fantasy world of flying polar bears and communism inspired migraines. However, I just remembered that it's that time of the week to post and by the Gods I will not pass up the opportunity to celebrate recent events. The hard work that the team has put into the project since long before I knew them has availed the chance to present at GDC in March. Shout out to literally everyone in the Universe for Butterfly Effecting this into existence but especially congrats to the Whale House Team.
Next steps for me personally will be working with the hybrid design and marketing team to hone in on the tone of the game, first and foremost devising a permanent name for the game. This will also inform decisions on music, which up to this point have been fairly haphazard (though I am fond of my church choir/violin combination in the current battle music).
So, evidently there is much work to be done but for now I take my leave. For after all, with great power comes absolutely no responsibility.
Regards,
Alex
Next steps for me personally will be working with the hybrid design and marketing team to hone in on the tone of the game, first and foremost devising a permanent name for the game. This will also inform decisions on music, which up to this point have been fairly haphazard (though I am fond of my church choir/violin combination in the current battle music).
So, evidently there is much work to be done but for now I take my leave. For after all, with great power comes absolutely no responsibility.
Regards,
Alex
Whale-xiety
Producing Things
- Presentation (3)
- Model Rush tower (1)
- Model Crippler tower (1)
- Practice presentation (1)
- Pitch meeting with Alex and Jon (1.5)
- Presentation meeting with Jon (0.5)
- Check in with everyone over the course of the week (1)
- GDC Meeting with Dylan (1)
- Planning for GDC and updating documents (1)
Works in Progress
Foreseeing the Future
I'll be planning our trip to GDC, updating our Master asset list, and aiding the effort towards refining the aesthetics of our game.Sunday, January 18, 2015
Traffic,Traffic, Lookin' For My Chap-stick, Feelin' Kinda Car Sick, THAT'S A WHALE
Since we've pretty much placed a hold on new features on the CS side in preparation for the presentation this week, there wasn't a ton for me to do.
Early in the week I was put in charge of adapting unit attacks for towers which fortunately (unfortunately?) only took about an hour, since most of the attack scripts were adaptive enough to function when copied and pasted. The only things I really had to remove were the calls to Pause and Resume path finding.
When I realized that one of my only other options for work was to work on documentation again, I promptly DIDN'T DO THAT.
Instead, I went ahead and set up the animation controllers for each unit and super unit, as well as wrote a script to handle the different unit states and switch the animations accordingly.
...and then I poked around in the design doc for a little bit.
What I did:
What I'm doing:
Early in the week I was put in charge of adapting unit attacks for towers which fortunately (unfortunately?) only took about an hour, since most of the attack scripts were adaptive enough to function when copied and pasted. The only things I really had to remove were the calls to Pause and Resume path finding.
When I realized that one of my only other options for work was to work on documentation again, I promptly DIDN'T DO THAT.
Instead, I went ahead and set up the animation controllers for each unit and super unit, as well as wrote a script to handle the different unit states and switch the animations accordingly.
...and then I poked around in the design doc for a little bit.
What I did:
- Towers (1hr)
- Animation controllers (1hr)
- Animation script (1hr)
- Poking design doc (2hrs)
- Play testing with Dylan (1hr)
What I'm doing:
- Bug fixes?
- Design Doc
Well, whales.
In other words this is a summary of all the things the team is doing in preparation for the internal GDC competiton. We're working on our presentation and addressing the feedback we received from last term. We're wrapping up the assets we need for the dry run on Tuesday. More or less we want to polish what we have for Friday's competition.
Other than all hands on deck for the presentation, we're tightening the experience we want the player to have with very helpful feedback from our advisor, Stefan!
Other than all hands on deck for the presentation, we're tightening the experience we want the player to have with very helpful feedback from our advisor, Stefan!
Working with my whales
Producing Things
- Check-in presentation (1)
- Play-test set-up with Jonathan (1)
- Environment blocking (2)
- Presentation outline (1.5)
- Reduce poly on Rush model (1.5)
- GDC presentation construction (2)
- GDC presentation branding (0.5)
- Following up on Slack, communication, giving feedback (1)
Link
Proof of Progress
Environment with the help of Dylan
Mock Presentation Branding
Foreseeing the Future
The internal GDC competition is this week. I will be preparing for that with Jonathan and Alex as well as modeling the remaining things we need for the demo. The Gantt chart is severely outdated and I need to speak with Professor Wagner about other options since the Gantt chart would be an ineffective tool.Some Other Comments
The team is really putting their best foot forward this weekend. Since Monday is a University holiday, I'll be looking forward to exceeding my 12 hours for next week.Whale and environment stuff WIP
Worked on environment, spent a lot of time texturing rocks, and am simultaneously frustrated and proud.
What I Did
I was put in charge of environment assets such as ramps which the group decided would be a ramp piece, and a detailed end pieces that would be detailed so that the ramps themselves could be stackable. Since I once again was using zBrush I was still in development of a solid workflow, which now I believe is now established. This process I did for different iterations of rock walls for the end pieces is:
- Make low-poly base model
- Bring into zbrush
- Subdivide and sculpt using various brushes
- Use spotlight to apply a rock texture
- Export normals and texture maps
- Take the texture map into CrazyBump and make a normal map out of the rock details in the texture map
- Mix the sculpted and rock normals together
- Bring everything into Unity, screenshot and wait for feedback
- Repeat
The problem with these textured assets is the exact same problem that came up with texturing units which the details will be too small to register and I need to find a spot where it will work (hence the frustration mentioned above).
What I'm Going To Do
I still plan on working on environment assets and getting them right for the presentation on Friday.
Trying Whaley Hard...
Getting work done before Presentation week.
Crippler Tower CA
Environment Mockup
Angu CA
Angu Reference
Finish Line
- Orthographics and Concept Art (7.5 Hrs)
- Researching Different game GUIs (.5 Hrs)
- Researching different monsters for 3rd Gygan (.5)
- Total - 8.5 Hours
Progress
Rush OrthosCrippler Tower CA
Environment Mockup
Angu CA
Angu Reference
Battle Plan
- Finish up design for GUI
- Making new concept art for more units, towers, and Gygan
- Finish up Crippler Tower
Damage Control
- Angu design getting feedback
- Definitely will get as much concept art out for this week as possible
- Finish up a lot of concept for this week
tl;dr
Slowly back into work mode. Getting stuff done.-Henderson
heh...blowhole
Accomplishments
Playtesting Sessions and write up (2.5 hours)Tank particles (2 hours)
Rush particles (1.5 hours)
testing cursor location particles/unearthing particles/commander power particles (2.5 hours)
Crippler particles (2 hours)
total: 10.5
WIP
A lot of the particles are still in progress, The presentation is also underway though I haven't contributed to it yet. Once kamikaze and unit death/birth particles are in, we should be shaping up for some sweet looking battles. Either Dylan or myself will throw some lights on them as well to help integrate them into the scene.Next Steps
Finish particles, and practice the hell out of the presentation.Debrief
This term is full of a great deal of great work. I'm excited to see how far we can get our game in a week. Regardless of how the GDC presentation goes, I think this will be a nice moral boost and hopefully set the pace for the remainder of the term.Animations! Whale... and More Animations!!
Accomplishments
- Animated death animation for Sniper Unit (1.5 hrs)
- Rigged Crippler (3.5 hrs)
- Spent more time than I expected due to rig issues and figuring out ways to solve issues with the IK spline for the tail
- Animated Crippler: Idle, Walk, Attack, Death (4 hrs)
- Revisited Jon's Augher animations, edited it and added another hit animation (1.5 hrs)
- Revised Kamikaze animation (1 hr)
- Still need to add death and idle animations
- Revised Tank animation and started the Death animation (1 hr)
- Started animating Rush Unit (.5 hrs)
Total hours: 13 hours
Works In Progress?
Finish up all the animations before Tuesday.
Next Steps
- Animations
- Render the animations before the presentation
Issues
- Encountered some issues with rigging the Crippler. There was some leg issues that took me some time to rig. Most of the time spent went to trying to solve an IK spline issue in the tail where the IK spline would go berserk when I rotate the back of the crippler. I eventually went with plan B and gave a tail a generic IK rig instead.
Last Minute Comments
I will continue to work on more animations tonight. I didn't have time to render out any animations since they are not exactly finished yet. However, I plan to finish them by tomorrow (Jan 19th) and be able to render them out by tomorrow night. The next few days will be busy for all of us since the internal GDC presentation is on Friday.
Kai-Lin Chuang
UI Rush
We're joining the Internal GDC Competition this week, so the whole team is working really hard to get the game in presentable state for the presentation on Friday. My main tasks for now are finishing up the Rush Tower, designing UI, and helping design the branding slides.
Accomplishments
- Rush Tower (3.5 hours)
- Game Mockup / Environment(10 hours)
WIP Screenshot
Next Steps
- Rush Tower Ortho
- Gameplay Mockup / Environment
- Branding Slides
Debrief
With a long weekend, the team is really rallying together to get everything we agreed to get done for the build we want for the presentation on Friday. Everyone is doing well at keeping communication open and responding quickly so that the production is more efficient and moving along really well. We're all pretty set on showing off the best we can of our game for the internal competition.
For me, I've been spending a ton of time on GUI. I've never designed game user interfaces before so it took a lot of back and forth, which is why my hours for it racked up. I like flat designs, which is why I went with a more geometric look. Then, after some review, I tried to incorporate more of the aesthetic that echoes are path drawing in the game. I also wanted semi-transparent UI so that it doesn't cover up too much of the screen.
The other task I spent time on was finally finishing up the Rush Tower. The Ortho, though not listed above, will probably be finished by the end of the night.
For me, I've been spending a ton of time on GUI. I've never designed game user interfaces before so it took a lot of back and forth, which is why my hours for it racked up. I like flat designs, which is why I went with a more geometric look. Then, after some review, I tried to incorporate more of the aesthetic that echoes are path drawing in the game. I also wanted semi-transparent UI so that it doesn't cover up too much of the screen.
The other task I spent time on was finally finishing up the Rush Tower. The Ortho, though not listed above, will probably be finished by the end of the night.
Desiree Ann Lim
Crunch time
We've been working hard for an presentation coming up next week. Lots got done but there's still lots to do.
What got done
- AI behaviors for the 3 shared units and Augher's units.
- AI behaviors for some towers (Cory got the rest).
- Set up scripts for using particle effects.
- Implemented first draft of environment pieces, made a new map.
- Lots of bug fixes based on play-testing data.
What's next
- More work with Jonathan on particles.
- Helping Anna implement Desiree's new UI.
- Implementing new environment assets.
- Preparing for live demo next week.
Total time: 34 hours
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Good tidings for the new year
Scope Changes
Before leaving for winter vacation, the team had a series of meetings that more or less address the scope of our game. Based on the internal play test sessions and the handful of external play test sessions, the design team looked for ways to reduce the amount of assets we need to develop concept art work for and to move more of the work on extensive play testing. This series of dialogue also drew from conversations that Jonathan and I had with Digital Media faculty. As Ryan explains, we "sideways" scoped. The changes were sent to Stefan, which he reviewed and had us defend. With the changes in effect since Monday, the team refocused our efforts on improving the assets we have and "converting" some of the concept art developed for the original plan.GDC Competition
With the internal competition around the counter, we decided to focus on completing the two towers and respective units for Augher, one of the Gygans, and the three shared towers and their respective units. In defining completing, we also mean the textures, animations, and particle effects. We are basically defining as much as we can the experience of the game before adding more towers and units.New Year, New Whales
After two weeks of well deserved rest, the team is back on their feet. We tackled the changes head on come the first Monday of the term. We are expecting the momentum to continue as we resolved several problems with production. We're starting on a fresh slate, having established new expectations with the game, and seeing the game with more clarity than ever before.Particles with a Porpoise
Accomplishments
Met with Stephan (.5hrs)
Met with group for post meeting design talk: (1.5hrs)Worked with Dylan to create and put particles in (6.5hrs)
- Sniper Particle, - Tank Particle (in progress)
Created a game mock-up with concepts for GUI layout and Environment (2.5hrs)
Total: 11 hrs
Next Steps
Now that the process of getting particle systems into the game has been determined and refined, it should be pretty easy for me to create the remaining attack particles in the next week.Debrief
The break was wonderful and I'm excited to get our game all ship-shape for the presentation in a few weeks. I think we'll be at a really good place and everyone seems to be handling the pressure well and using it to increase motivation.Back to work
What Got Done
- State synchronization for units over the network. It used to be very easy for networked games to get out of sync, especially when the game was running at different framerates on different machines. This new solution has the host's units periodically send out their locations, and then the clients can then speed up or slow down to match the host. So far this has been working really well, but there is still more testing to do.
- Smooth movement for units. New way to move units that doesn't involve rigidbodies. They face the right direction now too!
- Lots of working with Jonathan on particles. We are starting to get the hang of Particle Playground and actually make some cool stuff.
- Some refactoring on Unit classes. As I started setting up scripts for integrating particles with the different units, I found some limitations with the current setup which was making it very difficult to get information like the current target that a unit is attacking. I spent a good amount of time refactoring the flow of information and made certain bits more accessible to outside classes.
What's Next
- More particle work
- Unit behaviors
- Pulling in new models to the project
- Environment?
Total time: 36 hours
Textures made, not sure if they whale be used
It's 2015 and I must say I've never been more excited to work on the project. zBrush is my absolute favorite program to use when it comes to doing anything DIGM related, and now I get to use it for Sr Project. The only issue is something that had been discovered after making my first unit texture. It seems as if the units will be far enough away that details will be hard to read. This unfortunately might make a large portion of my favorite part go away. That aside an idea on environment came up, and it is so fun to say "Purple space hell." Also a lot of models have been cranked out by Anna and I have UVed them which is awesome because that gets them closer to be textured.
I also got to use zBrush (and refresh myself on spotlight poly painting) to texture the Sniper unit. I only did the sniper unit to receive feedback in order to reach a decision on the way the textures should look. I also did a little sculpting in order to see how the normal maps would transfer onto a really low poly mesh. I became happy with the result (below is a before and after picture which took around 8 hours total which included fixing all the problems I encountered which refreshing myself with the program) however there is an issue because the units will be seen from a distance and it might be really hard to see the details. Hopefully this problem has a solution that doesn't include scratching texturing all together.
What I Did
I did the usual UVing of Rush unit, Crippler unit, Kamikaze unit, and the Tank super unit and resized the shells in order to optimize the UV space for texturing the visible parts of the models (around 3 hours).I also got to use zBrush (and refresh myself on spotlight poly painting) to texture the Sniper unit. I only did the sniper unit to receive feedback in order to reach a decision on the way the textures should look. I also did a little sculpting in order to see how the normal maps would transfer onto a really low poly mesh. I became happy with the result (below is a before and after picture which took around 8 hours total which included fixing all the problems I encountered which refreshing myself with the program) however there is an issue because the units will be seen from a distance and it might be really hard to see the details. Hopefully this problem has a solution that doesn't include scratching texturing all together.
What I'm Going To DoNow that there is an idea for the environment I am ready to texture it however the artists tell me to. I also will UV any of the models that Anna models this week, and hopefully get to texture units if we don't decide to scrap that idea.
Debrief Not DeboxerShout out to Anna for cranking out all of the models and the brains behind the "purple space hell" idea (not saying names because I don't wanna credit the wrong person).
Vacation over!
First week back into classes. Running around a bit, but this new schedule should help me get more work done.
Crippler Unit CA
Environment Mockup
Finish Line
- Orthographics and Concept Art (2.5 Hrs)
- Researching Different game GUIs (1 Hrs)
- Researching different monsters for 3rd Gygan (1)
- Enviornment Mockup + GUI (2.5 Hrs)
- Total - 7 Hours
Progress
Crippler Unit OrthosCrippler Unit CA
Environment Mockup
Battle Plan
- Finishing up Orthographics for remaining units
- Making new concept art for more units, towers, and Gygan
Damage Control
- There is still some uncertainty about how to design the new gygan
- Definitely will get as much concept art out for this week as possible
- Going to start with Crippler Tower and move from there.
tl;dr
Good break. BACK TO WORK.-Henderson
Winter Term Start
'Whale' we're back! It's winter term now. Getting back on the work train. Anyway, this week I went over the Rush Unit Ortho, Kail Brigade Unit CA, and Gameplay Mockups. There's a lot to get done if we want to be ready/picked for GDC.
Accomplishments
- Rush Unit (2 hours)
- Brigade Unit (4.5 hours)
- Coral Research (1 hour)
- Crab Claw Research (0.5 hours)
- Gameplay Mockup / Environment (4 hours)
WIP Screenshot
- Concept Art WIP
- Rush 01
- Brigade 01
- Brigade 02
- Brigade 03
- Brigade 04
- Brigade 05
- Brigade 06
- Brigade 07
- Mockup 01
- Mockup 02
- Mockup 03
- Mockup 04
Mockup 05 - Research
Next Steps
- Rush Tower CA
- Gameplay Mockup / Environment
Debrief
Winter term looks like it'll be a ton of work despite my schedule looking more open, so I'll need to hunker down, bundle up, and concentrate on getting work done with everyone. We had our first meeting of the term on Thursday to go over expectations and what we did last term. We met again on Friday to go over more specifics on what to do next.
The implementation of Slack is new, so we haven't fully tested it out but I think it'll be a huge help in communication. Also, production is moving along on the prioritized assets.
One downside to this week is that I know I took more screenshots while using a lab computer and remember dragging them into my Dropbox, but they apparently did not transfer over. I will be more careful the next time I used a lap computer instead of my laptop and have to save files.
The implementation of Slack is new, so we haven't fully tested it out but I think it'll be a huge help in communication. Also, production is moving along on the prioritized assets.
One downside to this week is that I know I took more screenshots while using a lab computer and remember dragging them into my Dropbox, but they apparently did not transfer over. I will be more careful the next time I used a lap computer instead of my laptop and have to save files.
Desiree Ann Lim
Let Me Get A Big Whale Yeah From the Redneck Girls Like Me
Another short post.
I finished up the non-functional requirements this week for the software requirements doc, which means the SRS is basically "done" for now. I'll be going back periodically to make sure everything is up to date, but I should be able to shift focus back to programming for a little while now.
This week Salvage asked us to start making some sample diagrams for the design doc, which Ryan was nice enough to give me a hand with.
Started framework for Design Doc (2 hours)
I finished up the non-functional requirements this week for the software requirements doc, which means the SRS is basically "done" for now. I'll be going back periodically to make sure everything is up to date, but I should be able to shift focus back to programming for a little while now.
This week Salvage asked us to start making some sample diagrams for the design doc, which Ryan was nice enough to give me a hand with.
What I did:
SRS is now up to date (7 hours)Started framework for Design Doc (2 hours)
What I'm Doing:
Design DocWhales up
Producing Things
- Slack set-up and tutorial reading (3)
- Meeting with Stefan to recap winter break (1)
- Find and set meeting times (0.5)
- Follow up with team members for start of term (0.5)
- Checked Kamikaze, Tank, and Sniper Units and Towers (1)
- Update Rush (1)
- Model Crippler (3)
- Set up Kamikaze, Tank, and Sniper units in Unity and split animations (2)
- Import Crippler
- Gantt chart (0.5)
Proof of Progress
Link
- Gantt Chart (mad out-dated but slightly up to date)
Models
Rush Model
Crippler Model
Foreseeing the Future
A lot of modeling will be occurring over the next few terms. There has been a slight management shift as Ryan takes on more responsibilities. I'll be working on putting animated models, textures, and other assets into the game.
Some Other Comments
There was a dramatic change in scope that occurred over Winter break. With Stefan more involved in making sure we can address those changes, all hands on our team are on deck in making sure we have a very strong minimal viable product to show off for the internal competition. We moved communication to Slack for archiving purposes, so there was some adjustment in how the team was operating. The team now also operates on meeting two specific deadlines every week--Wednesdays and Sundays. Our team also meets during one giant meeting once a week where members come and go based on their class schedule.New Year, New Term, Back to Work
Accomplishments
- Edited Sniper Superunit that I did over the break, but only to find out that models are being resized and that we are setting Superunits aside for now on the meeting on Thursday (2 hrs)
- Re-adjusted rigs for resized models (0.5 hrs)
- Weightpainted and animated Tank Unit (3 hrs)
- Walk cycle (Still needs revision)
- Attack cycle (Still needs revision)
- Weightpainted and animated Sniper Unit (3.5 hrs)
- Walk cycle (Still need revision. Not really sure why there is a hiccup. Maybe I accidentally rendered an extra frame)
- Attack cycle (Maya had trouble rendering so couldn't make the video in time)
- Weightpainted and edited animation for Kamikaze Unit (2 hrs)
- Walk cycle + attack cycle (Maya problems again)
- Rigged Rush Unit and did a bit of weightpainting (2 hrs)
Total hours: 13 hours
Works In Progress?
Next step for me is to animate Rush Unit and rig + animate the Crippler Unit. At the same time, I will be revising the animations for Tank, Sniper, and Kamikaze Unit. Augher animations should be done in the near future as well.
Next Steps
- Revise animations
- Finish anything that needs to be rigged and animated
Issues
- I encountered some weightpainting issues where the weightpaints would come back even though I've set a 0 influence on certain parts. I had it figured out eventually.
- Other than having jet lag (going to bed at 6 in the evening and waking up at 4 in the morning for the past few days), I think all else went pretty good.
Last Minute Comments
A new year and a new term for all of us! The presentation for GDC is coming up soon so the whole team will be even more busy as before. We have looked over our scope and scoped down accordingly to meet what we can achieve. It's going to be a rough ride, but I'm sure the whole team will be able to pull it through.
Kai-Lin Chuang
Whale-coming 2015
I will not be at all surprised if someone else also chose that low hanging fruit of a pun title. At any rate, we enter 2015 with new challenges and
opportunities. We have obtained a clearer view of the final game and move
forward with a revitalized vision. As one of the art directors, I’ve seen Henderson
and Desiree’s iterations not only improve individually, but also grow towards a
central visual aesthetic. Finally we are seeing the environment come together
as well. Who ever thought that the phrase “purple space hell” would contribute
to some actual ideas and developments? Not I, but as always the team proves to
be unconventional and I am glad for it.
While a reviewer of the visual components, I am taking a much more direct role in the audio elements. The music may contribute significantly to the mood of the game, so I am spending just as much time brainstorming material as I am contemplating the feelings we want it to convey. Sitting at my old upright piano, I have improvised melody after melody, but I don’t think I have found it yet. The teaser music I’ve written before is still the closest to what I envision should be conveyed, but I am believe I can get closer.
Until next time,
Alex
While a reviewer of the visual components, I am taking a much more direct role in the audio elements. The music may contribute significantly to the mood of the game, so I am spending just as much time brainstorming material as I am contemplating the feelings we want it to convey. Sitting at my old upright piano, I have improvised melody after melody, but I don’t think I have found it yet. The teaser music I’ve written before is still the closest to what I envision should be conveyed, but I am believe I can get closer.
Until next time,
Alex
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