Although my group and I have had a number of discussions throughout the project, some being talked about on my blog and some not, this discussion was one of the more important discussions as it regarded our plans for the game and the exhibition.

 

As of writing this, there're four weeks before the production deadline. Over the weekend I thought about the progress the different departments had made and then thought about what key assets they had left to carry out. My main concern was the art department as I knew from the beginning of the project that they had a rather large workload. I believe they have been carrying out their tasks effectively, but there are still a number of key tasks/assets needed to be completed in time for the exhibition.

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Because of this I decided to have a group meeting and discuss what we wanted to have completed in time for the exhibition. Before now our concept was to have the first two levels completed and playable, along with the section in-between levels (being the sea/sailing section of the game). In addition to this we planned for these two levels to have the the relevant sections implemented, along with the relevant cutscenes. This meant that we wanted the first two levels fully complete and playable with all of the mechanics and story/cutscenes implemented. 

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This was the root of my concern. I began to once again feel that even this task would be too much for the group to have completed in time for the exhibition, and so the group meeting was about making the game shown at the exhibition more feasible for the time we have remaining.

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My proposition was to, instead, make sure that we have the first and second levels, as well as the sea/sailing section in-between levels ready, but without the story and cutscenes implemented. This meant that the game shown at the exhibition would show off our game world and core mechanics, but not the story of the game.

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My concern was that if we added in the story to the game, we would need the cutscenes. However, if the story was to be implemented into the game, there would need to be all of the other areas/assets in the game, which currently remain incomplete.

I thought that removing the story and cutscenes from the game (show at the exhibition) the main focus of the artists could then be on completing the key assets needed to show the key mechanics of our game, and therefore having a playable section of our game.

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However, this would mean that the story I have worked on wouldn't be shown in the game, but I figured some ways I can get around this using some exhibition materials. Instead of having my story shown in the game, I can create a sheet that outlines key info on the game, such as the story and the characters, meaning that although some areas, like the story, won't be in the game, they can still be shown and explained at the exhibition.

 

I have spoken about this with my group, mainly the art team/department, and I believe that they are all in agreement with this. However, they are required to make cutscenes as that's a task that they'll be graded on, but now they know that the assets for the game are the main focus, as they will be needed for the game for the exhibition, whereas the cutscenes won't be.

I am happy that I had this discussion with my group, because as the way the project was going I felt that we wouldn't complete what we wanted, and the whole project could fall apart. However, now the task is more feasible, our group is more likely to have what we aimed for ready for the exhibition.