Sanctum Infernum - Week 1 Development Blog

Overview

During this week I will outline the following:

• Project introduction and structure of weekly blogs

• The implementation of a collaborative AAA agile workflow.

• The conceptualisation process for the game idea

• Targets for improvement next week

Project introduction and structure of weekly blogs

Throughout the upcoming series of weekly blogs I will provide updates regarding my personal contributions towards the GAM 507 - Games lab 3 Agile and collaborative AAA Game development module. The primary target of the module is to develop a vertical slice of a game using a AAA style of workflow in a group made up of both Guildford and Birmingham campuses.

The implementation of a collaborative AAA agile workflow

When discussing a AAA work environment in which we are trying to replicate during this term, project management is vital in order to achieving the best product. By using the scrum methodology it allows for continuous updates and feedback for each branch of the team (i.e. Design, Art, Audio and Programming). It is this feedback that makes Scrum so efficient as it means that the leadership roles of the team are able to track an individuals progress and give specific tasks based on how far along into development the team are, which is valuable when facing deadlines with some in which could be legally binding.

The conceptualisation process for the game idea

To generate the game concept for the project, a multistage process took place which involved a series of votes in order to gauge the "most popular" idea. Firstly, the room was split into three separate groups to generate some brief ideas which could be developed later on. I felt that the best way to do this was the use of Miro as I was familiar with it and knew that the group could get down a wide variety of ideas in one location. By setting up the Miro board in the structure of pillars of sticky notes, it meant that a large number of ideas could be shown while keeping it structured, which could be attributed to a more "AAA" method of planning.

Following the conceptualization process, it was now time to choose an idea which would be taken throughout the entire project and developed upon. I feel that the ideas that I put forward would be structured and could be perceived as AAA if completed. However, when it came to choosing a singular idea to pitch to the rest of the team, my group decided on a space dating simulator and didn't really take into account any other ideas. However, I was very intrigued by one of the ideas from another group, which involved making a soulsborne game with an art style of ancient Greek pottery (this was later used for a different project). However, in the end an RPG game set in hell won the majority vote. I find this rather problematic currently, as an RPG type game can almost always be attributed to a more indie style of development and I feel that as a group we should be pushing to do something more challenging. Although, I will still contribute to the best of my ability and attempt to push changes in which I think would better the product overall.

As soon as the first idea was confirmed, I began concepting about what could be added in terms of mechanics to the game (as I am a mechanics designer for this project) to make the game unique and help with making the game differ from the standard indie style RPG game. The main ideas that were resonating with me were a dice system in which, depending on the roll that the player gets their damage and defence numbers will be altered. Additionally, I worked on a card system in which the player would collect cards and use them as functions i.e. attack and defence during combat. Myself and George M felt that there was real potential for the card mechanic. However. I was told by the lead artist at the time that it would be too much work for the artists. I didn't personally believe this however so I decided to further develop the systems concept in Miro in order to hopefully get my point across better.

(The image above displays the original mind map for the card system developed by myself and George, some examples of what the cards could look like, and some basic values to show off the idea).

Targets for improvement next week

As it is the first week, I was pretty limited in what I could do, especially since the game is not fully set in stone regarding gameplay at this current time. However, I feel that I have been successful in not only the creation of ideas but also the conceptualization of how they work from both a game idea and mechanics standpoint. As we are working in a AAA agile workflow, I will have to wait until the next weeks meeting in order to get a task from the design lead. At a personal level, I feel that at this stage the only real thing that I can set myself is to keep trying to contribute as much as possible at the conceptualization stage and sharing my ideas when I think they are valuable.

Tasks:

• Keep contributing as much as possible

• Share my ideas with the group