Amanda's Dev Blog

Date: October, 1st 2023

This week presented some challenges as our team struggled to come together at the last minute. Despite the initial crunch, it was a valuable experience that brought us closer and allowed us to brainstorm ideas and enjoy a sense of camaraderie. Our ideas are still taking shape, but the collaborative process of sharing and developing them has been both enjoyable and enlightening.

With our rhythm game concept, we discovered a shared passion for music and rhythm games among many group members. This musical inclination and desire to create something with a strong musical feel are driving our creative process. As we move forward, we look forward to harnessing this enthusiasm to craft an engaging and harmonious gaming experience.

Date: October, 8th 2023

This week, our team brainstormed to align our visions for the game. Amidst the creative process, I dedicated significant effort to managing our documentation backlog, including the one-pager, five-pager, scrum presentation, team website, and our Trello board.

Balancing documentation with game development proved challenging, allowing me to create just one concept art piece for our main character. However, I spent valuable time collaborating with the team to distribute tasks, coordinate schedules, and refine our shared vision. Working within a large group presented its own set of challenges, as we grappled with differing perspectives on executing game mechanics for our innovative rhythm game management concept. Despite these hurdles, we've made progress and are excited to continue refining our game's direction.

Date: October 15th, 2023

This week, we faced our first sell presentation, which posed some difficulties for our team. Balancing our time between documentation, brainstorming, and game implementation was a challenge. We quickly realized that game development involves a significant amount of documentation, which sometimes hampers our progress in actual game creation. Nonetheless, despite the constraints of Drexel's quarter system, we managed to find the right balance and overcome this obstacle.

One of our shortcomings is our tendency to prioritize in-game development over documentation. However, I've been leading the team to focus on what's essential, which has been a valuable lesson for us. We understand that both words and visuals are essential in telling the story of our game, and we'll work towards striking the right balance moving forward.

Date: October 22nd, 2023

This week marked a significant milestone for our team as we finally achieved a shared vision for our project. It's gratifying to see our hard work and perseverance pay off, even though it took some time to align our ideas. One of our major challenges was integrating a hybrid 2D and 3D art style, which will simplify asset management and creation. However, after creating the necessary documentation and presentation materials this week, I couldn't start on asset creation due to the ever-evolving nature of our game concept.

Nonetheless, we now have a solid grasp of our core mechanic, and I'm confident that organizing our tasks and staying focused will put us in a much better visual position in the upcoming week.

Date: October 29th, 2023

This week has been truly productive. I've been working diligently on creating 2D assets that align with our desired art style, focusing on the dishwashing station. I've crafted assets for the 2D plates that appear on the screen, along with matching stains that sync with the rhythm of the music. Missing the timing when wiping a stain transforms it into a smudge, and I've also designed assets for this transition. Additionally, I've created a dynamic asset for the sponge, which follows the player's cursor across the screen.

On the production side of things, I took the lead in our two weekly meetings, held on Wednesdays and Fridays, to facilitate task distribution and enhance overall communication. I'm genuinely pleased with our team's progress this week. After experiencing a setback due to our exploration of a new mechanic that involves player-controlled mouse movement alongside rhythm gameplay, we collectively decided to step back from visual development to fine-tune this exciting new addition. This necessitated numerous brainstorming sessions to ensure that we're all on the same page regarding its implementation.

Date: November 5th, 2023

This week brought a mix of challenges and achievements. Despite some setbacks, I managed to create a draft for our game logo and the main title screen. Additionally, our team successfully set up GitLab for seamless collaboration. However, we faced hurdles in getting everyone together due to illnesses and repository issues. Finally, after much deliberation, we settled on an outline shader style that adds a unique visual flair to our game.

Date: November 12th, 2023

A significant shift occurred this week as we revamped our game mechanic, opting for a swiping-to-the-beat approach rather than sticking to the original bar-centric concept. While this adjustment set back our development timeline, the team is excited about the fresh direction. Navigating the intricacies of this new mechanic posed challenges, but the progress is promising, and we're eager to see how it unfolds.

Date: November 19th, 2023

This week was dedicated to enhancing our visual style. I focused on texturing key 3D models, including the pancake and sink, to further solidify our game's aesthetic. The completion of the outline shader added a cohesive touch, beautifully complementing the textured models. The visual elements are coming together, contributing to the overall immersive experience we aim to create.

Date: November 26th, 2023

Thanksgiving break brought its own set of challenges, making team coordination difficult due to travel and limited device access. Despite these obstacles, I managed to contribute by creating more plates for the dishwashing station. Unfortunately, a build issue hindered playtesting this week, emphasizing the importance of troubleshooting for seamless development.

Date: December 3rd, 2023

This week saw a visual leap forward as I focused on texturing and lighting for the Waffle House in our game. Additionally, I revamped parts of the outline shader to better align with our evolving style. The effort extended to creating cursors for the waffle station, including a spatula and a batter squeeze bottle. Positive feedback from playtesters affirmed that our visual enhancements are resonating well, fueling our enthusiasm for the upcoming stages of development.