PPJ #9: em
Em Covolesky, PPJ #9 (August 29, 2024)
What Went Right:
More members: More members on the art and dev teams benefited us this quarter! We got more art assets done and had more programmers this time, so Kerri wasn’t taking the brunt of everything.
Communication: Our team communicated well, especially the art team. The artists divided the workload evenly amongst themselves and completed several art assets that weren’t possible last time. As head of the 3D artists, Vincent assisted the other artists with UV issues and texturing questions, which took our graphics to another level.
Development: With more programmers on the team, we added features we ran out of time to implement last quarter. A better health system, health pickups, and prop interactions give our game more life. As head programmer, Kerri caught up with the new programmers on how our current coding system worked, allowing her and the team to kick out bug fixes and new features quickly.
What Went Wrong:
Bugs: Even though we made significant progress on our game, we encountered more bug issues than last time. Many bugs were collider or collision issues, falling through floors, weird animations, unanticipated death triggers, and glitchy pause menus. These bugs undermined our hard work, and playtesters consistently complained about them.
Playtesting: Our team struggled with playtesting this quarter, as previous and new playtesters were not interested in playing the game. Reasons ranged from no interest to annoyance at the lack of progress the game has made combat-wise. Any playtesters we managed to get heavily complained about bug issues and the lackluster combat system.
Time Management: Managing our time this quarter was challenging due to summer-related illnesses, personal vacations, and general illnesses. Many of us were going through it, myself included, which made trying to get together for meetings difficult. We should have managed our time better by planning meetings, rather than at the last minute, and giving heads up to any last-minute additions to the game.
Lessons Learned:
Plan out meetings and have more in-person meetings/workshops!
Figure out a playtesting strategy ahead, and try to get groups of playtesters rather than individuals!
The more, the better! Having more team members allows for more creativity and features!