Reflection
What Went Well
The main thing that went well for this project was the programming, as I was able to use my existing knowledge of Unity and the C# language to create a vertical slice. I also increased my programming skills by attending an advanced C# class on Singletons, which I found to be helpful.
I made progress on this project very quickly. I had a working prototype of the controls by the second week, a working prototype of the game’s gravity mechanic a few weeks later, and soon enough I would help the team to create a playable Vertical Slice. As part of the team, I held multiple playtesting sessions which allowed me to get feedback for the game and to improve it further.
For this project, I took on the role of the Technical Designer. At the beginning of the game’s development, the initial idea was that I would be taking care of the game’s movement, rotation, and jumping, and Camilla would be responsible for the game’s core ability mechanics, as well as the UI and the assist mode. However, I would end up being responsible for all of the game’s code and UI, and an assist mode would not be coded in by the end. This was beneficial for me as I was able to improve my code more, however, it also meant that I had a lot more work to do than my role entailed, so I ended up being more of generalized game programmer than a Technical Designer.
What Didn’t Go Well
One of the things that didn’t go well with this project was the communication. At the beginning of the project the team set meetings every week, but by the 3rd week these meetings became much less frequent. I also made the mistake of creating changes within the game without notifying or getting advice from any of my team members. I also struggled with having Guy communicate his ideas to me. If I were to do this project again I would make it firm that meetings were mandatory and I would also be stricter in terms of communication in general, making sure I spoke to my team about any changes I wanted to implement within the game.
Another thing that didn’t go well was the advertising. I had the idea of giving out posters around Winchester to promote the game, however, I later realized that this didn’t go with the target audience the team was aiming for with Kinetic Panic. Out of the 20 posters I distributed around Winchester, and a few around WSA, only 1 person played the game outside the university. To improve in the future I will look at the target audience for this game, and base the advertising around that group.
Learning Outcomes
| Learning Outcome | Completion | Reference |
| A1 Knowledge gained from a range of sources and context to advance your team project | For this project, I used a couple of resources to help advance my work. I attended a lesson hosted by Ross which helped me learn singletons. For programming help, I mainly relied on YouTube, forums and Discord. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/08/week-4-selection-area-singleton-practice-session-gravity-ability/ |
| A2 How to identify a teamwork role and the characteristics of its practical application | I identified the role I was in for the team in my first week. I fully realized then that I would be taking control of most of the game’s programming. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/21/week-1-introduction/ |
| A3 Experimental methods to advance your discipline specific ideas | Much of the game’s programming applications went through a trial-and-error process, for example, for the player’s camera, as it changed a couple of times throughout the project, from moving only sideways while the player is holding down a button, from snapping to the player’s movement input, to the final implementation, where the player can move the camera mostly freely, without having to hold any buttons. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/24/week-3-movement-improvements-camera-fading-instagram-page/ https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/21/week-2-beginning-programming/ |
| B1 Analyse and produce your practical work through sustained engagement and critical awareness of your ideas | The game had several play testing sessions over the course of its development. These sessions allowed me to get feedback from other people on the game, increasing my critical awareness of the project. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/07/ability-multiplier-text-ui-playtesting-sessions-checkpoints-main-menu-settings-removing-ability-multiplier/ https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/20/week-8-ui-possession-ability-preparing-for-playtesting/ https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/28/week-5-continuing-work-on-gravity-ability/ |
| B2 Interpret an idea of motivating concept into a self-designed team project | I was able to keep much of Parker’s original vision intact within the vertical slice. However, some of what Parker made had to be cut. For the abilities, 2 out of the 5 from the GDD were implemented at all, and only 1 ability was used as the basis for the game’s world design, the gravity ability. Guy discovered that I had implemented the possession ability too late and couldn’t design any puzzles for it in time. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/05/15/final-weeks/ |
| B3 Select appropriate tools in order to support the development of a “vertical slice” | Our team used the Unity game engine to create the vertical slice, GitHub Desktop for the source control, and I used JetBrains Rider for the IDE. All 3 of which are industry professional tools. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/21/week-1-introduction/ |
| B4 Evaluate your teamwork role in relation to its professional contexts | I have provided an evaluation of my role in relation to the professional context of the game’s development in the Reflection section above. | (This post, Reflection) |
| C1 Articulate and summarize your critical reflection of the project | I have included a summarization of my thoughts on the project above. | (This post, Reflection) |
| C2 Develop and manage your contribution to a sustained team project | I worked on the game throughout most of the weeks of development, programming and adding new features each week. I iterated on my code, changing and improving on it to create a better working game. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/28/week-5-movement-acceleration-multiplier-bonus-gravity/ https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/08/week-4-selection-area-singleton-practice-session-gravity-ability/ https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/21/week-2-beginning-programming/ |
| C3 Effectively utilize academic resources and apply appropriate methodologies to your practice | I worked on the game throughout most of the weeks of development, programming and adding new features each week. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/07/ability-multiplier-text-ui-playtesting-sessions-checkpoints-main-menu-settings-removing-ability-multiplier/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/24/week-7-reading-week-feedback-session/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/28/week-5-movement-acceleration-multiplier-bonus-gravity/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/08/week-4-selection-area-singleton-practice-session-gravity-ability/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/24/week-3-movement-improvements-camera-fading-instagram-page/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/21/week-2-beginning-programming/ |
| D1 Confidently use a range of technical skills to realize your vertical slice | For this project, I was the Technical Designer (and the sole programmer). I used the skills I had gained in the past to produce programming work for the project. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/07/ability-multiplier-text-ui-playtesting-sessions-checkpoints-main-menu-settings-removing-ability-multiplier/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/24/week-7-reading-week-feedback-session/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/28/week-5-movement-acceleration-multiplier-bonus-gravity/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/08/week-4-selection-area-singleton-practice-session-gravity-ability/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/24/week-3-movement-improvements-camera-fading-instagram-page/https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/03/21/week-2-beginning-programming/ |
| D2 Test and advance your ideas in a practical and critical context appropriate to your discipline | Throughout the project, I tested specific ideas that I had for the game within the code. For example, using the arrow keys to change the radius of the area that would be affected by the abilities, or the strength of the gravity ability. These ideas were then tested using playtesting or from feedback given by other team members. | https://year2.wsagames.com/sc18g23/2025/04/28/week-5-movement-acceleration-multiplier-bonus-gravity/ |