Year 3: Final evaluation (21/09/2015 - 29/04/2016)

Final evaluation (21/09/2015 - 29/04/2016)

What I have been asked to do:

For this year I was asked to choose a subject of games design to specialist them and create a full year long project. the specialist I chose  was the interactive specialist as creating code and gameplay mechanics is what I hope to do in the future as the job.

The idea I had for my project this year was to create a tower defense/real-time strategy game that would employ many different game mechanics and would work as a sort of showpiece of what I could do with a game engine.

The idea of this game was that it would be a wave-based tower defence game in which the player has to survive as long as possible this is an idea I've been developing parallel to my work in the current years but now I'm beginning to implement them together.

Good points:
When  creating this project the role of points I did enjoy most of the coding within blueprint was thoroughly enjoyable and I found it interesting and enjoyable to code multiple systems and learn how to code new features that I had no idea how to do before

Another part of the development cycle I really liked was the playtesting session as it was really interesting to see other people's take on the game and also to hear their ideas which sometimes reveal information about the game I had completely overlooked an hour and have allowed me to implement new features to the game that I would not for of previously

Bad points:
upon reaching the end of this project walking back I can see many areas where I can improve and many bad points of the projects that stick out to me. One of the main point is I feel that the idea of this game overall is not good enough to be a full game on a turn feel that its concept is just not quite there and if I was to choose my project began I would definitely not recreate this game would probably try use another idea.

Another bad points and I found with my project was my responsibility and that was I was not able to conduct as much play testing sessions as I would have liked. and if I was to redo the project again I would definitely have given myself a deadline to finish the main game and have a longer period to play as it can reveal so much negativity about your game but you can improve a felt that with more time it would have made my game many times over more impressive and better for the player.

My thoughts on the year:
overall my thoughts on the year  where that it was very interesting and enlightening and has really given me a clear path to aim for when I leave university. This path will be along the coding side of gaming as I feel there is more suits what I  like to do and it's also in like me to the real realities of working on a project for a year.  working on a game for a year really offers insights into problems that can arise over time if the core concept is not stable not to say that the concept of my game was totally unstable fourths I think if I was to read you this project again I would definitely of spent more time breaking down the idea of a game before committing to. 

Year 3: Week 28 Summary (25/04/2016 - 29/04/2016)

Summary (25/04/2016 - 29/04/2016)

Events This week:

a final group session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implemented more features into the game .Begin to finalise game mechanics and features

Progress on different projects:
I have finalized the game and have implemented the last of the artwork needed the game is now fully complete though I am very disappointed that I only managed to get a limited amount play testing feedback to the game I felt that with more time it would have vastly improved the gameplay performance and made the game a lot more enjoyable for people.

Year 3: Week 27 Summary (18/04/2016 - 22/04/2016)

Summary (18/04/2016 - 22/04/2016)

Events This week:

a group session on Thursday where I managed to ask some of my fellow course mates to conduct play sessions with me.

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implemented more features into the game .Begin to finalise game mechanics and features

Progress on different projects:
I managed  to ask fellow classmates if they would buy my game and give feedback  to it. The information was stored in a survey by asking to complete and some of them gave some really good ideas into new metallic strip about the game as well as sort of changes that could make the game are these were such things as title up the UI interface as well as implemented to tour real which has been fully integrated now and as well as add some small mechanics to different the source systems within the game.

Year 3: Week 26 Summary (11/04/2016 - 15/04/2016)

Summary (11/04/2016 - 15/04/2016)

Events This week:

A group teaching session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
This week I managed to conduct a small playtesting group of close friends to play my game they offered some surprisingly useful imports of small mechanics to change which I did implement in the game. As well as cleaning up blueprint scripts and making a more efficient and as well as general repairs and fixes throughout the game

Year 3: Week 25 Summary (04/04/2016 - 08/04/2016)

Summary (04/04/2016 - 08/04/2016)

Events This week:

group session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implemented more features into the game .Begin to finalise game mechanics and features

Progress on different projects:
Though it has taken a long time the game is now fully ready for playtesting to begin with they can be our lot longer than I thought it would an  has really caught in to my playtesting time that I was hoping to get meaning that I will have less time to implement these changes in less time to improve my game which to be honest is made me a bit disappointed.

Year 3: Week 24 Summary (14/03/2016 - 18/03/2016)

Summary (14/03/2016 - 18/03/2016)

Events This week:

.A group session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implemented more features into the game .Begin to finalize game mechanics and features

Progress on different projects:
Most of the features of the saving system have been implemented within the game only a few UI and cosmetic features still need to be implemented to have this feature complete which means playtesting can begin once the system is fully integrated.

Year 3: Week 23 Summary (07/03/2016 - 11/03/2016)

Summary (07/03/2016 - 11/03/2016)

Events This week:

A group session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
the mega mutations of them fully completed and work has started on the sealing system like game this is the ability of the players to save their towers within the game. This presents quite a challenge me as I have never dealt with saving systems within a game but after doing some research into the mire it seems that it is not so daunting task and may be completed within this month.

Year 3: Week 22 Summary (29/02/2016 - 04/03/2016)

Summary (29/02/2016 - 04/03/2016)

Events This week:

Another group teaching session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
half of the mega upgrades  have been implemented into the game now which upon our tower reaching tier 5  these upgrades then manifest themselves in the towers and the offer individual special abilities to each tower.  these upgrades have been very easy to implement and were surprisingly quick to install and create with my game I should have the wrestling complete the following week and also than can be given on the savings system for my game.

Year 3: Week 21 Summary (22/02/2016 - 26/02/2016)

Summary (22/02/2016 - 26/02/2016)

Events This week:

Another group teaching session on Thursday.

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
upon the completion of the "Tier"  upgrading system in open the doors to new pathways to more intricate mechanics to be implemented within the game. One of the main ideas I've had to implement is a sort of special upgrading system that I've not yet name but this will give specialist upgrades to set towers though more planning has to be put in before this mechanic can be implemented.

Year 3: Week 20 Summary (15/02/2016 - 19/02/2016)

Summary (15/02/2016 - 19/02/2016)

Events This week:

We had a group of teaching session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
I have now finalized the "Tier"  upgrading system of the my game and the last of its mechanics of the development of towers can now upgrade and get a increase to the default properties over time within the game.

Year 3: Week 19 Summary (08/02/2016 - 12/02/2016)

Summary (08/02/2016 - 12/02/2016)

Events This week:

No classes this week

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
I've made a lot of headway in the development of the "tier"  up grading system and I gave and  are now calibrating it to the many different types of towers within the game this have to be done on an individual basis that each tower.

Year 3: Week 18 Summary (01/02/2016 - 05/02/2016)

Summary (01/02/2016 - 05/02/2016)

Events This week:

.on the Tuesday and had a group session

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project .Implements comments from playtesting into the game project

Progress on different projects:
with the current state of the game is unable to  undergo playtest and sessions because not a north of the core features of gameplay are implemented yet and playtesting can not commence until all the systems implemented and affect gameplay otherwise the playtesting would be useless.

I've also now begun the implantation of an upgrade system into the game based on tier levels of the towers this all works with a master blueprints  though a lot more work will have to go into it before and is complete  but I'm confident that's once is complete it will offer a significant benefits to gameplay

Year 3: Week 17 Summary (25/01/2015 - 29/01/2015)

Summary (25/01/2015 - 29/01/2015)

Events This week:

.Another group session on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
the Master blueprint script has now been fully completed and in fermented to the game as well as it's integration with the other towers within the game this is now set the base framework for Tower upgrading which is the next process I am going to embark on the game.

Year 3: Week 16 Summary (18/01/2015 - 22/01/2015)

Summary (18/01/2015 - 22/01/2015)

Events This week:

.lesson on Thursday

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
The master blueprint project within my game is nearing completion with most of its integration to the rest of the game complete though its integration with some other systems have proved troubling to complete and taken a lot more time than expected.

Year 3: Week 15 Summary (11/01/2016 - 15/01/2016)

Summary (11/01/2016 - 15/01/2016)

Events This week:
on the Thursday of this week there was a feedback session with or choose regarding our submission the week before.

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Implements more mechanics into the evolution game project

Progress on different projects:
In my blueprint work I have created a base design for the "Master blueprint" as well as start to create some of the main code on how it will function and implementing its connection love the system within the game

Year 3: Week 14 Summary (04/01/2015 - 08/01/2015)

Summary (04/01/2015 - 08/01/2015)

Events This week:

As this was a deadline we will be had to submit the first part of our project and a dissertation this was the only time of the week I went to university on the Monday.

Learning agreement schedule of work:

.Hand in dissertation
.Implements mechanics into game project

Progress on different projects:
Made some small progress on the development of the artificial intelligence for the game as well as began the basis of construction of the what I'm calling the "master template" blueprints. this will be the main source of all the upgrading and will be the general foretold for the development of future mechanics.

Year 3: Game update: Tower preview image

Tower preview image

The final update to my game is the implementation of a preview image of the tower for the spawned/selected.  This lets the player see what the tower looks like before the constructive giving them a small preview.

Year 3: Game update: Difficulty levels

Coming to the end of development to my game and so to implement a level selection system so that players can choose the level of difficulty when entering the game. There are three difficulties to choose from easy medium and hard as well as a test level which is made from marketing purposes. 

For the easy level the player is given 2500 of each resource as well as the enemy spawn points for warlord units are limited two  units maximum from each bomb points. And the Congress AI limited to 5 spawns per spawn points.

For the medium difficulty  the player is given  2000 resources each and the spawn counts is reduced to 4 warlords units and seven for concrete units.

The hard difficulty the player is only given 1500 resources as well as the spawn for warlord units been increased to 7 and four concrete unit 15.

 

Year 3: Game update: 1st play session feedback implementation

From the previous questionnaire I been reading some of the feedback comments people left and made some in implementations into the game is mainly being variable changes decreasing the difficulty in altering some values of different towers.

Enemy:

Enemy AI: Now scale up 50% every wave instead of 50% every five waves

Enemy AI: Conqueror: Speed increased by 25%

Enemy AI: Warlord: Health plus 100 units

User Interface:

Tower menu: Reduced space in between tiles cleaning up the interface of

Tower description: Slight condense of background image as well as talking in of certain UI elements.

Year 3: Game update: 1st play session feedback results

1st play session feedback results 

I managed to have played test in certain within my year group at the University. managed to get a number of people to play my game and answer my questionnaire to give me feedback.

Question: How long did you play the game for?

Question: How would you rate this game from 1 to 10?

Question: Was the gameplay easy to engage in?

Question: Was there any part of the gameplay you didn't fully understand?

Question: Were the game controls easy to use and understand?

Question: If there were parts of the control system you do not fully understand or think can make the game get better, please list them below.

User interface

Question: Was the main user interface easy to use and understand? 

Question: Was the tower/unit selection interface clear and easy to understand?

Question: If there were any problems or you have a suggestion regarding the user interface, please list them below.

Mechanics

Question: Did you understand the how to use the different types of towers in the game?

Question: Was the Upgrading/Mutations system difficult to understand?

Question: If there was a part of these mechanics you didn't understand, please list them below.

Game balance

Question: On a scale from 1-10, do you think the game is balanced?

Question: If there were parts of the game you thought were unbalanced, please list them below.

Feedback

Question: If you have any ideas on how to improve the game in anyway please list them hear all feedback is very valuable to make the game even better.

My thoughts on the feedback

I did have concerned about sample size for these results as it was only 4 to 5 people buy completed the survey. The comments may be offering valid criticism and good points to implement the game feels like some of the statistical evidence may not be representative of mass groups opinion of the game.

There was a lot of interesting feedback in regards to written responses from the recipients of the questionnaire I'm going after individually analyse each comments and see if new changes can be commented based on these.

Year 3: Game update: update: Overtime empower of AI

Overtime empower of AI 

An update to the AI I decided to implement the game was that the longer the AI stayed in the game the stronger they become this would only work on instances of the AI for example AI that spawn on each wave not carry over the strength. The way this was meant to work this that from when AI lawns it has a delay timer on it and after two minutes the damage of the AI is doubled and will be doubled every two minutes therefore after. This  

This feature is implemented in order to prevent abuses of the game mechanics. the way players can take advantage of the gay mechanics is by using towers that can take a lot of damage on AI but don't do much damage effectively creating a buffer between AI and towers then using this time to collect as many resources as possible and farm new upgrades without receiving to higher waves and bass high difficulty allowing them to gain upgrades which is not intended upon the gameplay path.

it is a relatively simple script and was very easy to implement it simply checks to see if the unit is attacking and if false just doubles the unit after damage.

Year 3: Game update: Making a survey

Making a survey 

As I'm about to begin play  play testing sessions with my year group and it creates a survey for people to complete once they have played the game to give me vital feedback on how to improve certain systems in the game.

The fist page of the questionnaire asks how long did you play the game for how the player would rate the game out of 10 and then proceeds to ask them if the gameplay was engaging and if they could give any information  if they found the gameplay or an engaging and then asked about the control systems and if the control systems were unclear if the participants could list any way that they could make them better.

the second part of the questionnaire revolves around the user interface is asks the participants if they understood the user interface and found a easy to understand this is a scale from 1 to 10 it then asks them if the power/unit selection interface was clear and easy and this is a scale from 1 to 10 it then asks for their opinion of the resigning problems already suggestions to improve the user interface that the  participants could write them down.

the third page revolves around mechanics if  first asks the player whether they  understood how to use the different types of tower within the game and is well asks them if they  under stored the upgrading/mutation system and if they had any comments to say about either to write them down at the bottom.

the fourth page asks about getting balance and ask the players if they bought the game is balanced whether they fought  there may be any issues in the game regarding to balance for them to listen down.

The final page asks for users to give any reliable feedback they think they have may improve the game this is so to catch  people's ideas they have the game which think they might make them.

Year 3: Game update: AI structures

AI structures

currently the AI spawn from a simple cube structure but keeping in the name of the game where the enemy are barbarians as ads create a barbarian camp in a 3-D modelling package than imported into the game.

Year 3: Game update: New environment

New environment

upon creating the new models for each individual tower I also decided to create a new environments of the game to be certain the idea was the  place with a player could spawn plants would be green surrounded by trees while the outskirts of this would be a desert where the enemies came from.

Year 3: Game update: Tower models

Upon the completion of most of the mechanics of the game I decided that the towers in the game needed a new 3-D makeover and I decided to create all-new 3-D models and textures that each individual tower to make them better fit in with the game.

Sunflower:

Tree:

Disperser:

Venus trap:

Ent protector:

Ent fortifier:

Death Orchid:

Sniper Leaf: