Moving on (Post-Mortem)
OverviewFor those unfamiliar with our project, every team was required to develop a game from a concept document made by our classmates, meaning other groups. Most groups chose the same 3 concepts, which were very popular either aesthetically or gameplay-wise, with a seemingly achievable scope. Most games were very different between each other, though.
Team Siren also chose one of those 3 games, Behemoth. Because of that same reason, we knew it was important to stand out, so we changed the theme a bit and made the art as different as we could within our abilities. In Behemoth, you are an ancient entity symbiotically bonded to and organic spaceship, The Behemoth. With almost no energy left, you need to find your way to the sea while defending yourself from the inhabitants of the planet you’ve been dormant in, ready to defend the home you’re threatening in their eyes. With little energy left, you can only assume limited control of the ship’s functions and with it must protect yourself. It is basically a shoot ’em up where the player, a big ship, manages its energy to attack with several power-ups and innate abilities, and also to defend itself with its shields against enemies with their own movement patterns and weapons. Our development phase was divided in 8-9 sprints at one sprint per week, containing: pre-production, production, alpha and beta playtesting, polishing and final product presentation. After the final product presentation, we enjoyed our very well deserved reward! All you can eat pizza-pasta buffet!
ChallengesDecision making, in my opinion, was one of our usual challenges. There were usually misunderstandings when separating general ideas from definitive ideas. For me it felt like every week was a reset in everything we agreed the week before, so we had to talk about “decisions” all over again. We managed that by writing everything that had been talked about during the meetings as summaries or conclusions. Therefore, all that said, we got very good at it as weeks passed. Dealing with group dynamics was also a challenge, as was communication. Backlogs and plannings have no point if all group members don’t update or check, so everyone needs to be on board for it to be useful. So, for all of you who will be someone’s group mate, please jump on the wagon of organisation! There’s only so much our managers can do to help us, they need our will and commitment too. I had never worked before with this style, aesthetic and way of making assets or graphics (low poly super colourful), so it was a challenge and a self-set goal. I learnt a lot in the process and turned out to be well enough, although after a week into the project I felt rather frightened. Will I be able to do it? Keep it consistent? How am I going to animate this? Fortunately, I used some tools I was slightly familiar with before starting this education., and I read in several forums that some developers used them too, so that kept me going! In retrospective, it was a good decision and makes me reflect on how important it is not to overscope or underscope. Know your strengths and weaknesses. There were many technical difficulties. Most of the time was essentially not having basic knowledge of tools and procedures. Making something else apart from hand-drawn-framebyframe animations, how do these behave in unity, how it’s usually done to avoid future issues, what parts are life bars composed of, how to animate them dynamically, how to make a simple shake, connect animations, divide them into parts for looping, how to break down assets for good implementation, which animation tools we could use, nkfeladsnkjfas. Throwing me into a pool didn’t teach me how to swim, it just made me hate water because I almost drown. To finish with the challenges in our project, keeping the motivation throughout the whole project was one of them. It was consistent in average, but the ups and downs were so pronounced that felt like a roller coaster. I could see towards the end of the project, most of us were losing heart. It seemed to be a common thing in most groups, though. What went wrongI don’t want to wallow in the mud, so everything is essentially said in the last section. Decision making (although we got very good at it in the end), communication, and tools and standard procedures. What went rightAlright! Let’s cheer this post up a bit! We were capable of using the resources we had at hand to create a decent product. From sound editing software to video effects software. That brings us to my personal salvation: After Effects. I didn’t draw a single piece of asset in this project, so no frame by frame hand-drawn animation possible there. I already knew how to deal with basic functionalities in AE, and after reading that some people used it for some effects, I bet all my cards on it. I had nothing else resort to, and Photoshop wasn’t enough. Maybe not the best tool for game development, but it worked, somewhat. Some tutorials and experimentation and BAM, I got animations we could actually use! If After Effects was a person, I would invite it for supper 5 times in a row. Food is a good measurement for gratitude. Efficient planning, my fellow humans! That’s how you are on the right path to get things done. We were lucky enough to have a capable someone to guide our capable guide, and in consequence, good guidance. Special thanks to Erin and Erik, who dealt with us with amazing patience and cheerfulness. Even though we struggled with decision making, our goals were clear for the first weeks, which led us to an alpha in an advanced stage of development. That gave us more time to focus on polishing the game and make of it something we could show without shame. The aesthetics gave the players something to define the game fast enough, even if it was a “that game with a low poly look, right?” or “the one with the blue behemoth-whale thingy”. As long as most people remember which one it was, and because of a memorable and positive quality, it’s a success. When 2/4 of the room is filled with games coming from the same concept document, you need to make it stand out somehow.
Final wordsIt’s time to move on. Thanks, Sirens, for making it possible. Thanks for dealing with me, I know I wasn’t easy sometimes (many times). Thanks to all my friends for supporting me, and Rob for listening to my ranting and frustrations with my skills, the course, the game…every single day. Bourbon helped too. Thanks, humanses!
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