Transferable Skills

Reflective Practice 

My mid-project reflections were an opportunity for me to raise some general issues I'd encountered so far regarding both Level Design and Rapid Prototyping. This included steps planned to take and had already taken to overcome them. I was also able to reflect on the research I'd done to guide my creative choices, although I need to work on the quality of sources that I use to ensure that I tick off the relevant Learning Outcomes. At the beginning of the trimester, I listed these on my unit homepages in my Learning Journal for easy reference. This is to help me stay on track throughout.   

Using Constructive Feedback

I try to ask for feedback from my lecturer about halfway through each trimester, specifically for my general documentation, as that is the area that I feel will be the most beneficial after graduation. For Level Design, I try to seek feedback from the team leads and level designers during the asset creation process. Normally this happens at early stages (i.e. modelling) to make sure that the design is right before moving on, but occasionally I ask for input at the texturing stage. For Rapid Prototyping, most of my external feedback came from playtesting. I'm also working on receiving feedback without feeling scrutinised. To this end, I've been making an active effort to take critique as constructive advice rather than criticism. 

Time Management 

Since I started at SAE, I feel that I've gotten a lot better at managing my time. My strategy is to dedicate a few hours to project work every day, where I put my head down and focus until I either lose concentration or complete the tasks I set for the day. This method helps to keep me from losing momentum throughout the trimester and burning out too early. It's also a way of managing my energy and motivation, in addition to progress. I have a task list in my Learning Journal that I update every week, so it's easier to visualise what I have and haven't done. 

Project Management 

In terms of project management, I always contribute to Design Documents as required. It's been difficult this trimester, as I prefer to take on non-managerial roles, so documenting my own process is the main way that I express this skill. My development log can be found in my Learning Journal alongside each project's deliverables because I like to keep my work neat and contained, as opposed to spread across multiple documents. I also take responsibility for keeping my team, whether for Level Design or Rapid Prototyping, updated on my progress. Generally, I'm willing to make reasonable compromise on future work, so long as it doesn't have a drastic impact on scope as this comes with time management concerns of its own. 

Communication 

Each project, including individual Prototypes, have a designated Discord channel with which to communicate with team members. For Level Design, I provide screenshots and sketches of specific assets that relate to a discussion point, whether in-class or online. We had a problem at one point where the materials I created were not importing into the level designers' projects, but we were able to talk through what was going wrong. It ended up being a simple, if tedious, thing for me to fix. As mentioned previously, much of my feedback on my Prototypes has been via in-class playtesting. Since Week 4, I've tried to be mindful of what constitutes constructive feedback and what is useless to the developers, when giving it. This trimester, I've found that I've been predominantly asking questions rather than answering any, which isn't a major issue but it does make me feel a bit separated from the team as a whole.

Collaboration 

When starting a new project, I prefer to split up the workload and allocate tasks/roles as soon as possible. This makes it easier to work together, if everyone in the team is clear on what is expected of them and what their specific contributions should be. The benefit of having a set role in any group project is that it allows me to plan ahead and reduce some stress at later stages. Unfortunately, perfectionism has always been a problem for me and I'm still trying to let go of the impulse to take on too much. I get anxious that my work won't be good enough, so my instinctive reaction is to set standards that are too high for either my skill level or the project scope. This is most of the reason why having a period at the very end of a project for polishing is a strange concept for me. 

Problem Solving 

Online tutorials, such as YouTube and official documentation, are the most helpful tools I've found for solving problems. For instance, I made Prototype 2 in Unreal Engine 5 and had to refer constantly to tutorials while programming. However, the trial-and-error method is also useful in certain circumstances, such as when modelling a specific object in 3D. During Rapid Prototyping, the short time frame can make it difficult to resolve problems. In these cases, I have to be careful to not become too absorbed in getting a perfect solution; documenting the issue and moving on is sometimes the best call. When it comes to interpersonal problems, we've been lucky in this class to not have anything too serious. On the occasion that something has needed addressing, I try to let team leaders and/or our lecturer handle it, unless it affects me directly.

Critical Thinking 

I sometimes struggle with doing proper research, as it can be difficult to find academic, peer-reviewed sources in the Games industry (as far as I can tell). As a result, I've often had to look for sources from other fields to back up my work, such as ancient history and psychology. The difficult part is then to create relevant links between my research and the work I'm trying to do. Formatting my sources isn't an issue because I have a national guide to APA 7 bookmarked, but finding academically credible sources is a challenge. Finally, I usually try to get the bulk of my research done at the beginning of a project, and then find additional references to back up my process as I go.