Development Week 6 (24/04/17 - 30/04/17)

Testing- This week we conducted our first big batch of group peer testing after Easter now we have a more substantial prototype, as we created a short questionnaire for members of the other group project to fill out in order to give their thoughts on our game. This testing was done as a form of professional practices, so we're able to view the thoughts and opinions of those who aren't directly involved with the project, who may have queries or questions that we may have missed ourselves. Overall though this feedback was generally very positive, with some very useful constructive criticism listed too.

Certain aspects of the blackbox feedback is specific to me and helps me with my level design work, for example, some feedback from Dan (with a screenshot below) suggests that the track is indeed navigatable and the player is aware to go at all times, but following on from his feedback where he found a shortcut to skip a portion of the track, I was able to remedy this by adjusting the level terrain to prevent this from happening in the future. Likewise he was pleased with the Track's length, which means my research into other racing games paid off, as it wasn't too short and quickly over, but didn't outstay its welcome with being needlessly long either.

Research- This week I also began some unreal engine work where I created and applied emissive materials to models like my trees, and the work of other modellers like Gus' starting line. Likewise, I also continued my work on the environment in-engine with optimisation work on the track and background decals, as well as creating a futuristic building in 3ds Max as another model to import into the game's scene. I created the building in particular using a reference imaged of a building sourced by (Erkan, 2015).

(Erkan, 2015)

Evidence of collaboration- Due to other modellers being unable to produce the planned amount of models at this point due to mitigating circumstances, we instead planned for me to help them out and spend more of my time 3d modelling in order to help them catch-up and keep a consistent level of production the whole way through our project. I even added opacity maps and metallic shading in-engine to all of the models others have created so far, as shown in this screenshot below, which really enhances their design and enforces the visual style of our game.

Likewise, we have great collaboration and communication via the asset list. It features an entire list of 3d models we need for the game, and whenever one of us have finished working on something, we can look at this document to mark ourselves off and to also see which models are completed, not started and in-progress (and also who is working on them). This means we can 'claim' a not started model and work on it without worrying that someone else may also be doing it, as we mark our names onto it (as seen in the screenshot below).

A snippet from the asset list for my tree/bush models

Development Week 5 (Easter Break 10/04/17 - 23/04/17)

I continued to develop a lot of content for the project over the easter break, for example, I made the three tree and hedge models (examples pictured below) within the maximum 2000 poly budget, as that was a key feature outlined within the risk management and quality plans.

Individual management of time/tasks- Because I had to create three variants of both the tree and bush model, I had to ensure that I distributed my workload throughout each model accordingly. As such I assigned myself no less than an hour on any one model, in order to give myself time to give everything a consistently high standard with no 3d artefacts such as n-gons or displaced vertices.

How essential success criteria was achieved- The models I created were all on the asset list we created as musts and shoulds, which are the higher priority assets compared to coulds and woulds. Likewise, because there are instances of these foliage models spread throughout the level, being able to start giving the map more variety is something that will begin to make the level feel more alive.

How target audience requirements met/ project management- With our game having a PEGI 7 rating, all of our content that we will be producing mustn't be graphic or explicit enough to rise out of that bracket. My models fit the specification, such as all the trees and hedges sharing the same 1024 x 1024 texture sheet without resembling any imagery seen in games with higher age ratings like fear or drug use. This specific texture size is done for optimisation purposes, and to not clutter-up the unreal editor with 5-6 similar looking texture files, especially when texture sheets are typically the assets that take up the most space in a typical unreal project file.

Project management analysis (collaborative and individual)- I opened up the asset list, looked at the tasks I had assigned myself and marked off the models I'd created as done afterwards in order to inform the group of our progress. This is an effective use of communication and also risk management, as there's no fear that two people will end up making different versions of the same model and wasting time, which would be evidence of poor time management.

Development Week 4 (03/04/17 - 09/04/17)

I finished the stage block out this week and also began 3d modelling, as per instructed by our new and updated Task Board and Project Backlog which we discussed in this week's project supervisor meeting on Monday. Now that the stage has been completely drafted out on paper and blocked-out with BSP in-engine (screenshot below of the starting area of the map), I can focus more on generally polishing and re-tweaking the level if needed in the coming weeks, as assisting in making assets in 3ds Max for the project to help our dedicated 3d modellers when needed.



Evidence of research – I had to research some online resources by (A GUPTA, 2016) on converting BSP shapes to static meshes and then exporting those static meshes into 3ds Max, to allow me and other project members to begin work with a model that's already at the correct scale.

Evidence of individual management of time and tasks- Using my updated sprint plan and task board I'm fully on-track with them (my tasks for this week are listed below), and I've successfully kept myself up to date. I haven't finished modelling the decor, as the main point listed, but I've started work on a 'fake tree' asset which will be continued into next week's sprint plan.



Evidence of collaboration/ testing- Me and Marshall have regularly collaborated together, considering we're both in charge of the 'main meat' of the game. We constantly share the latest scripts of code and map files, and also help each other test for any bugs or issues one of us may have initially missed. For example, testing my track Marshall noticed and highlighted a few areas where the vehicle currently falls through the floor, so I was able to quickly make some adjustments to allow for the car to make an entire loop round the track with no real issues, which means the basic playability in the sense of general driving is completely finished.

Development Week 3 (27/03/17 - 02/04/17)

As discussed by our sprint meeting this week, me and Tom will finalise the asset list with Excel in a graph format, and I will also finish an anti-gravity version of the track this week in synergy with the programmers' code. I initially made the anti-gravity map blockout in 3ds Max, tracing over a birds-eye view of the map with a spline object.

The much more detailed asset list in a graphed format is also complete! Depicting important information like polycount for each model, texture size, MoSCoW, etc. This is incredibly useful for when I continue my environment design work, as I'll know exactly what assets I have to work with using a full comprehensive list.

Testing fitness for purpose- I compared all of my content I have so far to what it is required to achieve in the game. For example, my track is successfully a big loop which is able to be driven around at a high speed using the programmer's driving code. As an additional necessity, the track is to the correct scale in regards to both the speed of the gameplay and size of the model.



Why decisions were made and outcomes of decisions- I made a decision this week to go back and work on a previous sprint, using a more refined tutorial to recreate the track to work with anti-gravity has put me behind from where I'm supposed to be on the task board and backlog, however this will have a much more positive effect in the long-run. The fact the track allows for banking brings around a lot more possible track combinations, and it's easier for the programmers to create code for it as before this stage we were pondering where anti-gravity should be a big mechanic we should continue to pursue, so it works out for the better in the end.

Explain how any research or planning supported development- I performed research into an official tutorial by (Unreal Engine, 2014), demonstrating a much more useful way of creating a spline track, allowing for anti-gravity segments that my current track code does not allow for, following a suggestion from the programming team. While this took up a great chunk of time this week, in the end it has paid off well in regards to me now having a fully-finished anti-gravity track layout!

Explain how monitoring time, risk and quality- For this I used our task board, risk management checklist and quality plan checklist to check whether or now I'm on track for my work. And following these I am overall on track with my progress regarding time, as I'm creating a set amount of content each week and roughly am where I predicted I'd be when I started planning. Likewise, following Marshall's risk and quality plan checklist in the sprint session, I am following professional practises with my work, mitigating risks like creating regular backups on each day of work, in order to ensure as little as possible is lost if any files become corrupt.

Explain how collaboration is helping- I did research for other group members showing collaboration, such as sending this tutorial by (Filipowich, 2017) to one of the programmers who was struggling to create AI in the game. Likewise, starting next week I will be creating some environment models alongside another 3d modeller in our group who is currently slightly behind, in order to speed up the rate of production when it comes to content in our game.