Terminal Post-Mortem

Post Mortem – Terminal Game

The Game can be downloaded HERE! (If it doesn’t work, you might need to download x86 vcredist which can be found HERE!)

I’ll start off by saying that I’m extremely satisfied with our final product – especially seeing as this is our first project ever.

Reflection:

I strongly believe that the group managed to consistently work towards a combined goal. The game had a healthy rate of progress throughout the entire project and the aesthetics, mechanics and dynamics that the group set out to realize unfolded before us in a steady rate.

The choice of methods were clearly defined by the group early, and it provided us with exactly all the tools needed to fulfill our vision. The group did not deviate from the plan and every group member got a better understanding of the software they worked in.
The mechanics that was initially called for in the Game Design Document were not changed drastically at any point of the production (only balanced and refined), and as they were implemented and fine-tuned they gathered quite a lot of positive feedback (and constructive feedback, which only added to the polish of the core mechanics). I believe that the fact that the mechanics turned out the way they did was because of proper and thorough planning and healthy discussion, as well as the realization early on that, you have to kill off ideas that the group is not fully invested in.

After the artist’s got together to create a mood board, that would reflect the game’s overall feel and look, the graphics and design got a lot more cohesive and inspired. Before creating a mood board, the group did not have a proper source of inspiration from which the artists could choose colour schemes and design decisions from.

After the Alpha presentation, all of the puzzle pieces that the game required started to fall in to place. The art, the coding and the design worked in tandem from this point on, as the feedback that the group received and the game that we were able to present during the Alpha felt as if it was already close to our original vision.

I decided that in order for the design, graphics and code to work together, I had to make sure that I worked close to the group at all times. I also tried to work as a mediator between the programmers and the graphical artists, as they did not always understand each other’s work progress.

Individual Work
My work progress included creating the design document, creating the levels, making sure that the features and mechanics followed the plan and that the game were balanced and “fun” to play. I also organized as much play sessions as possible. Every decision had to be run through the Game Design document so that no features or changes was made that deviated from the agreed plan.
I read the course material regarding play testing, and wrote down specific questions each time that was based on the group’s current progress. For example; When the group just added Sound Ripples (A graphical way of showing the sound created by the main character) most of the questions asked to the play testers were aimed towards finding out what the player thought about them, the colour of the circles, the size of the circles and the difficulty level they present to the player. I tried to make sure each time that the question never steered a player to an answer, so a question could be asked in the following manner: “What colour was the sound ripple?” – This was to check if the Sound Ripples were too obvious, or not noticeable enough.

I was a bit nervous about creating Levels at start, because that was something I had never done before. Hundreds of hours were spent researching level design on websites and GDC presentations. I also bought “Hotline Miami”, “Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine” and the original “Thief” game in order for me to be more familiar with Stealth and the design that comes with it. This gave me a lot of information and steered most of my design and level design decisions. Every area of the map was scrutinized and play tested by myself and fellow team members, in order for the aesthetics that we had agreed upon to be reached. I spent hours upon hours perfecting areas, and bug-fixing collision boxes, light blocking and the placement of in-game assets. Walk paths of the guards had to be fine-tuned and tested over and over, so that the guards walk paths were predicable, but still presented a challenge that coincided with our level design philosophy.

Seeing people play our game at the final presentation; laughing, screaming, talking about tactical decisions and asking constructive questions was just magical. I’d like to take this chance to thank all of my group members for the great work they did, and for coming together as a team and fulfilling our vision. Thank you!