Angela Buchanan, Week 9 Journal PPJ, Blog post 6

Interface Design, art assets (Both 3D and 2D), Scrum, Logo

Had a very busy schedule this week. Surprisingly, I got a lot done compared to what I was planning on being able to finish. Most of my work this week was filling up spaces where art was needed and updating assets that needed to be updated.

Normally, I work on the 2D assets of the game only but I volunteered to make the 3D cutout models so that Corey wouldn't be overly burdened with work this week. This wasn't a big issue, for I'm completely fine with working with 3D modeling. The only skill I lack is knowing how to make models optimized for games. Since these were simple cardboard cut-outs, I figured it would be hard to mess up and make something too complex. Overall, I didn't run into any problems and I haven't heard of any issues caused by my assets.

A lot of my assets were posted onto perforce early in the week, and other assets were still posted at reasonable times with plenty of time for them to be implemented. I had to sacrifice the importance of other classes to achieve this, but it wasn't a significant issue and it was worth getting the assets up.

I also added instructions in some of the folders along with my assets to help direct how/where they are to be placed.

Positive Content

- A lot of work done this week added a bunch of usable assets to the game.

- Everything was posted with enough time to be implemented. No assets were posted the night before.

- I didn't run into any major issues when working on assets.

Negative Content

- I turned my focus away from other classes this week to be able to quickly produce a large quantity of assets. This may affect my productivity for next week.

-I'm exhausted (I'm sure I'm not the only one though)

.

Work and hours

3D cutout Models and their textures (8 hrs)

- Using my 2D assets from last week, I 3D modeled and textured the cardboard cutouts needed for the mechanized warfare game. The modeling went smoothly and I haven't heard of any concerns regarding them.

More 2D Textures (4.5 hrs)

-I made a collection of 2D assets to fill the places where textures were still needed. I made it so that  they could easily be mixed, matched, and reused in multiple games. I recommended placements for these assets, but overall I allowed them to experiment with placements and pairings. 

Updated Interface (1 hr)

-Updated all the controls assets to reflect all changes. (I'm just posting a few examples since they are similar to last weeks). P1's  controls were  all swapped with P2's. Some buttons were changed and some were removed. 

Select Screen Icons ( 2 hr)
-Some games did not have icons and other games no longer reflected their original concept art. I went ahead an made a whole new set so that they would stylistically fit together.

 Logo (.5 hr)
-Our team realized we didn't have a logo for our game, so I made one. I used a UFO shape from another asset I had made for this game and paired it with some nice font.

Total Hours: 16 hrs (new record!)

Riley Stewart, Week 9 PPJ, Blog Post 6

Foot model: 2hr
Tube Dude rig fix, Animations, and implementation: 10hr
Dashboard: 2 hr

The majority of the week was spent fixing the broken rig on the tube dude. After many hours of tweaking and trial and error, I was able to create a workable, but not perfect rig. Afterwards, I created the animations for the tube dude, which were Idle, Front, Back, Left, and Right. Afterwards came the implementation into unity, which was not much fun at all. After doing a bit of research into Unity's animation editor, I was able to layout and create all the animation states and transitions needed for the game. However, having the coding ability of a potato, was unable to create a script triggering the animations. It ended up that David would have to endure the hardship of learning that. However, the tube dude turned out to be very successful

Another task I was able to fully complete was the foot needed for space aim. This was probably the most straightforward task yet. The foot was cut off a pre-existing human model I had made, which then had the polycount reduced. Following that, I applied a texture to the model in mudbox to make it look more like, well, a foot.

Other tasks for the week, unfortunately did not turn out nearly as well. I began texturing the long overdue control panel in mud box. However, it became apparent that I would not be able to create the texture efficiently in the style needed so it was back to square one, as a new set of UV's would be required in order to efficiently Photoshop it. The uv's took a decent amount of time, requiring specific and organized placement in order to properly work. I was unable to get to Photoshopping the new texture, as it already being late, and along with having an unfortunate accident involving my finger left me highly De-moralized to say the least. As for the mech cannon, that had to be pushed back an additional week, as the tube dude was #1 priority this week which took up most of the time I had available. Hours for this week were heavily restricted, as I had a heavy final workload for my primary class this term, along with my hours working at my jobs being nearly doubled over the last 2 weeks (that paycheck though)

Content Positive
-Tubedude COMPLETED 10hr

-Progress on control panel: 2hr
-Foot COMPLETED: 2hr

Content Negative
-Work hours doubled, other finals severely reduced workable hours)

-Control panel forced to be reset

-Mech cannon pushed back a week

Total Time Spent - 14 hrs

Cory Zicolella, Week 9 PPJ, Blog Post 6

Creating Alien Arcade Teaser Trailer - 6.5 hrs
Getting soundbytes - 1 hrs
Playtest Survey Update - 1 hrs

This week I had the privilege to make the trailer for our game.  It is only the v1 of the trailer and includes footage from an earlier build of the game, so when I update it to make changes I will definitely include the art from the more current build.

The main amount of time was put towards making the trailer the best it could be.  I wanted to go to the Music Industry labs to use the proper microphones there with pop filters and what not, but the labs were taken up with classes so I couldn't do that.  This means that I also couldn't edit any audio with Pro Tools but rather had to use what I had locally at my disposal, which was Audacity and a Razer headset.  So the voiceover isn't amazing, but it will certainly do for a draft concept.

An hour of the editing was actually going on location to film the motion base and attempt to capture the CCTV there.  Even though not much of the footage was used, I'm glad I took enough of it because much of the shots of the motion base were too shaky or had something wrong with it (someone in the shot, finger on the side of the camera, etc.).

For the most part though, the meat of the time was used to stitch together various clips after I sifted through them.  Then I had to watch it numerous times and reedit it for continuity and style, then once again had to keep re-editing for adjusting sound levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieix62MVyeo

Another part of my task this week was to retrieve various sounds we intend to use for our game.  It is still unclear whether or not we will be able to hear them in our game, as the speaker system inside the ride currently needs maintenance; but I did find a multitude of things we need.  I don't know necessarily if I found everything we'll need, but I think I got it mostly covered.

The Survey update took awhile because I was adding questions and fixing some problems we ran into, but nothing really notable here.

Content Positive
- Finished the teaser, and it came out great! (6.5 hrs)
- Got required Soundbytes (1 hrs)
- Survey Update (1 hrs)

Content Negative
-Underestimated how much time the teaser would take

Total Time Spent - 8.5 hrs

Chenghao Wang, Week 9 Journal PPJ

This week, I implemented art to the Mech War game, and also fixed many issues related with gameplay.

For Mech War:

1. Add bullet art to MechWar
The placeholder of bullet art only has one side surface, but the real one implemented has two. So I rewrote Vicent's code related the color changing while shooting and fixed the issue.

2. Change mech the front sight position to fit the real shot direction
I found the real shooting path is not through the original front sight position, it may cause problems when the player is trying to aim the target. So I change the position of the front sight, to help player aim.

3. Change the mech bullet gravity to make it feel more reality
Also, another issue related with MechWar is the bullet has gravity, I change it to zero to fit the feeling as a short distance shooting game.

For Space Aim:

1. Redesign the wall for easier movement in Space Aim
As team discussed result, we decided to change the cube size. So I redesigned the wall again, to fit the new requirement. 

2. Change the wall moving speed in Space Aim
As the playtest result, faster the wall moving speed to balance gameplay.

3. Disable the Space Aim rotation options
As team discussed result, we decided to disable the rotation option for player 2.

Content Positive
- The MechWar game becomes more interesting as art is implemented. (2 hr)
- The issues related with the MechWar and SpaceAim game has been fixed. (3 hr)

Content Negative
- The foot model for SpaceAim is not clear for vision sight, may need second change.

x

David Monteleone, Week 9 Journal PPJ, Blog post 6

Trailer, tube man, UI, Stello Says, Runnerz, Space Aim, Foot, HighScore, PPJ

Content with Hours (Examples included):

This week saw the tweaking of many pieces of our game by myself. My first task was to capture the gameplay footage that Cory would use to make the trailer that is due this week. I went through several mini game captures and had to find decent video capture software so that our trailer is high quality and looks professional. Along with this, Cory and I captured some clips of the motion base moving. For this we had to schedule time at the motion platform on Tuesday.

 (2 hrs)

After capturing the video for the trailer was accomplished, I moved my efforts towards redesigning the UI to pop out more. Using Angela’s new UI/HUD icons I put the control icons on the main dashboard. The timers and the score were placed in the top left and right of the HUD. To provoke the players to read the control icons, I made them pulse. From my Wednesday play testing, with it on the motion base, all players did pick up the controls and figure out how to play the games. The new UI/HUD is visible below.

New HUD and new Runnerz textured

(2 hrs)

My effort was then focused on Adding art to both Space Aim and Runnerz. Space Aim, required Riley’s foot model to be placed in the field of view for the player. Thus, I added it in. I also placed some of Angela’s textures onto the walls of the tunnel. For Runnerz, it was meant to use art from the other games. Therefore, to indicate to the players to jump, I used the foot model as the marker. I made a cylindrical skybox and textured the platforms after that. Before I finished working on Runnerz, I redesigned the course to be simpler and straight forward. The new texturing and design for Runnerz is viewable above.

 (1.5 hrs)

Riley was able to finish the tube man model along with the animations for him. I added the tube man into the Stello Says mini game and had to figure out how to activate his animations. I’ve never worked with 3D animations in Unity so this entire process was a learning experience. After much frustration the tube man now moves according to the input from the aliens outside the motion base.

Tube dude added to Stello Says

(2.5 hrs)

Throughout the duration of this week, I accomplish various other small tasks. This includes updating the sell for content and integrating fonts and video into it. I had to step in and texture some of the mech assets such as the terrain. I had to go to open lab hours to try and fix a Space Aim motion bug, but that will be dealt with next week. I fixed a Stello Says controller bug that prevented player 2 from inputting anything. Finally, I had to make it so the player’s score is highlighted on the high score board.

(1 hr)

Content Positive (Duplicate hours from above):

-          I captured all footage for the trailer draft. (2 hrs)

-          I redesigned the UI/HUD to allow players to quickly grasp the controls of each game. (2 hrs)

-          Space Aim and Runnerz have art fully added. (1.5 hrs)

-          The tube man along with his animations we added by myself. (2.5 hrs)

-          Various small tasks were accomplished that helped other teammates during the week. This includes texturing and the SELL. (1 hr)

Content Negative

-          Space Aim motion bug was found.

Total Hours for the week: 9 hrs

Tags: Trailer, tube man, UI, Stello Says, Runnerz, Space Aim, Foot, HighScore, PPJ

Chenghao Wang Week 8 PPJ

This week, I was not very efficiency. I rebalanced the Space Aim game by changing the moving speed, and also redesign the environment so it can fit the art design. And also, with David’s helping, implemented few art to the game. Last, asked few friends to do the playtest for our game.

Positive Content

• • Implemented Art to Space Aim.
• • Balance Space Aim gameplay.
• • Redesign the environment.
• • More playtests.

Negative Content

• • Didn’t do much work as last few weeks did.

Work and Hours

Programming (3 hrs)

• • Implemented Art (with David helping)
• • Balance gameplay for Space Aim
• • Redesign the environment.

Playtest (1 hr)

• • Asked few friends do the playtests.

Total Work Time:  4 hrs

Vincent Slifer Week 8 PPJ

This week was fairly unproductive, on my end.  I tweaked some features of the Mech Game, as well as implement some of the art that was finished.  Beyond that, I tinkered, for a bit, with an idea of another mini-game.

Positive Content

• Implemented Mech Game Art (partial)
• Tweaked Mech Game components
• Debugged issues that came up with overall game implementation

Negative Content

• Did not flesh out mini-game idea
• Essays halted productiveness

Work and Hours
Programming (2 hrs)

• Implemented Art assets
• when available
• Debugged issues that came up
• Reworked older code to singularize processes
• Tested mini-game concept

Research (2 hrs)

• Methods to simulate boat physics
• Methods to calculate buyoancy
• Scripts to create realistic boat movement
• Movement tests on Drexel Ride

Total Work Time:  4 hrs

Angela Buchanan, Week 8 PPJ - Blog Post 5

Angela Buchanan, Week 8 Journal PPJ, Blog post 5

Interface Design, art assets

I had a productive week and managed to complete a lot of 2D assets. I made some mistakes with the early versions of the control icons. These were fixed and now all the control icons are complete and are ready to help the player quickly understand the controls for each game. 

I made a nice collection of vector images for the beach scene in the mech warfare game. The game allows the player to shoot trash into sexy items, so I have two versions - trashy and sexy. I made each trashy/sexy pair similar in shape to effectively communicate a connection.

There was some miscommunication regarding the creation for cardboard cutouts, so now we have double assets.  But I don't anticipate it to be a major issue, and it may simple lead to more assets for that particular mini-game.

The double assets are in the wrong format (Objecy, not cut-out stands). But I may have an idea to make them still usable. 

Positive Content

- all control icons for the ship interface are now complete, allowing players to quickly visually understand the controls for each game

- A lot of 2D cutout assets are now down and ready to be applied to cardboard cutouts.

- Most assets were up early at the start of the week.

Negative Content

- My message regarding the posting of art assets was not received, which lead to miscommunication problems.

- Looked at old documentation. So there were mistakes in the control icons that had to be fixed later on in the week.

Work and hours

Interface assets - 2 hrs

-Early in the week, I made quick versions that could be implemented into the game. Unfortunately, I accidentally looked at an old version of the GDD so there were some missing buttons.

The ones listed here should be up to date, and ready to be placed into the center console as planned.

Cut Out image assets trashy - 4 hrs
- I did my best to push these out early as well, so that the cardboard cut out models could be made for them. Below, sexy versions of these assets are finished as well. The images were designed so that the counterpart has a similar shape/form.

Even though, I had them posted, my message wasn't received. Therefor there was communication problem. I don't expect it to hurt progress significantly, though I may try doing the cut-outs myself next week. 

Cut Out image assets sexy - 4 hrs
- Sexy versions of the above assets. Listed in the same order, but visually you should be able to see which ones are related. I gave everything lipstick stains for comedic purposes and to enhance the "Sexy" appearance. 

Backgrounds - .5 hrs
-The cut-outs took most of my time, so I didn't get as much work done on background assets.
However, most of the backgrounds can the used in multiple locations.

The biggest background that still needs to be done is the aerial carnival scene for Stello says, but the concept art can work as good quality placeholder.

Total weekly hours: 10.5 hrs