Week 13 Reflection

Coming to the end of this semester and the design phase of the project, I'm also reflecting on the whole process up to now and where I feel we're at.

This week has been mostly focused on rounding up the work we have been doing into the Game Project Proposal document. I've found and will always find this a tedious and in my opinion ridiculous type of document to create. I feel my time would have been far better spent creating a design document, something which details exactly what the game's elements are and the intricate parts to the mechanics and features. Because of this, I'd only realised that I'd only have all of that information floating around, either in my head, on paper in the studios or are parts in the website.

I've had some very poor practice this semester on outlining, in clear and simple language what the player is supposed to do, how we expect to implement that and what the outcomes should be. However, I had noticed some positive aspects that emerged from the extensive repetition of writing overviews, abstracts, design rules and project goals. It is that I know am confident in my mind of what the experience is supposed to feel like and how I can design the overall development towards it. That being said, I'd have preferred to focus on a document that will actually help the team in semester 2 when development will have to be fast, with lots and lots of iteration and playtesting.

I've really appreciated the research lead approach to forming an idea and although my early research was let go, I still value what I have learned in those weeks and will use those skills in the future. It helps to form more meaningful ideas and gives solid groundwork for building a game concept.

One thing I feel like I need to improve on when in this phase of design, is allowing myself to come away from thinking about the overall concept, experience and mechanics, to piece them together and create visuals that will show how this will work. I partly done this with the sound design animation and some of the story boarding, but I definitely could have done much more. Without making it an excuse, losing Adam definitely did affect the approach to the visual style of the design and even with him, we wasn't doing what was necessary to form what the game will look like.

With this, I really understand where my design skills are most formed. It is in the understanding of the experience and how all the small details will enforce or alter that intended emotion. I'll need to maintain this constant awareness as the goal for the game is a very difficult experience to create and will need a lot of fine tuning with playtesting. I also need to up my input with the artwork, realising the extent of trial and error that will occur because of the pixel style, a lot of effort will be required.

I'm still confident in myself, the team and the game, but acutely aware of the limited time and how we will not get everything we'd hope into the final product. So it will require some intense attention and discussion on what we see as a viable finished product while achieving the essential experience. This will need precise planning and organisation.