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FIRST CHALLENGE:
In this week, I made a rock in Maya using the sculpting tools in the software.
I also made some pixel-art grass that blew about.
THURSDAY WORK:
I constructed an animated camera, that shifted betwixt different positions.
I made a fully animated character using Mixamo, Maya, and Unreal.
I made a Tree in Maya, and a Ghost, and a really messed up player model.
Discussed AAA game companies in class, and talked about such things as how AAA means nothing, and also made a POWERPOINT Presentation on Sumo Digital.
Current work screenshot
this contains an animated spinning guy,
a Tree, and a Player.
I managed to implement a "new" character model! It took time, effort, and only some minor grumbling, but it WORKS NOW!
FIRST STEP: I've made two animated Pixel art examples of my chests opening.
TANGENT_00
If ever you are in doubt of your artistic skills, and feel that your work will not be well appreciated if it does not have good artistic material... take a good long look at Reboot for me, will you? Honestly. Just look at Hexadecimal. SHE HAS NO FACIAL ANIMATIONS WHATSOEVER! (Making a pixel art character line art while taking a break.)
Anchor 2
MAKING THE CHESTS:
Chest 1 was made using Multicutting, and Extruding, I used the Pixel animated sprite for refrencing.
As I show here, the chest lines up pretty well with the reference, but I cut a
few corners with the model-
-By literally removing the corners.
Here's the Chest, and Chest at the end of the animation.
It doesn't look too great, so I've remade the animation.
MAKING THE SKULL CHEST:
For most of this, I was using Bevels, Multicuts, and Filling Holes.
This model, in fact, uses at LEAST three filled holes! That's a new hole record!
SKULL CHEST ANIMATION VIDEO:
I made a BOTW Shield, and learned Texture Blends, and also used Vector Painting, Maya Bone Systems, Photoshop, (to make crosshatching) and exported the sign into Unreal.
BUGS!
Trivial to Major:
Example 1: Trivial: Hero Emblem's graphical issue with the sword hero. Their "Gravity Sword" power uses an art asset from the shield hero's move list.
Example 2: Minor: Your character text has mispellings. My example was Immortal Rogue.
Example 3: Major: If your final boss has an area overlapping with the (invisible) exit door, which allows you to strafe them endlessly without getting hurt, as long as you stood against the door.
Example 4: Game Breaking:
Unsighted. In the game, it allows sequence breaking, and this can allow you to slightly jump ahead, and head to area 5 in the wrong order. There's a merchant you talk to, that gives you a grapple hook, if you already had the grapple hook item. This dual-weild of grapple hooks is the ONLY way to enter the 5th and 6th boss dungeons. If you talk to them early, you can get the dialouge faster... but you won't get the grapple hook, and you will never be able to repeat the dialouge, thus trapping you forever.
Example 5: Princess Remedy.
NEW UPDATES:
I have made: Complex AI, and an EPOLI BANNER!
Yes. This is truly a great accomplishment.
I'll also make a little moving zeppelin, following the class lesson.
I made a blimp today, Oh Boy.
The Player has a new friend.
Their name is Blimp.
Journey Test Suite:
Can you start the game?
Can you Quit the game? *NO. Code one.*
Can you control the character?
Can you attack?
Can your attack DO something?
Can you get hurt?
Can you hurt enemies?
Can You talk to NPC's? *YES. Multiple Times.* *Fix this with a variable, named something like *In_Dialouge.*
Can you get money?
Can you Spend money?
Can you die?
Can you save?
Can you pause?
Can you UNpause?
Q.A: Test Suites.
*Half Term: Making a Turret!
The rules for making this turret:
1. I must make the 3D Turret.
2. I must make it BEFORE Half Term is Over.
3. It must have 3 parts: Base, Middle, and Head.
4. The Base must be a different object compared to the head/middle.
Return from Half Term: What got done?
Turret can shoot and defeat enemies.
Enemies follow a preset path and can spawn new waves on death and
end-of-path-reached.
I messed around with the Chaos system, and caused my turret to blow up
into particles.
I assisted on a powerpoint document, shown here:
HOMEWORK:
I must showcase development of a portfolio, which includes research into branding, font analysis, ways to advertise work, formatting of material, look at my strengths and weaknesses, and see what my brand is.
Anchor 1
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2: Job Roles write-up!
1: Game Programmer.
Makes the underlying code that allows the game to run working off of the work that the designers make.
2: Level Designer.
Designs the setting the player interacts with in the game. Also assists with environmental work, overall atmosphere, and difficulty.
3: Composer/Sound Designer.
Creates the music that is played throughout the project. Also develops audio cues, sound effects, audio-polish, and voice-acting.
4: Game Artist.
Makes the graphical assets that the player sees in the project. Also works on environments, characterization, concept art, and marketing material.
5: Story Writer.
Is responsible for writing the path the game's story takes. Also works on dialog, flavour text, characterization, and instructional material.
6: QA & Testing.
Works to find glitches, errors, and mistakes in the project, and writes up a descriptive document for the art, writing, music, and programming groups to see the problems, and fix them.
Preferred Choice:
I prefer the role of Game Programmer, because I like the challenges of developing the code to make my projects function, and as my ideal job is an independent game developer, learning programming could lead to a wide scale of useful computing jobs. I feel that being a programmer also requires more technical skill and knowledge than being an artist. Focusing on learning programming while doing art, writing, and audio on the side with self tutelage still allows me to know enough to develop games on my own.
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3: Find two job adverts for the role you chose (Game Programmer) and break down the requirements they have.
1: Xbox Rare Junior Programmer.
This is an advert for a full time Junior Programmer for the studio Rare, where the applicant would work across two games: Sea of Thieves, and Everwild. The applicant would work on bug fixing, software optimisation, and "UI and Animation Engineering". This person would also help on problem solving, cross-team collaboration, and development processes.
This applicant specifically asks for:
Good communication skills.
C++ Experience.
Enthusiasm for efficient programming and system designs.
They would like the applicant to have experience in the form of:
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A Bachelor's, or equivalent degree in Computer Science, or a similar field.
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Enthusiasm for UI and Animation Engineering.
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Familiarity with automated testing methodologies.
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Experience in Unreal Engine 4.
2: Free Radical Junior Programmer.
This advert is for a Permanent Full-time Junior Programmer with a salary of around 25,000 pounds a year.
It requires the applicant to be able to:
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Work independently while writing code and problem solving, and be able to properly show initiative.
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Be able to work as a team, being able to communicate effectively, regularly share work, and to clearly document your work.
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Have the ability to follow a technical specification.
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Know how to use C++ and Blueprints in the Unreal Engine 4, which includes bug testing methods, and good software design.
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It is advised to have Networking skills with the Unreal Engine, and some proficiency in the Python or Bash languages.​
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4: Make a SWOT Chart.
Strengths:
I can use Unreal Engine 4 Blueprints, the Godot GDScript language, Maya 3D modelling software, GarageBand, Aesprite, and Procreate. I can draw digitally with a hand drawn style and in a pixel-art style. I can compose music on piano, and guitar. I have designed multiple small prototype games and a few projects following a technical brief.
Weaknesses:
I am not very skilled at dealing with deadlines, and I often have difficulty with reading and understanding technical briefs.
I have trouble with wording my writing sometimes, which causes issues when trying to research issues and when writing my documentation. I am not proficient in any language besides GDScript and Unreal Blueprints, and I find it hard to start learning new languages.
Opportunities:
I have access to good software and support at home, and I also have tutelage and professional software at the Confetti College.
I have parental support while at home and a parent who does software development in a professional capacity, so I can learn from them.
Threats:
I'd need to pay for equipment when my equipment breaks.
For the Rare offer, I'd have to commute to Twycross, which is around 4 hours by train – the only way I'd reasonably get there.
I still have issues with completely understanding the wording of briefs.
My ADHD leads to tendencies to get easily distracted and forgetful.
Sometimes I hyperfixate on something different from what I want to complete.
Burnout.
Lack of Motivation.
Eyestrain from long-term computer usage.
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5: SMART TARGETS:
SMART is an acronym of steps to help set goals.
Is the target SPECIFIC? Is it detailed?
Is the target MEASURABLE? Can you graph your progression along it?
Is the target ACHEIVEABLE? Is it a reasonable goal?
Is the target RELEVANT? Is it related to what you're trying to do long term?
Is the target TIMELY? Does it have an END DATE/DEADLINE/MILESTONES?
SMART TARGETS:
1: I will spend around 30 minutes every day working to complete my coding personal projects. Since my list of personal projects contains a wide variety of project concepts to be built in 2D, 3D, Unreal, or Godot, completing this personal games roster allows me to practice multiple engines, art styles, and get better at writing development logs.
I will stop this at the end of the month, and review my work.
2: I will spend at least 30 minutes each day working on graphic design and creation. This can be hand drawn, digital 2D, 3D, or pixel-art. 30-minutes a day allows me to slowly but surely become better at graphic design and creation, so I can develop game assets in my own time.
I will stop this at the end of the month, and review my work.
3: I will try to do 30 minutes each day working in a coding software, either Godot or Unreal Engine. I plan to do this for a minimum of a week.
4. I will spend a minimum of 10 minutes daily designing, planning, and editing my game premises/concepts/documentation of ideas. This time will be spend in a digital or analog format, and would end with a documentation sheet to follow along to, and develop a game.
I will stop this at the end of the month, or at the end of a project's proof-of-concept/release, and review my work.
5: Work on gaining proficiency in C++ using documentation, books, and tutorials in order to learn the language. This directly links to my chosen job-roles – many, many industry jobs require familiarity in C++.
I will learn by doing and try to make a (very very basic) project in the Unreal Engine that works with the C++ knowledge I have learned. This project would be worked on over a month-long period, with review notes made each week, until the end of a month.
By the end of this month period, I would do a small review discussing what went well, what went poorly, and what I'd need to practice more. I would then plan on what new things to research or repeat in order to become more proficient in the C++ language.
6. Timely Plan for Developing Practice.
Whilst I am going through my Confetti Games Technology course, I will be working at home on a variety of independent coding projects in order to become more proficient at the Unreal and Godot engines. When my time at Confetti is over, I will take part in Computer Science, Math, and Art A levels in order to become more proficient in a wider variety of coding and artistic aspects while still working on personal coding projects at home. I plan to go to university on a computer science course to learn even more about computer programming. The working-while-at-home and Art A level allows me to get better at a wider variety of subjects than just programming, as I can do art, music, and writing at home, and get even better at art via the art A level.
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7: Analyse a company.
Breaking down a company's identity can help me identify what works and doesn't while I'm trying to create my own company identity. What is their identity? Who's the face of it? What are their values, and who do they market towards?
Reaper.
Identity:
What are the colors and icons, and what do these things represent?
Black, reds, and browns are the colors.
The browns are the skull colouration, as the skull is a fantasy icon representing the fantasy game figures the company makes.
The black and red colours are serious and professional colours, as the company is a professional organization, so the colouring has to fit that.
A logo with black, red, and a massive skull seems like a pretty cool fantasy logo and if the logo didn't have the skull, it would just seem to be an especially clear text logo, so it's a win both ways.
Purpose:
What does this company do?
To make products for gamers, artists, and roleplaying game designers.
Person:
Who is an important figure of this company?
Ed and Dave Pugh. Founders.
Target Association:
What's this company's audience?
Middle-aged people, or young adults.
Retailers, roleplaying players and designers.
Artists/painters Tabletop game creators
Values:
What are the values of this group?
To make high quality, inexpensive products for tabletop players and creators, and painters.
They aim to have a good community which fosters collaboration, and acceptance.
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8: Create your brand concepts.
Fancy Fairy.
Cute art, monochrome colors.
Purpose:
Creator of focused idea games, cute art, and interesting soundtracks.
Person:
Ben Pierce, or FANCY FAIRY.
Target Association:
Independent development,
weird and slightly out there games.
Values:
Makes idiosyncratic games that are challenging-but-fair, humorous, and interesting.
My Mission:
Be a trusted developer who makes interesting and understandable games enjoyed by the populus.
My Voice:
A game developer who makes games focusing on a single point. Good story, good artistic design, or good mechanic.
My Style:
Monochrome logo, inspired by the Fancy Fairy and Chad comic series. Legible font, always Atkinson Hyperlegible if possible
You can currently find me on Itch, Instagram, and the Fancy Fairy Design site.
I want to be liked, appreciated, and trustworthy.
Colors:
I use black and some greyscale.
This is due to the original Fancy Fairy Comic being
essentially black and white, with a few accents every
so often, and it's also helpful for me so I can
tell everything apart for my low-vision.
A simple black and white scheme is also used
by "professional" companies, so using a
serious color scheme for my site fosters an
atmosphere of professionalism.
Black.
White.
Three words related to me:
Clever, Unique, and Trustworthy.
Why I chose these 4 logos to examine:
1: Reaper's logo is a the text of "Reaper" in the Albertus font, which is very clear and recognizable, and the (rather complicated) skull logo representing a fantasy undead. I chose this for the personal relations to me, as a parent of mine works for the company as a programmer, and because I find it to be very well put together.
2: Dwarfstar Games' logo is a simple color with good text on an interesting planetary image. I chose it as an example of a monochrome logo and it has a clear font. I am doing a similar thing with my own logo.
3: Infinity Blade's logo is a bit complex, but it works well in any colour, and it's recognizable.
4: Outpost Gamma's logo is often just the use of the OUTPOST GAMMA text in the yellow colour, but they sometimes also have the sci-fi solider appear every so often.
Animal I chose?
(For class assignment to pick any animal, real or legendary.) Swan of Tuonela. (Mythical Swan featured in the Kalevala)
4 Logos I like:
(top to bottom)
Reaper Miniatures.
Dwarfstar games.
Infinity Blade logo.
Outpost Gamma.
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9: Make logo designs, and also get feedback on your work, showing at least ONE change you made to your brand from that feedback.
I have sketched up 5 alternate designs to a Fancy Fairy Design logo. I made a form to also get feedback on my images.
What did people say about my images? The cute art style was appreciated, along with the character shading. Images 1, 4, and 5 were described as a bit too cluttered, and most of the negative responses were discussing the overall simplicity of the images, even though the simplicity of the art was also described as a good point in the first three.
Two changes I made to my brand was:
1: Drawing my final logo digitally to have to be less "cluttered", instead of a hand drawn logo.
2: Changing the name to Fancy Fairy Design, instead of the original Fancy Fairy Co.
Testing Fonts:
I chose these fonts and made a survey to ask people which ones they though were the most legible and which set looked the nicest. The group who I surveyed about the fonts is the same group that I surveyed about the images.
All possible fonts I chose.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The first grouping, that people felt was the "nicest" and "most legible"
Atkinson Hyperlegible Regular, and the font of
Atkinson Hyperlegible Italic.
The second grouping, which was not appreciated as much.
Lucida Console as a header, as it is more unique compared to the other two.
Manit as a middle text.
Helvetica as the basic neutral.
The third grouping, which was disliked the most, because the font styles did not match well enough.
Lucida Console as header.
Press Start 2P as base.
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10. Make a STYLESHEET:
BRAND:
This brand is a "serious" and trustworthy brand that uses monochrome colouring on the site. I use it especially because it is easily visible to me.
On the main site, I use Helvetica as the font since it is a quite legible font without me having to import a new font set. This is also a choice I like because, despite my appreciation of Atkinson Hyperlegible, it is not a widely used font. Using Helvetica clears up that issue, as people know it and it's still a clear font to read.
I will still use use Atkinson Hyperlegible as the font in my games since it was chosen by feedback and personal choice as text for best legibility.
If I ever need a pixel-art looking font, I use the Press Start 2P font.
The logo is a cute handdrawn mascot, Fancy Fairy, the
main character of my eponymous 2019 comic series.
11: Research two portfolios, and discuss what you like and dislike about them.
I've selected the portfolio web pages of two artists who have contributed to a number of games I've enjoyed over the years: musician Chris Christodulou and artist Kyle Barrett. I'm looking at these from the perspective of a person with low vision, which I am.
Portfolio 1: Chris Christodulou
Chris Christodolou's portfolio/discography section of his site is very cluttered. The good points I like about the site is the black font on the yellow, and the good spacing between the squares of music albums.
The site is set on Bandcamp, which is a good choice for a composer.
The bad points about the page is that the header image overlaps with two links, making them illegible, and the links do not visibly react when you hover over them. I feel that the site layout is nice, but the graphics choices causes the site to be worse, as the header makes some text illegible, and the soundboard background is far too distracting.
Portfolio 2: Kyle Barrett
This portfolio has a black background, with white text on a header bar, and a section of images in the center of the screen.
The good points are that the white-on-black looks nice, and the squares of selections is very visually gripping.
The bad points is that the white text is also thin, making it hard to read, and the squares do not show anything to DO with them, until you hover over them. Once you hover over the cubes, they dim and deliver text on the projects, but they don't dim enough. The squares of images do not have an explanation on what they do, so you cannot access the pages of information on the subjects shown without clicking first on the squares. The issue where the header image overlapping text causes illegibility with Chris Christodolou's site also appears with the dimmed squares containing text.
12. Self Portfolio plan.
The Pumpkin Punting Project showcase page works excellently to simply show the reader what the game is. It contains a short snappy video, images of gameplay, a way to download and play the game, and the page talks about what's interesting about the game.
I think there are a minimum of three things a good portfolio page needs:
Project Showcase: What will people get from the project? You get information about a game. Examples include: work-in-progress images, a gameplay trailer, and perhaps a demo.
Project Context: What is it about? This is a writeup/blurb talking about your project. We can use this space to go into more depth and perhaps include things that a casual visitor may find interesting: lore, story elements, places you drew inspiration from.
Role in the Project: What specific roles did I perform for project? This is where you say what you did while working on the project. In my case, it will be ALL THE THINGS! I can go into more detail about technical details and maybe show off different media like music and renders.
How I release work on my portfolio:
1. Release a page with a basic explanation of the project I'm working on. This page will be on Itch and the main site.
2. Use social media to document my work during the development process. This is art on Instagram, Itch.io, and the site, developing notes in Itch.io and the site, and videos on Youtube.
3. When the project is done, I have a release video on Youtube, art on Instagram, and a release page on Itch and the main site. (This is a more polished Project Showcase with final images and a demo from the final work.)
13. Create an Online Portfolio that shows off your personal work, and the Portfolio Brief.
I did this by making the Fancy Fairy Design Wordpress site. (Click link above)
14. Make a social media post showing off a game project of yours.
I have done this many times using Instagram. You can find the work at Fancy_Fairy_Comics.
(but it requires you to long into Instagram first.)
15. Behaving Professionally.
What is expected of a professional in the industry?
1. You're timely. You come into work on time, you complete tasks in the time given, and you respond to messages and requests punctually. If you're working and you are going to go over the deadline, you need to notify people and explain why you are going over.
1b. If you're going to participate in an interview, you should be at the meeting place BEFORE the requested time. An approximate time is to try and be at the place around 10 minutes before the time given.
2. You behave well. You listen to coworkers and superiors. You react well to criticism and negative behavior. You do not act in ways that may insult or offend others.
2b. In an interview, this means you listen, avoid causing an interruption in the conversation, and speak clearly.
3. Have a good appearance. Dress codes may change per group, but the baseline is business casual. Be clean and groomed which includes hair, dress, and showering hygiene.
3b. In an interview, you should dress respectably, and be well groomed. This, besides just being a good choice, also shows that you've put in an effort to show that you're taking this seriously.
4. You're expected to NOT release important information about your company's projects. The release of important information could cause the loss of people's jobs, or in an over-the-top situation, the end of the company, if it's really bad. To stop this, there's a contract called an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement.) that binds you to not discuss the work you do in the company until the project is completed, or after a set date.
Though, this does depend on WHAT you mention. If you discuss how you like the hair of one NPC in a released game you helped on, that's most likely going to be okay, but if you explain how you made a system to change the hair's movement depending on the surrounding environment that only this game uses... you definitely CANNOT discuss it. The rule of thumb is "Don't discuss information that's not already been released to the public."
16: How do you act in an interview?
Talk clearly.
Be there before the stated time of the interview. Approximately 5-10 minutes before.
Act confident, comfortable, and polite.
You do NOT act too formal, sloppy, or too casual.
You want to show the interviewer that you're good for the role and behaving like a mature adult is a good way to do this.
If you need clarification on a point, ask.
Be engaging and act engaged.
17: Asking Interview questions:
I write up an amount of interview questions. I will be asked these questions in the Interview Point.
What is a strength of yours?
What is a weakness you have?
What did you do before this?
What is your life goal?
What do you enjoy about this work most?
When was a time you collaborated with coworkers and it went badly, and how did you try to help?
Please explain how you act during a closing deadline on a project.
How do you hold yourself in a distressing situation?
18: The Mock Interview Video.
https://youtu.be/Ml1ELdeevwM
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19: Self Assessment
Over the two years of this course, I have become more proficient in the Unreal Engine, as I have made six projects using the software:
​
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The Click-to-Play, which taught me the virtues of planning out your work in advance so you have time to make all the assets you need.
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The Unreal Platformer, that showed me that my level design is brutal, and that having your play testing done by others is the best way to catch things you might have normally missed.
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The Tiny-Room assignment was a project that helped my understanding of how to control UI, implement images, and use audio attenuation.
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The Creative Project, which gave me more knowledge on UI, and where I figured how to implement 2D characters into a 3D world.
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The Twin-Stick Portfolio Brief project was where I made multiplayer characters, got better at implementing feedback, created a fun and changeable gameplay loop, and became much better at making an interesting portfolio page.
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The CIR project was where I learned (even more about) the importance of planning, white boxing, time-management, and play testing/editing.
I have learned how to use the Maya 3D modelling software, and have made multiple 3D models during this course.
​
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I made a table, baseboards, and a chair for the Tiny-Room project, and in that project I discovered how to repair issues when complex geometry connects weirdly. (Remember to close your geometry!)
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I made a pumpkin and chess-piece player model character for the Twin-Stick Portfolio Brief.
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I created a castle gate model for the CIR project.
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I built a turret for a tower defense game.
​
As an extra side assignment, I made two chests in Maya based off of starting designs I drew in class.
Non-software things I have learned is how to write a development log, make feedback forms, and verbally discuss my work with others.
Points I have been lacking in is the habit to not recognise when I am going on the wrong path, as I have had situations where I misunderstood assignments, and then spent time working on the wrong aspect of my project.
I have also had problems when making time-management documents, as I mostly preferred to write lists of what to do next, instead of using any time-management software.
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Ways to digitally advertise your game: (Extra Section.)
A game that I have played recently using digital advertising – Crosscode, by Radical Fish Games.
Crosscode used:
Developer Communication. They posted regular videos of the work.
Ad videos. They made trailers to get people interested in their project.
Developer GIFS, Forums and talks. The devs went on a variety of platforms and online locations to build interest and engage their potential audience. Online locations include: Twitter, web forums, and a blog on their company site.
All this is to build up an active player base that can then, as extra advertising, takes on the word-of-mouth promotion of their game.
How do I advertise my games?
I use Instagram releasing of art to try and get people invested in my work.
I write up on my website every so often, and talk about released games on it.
I release my games on Itch.io, and write up advertisements on the "released" tab of the site.
Some things I can work on for better work:
1: Layout and design is important to keep consistent.
2: Showcasing videos and animated content is most often more effective than stable images.
3: Try to show your best work first.
4: Recognise your brand identity and stick with it.
5: Try to keep your work legible.
6: Read the briefs and assignments firstly, and try to understand what they are asking you to do.
7: Plan your work. This is good for development, and marketing.
8. Try to build a healthy community around my work.
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