Introduction:
In our original project brief, we wanted to created three area in different periods of time; Past, Present and Future. We hoped to achieve an example of Luddism in each to these areas which would of had context to the time frame and would’ve been educational to the target audience we had also chosen in our Project Brief. Since the were 3 of us in our group we each took it upon ourselves to create a different area but allow ourselves to contribute to other parts such as smaller 3D assets and texturing work which would be done in Photoshop. We had hoped to work quickly but efficiently to create 3 engaging areas that would show and explain Luddism.
Roles And Activities:
Honestly, we didn’t have strict activities and roles that we would separately carry out but we would work off of our strengths in certain areas that we had gained in the past year in previous projects, for example I would work in UE4 creating the main environment and create a few of the textures for the walls and floors. Dan would create some of the smaller models in 3DS Max since I wasn’t very good at creating and using the software. Max was going to create the animations in 3DS Max using the script editor. However we would allow ourselves to work in our weaker areas to gain knowledge and experience in software that we weren’t that comfortable with.
The Good:
I think the main level design went pretty good, because that was an area that I had built a lot of strength with in the previous projects and especially Unit 8. I discovered several ways to achieve the same result but more efficiently int his project such as creating certain effects like the windows that I created using Planes and an Emmissive Colour Texture that would glow slightly and give the impression of lighting.
I think building a believable environment was also a good thing even though that should be easy. I didn’t overdo anything though and everything was in scale which each other and the lighting was okay even though it might need refining when used in future projects which will be a good thing to learn. I used decals quite heavily during this project which I enjoyed because they are a very effective tool to use and look forward too understanding them better and used them in future projects.
The Bad:
Firstly, even though some things went well they definitely could’ve been improved such as lighting, even though I think I did an okay job with this which I did, I do believe the was a lot of room for improvement and might be something I mess around with during the specialism project next year.
The wasn’t a lot of play ability though it was mostly just walking around and looking at the example of Luddism, this worked to complete the project but the was definitely different approaches we could’ve taken to create a more engaging game for the target audience.
Texturing worked well I believe to an extend but we definitely could’ve used ‘UVW Wrapping’ to create an better end asset that would be used in the level and will be something I really consider in future projects even though it is more time consuming it may be worth the effort for better and realistic models.
Changes:
Originally we planned to create three separate areas but due to time constraints and how much we underestimated the workload we decided to focus on the one area we all thought we could create a nice atmosphere in that would also tell the story of Luddism that would make sense with the selected timeline. I don’t necessarily think this was a bad thing though it showed our team can work effectively with compromise.
Progress:
I believe I stayed on track for a majority of this project, I definitely deviated at points because certain parts either took longer or I wanted to put more effort into them and even sometimes decided to drop parts of the project to stay on track. I would like to think I completed this project to a good standard given the project length and what our team set out to create.
Wider Influences:
Our team was definitely influenced by games a big one was Detroit Become Human a game that has heavy influences of Luddism and essentially what the game is based around and since each member of the group was familiar with it, I seemed wrong not to take ideas and look at how it presented Luddism itself and what take it had on it.
Communication:
During the project our team spoke and talked about everything we did and worked together on certain aspects. We asked for and gave help to other students how may have had trouble with certain programs or troubles. We received help and ideas from our tutor regularly that caused us to change and alter our project for the better either changing small or large parts or even adding extra detail to really sell the environment that we tried to create.
Learning:
In general, I learnt quite a few things during this project one of the main ones was time management since we had a lot to do. I think I made big stride on texture development since I used these and decals quite heavily in this this project and much more than any other previous project. A very specific technique I learnt was how to make cloth materials that react to movement and wind that I will definitely use in future projects.
Conclusion:
Overall, I think during this project I have learnt a lot, and created a project that has a strong Luddite relation. I enjoyed working in a team it was a nice change from working solo. I enjoyed creating this project to even though I prefer non-restrictive projects it’s important to build my knowledge around briefs the same as this one and look forward to using my techniques and knowledge in future projetcs.
Georges_Games 