studio-gameOn

Today saw yet another move of studio-gameon. This time it’s not a sleep over but a week of holidaying in a luxurious apartment…not, although it is a room with a view. We are using the computers up in the lab there, which saved moving all our equipment however I must say we are getting really good at moving, which will come in handy if anyone needs to move house.

We have no major concerns at this stage as long as the red box issue is resolved. Tomorrow  Duncan and Marko (from 3Blokes) are coming in to help the programmers deal with a large work load and a short time frame. I don’t want these guys stressed and totally over the project in 3 weeks because of this. One of their concerns was having to ask for animations etc that weren’t done. This is where the streamlining comes in…things like working on a model for the scene yet the render for one of the sets has not been completed. If this had of been done, then someone could of been adding the ground level states in for example. At this stage, it’s just about making sure things get completed and in order of priority and stop having so many unfinished parts of the game and alot of work dumped on the programmers at the end of the week. A complete bar scene etc would be good before working on the next. There is no major changes - just focus on priorities- prior to their need.

We now have the room next door also with a view, for user testing, which is much more convenient. The more feedback we get the better the game will be. The designers will be doing a full dress rehearsal tomorrow to make sure we can get the full benefit of this testing.

This week Rory is on work placement and therefore can’t put in the hours during the day however he does stop by and checks our progress and is working on the mini game programming of a night. I’m finding I’m doing more of my emailing/desk work of a night so that during the day, I can give more support and guidance to the teams to cover this off. While we have big expectations this week, our experience of what we have learned previously is starting to show in our work ethics and understanding of time frames, which is why we are now spending more hours. All of the team are now pushing themselves to strive for more.

Some of the artists and all the programmers were going in on Saturday. They had released the next version late Friday afternoon, of which we all had a test and found within minutes, multiple bugs. The majority of the bugs where fixed on Saturday. I believe they wanted to fix those bugs before uploading to the board, at this stage.  Rory will be away next week and has handed over the reins of production to Ian.
The teams as a whole are working together much closer as one unified group. Much more communication and procedures in place to streamline work flow. It felt as if last week was going slow as far a progress is concerned until everyone started to add to the next version. The Pubic Holiday didn’t help. A lot of parallel work going on, which will help towards the deadline. Reducing the scope has meant that more emphasis has gone onto better graphics however this is one area that I am monitoring as far as scope creep. Over the last week has seen a great change in the moral of the team. They are much happier, and with more individual responsibility comes a greater sense of pride and  ownership. This week will be a really busy week as we hope to get all the artwork of the levels in and the programmers continue to improve on the code. We also begin our Kleenex testing on Wednesday.

Monday was a critical turning point for Studio-GameOn. We presented our Western, which has improved out of sight and waited for the feedback from the Industry Board.

Their advise… to reduce our scope and focus on the polishing off of Movie 1 the Western. They were impressed with the graphics and the physics within the game, which is why I believe they want to see more.
Even though some of us believe that Movie 2 was going to be awesome, there is something about making something that will give goosebumps to even the most avid gamers.

With the new approach came new enthusiasm, laughter and creativity filled the air with boisterous suggestions bouncing off one another. Unlike towards the end of last week, where the pressure was mounting, along with a few tempers showed of the intensity and passion of the team.
While we realised there is other ways of dealing with how to be heard, the lessons we learnt was invaluable and in actual fact, is what will make the team even stronger.

They have been working well together (sounds like a school report) and have become far more productive by streaming their workflow methods and increasing the communication within the team.

The team have now begun testing the game and creating many post-it notes on the to-do list of the programmers. Hence to say the game is improving everyday and sometimes I think it necessary to look back on the first Prototype to realise where we have come in such a short time.

After the jubilation of seeing Stunt Man come to life on Friday, it was back to the grind on Monday. The task of establishing all the details of the first movie proved to be a huge ask. However by Tuesday afternoon we had finally written documentation of all the tasks required for the week. The disruption of having to move out of the studio for one day, while this was happening proved to be a timeline challenge but also presented an opportunity for TV to come and film Studio-GameOn. We had two huge projection screens linked to the monitors of the Art and Programming Team, the show reel, which I created with some of the concept art and screen capture of Abbey’s drawing of Godzilla played in the background. This all created a fantastic visual experience of the studio. Unfortunately the media did not come however its not Game Over for marketing, just yet.

Unfortunately for Josh Mullins, the increase of his commitments to his paid job, did not allow for him to dedicate the time required to fulfil his Marketing Role and he has chosen to resign from the team. We wish him well with his work and his studies this year and hope that he continues to stay in contact.

The importance of clear achievable itemised tasks is now relevant to the members of the team. Scope creep continually tries to push out our deadlines, the difference now, we have seen how time is our greatest threat and we have more of a greater understanding of the time involved in achieving those tasks. We can materialise any concept the designers come up with, however now, once the level has been documented the team are beginning to understand, alterations to this, is not debatable for the rest of that week.

Today in the Studio, we are much happier. The sharing of Internet connections proved to be a major hindrance to yesterday’s progress. We have our checklist and are continually pushing through knowing that Friday approaches.
Our goal for this week is to have Movie 1 completed and ready to present to the Board on next Tuesday. At this stage we are on target and the team’s outlook is far more confident.

I also had the benefit of seeing the original demo version playing beside the latest new look version stunt man. The difference is absolutely amazing. The programmers are doing a great job and really doing justice of the fabulous artwork. What has been achieved in such a short time has to be seen to be believed. The day ended with a fire alarm and evacuation of the building complete with firemen …. could this be the inspiration of a new movie for stunt guy or is the studio-gameon team smoke’n hot? I have to admit I am becoming one of their greatest fans.

For a couple of days now I have watched our little Stunt Man walk, run, fall and pick himself up: a tiny figure trapped within a white screen. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for him and wonder how exhausted he must feel completing cycle upon cycle of animation. But today at 4.50pm he was officially released with the blaring of typical western music. Released and free in a world created from blood, sweat and tears; a world that was his own. He ran and jumped like there was no tomorrow, but I think someone must of slipped caffeine into the script.
The gathering of the team all smiling around one small screen to the blaring of a western themed tune, gave instant gratification of a week well spent. I didn’t need to see the screen, their faces said it all, but when I did, it blew me away. This was a great moment for all to share. Congrats to all the team on an absolutely fantastic and rewarding week. Next week your challenge is to switch Stunt Man over to decaf so he’s not as hyper. Rest Up and Thanks

Another usual day for programmers. Josh worked on improving the camera’s movement and also modified
character controls to better suit the environment and the requirements
of the designers. Alex wrapped the existing code into the engine and developed the level start and exit markers. Colin worked to improve game-play and began constructing the first prototype game level using the latest code. I worked on the sound effect and music’s volume control for the options menu.

Christina

Monday was the first day for our weekly meetings. The challenge was to create a storyboard of the level one sequence so that this could happen. While the team was waiting for the designers, there was a lot of frustration amongst the others, which was an indication of their eagerness to begin and now we have commenced, the importance of having a continuous work flow contingency.

With the elements now complete and stronger direction, the team has settled down into a great working relationship. The atmosphere is certainly fun with a great mix of personalities amongst the team. Even though I’m experiencing a lot of challenges, planning and coordinating, I love coming to work.

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of one of the members of the board, Duncan, who has the ability to spread his charm and make everyone feel so much more confident. He offered advise to all the teams helping them to see the importance of maintaining the scope and what is expected of the first demo version of which our expectations were so much higher and unpractical – more like a first level really.

We also had a surprise visit from John Passfield (Pandemic & Board Member of Studio-GameOn) and his family, which was a nice surprise and always welcome. It is their support and interest that drives us and for  them to take time out of their busy schedules is a reflection of their dedication and genuine interest in not only the gaming industry in Brisbane but of the Studio-GameOn Project.

We have had QUT Publicity and photographers taking photos of some of the team, to promote the studio in local papers. Yesterday and today we have had 2 members of the team in the Queen Street Mall with the library pod creating more of a presence and awareness and getting ideas from the public for our game. On the marketing side we have so much more planned, but you’ll have to wait and see…..

Wow, what a week! I have been so impressed  with the team’s professionalism and how they have stepped up to the tasks at hand. Friday became affectionately known as Judgment Day - the day we all focused our talents toward, the day to impress the Board. Along with the last minute printing of the concept art and the final preparation, we were good to go. We delivered our two main concepts, knowing full well we would be saying goodbye to one of them.

A general overview given by the board is listed below…

B GRADE (Concept 1)

Benefits:
Target Audience – suit Kids & Mums
Simple – Play & Go
Open to Crowd Input
Liked the Parody of Movie Ideas
Open to Variety

Risks:
Context Animation
-2D in a Box Plug In for Physics
-However to animate Background for 3 levels is achievable.

GOLEM (Concept 2)
Hard Core Target Market
Complexity of Interface
Animation Assets / Actions / PowerUps would be time consuming.
Would suit  Game Developers

The team had produced two really strong game ideas though each had their own target market and benefits sought. The artists were praised by the board for the quality and amount of concept art. After a short deliberation and consultation with the team. B GRADE got the green light.

At the end of the day there was a sense of accomplishment with alot of smiling de-stressed faces. It was a great way to end the week and I couldn’t think of a better team to spend it with.

Well finally I have come up for air. During the past couple of days I have been doing a lot of the background preparation and planning behind Studio GameOn, such as more research into Management Styles (Scrum), Occupational Health & Safety, working on the Gantt Chart and creating the entries on what will be a very busy time as well as a lot of forward-planning. While some of you may think this is boring, I love to plan and be organised so that I can offer the team clear goals with the maximum allowable time to achieve it. Even though it has only been a couple of days, you can already see the team unifying together as now we have two really strong concepts.  Thanks to the entries on the forum, it has laid the foundations to what is going to be something truly amazing. I must admit I am very happy with our progress so far and how the team has responded. The buzz in the studio at the moment is contagious.