Week Three

Monday 22nd February

Team Meeting

On Monday morning, I organised a group meeting with team Anima Mundi to briefly discuss the scope again, the goals for development and those assigned tasks which are shown below. To keep organised and consistent, those tasks were also put up on the teams Trello board so when the work has been completed, it can be added to each members individual Trello card for the particular week.

The goals for the first 2 weeks of the project are to design the parts of the game that we need to later develop because unfortunately the Anima Mundi GDD did not provide a full description of the game levels, nor did it provide visuals as to how the environment and characters should look. These are essential tasks that need to be done quickly but also they need to be designed considerately and be feasible as we do not want to lose time later on having to fix or re-design these elements.

Thursday 25th February

Team Leader Meeting

An update on each teams progress so far and what needs to be done next. James insisted that the finished pipeline for my group needs to be created by the end of the week so that is a priority for my work this week.

Team Meeting with James

We changed the project scope again, after some suggestions from James, to simplify the vertical slice and take out any unnecessary features, simplifying the game experience. This includes taking away the fire region ffrom our design as initially we were going to show the full air region level and then the transition into the fire region. The game will now end when the player comes to the end of the air region only. We were also told that, as a group, we needed to create a finished pipeline overview for the complete project.

Therefore, this week I also need to update the project scope.

Team Development session

Our biggest problem at this stage of the project development was that we needed to get the game structure down, most importantly the environmental puzzles that the players are going to have to solve to actually complete the game. We were aiming for a 4-5 step puzzle in the air region, inspired by Rube Goldberg machines.

We spent the better part of 3 hours on and off of a slack call, sharing ideas in order to create the puzzle for the game. This was very difficult, and some members of the team really struggled to come up with feasible ideas so it was mostly brainstorming. We had come up with some basic ideas but we still needed to come up with a full storyboard including at least 5 puzzle interactions for the level.

As it was somewhat difficult at times to communicate our ideas effectively through slack, I gave each team member an hour to go away and create their own individual 5 step experience that we could then present and discuss together. Some members of the team came up with single interactions and others presented storyboards.

Here is what I came up with:

Mind-map exploring puzzle interactions. I have put a star on the ideas the team were most interested in. The idea of including music in one of the puzzles is a definite feature we all want to include.

Below is a more detailed explantion for the idea of using the puzzle interactions to restore peace in the game, and how sound and cloud coverage would assist in executing this.

This messy sketch below is what I presented to the group when we came back together on a call again. It is a chain reaction puzzle, inspired by Rube Goldberg, where the player has to make multiple actions on the system to get it to work, 'solving the puzzle'.

The player first uses the gust ability to clear cloud coverage that is blocking the view of a nearby island, a little higher than the player can reach. The player can then use their boulder throw ability to weight down a lever or pulley that will release a stream of water, pouring down onto an island below. The player needs to fill a gap in the ground to keep the water flowing until it reaches a campfire, where it will fill a pot, creating steam that will flow into some bamboo pipes. The player can use the gust ability to try and direct the direction of the steam through the right pipes that will play a tune, finally dispersing a group of spirits that are blocking the players path.

Now back to the call:

Molly's Pan Pipes

We came up with some strong ideas between us. Some examples are as follows. Molly proposed a panpipe idea where the player would have to play a tune on pan pipes to unlock a door. This tune could be revealed somewhere earlier on in the game, perhaps by a singing bird. The idea is that the player would have to repeat a tune that they heard by using the gust ability to blow air through the pan pipes in the correct order. Daniella proposed a drip irrigation system where the player would have to move certain things in the environment in order to redirect water flow that was running through bamboo pipes, to perhaps open up a pathway. Daniella also suggested including koi fish windsocks in the design as they are a piece of popular Japanese décor that would help highlight the theme in our game. Charisma proposed the idea of the player having to collect pieces of the staff that were littered around on the islands, and the player would have to complete small tasks in order to find them. Emilia presented a storyboard of interactions showing how the puzzles would look in the level. These puzzles included using the boulder throw to fill a gap in a bridge or weighing down one of the islands.

We all agreed that we'd like to include lanterns that would stand at the end of each puzzle, igniting when the player successfully completed the puzzle. This would communicate to the player the objectives, their process and allow ys to measure when the level had been completed.

Together, after presenting our own work, Emilia took the lead on drawing up a storyboard and this was screen-shared so everyone on the team could see and discuss ideas as we produced it. With limited further input from the others on the team and struggling communication, Emilia and I struggled to finish this puzzle development in our own time. As more time will need to be spent doing this important part of design, I told the team to carry on with the individual tasks that we have been set and that I would combine the ideas that we had come up with to create a complete storyboard for the puzzle.

Here is the storyboard:

It shows the six puzzles we have decided on including in our vertical slice, though we may change the order of these puzzles, so the more complex and challenging ones are closest to the end. I think the PanPipe puzzle should be the final one as it has the most interaction with the player and is most immersive from my POV.

After this development meeting, I also set myself the target of creating a clear graphic displaying all the development goals for his project so the team will be able to refer it and keep track of our progress as a group. Up to this point it, organising this project and working out which tasks to assign has been very difficult so I think that some extra documentation is essential for the process.

I created this in the form of a project deliverables that organises every asset that we will need to produce. Of course each element can be filtered down to more specific tasks but it is a helpful diagram to keep track of the progress and make sure that we won't run out of time or leave anything out.

Question the creator session

As Josh was absent for the scheduled question the creator session in class, I organised a call with him for the next day. We did this in the morning before the scheduled lecture for the day. During this session we went over some questions about Josh's design intentions and what he thought were the most important features to include in the game, as well as some general discussion about the game design Here are the main questions we asked:

Friday 26th February

Q. What was the intended player experience?

A. The main experience from the game should be exploration. The atmosphere play a huge part. The environment must be impressive to the player.

Q. What level of interaction did you intend for the player to have with the spirits that wondered the realms, and the spirit guardians?

A. The player would have to pass the level to get to the spirit guardian of that region of the level, and then they would acquire the ability from the guardian. The interactions with roaming spirits would just very minor, such as distracting them to get past.

Q. How did you vision the environment puzzles?

A. I imagined puzzles such as series of pressure plates that the player would have to stand on or place objects on. One idea I had was that there could be a statue of each of the spirit guardians and the player had to step on the pressure plates corresponding to the statues, in the order that you meet them in the game. Doing this in the right order would unlock a soul.

Q. Do you have any suggestions for references we could use when it comes to creating these puzzles? And for the aesthetics of the game?

A. I recommend looking at Genshin Impact and the Professor Layton game series for puzzles. For imagery, I suggest looking at Avatar the last air bender, especially the spirit world in this. The art style from this is also similar to what I visioned for Anima Mundi. Look at Zelda breadth of the wild for puzzles and art style. The environment design should be bright and Japanese inspired. The scale should be overwhelming in relation to the player character.

People - Lecture

Managing a team

Bring out the best in teammates with four critical factors; consistency, respect, inclusion and honesty.

Consistency - People should not feel that their contribution to the organisation is undervalued – they should all be treated in a comparable way.

Examples – make sure everyone is kept involved in meetings and decision making. Words of encouragement and asking simple question to keep quieter people involved in the conversation and development process.

Respect – give all members opportunity to make contributions. Important because everyone gets ownership which is an incredible motivator.

How to know when people don’t fit into a team – lack of contribution. Extreme conflict.

Inclusion – people contribute effectively when they feel that others listen to them and take account of their proposals. It’s important to develop a working environment where all views are considered. What are some methods to improve inclusion? – regular group meetings and discussions, everyone should show interest and give feedback on each other’s ideas. Use different channels for communication. Sometimes use text chat over a call because more quiet people are more likely to contribute more. Direct honesty.

Honesty – as a manager always be honest about what is going well and what is going badly. Also be honest about your level of technical knowledge and willing to defer to staff with more knowledge when necessary. Do not cover up ignorance or problems.

If there is a problem, must ask for help immediately.

Summary

1. People should not feel that their contributions are undervalued.

2. All members should be given opportunity for contribution.

3. Important to develop a working environment where all views are considered.

4. As a manager, always be honest and clear about problems, what is going well and what is going badly.

Realisation needs

Maslow’s hierarchy:

Esteem

Social

Safety

Physiological

Social – give people time to meet their co-workers and provide places to meet. Social networking needs to be used to facilitate regular communication between teammates. Have a level of consistency when it comes to group development calls; create a timetable perhaps. Create a happy workplace culture – take part in team activities outside of the workplace.

Esteem – to satisfy esteem needs, you need to show people that they are valued by the organization. Show appreciation to every contribution that is made to the team and give valuable feedback to every team member showing approval. Public recognition of achievements.

Give people responsibility for their work, assign them demanding tasks, and provide a training programme where people can develop their skills. Training is an important motivating influence as people like to gain new knowledge and learn skills.

3 major professional personality types

Task-orientated, motivated by the work they do and motivated by the intellectual challenge of software development.

Self-oriented people are principally motivated by personal success and recognition. They have longer-term goals.

Interaction-oriented people, who are motivated by the presence and action of co-workers. Enjoy group work. Whereas the other prefer individual work.

Group Cohesion

Manages its own quality by mutual consent
Team members learn from each other and the whole group improves
Knowledge is shared as team members change
Continual improvement is encouraged and realised.

Somerville’s recommendation:

One of the most effective ways of promoting cohesion is to be inclusive. This means that you should treat group members as responsible and trustworthy and make information freely available. Sometimes, managers feel that they cannot reveal certain information to everyone in the group. This invariably creates a climate of mistrust. Simple information exchange is an effective way of making people feel valued and that they are part of a group.

Effective communication is achieved when communications are two way, and the people involved can discuss issues and information and establish a common understanding of proposals and problems.

Group Task

As a team we created our own infographic to show our standards and beliefs when it comes to working collaboratively. Each member of the team took one of the questions from the lecture and wrote some bullet points explaining what is important to consider and act upon when working together on this project. I think it shows that each of us are very considerate people with similar ideas and understanding on how to work successfully. Emilia took the statements we provided in our slack group and put them into this infographic shown below.

For my statement, I answered the question “How might we go about improving communication amongst the team?”. And here is what I think we can do to maintain that:

Regular and consistent updates on the progression of development.

Keep the rest of the team up to date with our individual task progress.

Ask each other for input and feedback during development.

Make sure to share any ideas you have; there are no bad ideas.

If there is a problem or you would like to do something differently, don’t be afraid to speak up.

Support and encourage each other!

I am confident that the members of my team won't have any problems about hurting each others feelings but of course it's important to remember that we must be careful with our words. I have had some concerns with how I will make sure everyone is consistent with the updates and progression of their individual development as well as their contributions to collaborative work. However, his lecture was helpful in easing some worries I had about that.

I'll make sure to consistently encourage my team to share their work and give helpful, honest yet positive feedback throughout. The Trello board will be a great way to store all of our individual work and important links in a place that we can all access but I want to make sure all work is posted in slack because it's the best place for us to discuss individual tasks and give each other feedback.

Making sure all content is available to everyone is also incredibly important because I know sometimes people can be nervous or apprehensive about asking for work or going out of their way to get help from someone.

Week Three Reflection

This week we have established a clear idea of how the game is going to look, a full complete asset list which can be found in the refined project scope (here:), and we are ready to jump into design! Some final design decisions and adaptations do need to be made to the puzzles which arguably are the most important part of our game, but it's well under control. As we know what is going to take place, at least, in these puzzle but not exactly how they will work, we can still begin designing the elements with an open heart and the knowledge that things are subject to changes.

I do think the first couple weeks have been quite slow but that we have a clear path the production of the vertical slice, I feel a lot more motivated and have plenty of faith. It has been difficult to build a project pipeline that isn't too specific, especially considering I don't know my team very well and how confident they will be with the tasks they are given.

Here is a simplified plan for the project timeline:

As presented in the Project Scope (tab at the top of the page), we plan to have 2 weeks of planning and design, 2 weeks of further design and begin the creation of V1 assets. Then we have 4 weeks to knuckle down on development before we begin play-testing at week 9. Then the final two weeks are saved to make final fixes, adaptations and implement any final features. We are now coming to the end of week 3, and we are on track!

The next steps after the team has got back together with the finished tasks from this week, are to create a set of documents with visuals that clearly present the games structure, every player interaction and it would be incredibly useful if we could break down the required assets scene by scene. From then on, it's just the case of creating our assets and making sure everything we do is consistent and following the same art style, experimenting by putting our collective work together as we go to compare and correct mistakes as they happen.