Catching up to work

This week, I’ve spent some time going over the more game design ideas with Ethan and finishing up the GDD. I’ve finalized the decisions for the game mechanics. The two of us also went over things we expect for our play testing sessions and what things we should look for when we play test. I’ve also talked to Jal about programming tasks and listed out all programming things we need to do for the game. Other than that, I spent some time critiquing Ning’s rig and did some final adjustments to his rig before I handed it off to Ethan for animation.

• Worked on updating GDD (1 hr)
  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X0ZbPuCJh1D4IEWkfdMMqzpGkB9hFYKz1lb4m9iwbw8/edit?usp=sharing
• Met with Ethan and talk about design and play testing ( 1 hr)
  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/13rY5y3y2X7uMnAMjdOa1mttCs53fe8iTtEeW45OPHDk/edit?usp=sharing
• Critiqued Ning’s Rig (1 hr)
• 
• Slight edits to Ning’s Rig + Re-weightpainted Sleepyhead model (1 hr)
  • Pushed the root joint and hip joints upwards
  • Changed the root controller
• Met with Jal for programming tasks(1 hr)
  • Sleepy Movements (Needs to test with Sleepy model)
    • Swinging of hands
    • Picking up objects
    • Walking/locomotion
  • Mosquito Movements (Done)
    • Flying
    • Sticking on walls
  • Suck Spots (Working but needs randomization/timing set up on Sleepy’s arms)
  • Spawn locations for objects (Done)
  • Networking (Is there but needs improvements)
  • One Hit KO (Done)
  • Sound implementations (Needs to be started)
  • Light Switches (Done)
  • Masses for objects (Using the Rigidbody mass but not yet tested)
  • UI Programming (Not yet started)
  • Round implementation (Not yet started)

POSITIVE

Everything is moving along. I’ll be working more on sound implementations into the game next.

NEGATIVE

There’s still some bottleneck this past week. But now that Sleepy’s rig is done, we would be able to move forward. Hopefully we can get a build working by Friday and have a play testing session.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

It’ll be good for team members to check in with each other frequently and nag at each other to get work done if needed.

Week 8 – Animations and Scene Dressing

This week I shifted over to doing jobs that needed to be done.  Does that make sense? With no more design work to do, I’ve been filling in the gaps where I can. I’ve been pretty busy this week!

• Went through and gave notes on some sound files Teslim uploaded (1 hour)
• Imported every model made so far, and placed them in scene (2 hours)
• Exported two models to fbx, and renamed everything with a “polySurface” (2 hours)
• Added colliders to every game object (2 hours)
• Added some basic textures to the scene (1 hour)
• Made a very rough Sleepy swatting animation and exported it (1.5 hours)
• Meetings and critiques (1 hour)

Look at that clashing color!

Positive

I liked helping out the team. Adding models to the game and placing colliders, while tedious, was very satisfying once I finished. I’m also extremely glad that the team had a talk about assumptions and communication – this has been a serious issue for us, so I hope that going forward everyone is more open.

Negative

The assumptions that were made…it’s killing us. Kai-Lin assumed I would animate Sleepy a certain way, and I assumed another when he told me “quick and dirty.” Seeing the amount of stress and workload that’s been placed on Anna for yet another week also is a huge negative. Some team members really need to pick up the slack because it’s not fair to the rest of us. This was, to be fair, addressed in the meeting, but this has to be reiterated. I am concerned that it’s week 8 and we still don’t have a prototype to playtest, and the only answer I have is that it’s because some members did not contribute enough, or spent too much time on one or two things. Finally – everyone has to be autonomous but not completely shut off. Everyone needs to assume(!!) some direction over what to do, and not ask a million questions, but at the same time the polar opposite is just as damaging.

Solutions & Suggestions

I think my negative paragraph rant covers anything I could’ve said here. This could be a seriously cool game – let’s get this thing made.

WEEK 08 – MODELING, MODELING, MODELING

Last week, my main work is to model all the objects left on the “Master Asset List”. Overall I spent one and a half days and one night just modeling those assets. So luckily I have finished almost all the assets in time. But unfortunately, continuous modeling makes me feel sick and I didn’t want to do it ever again by the end of that day. Then I uploaded all the assets to Google Drive for Anna to verify.

• Kitchen Island ( 5 hours )
• Door ( 30minutes )
• Window ( 30 minutes )
• Ceiling Light and bulb ( 30 minutes )
• Radio ( 1 hour )
• Remote ( 40 minutes )
• Sword ( 2 hours )
• Dining Chair ( 1 hour )
• Jar & Lid ( 30 minutes )
• Bedroom Lamp (10 minutes )
• Bowling Ball ( 30 minutes )
• Pan ( 1 hour )
• Pot ( 1 hour )

POSITIVE

The positive aspect of last week is that I finally finished modeling all the assets and now I can move to the texturing.  On the other side, Anna proposed a SCRUM meeting every Saturday, and I think it’s a good idea that we can know better about the situations beside the weekly Tuesday meeting.

NEGATIVE

I don’t have much to say about the negative part since I think we are good now.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Next week, I will move to the texturing team. I agree with Anna that we should post the reference for review first, then make the textures. It can absolutely speed up the overall development.

Week 08 – Coloring Within the Lines

For this week, I focused mostly on texturing, fixing up my previous week’s models, and doing a bit of lighting.  Unfortunately, Headus was not working on my computer.  So I had to spend time learning Maya’s new UV tools and luckily I was able to get the hang of Maya’s Bonus UV Tools, which function similarly to Headus.

Here’s this week’s breakdown:

• UV
  • Desk – 2 Hours (See figure 1)
  • Baseball Bat – .5 Hour (See figure 2)
  • Baseball – .5 Hour (See figure 3)
• Texturing
  • Desk – 2 Hours (See figure 1)
  • Baseball Bat – 1 Hour (See figure 2)
  • Baseball – 2 Hours (See figure 3)
• Learning Maya’s new UV Tools – 1 Hour
• Fixing older models – .5 Hour
• Lighting – .5 Hours

Figure 1

Figure 2

 

Figure 3

POSITIVE

The feedback I got on the texturing was pretty good.  The suggestions the rest of the art team gave will definitely improve them further.  I think it’s good we had a sit down about our communication issues.

NEGATIVE

I’m currently blocked with the lighting because of the walls in Unity.  When it’s finished, I’ll be able to implement them in the game.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Instead of exporting to FBX to Unity, I think we should export OBJ instead.  Unity still reads them and it’ll speed up my workflow slightly.  I ran into an issue this week where I had submitted work in FBX but none of the UV’s went with it.  The workaround is exporting to OBJ, and then exporting to FBX and then uploading.

Week 8 – Weapon Spawns and More Sleepy Problems

This week, I was unfortunately held back on completing the controls for Sleepy to pick up objects. I was given the new model of sleepy with rough animations and attempted to get his animation to rotate towards the point that he is looking. However, since we are using Legacy animations, it doesn’t seem like a possibility. So, I proposed that we use Mecanim instead. This will require another week to get working, unfortunately. Besides not being able to get this done this week, I was able to accomplish tasks in other areas of the game. For instance, the weapons that we have available now spawn into the stage in random positions. All of the objects in the scene can be moved with each having an appropriate weight (may need to be revised). I also created some placeholder menu scenes with buttons placed according to Teslim’s mockup. I met with Kai-Lin to discuss what we have left to do as far as programming is concerned.

• Meetings (2 Hours)
• Sleepy Movement (5 Hours)
• Weapon Spawns (1-2 Hours)
• Adding Colliders / Rigid Bodies (45 Minutes)
• Adding Menu Placeholders (40 Minutes)

POSITIVE

The level is nearing the end with almost all of the models in place. I believe we are in a good place overall but…

NEGATIVE

This week, I really wanted to have the ability for Sleepy to pick up objects done. However, with the amount of time it took to receive the Sleepy model, we were unable to complete this task.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

This week I was held up by lacking what I needed up until the very last minute (Sleepy model with animations). Additionally, the model was given to me with problems that will have to be addressed in the coming week. Anna already spoke to the team on making sure that we communicate better with one another and I completely agree with that.

Week 8 – Weapon Spawns and More Sleepy Problems

WEEK 08 – MUSIC PRODUCTION & UI

For this week, I created an alternate soundtrack for the game as well as a Win/Lose sound for the game. I also finished up the UI mockups and colored those in as well.

 

Below are the pages for the UI:

Music and Soundtracks: 4 hours

UI: 3.5 hours

Meeting: 1.5 hours

POSITIVE

Anna suggested a weekly scrum-style check in on Saturdays, which I think is a great idea to keep the team moving forward quickly. Our meeting was productive as we reviewed the general direction for the game and identified bottle necks.

 

NEGATIVE

I think we are in a good spot.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

As soon as I finalize the sounds and UI, I will be available to help and assist other team members who may already have too much on their hands.

 

Week 08 – Modeling Time

I verified more models and moved onto modeling so that we could move people to texturing. The team experienced some massive communication issues over the last two weeks that we finally resolved this week!

• Verify, convert, and import models (4)
• Fix window and island based on Ethan’s feedback (0.25)
• Model Sleepy — See Figure 1 (3.75)
• Update Master Asset List — See Figure 2 (0.5)
• Class presentation (1)

Figure 1: Sleepy model

Figure 2: Updated Master Asset List

 

Positive

Everyone is moving onto texturing; we resolved the team’s low amount of communication by outlining what is expected of team members. I realized that every single person on the team is assuming something about the game or what is being done. I urged that the moment anyone on the team begins thinking about what other people want, they should just ask.

Negative

After last week, I still spent a rather large amount of time annotating and commenting on the models that aren’t to the standard that I set and gave a lesson on. About 95% of the models are done though so this shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

I’m still slightly a bottle neck for the project in terms of getting assets into the project since there’s many models to review each week. Again, my time ended up sending those models right back with notes. Additionally, my extensive annotation makes me less inclined to do another batch of models since I’m at a point where I don’t want to open the file and be disappointed that basic things aren’t correct.

Solutions & Suggestions

While everyone is doing their work independently, a good majority of the work being done ends up being sent back to be worked on more after a week. This hindrance of progress can be attributed to the lack of communication that our entire team has. Each team member is working independently, which is good, but just being independent is not enough. The independence leads to working in a vacuum.

For me personally I should start checking in with team members more. I am starting to see that there’s a difference between silence because there is nothing going wrong and silence because people think they are doing their assignment correctly.

Week 08: Ning Zhang’s PPJ

This week I focused on rigging the sleepy.It is been a while for me to do rigging again. So I needed to get used to it and watch some tutorials before I rigged it. I spent almost 6 hours to rig the sleepy. Since the movements of the sleepy are: idle, walk, left swat, right swat, both hand swat, crouch and crouch walk, I didn’t put complicated rigging system to it. Also, the body are all separate meshes. I need to think out a appropriate way to best rig the sleepy with separate meshes. Then, the first version had lots of problems. I got critiques from Kai-Lin. Then I revised the rigging based on his feedback. Eventually the rigging seemed good enough for animating. Kai-Lin also did a little revision on the rigging after I handed the sleepy to him.

1: Rig the sleepy (6 hours)

2: Revise the rigging (4 hours)

See figures below:

POSITIVE

I reviewed my rigging skills and learned some other new techniques about rigging. Eventually the rigging I built works for our game and I delivered it to the animation/programming group in time so that they can step into next stage.

NEGATIVE

Because of the communication, the first version of rigging seems pretty bad. I just followed my own thoughts to do the rigging. The rigging works but in a different way. So it may cause lots of misunderstandings for animators. But finally, we had it corrected.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

I need to deliver several versions before the final version in order to keep revising it to best serve the purpose. I did it right this week. Also communication is very important, it will fasten production speed and get ideas/opinions/feedbacks pass on fluently. What’s else, it is about learning and problem solving. If you get stuck on something, you need to look for help from other members. You shouldn’t stay there and keep trying to solve it by yourself. Sometimes your problems will be solved by other’s one-sentence-answer.

WEEK 07 – MUSIC PRODUCTION AND UI

For this week, I focused on implementing the feedback I received for the UI elements I had created last week and also on Sound design. I assisted Ethan in finding some of the sound effects we needed for the game, as well as creating custom background music for the game. In summary, the tasks for the week were:

• Finding various SFX sounds (1 hour, 30 minutes)
• Creating Background Music – (1 hour)
• Iterating on UI Design – (2 hours)

You can find the background music below:

https://soundcloud.com/user-848415205/background-music-lobby-catch-some-zs

Some Explorations for Color in the UI

POSITIVE

I had fun working on the background music. Subsequently, I will be creating a few more so that the team has more varied options to select from.

NEGATIVE

Wasn’t able to complete the character orthographics for the mosquito character. I will be completing that this week and handing it over to the modelers.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

 

Week 07: Ning Zhang’s PPJ

This week, I spent most of my time to build the model of Sleepy. It is organic modeling and seems harder than furnitures. Firstly, I built the body, then the head. I made the body and the head be separate meshes. Also I extracted the arms and legs out of the body and made them separate too. Because our game needs the sleepy to wave his legs and arms broadly. So the arms, legs, head are all separate from his main body. After that, I built clothes for him, which are a short and a shirt. To claim on thing, the hair are also separated from the head. During the weekly meeting, I got feedback from Anna and revised the model after.

• Model Sleepy (10 hours) See figures below:
• Revise the model (2 hours)

POSITIVE

At lease I finished the model of the Sleepy. And the faces of the model are not too much. The whole model is combined with separate meshes, which is easy for rigging.

NEGATIVE

The model looks kind of ugly from current version. Maybe after texturing, it will be much better. Also, some of the edges are not laid perfectly, which will result in some problems for rigging. The arms, legs and head are separate. When the sleepy wave his arms or legs, there will be gaps and other visual short-comes.

SOLUTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

I will try my best to polish the model in order to avoid or decrease the flaws visually. In addition,  I could think about the rigging in advance and adjust the model based on the movements the sleepy needs to conduct. Also, Anna helped me to revise the model a little bit so that I can learn from others about modeling techniques, which is good. Combining two modeler’s opinions/knowledge is better than I myself build the model, especially the most important model in our game.