Lets get a move on

Hello everybody,

Here we are in week two of the Senior capstone project. Things have begun to heat up as we enter our first sprint. As of right now each of our sprints will consist of one week periods. We figure this will force us to make tighter deadlines to stick to and really help us iterate on our ideas while narrowing our focus.

Being that it is just the start of our projects I have been working on some very preliminary sketches for some level design and trap design. These designs aren't necessarily for where everything should be placed exactly; this is more so that we can get the players movement around the map correct and have them working towards/interacting with the right objects in the area.

For our games we are working with rather basic mechanics so the goal is to have a very dynamic experience while using these mechanics. Maybe push the boundaries and use them in ways that are considered unconventional to the average production team. By starting simple we are able to stay in scope yet constantly iterate on our ideas to flesh them out.

Most recently I came up with several changes to one of our games which could potentially switch the entire play style of the game; however this is exactly what we were looking for. we needed a game to prototype that was a bit more of a different concept than one of the others. While I am not prepared to release information on these games I can say that they are multiplayer and one right now is a free for all and the other while we originally planned it being the same it may now be co-op.

This is the beauty of Scrum/Agile, we may say it is Co-op this week but who knows maybe next week you will be reading about a new single player game we developed. It is of the utmost import that people are willin to make such large changes during this stage of the development. It is when teams get stuck on one idea, one style of gameplay or one storyline that they struggle.

Now a little different from game play this weekend I went to the art Hop. It is an event I guess you could say where local artists hang and display there art all over Burlington. From random walls and streets to fancy restaurants and bagel shops. Different styles and different types of paintings in each place. What I found was so cool was the vast variation in style and color. Many people created art with texture while some wanted you to focus on the content more than the paint or acrylic itself. When connecting it all back I find that the art hop is similar to marketing your game on Christmas. You want to be the game that pushes some boundaries. Not the game that only a few users will play because it fits them and only them. That can be too far. What you are looking for is that unique touch that sets you apart from the others and makes someone want to own a piece of that.

Not everything has to be games my friends

Stay Creative

Aaron