Week 6: Push toward new levels

Last week was the digitizing of concept sketches for various aspects of Nercomanager. Since those concept documents are now at a solid point, the move toward adding new levels/room pieces is in full swing.

Well some of the sketches will not transfer well, I will be pulling the parts that will and attempt to recreate specific aspects using the current environment assets we have in place. So the one road block that I had run into was re-establishing the test branch and making sure that all the asset I need were complete and available.

With the help of Devon and Matt T. we establish the working pipeline to get the new levels in progress and implemented later. Now my tasks it the creation of the new room pieces, and while I'm doing that I will be running separate test to see where we can push the assets and rooms.

Next week, level/room update and progress.

Week 5: Digitizing the Concept Docs

To help communicate the design process to the team, I've been working to digitize the documents. We the idea in the mind that it can be easily reference and shown to various team members without the need of a walk through.

Progress with the docs: Currently the process is taking a time to digitize all the documents and make sure that it communicate the necessary information at a glance. So as of now there are currently only a few complete digital versions on the documents.

But each iteration of digitized documents is an aid for the future iteration of the game. With the successful greenlight presentation our concept has a lot of polish to implement and these documents are going to a be tool to tailor our concept direction.

Week 4: Updating engine version and Programs

The paper sketches are ready to be digitized for the team to review. With that in mind the updating of the Unity engine and installation of appropriate programs that are to be used for digitization is a must.

Working to do this while creating a branch folder to maintain structure and avoid possible issues with corruption in the subversion. Beyond that I have been reviewing the juice list and aiding a few bits of information still necessary before we review the finalized list.

The future plan is to review the list and mark the completed tasks so far, keeping in mind the need to iterate on the soon to be complete art task from the list.

So the immediate task is to review the previously assigned art tasks and suggest/make necessary changes to fit the theme as well as the setting on the game.

Week 3: Juicing The Game

At the suggestion of another team member, Kevin, I watched a video called "Juice it, or Lose it." The conclusion of the video presented the idea of that to make a game seem new and provide a better experience, just required added visual and audio improvements.

The presenters used breakout as the example, and walked the audience through their step by step process of visual and audio addition that changed the entire feel of the game.

So, taking that idea I began to create a living document for Necromanager. Breaking down each section of the game into smaller elements that can benefit from visual or audio additions to help promote the intended experience.

With the list the designers have a direction to pursue and communicate with the rest of the group to aid in creating the overall intended experience.