Now that development for the project is largely complete, I must reflect back on the project as a whole as one of the assessment learning outcomes.
This project began with everyone receiving a certain role, which we had to figure out ourselves what we were responsible for. Then officially starting on the project by creating a plan for the “Vertical Slice” of Lament. However, this project challenged me at the start by having to step outside of my assigned role of Technical Designer and take on the responsibilities of Lead Programmer as well, as our Mechanics Designer was uncomfortable writing C# script and largely using unity in general.
The most challenging parts of the project for me was developing and programming the procedurally generated dungeon system and the skill tree system. There were many bugs and issues with both throughout development. But, I was able to get them both to comfortable places in development – both with full functionality and very uncommon minor bugs by the end of the project. However, one ‘failure’ throughout the project was constantly time-management; we were far too ambitious with what we believed was possible during certain time-frames. Shown by us having to cut out the boss fight by the end of the project.
In terms of teamwork and communication, I felt I strongly communicated well – providing useful insight and opinion, constantly justifying myself. Furthermore, I believe I was able to help other teammates with code, Unity and design in general; with aspects of game design I was more comfortable with than others. However, for a large majority of the project, some of my teammates’ lack of work and initiative forced me to take the majority of the workload for the entire project. Which is something I should have communicated better. All in all, through this I gained a deeper understanding of how Technical Design is not just the representation of personal skill, but also the skill of getting different teammates and disciplines to fulfil their responsibilities.
This group project taught me that when working with a team, especially in the future and in the industry, that teamwork and communication are key. Whether it comes to meeting deadlines, design decisions etc. if everyone in the team is co-operating and open to do work and learn; it will make everyone’s jobs easier.