After recording the main video I then recorded a fly through of the Egyptian environment to be able to show off some of the main details in the level. This shows al of the details of the level and I am able to show the animation throughout as well.
Final Character Turntables
We then wanted to finally put our characters onto turntables so that we could fully view them from all angles. We wanted to present them as much as we could as we weren't able to get all of the cut scenes done, but ensured that we could still show how we both created three characters and how they are fully rigged and animated for the scenes already, we just didn't have those extra days to be able to create the cut scenes unfortunately.
Evaluation
Below is then my evaluation for the entire project. I wanted to make this as in detail as possible, as detailed as I could in the 1000 word limit. I wanted to identify my original intentions for the way I approached the project and how the entire project worked as a whole, what could have been done different to reach a different outcome and ultimately how working with another person has changed how I have worked throughout the project.
Throughout 'Extended Practice' my main aim has to always been create a series of game levels, this has been something that I have wanted to do from the beginning and it is still something that I want to continue with. The more specific aim for the module was to create these game environments in a specific world and connect them together to create a full game that has mechanics and a purpose and moreover, appeal to a children's audience.
I set out this project from the beginning by wanting to do this all by myself, which I have always done for projects, but as we began presenting our ideas of what it was we wanted to produce, although my idea vague at this time, Sophie Curwen had very similar goals for her project, and we decided to collaborate, meaning that we could produce more for the game and ultimately have each other to rely on when we needed the push to keep going with the project.
What has always been the biggest difficultly for me on any project was time management, and I knew that with this project being the scale it was I couldn't afford to waste any time, especially at the beginning of the project in the design stages, especially when I was taking someone down with me. This gave me a lot more drive throughout the entire project, being able to share ideas with someone else and have them inspire the work I'm doing as well. The design process for me was carefully thought out and we both wanted to ensure that we met the half way deadline with all of our research and development fully out of the way so we didn't have to come back to it at a later date.
The research and development state taught me a lot about myself during the time I spent on it, and I learnt some important skills about what was needed in order to create a new world for a game to be based on, creating everything in that world and giving it a back story to go along with it. I wanted to think carefully about each item or character that is added into my game and I think this definitely reflects in the final piece. The design process went very smoothly and although hectic we met the deadline we set ourselves and where ready to journey into the world of modelling.
This for me has always been the 'fun' stage of the project as this is what I enjoy doing the most, and it still is, especially when it came to creating the environment. The modelling went very smoothly when it came to the environment and later on there were only a few things that needed to be re-imported or changed slightly, so I was very happy with the result. During the project I really wanted to push myself and although environmental design is the route I want to take, I wanted to dabble in character modelling just one more time.
We designed all our characters ourselves, something that was important to us, as we wanted them to be in a certain style and also we felt that this was our project and we could be in charge of what is being produced this way. The final designs for my characters looked exactly the way I imagined them, and as soon as they where modelled, I could tell that they were my drawings and they had come to life. I think they suit the theme of the game perfectly and use the consistent theme all of the way through each one.
With Keith, the main character, I felt particularly attached to and wanted to see him created from start to finish myself, ensuring that every detail I added to him had a purpose and was there for a reason and the final outcome is fantastic, taking everything that I designed and making him come to life in this 3D world around him. The level itself, of which I made the Egyptian one, again follows the same theme and I am very proud of the final result. I have never been a huge fan of scripting and animating, but felt that my level needed it to come alive and I jumped at every opportunity to get stuck in with the scripting to get every detail perfect, which in the end I couldn't think of anything that I would change about it.
There are other elements of the project that I believe could have gone smoother though. The overall goal was to create this functioning game, which we have done, but there were just a few elements that I wish we had had time to add in as they would have improved the game further. I wish that we had had more time to complete the cut scenes for the game. This has always been something we both really wanted to add into the game, but just ran out of time towards the end, and they were not all able to be added. I did get the time to plan for them all, so I will take the time to sit down and add them, but for the end of this project unfortunately they did not feature.
Secondly I would have loved to have spent more time animating Keith. I feel that this got pushed to one side for so long and eventually got forgotten about in the end. It's unfortunate as I had planned to get the third person script working fully, but again this was something that never got done in the end, and again disappoints me to say it.
Lastly I wish I had had that little bit more time to spend adding in the finishing touches to the game and getting more people to play test it for me. Throughout the project time keeping has been a big weight on me, and has been something that I always want to ensure that I do and stick to, but I feel that I planned slightly to big on this project overall and just simply ran out of time to get everything done because I planned for too much to happen. This is something that is annoying but again will always help to improve how I work on a project in the future as ever. The entire project has been one that I will always look back on as it's my first proper game, my first attempt at anything big and my last ever project from University.
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