Charlie Roberts
IMG Year 2 Portfolio

Introduction:
In this section of my blog I will be evaluating the work that my group and I have carried out throughout this project. I will be covering the initial idea of the project, and how this changed / didn’t throughout the last two months and why, as well as reflecting on the effectiveness of my planning, research, and the final / current product. Additionally I will be mentioning what changes I would make during the next two projects that I’ll be carrying out this year, as there are a fair few areas from this projects that I want / will need to improve upon.


3D Environment:
Before carrying out the production section of this project, we had a number of level design / sections of world designs that we thought would be effective to create. The level design that I created is nothing like the final / current outcome of our project. However, the final / current section of world does have resemblance to the level design a group members (Jacobs) original plan. My level design consisted of floating islands, as I felt that this would be have been a rather effective was to portray the fantasy theme that we’re required to use. However, I decided against my own idea as it lacked the portrayal of the open world genre that we also needed to implement into the world. However, the level design that we decided to go with was the idea of a basic fantasy forest setting which makes use of basic features such sections of forestry and a river flowing through the centre of the world. This idea was more basic than the other ideas, but we also felt that it was more achievable, and if carried out correctly could be effective and appealing.

The end product is different to the design plan that we followed as there are features, such as the dungeon entrance, that were not included in the current version of the world. Additionally, we also included a steep mountain on one side of the section of world we created. We implemented this because we wanted to show off how we would implement boarders to the full word / game if it was to be created. Because we were only planning to create a small section, we didn’t want to fully enclose the world in boarders, as we wanted to get the idea across that this is only a small section of a world, meaning the whole area wouldn’t be enclosed, as it could be located on one side of a vast open world. Not only that, but the art style used for the terrain is not how we envisioned the final product to be. This, however, was more because of technical issues more than our own choices. During the planning phase, we had planned to use the unity asset store for a low poly terrain (that we’d then edit), as well as a low poly texture for the terrain. However, once we started the production phase, the Unity asset store never once worked on any of our accounts, and because of this, we needed to keep the current terrain we had created. This meant that while we had created low poly assets, our world made use of a smoother and more detailed terrain, which in my opinion, makes the effectiveness of the world as a whole decreased. Additionally we wanted the world itself to portray the theme of fantasy by finding was to implement a magical feel. However, we found it easier to show off our theme by using assets which suggest the fantasy theme.

However, as previously mentioned, there were areas of the plan that we were able to follow. The main feature that we followed was the river. We implemented this as we felt that it gave the section of world that we were creating more appeal due to its aesthetic, and also because we felt that the world would be too plain and boring without any feature like this. The plan also showed how the trees would be located. This was carried out somewhat differently due to the extrusions of the terrain, but we still went along with the idea of different groups / sections, which is shown in our world via the different coloured trees.

Audience: When we planned and created our world, we needed to think about who are audience was, and why / how the world would appeal to them. Our target audience for the project was feminine and 25-35, and we did bear this in mind when creating our concepts. As feminine isn’t a gender, but is more a trait that both genders can have, we didn’t want to create a section of world / setting that would only appeal to females. Because of this, we decided to base our section of world around a forest. This was because we felt that with the implementation of the right assets, this setting would be seen as a feminine setting, but also a setting that can be enjoyed by both males and females. Additionally, we also intended to further this appeal by making use of a feminine colour scheme (for the terrains texture), but this however could not be carried out as the asset store was unavailable for us during production.

I feel as though the main interest point about our world would be the river flowing through the centre of the land, which divides the section of world into two. I feels that the audience would most enjoy travelling along this feature, as the four different areas of the forest are all visible / are travelled through when taking this path, and I feel as though this is the most visually appealing section of the world.
However, I feel as though my audience may also lose interest somewhat quickly, as each of the section of the forest has no major differences (apart from the different shaped extrusions to the area). The original plan was to make up for this by using assets from the store, but as mentioned we were unable to achieve this due the store being ‘offline’ the whole time. Additionally, another problem is that the river is currently almost impossible to pass over, as the gap is too big for the player to jump over. The original plan was to create a model of a large hollowed out tree trunk, but this would have looked extremely out of place due to the size (height and width) of the tree models used in the world. Because of this changes will need to be made, such as raising the riverbed, or making an area of the river narrower, to allow the player to cross to each side freely and easily. I feel as raising the river bed would be a good idea, as if the player jumps in, there is currently no way out. However, I’d also argue that swimming would be a mechanic if an actual game was to be created, meaning that this isn’t too big of a problem.

Genre:
When creating our section of world, we had to make various design choices to show that our worlds genre is open world. The main way we showed this off, was by making the world fully accessible, and allowing the player to travel to any part of the world. The only part of the world that wasn’t accessible was the world boarder. This was purposely not accessible, as we didn’t want the player to be able to travel up / through it, as it’s the edge of the world.
We also made use of a third person perspective, as we felt this was needed since many open world games make use of this perspective (not to say all of them do).
We felt that the setting itself also reflected that of an open world game, as in many games there are plain unnamed sections of the world that are still enjoyable to explore when playing the games.
I feel as though the level also reflects the type of gameplay that would be expected from an open world game, as the main aspect of our world is adventuring around, with no given order of instructions / tasks to complete. Because of all of this, I feel that this world (with the terrain improvements) would be suitable for an open world game.

Theme:
I feel as the terrain could be recognised as that on a fantasy game as forest is a common occurrence in products of a fantasy theme. However, originally we intended to try and implement the idea of magic into the land to show the theme, but this idea was soon dismissed. Additionally, we also intended to include a dungeon entrance, but this was also removed as we felt that we couldn’t create the idea we had within unity. Instead we tried to further display our theme by making use of our assets, but this will be explained under the 3D asset section of my evaluation.

The world could have reflected the fantasy theme more if we had additional, unique mountains and landscape features. I say this because I feel as though this is a commonly used feature of the fantasy theme. Additionally, if more time was given for the project, we could have tried to make a connecting section to the one we created, which could act as a small town. I feel as this could have portrayed the theme, as a common occurrence in fantasy games are small villages that the player can stop at when adventuring areas of the world.

When colouring our terrain, we had planned to use the asset store to find an effective texture. However, as mentioned this never worked for us so we had to resort to the asset pack that we had already imported. However, the ground texture, and the water object used were still somewhat light and appealing, which is what we were aiming for, as our idea of fantasy, and the idea we were aiming for was a bright and appealing section of world. The lighting of the world wasn’t changed too much, as we felt that the default lighting was effective, as the whole world was bright. However if a game was to be created we’d want the world to have a day / night cycle. Sadly we weren’t able to get another skybox. However, since we had the asset pack from the lesson where we were taught how to get asset packs, we were able to make use of a skybox from that. I feel as this still reflected the idea we had, as it was a calm blue sky, which adds to the warmth of the atmosphere.

3D Assets:
At the beginning of the project when planning the models that I would create, I had planned to create trees, flowers and a chest. I wanted to create a number of tree models as the location concept was a forest, meaning trees would be a rather important concept, and I wanted to create flowers as it would allow me to make the forest have a more feminine feel and appeal. In the end I did carry out the creation of these models. However for my inorganic models, I had intended to create a chest. I wanted to include a chest in the world, as it would show that there is a reason for the player to be in that section of the world / show that there is some sort of reward for the player adventuring around.
However, in the end I didn’t actually create this model or the flowers, but had hoped to use ones from the asset store, but was unsuccessful due to the asset store never working.
I’d still say that the planning was useful as it allowed me to gather ideas for models, such as the planning of the tree model, gave me plans / ideas for the other trees that I ended up creating.

Audience:
I feel that my assets are somewhat appealing to my audience. However, I don’t think I can say this for all of my assets. The main way I have tried to make my assets appealing to my audience was by the colours schemes. When texturing my tress models, I wanted to use lighter colours (when texturing the sphere / leaves) that would appeal to a feminine audience. This is the main reason why four of the tree models were re textured to be pink. Although personally, I think the pink variations are actually some of the most appealing versions of the models. However, two models that I created were axes. Because of this I decided to texture them with colours to indicate a metallic look / feel. However because of this I feel as if the model may not be as appealing as possible. This isn’t to say that my assets just flat out wouldn’t appeal, but I feel like the models with the feminine colours, such as the trees would be much more appealing.

Genre:
I feel as its difficult to say if my assets are relevant for an open world genre, because this is mostly depend on the theme, as open world could be a modern day world with sci-fi like weapons, or seems like a more medieval setting.
However, if talking about a fantasy open world game, with a somewhat old setting, I feel as though most of my assets reflect those of an open world game, because they are objects that would be found in an open world game. There would be more trees visible than buildings, and there would also possibly be axes as weapons for the player to use.
Additionally, I feel as though I have been able to effectively shown my assets using one another.

Theme:
I feel as though the assets that I have created strongly reflect the fantasy genre. I feel this way as trees are commonly used throughout worlds in fantasy games. However, the main assets that reflect the fantasy theme would be the axes. I created a woodcutter axe, as well as a battle-axe for his project, as I felt that these could not only be used well in conjunction with my tree models, but also because I felt that they portrayed the fantasy theme as, if used in a game, it would allow the player to gather materials (another common mechanic of fantasy games) by cutting down trees, which I have attempted to show via the tree stump models, and the battle axe suggests some sort of combat, which the game could include.
Additionally, I tried to make the shape of the axe somewhat sharper, to show that this object has another use to cutting trees, being combat.

Research:
One of the main areas that I feel were lacking during this project was my research. During this project I did carry out research for my audience, theme, and genre, but I feel as though there isn’t enough of each, especially audience research. I believe that my audience research was the most lacking research area as there were only three pieces carried out for it. Additionally for the main research piece, being the questionnaire, I only received four responses, which meant that the information received wasn’t completely reliable when talking about my audience as a whole. Additionally, I feel that the application of my research could have been carried out better, as only small sections of my audience research was able to impact the world and modes I was creating, as many of the answer would  impact the contents of an actual game itself, which isn’t what this project was about. An example of this is how I found from multiple answers that the implementation of multiplayer would be appealing to my audience as they stated that socialising is an activity that is enjoyed in their spare time. However, as mentioned, this didn’t affect the world we were creating because this wasn’t a feature that could be easily reflected in the world itself.

I feel as though my theme research is also another area that was poorly carried out during the project, and I feel as though this area was far from perfect. I feel this way because there was only one main piece of research carried out in this section. This piece of research was the theme research that was the deciding factor for the theme we’d be using.  During this research I looked into the codes and conventions of the theme, and also looked into an example. Additionally, this is shown for two other themes that were researched by my group.
I feel as once fantasy was decided upon as our theme, further research tasks should have been carried out. However, I’d also argue how a section of my genre research fits in with my theme research, as for this I looked into open world games, but the three I looked into and talked about were also fantasy games. I still feel as though I should have looked back to my research plan more, as I had listed a number of possible research areas, mainly into popular fantasy media pieces, that I feel would have improved my research and understanding of the theme.

The final area of research was the genre research. I feel as though this research was more successful than the other areas of research as I looked into 3 different games that make use of the open world genre, but all in different ways, and then used my own opinions and knowledge of the game to analyse them. However, like most other areas of research, I feel like more could have been carried out, by further looking into similar products to the one we hoped to create.



Personal Development:
During this project, the main problem that I had to overcome was that I was required to use and learn a selection of programmes that I had never used before over a two month period. This involved software such as Unity, Autodesk Maya, as well as Photoshop. For Unity and Photoshop I effectively had next to no knowledge of. Whereas when it came to Maya, I had a basic understanding as I had carried out a basic task last project. However, these problems overcome due to the number of lessons and tutorials that we were required to follow, which taught us the basics that would be needed during the project.

Before carrying out the project I had no idea how unity worked, whereas now I can say that I understand the basics. During the project we had lessons on these basics in the form of tutorials, which allowed me to have a better understanding of the software, and in turn allowed me to have more options when creating my world. One of the main important features / tools that I learnt was the terrain tools. This was important because without the use of them I would have had to of made use of a flat terrain, which would have been rather plain and boring if used with our concept. Although the texture and shape of the terrain isn’t what we wanted, I feel as though it’s better than having a flat non-textured terrain.

Another piece of software that we covered over this project was Autodesk Maya. Before carrying out this project I had very limited knowledge as to how it worked, but I did understand some of the basics. During this project, my skills on this software have definitely developed. Although I still feel my modelling skills are at a basic level.
There were many features to Maya that I didn’t know of which have made the process of creating a model so much easier. Examples of these features would be the auto saving feature and incremental saving feature, that allows the user to one, have their work automatically saved in a set location, and two, have multiple saves / increments of the project. This is useful as the software has crashed on me quite a few times, but thankfully by making use of these features I didn’t lose too much progress as earlier version of my creations were saved. Additionally, I also learnt how to use tools such as the multi-cut tool and the target weld tool which allowed me to create more effective models.

The final piece of software that was used during the project was Photoshop. This was another piece of software that I had no idea how to use when starting this project. I feel that my skills on this software were only slightly developed and are not even at a basic level yet. I feel as though I am correct in saying this because during the project we only had two lessons using this software, and during these lesson only select features were covered (when creating a game logo / gif animation). Because of this I learnt select areas of the software, but it also means that the majority of the features are unknown to me.
There were skills that were developed though, such as making use of different layers, and also using the frame timeline to create a simple animation. However, this is definitely software that I will need to develop my skills for if I am to ever use it again.

There are a number of other areas where I have developed skills, as well as areas that have skills that I need to develop further to carry out future tasks / projects more effectively. These skills aren’t related to the software that I learnt during the project, but are more about my own personal skills, such as organisation and communication skills.

During this project we were required to show our work on a Wix website. This was another area that was new to me, as last year I uploaded my work to my WordPress website, which I had a better understanding of how to use. Because of this I feel that my website is lacking in its structure. I use the word lacking as there is a structure to my website, being the different pages which each include relevant information to the name of the page. However, I would have been more pleased with my website if I was to show each days progress in the form of posts, instead of showing my work in the form of a continuous page of mainly text and a few images. I feel as this, with the use of more images, would have made my website more appealing to look at, but also more interesting to read, as the text is separated more. However, as mentioned previously I still managed to implement some structure and order to my website by having separate pages, and then dividing the separate tasks on those pages into relevant sections (e.g. under the production section of my blog, the Maya section is separate to the Unity development section).

As mentioned in my research section, I feel as though the research skills that I made use of effectively last year were wasted, and poorly put into use. Because of this I feel that my research as a whole has not been of a suitable level for what I’m capable of. When carrying out the next two projects, I feel as though this is one of the main skills that I will need to work on, as the work carried out for this effectively shapes the project, and if the research is weak, I feel as though the final project will be weak too.
However, I feel as my research analysis somewhat makes up for my poor research, as after each piece of research I have tried to talk about how it was useful to me, and how I can use it to improve my project and make it appealing to my audience,

Another area I feel was rather weak was my level design research. I feel as though this is true because I only looked into the level design itself for one game. However, I did do additional sections of research, such as real world influences, and secondary research into a level design book.
To improve this section, I should have used my research to create more variations of my first level design / to create more designs which cover a different concept. This would have been effective as it would have showed my understanding into level design more clearly.

There are some personal skills I am somewhat happy with though, one of these being my planning skills. On my blog there is a research plan that I had created before research, as well as the schedule that I had created. I feel as the planning was carried out effectively, but following up on that research plan was the area that lacked. When thinking about my time management, I feel as though that was managed somewhat effectively in terms of production, as we have a product we can talk about. However, this product isn’t complete, and is still pretty much an alpha version of the product we wanted to create, but this was something that couldn’t be helped as it was due to the unity asset store refusing to work.

Another two skills I am somewhat happy about would be teamwork and communication. I feel as though this was successful as we managed to complete the project outlines by creating a world which includes assets that we have created. I feel that our communication skills were also somewhat successful, since my group and I talked to each other at the beginning of each lesson saying what we intended to complete, and then got on with it. Additionally we also talked about the changes that would need to be made and why we think this, as well as design choices. However, one problem with this is that this was not shown on my blog (as far as I’m aware). Additionally, I feel that having a number of separate blogs without own individual research was a problem, since it meant that our work wasn’t collated, and examined as a whole.

The final skills that I have shown during this project, and am somewhat happy with would be my production diaries. I feel as though these could have been shown / laid out more effectively, as most of them don’t have a shown date. However I feel as though the content of these diaries make up for this, since I show the process of what I’ve done, and the problems I faced.

Some of the skills I have developed will be appropriate further on in my life. Many of the skills developed during this project will be able to be used during the next two projects of the course. However, in terms of a career, only more of the personal skills will be useful, as I don’t want to attend university (at least next year) / continue this course past this year, meaning the software skills I have developed might not be needed. However, as mentioned I feel as skills such as time management and organisation, and even planning, and teamwork could be useful skills wherever I go / end up doing next year.

In conclusion I feel that this project ended somewhat successful, but I do believe that a huge number of improvements will need to be made when carrying out the next projects if I’m to achieve a passing , or preferable merit grade.
The main areas that I will need to improve upon will be all areas of research. I will need to carry out a lot more research pieces, such as various different primary and secondary research methods. I believe that more research where my audience is directly spoken too, such as group interviews could be a good way to carry out research, as it would allow more elaboration when the questions are answered. This would mean that the data received wold be much more reliable and justifiable.
Additionally, improvements would need to be made for the other two sections of research, but these improvements mainly consist of doing more, so I have a better idea of how changes need to be made to suit my audience / appeal to those who enjoy the theme or genre.
I am also somewhat happy with how our world turned out. However, the Unity asset store consistently not working was a major problem, as it prevented us making the terrain the correct style, and also stopped us from decorating (so to speak) our world and making it more appealing.
However, thanks to the assets of my group and I, I feel as though the world is still just about effective enough.