The End is Here Part 2

Welcome to the end of the semester the time where no one really sleeps, but its ok because you can see the light on the horizon. Obviously things are crazy for us. Were working non stop to finish this game. Over the past week i have worked on the poster, as well as worked on finalizing the UI, making some final assets, and finishing up my levels. I had been working on the poster simultaneously with Evan over the course of the last week bouncing ideas off of each other, and we had a pretty rushed time period to get it finished. In the end we ended up going with Evans design. I wish i had more time to work on it, so mine could have been finished. I have also been working on finalizing the menu art, and UI. As of right now there are only two UI elements that are left to do. The account creation screen, and i need to redo the 3-2-1 countdown from the feedback i revived. On top of that i am finishing my levels tomorrow. They have had art in them for the past few weeks, but now I've finally had some time to put some love into them. I also finished a new asset that we've been putting off for awhile. The breakable objects for the road. Its going to be a mad dash to the finish line for the midnight tacos, but i know that we're going to have a sweet looking game come Tuesday.

The end is here Part 1

Well here ends another week, and we now only have two weeks left before the show. Its really crunch time, so lets cut to the chase. Over the past week i have spent my time arting out levels, and working on finalizing the 2D assets we have/need. I still have 5 2D assets to finish over the next week. To go into specifics I have been working on the poster, but it still needs a lot of work. I need to finish the countdown for the beginning of the level. I also need to work on our menus, because they need some love. I have to finish up the in game GUI, and last but not least I need to create some art for the leader board. Because I have so much GUI related stuff to finish I am taking a "temporary leave of absence" from working on levels. I hope to be right back at it by Sunday night at least. Its going to be a long weekend getting everything done. Everything will look awesome by this time next week, and I am ready to push myself and my team to create the best product possible.

The end is really here, and its hard to believe

Beta

Oh man Beta is coming up, and I have a lot to accomplish over the next week. On top of the super busy schedule I had this week. Over the last week I had finished two more levels with art in them as you've seen in the build. I am also working on finalizing some U.I. elements, as well as working on our Poster. I am hoping to have all of this done by class on Wednesday; if not a little bit later than class (Thursday; Friday if need be). 

As far as this week is concerned i got two levels done, and will be finishing up another level today. I am finished with making assets outside of making set piece assets for each of the levels. I am hoping to have time to finish two tomorrow, but am unsure of my schedule because of the Accepted Students day that I am working tomorrow (Saturday). By class on Wednesday I should have all of my levels arted out, and hopefully some of them should be polished (Lighting, etc). Everything is coming up really fast, and my time is super important to balance at this point. I foresee many sleepless nights on the horizon.

As far as the U.I. I have everything planned out, but not its just a matter of polish, critique, and getting it implemented. The poster needs a lot of work as well, but i don't think that it will take nearly as much time as everything else. So it is on the backburner right now. 

I have a lot to do, and the pressure is on now. If only i could work without sleep...

Time to get to work.  

The Sprint To Beta

So Alpha is now behind us, and we are sprinting to beta. Over the past week i have been designing the new stop light animation for the beginning of the levels, as well as finishing levels, and making set piece assets for the levels. All if coming together, and now that we have the levels whiteboxed we can art all of them out, and tweak them before the senior show. It is going to be a tight deadline to meet, but i am more than confident in my abilities, and the abilities of my team to get this game "done and polished". This brings me to what i will be working on.

Over the next week i want to have another level fully arted out, and i plan to have preliminary art in the rest of my levels. That way when we show off the game, and bring it to testing they aren't just looking at a blank background or obviously repeating planes. I am also going to finish up the in game G.U.I with the stop light 3-2-1-go feature. That shouldn't take that much time to finish. It is just a matter of testing to see what fits better. Along with these tasks I will be finishing up set piece assets, and requests as they come to me.

I am sure all of this work will keep me busy over the next couple of weeks. I will also have a better sense of what i should prioritize after our friday meeting taking place later. Even though i already have an idea of what i should focus on (arting out the levels), but still there may be different request or need for the week.

Well thats all i've got for now.

The Push For Alpha - Week 10

So today ends another week of work. We're starting to hit our stride, but we are still a bit behind. Over the past week i have been working on rapid iteration of the U.I. because we need it functional and in game for alpha. I have concepted around 30 rapid prototypes. Now that we at least have a solid placeholder we can get it in came, and i can keep iterating. As well as working on the U.I. i have also been working on the environments. In total i have made around 70 assets for the mines, and city level. Seeing as we are in a good place with that I am taking a break from asset making for at least a week. I will be devoting the rest of my time to arting out the levels. Along with that i will be concepting some set pieces to make for the levels I am in charge of.

I am going to be spending a lot of time on the levels over this next week. We're hoping to have at least two "complete" levels by the end of the week, and at least one done for class. Its time for us all to kick it into high gear to get this game where it needs to be. I am excited to see how the game comes together of the next few weeks.

Thats all for this weekly update

Spring Break

Spring Break is coming to an end, and fun was had by all. I focused on getting rest a lot over break. With the end of the semester coming up quickly I have a feeling sleep and I aren't going to be too friendly anymore. What I really did was catching up on work this week, and I uploaded all of my final assets to the repo. I will be arting out the levels this weekend. I'm pretty excited to finally get art into the levels. I feel like that is way behind where is should be. Oh well we still have some time. Also this weekend i plan on having at least 20 new assets up for review with Chris. This will give each of the levels a good amount of variety for the time being. By the next class we should have around 4 arted out levels. I haven't heard from Chris as to what hes been doing, but i'm sure i'll see it soon enough. So it could be more. Along with that i should have a new U.I. Design to present the group and the class.

SPRING BREAK

This week saw the end of another sprint. It was very short, so I didn't get a lot done. But now that spring break is here I'll get yo art out my levels and create more assets. As well as get a nice amour. Of rest. All of my assets are ready for engine, and I will have 50 assets on the repo. So the rating out process will be underway this weekend. To deal with the nuisance of spring break I'm staying in Vermont for any possible in person meeting, and I should be available most days to answer questions as well as take requests for assets. Like I said before it was a short spring so I don't have too much to talk about this week.

Have a safe and break readers.

Mike out