Week 10

We have succeeded in creating a reasonable prototype in Unreal Engine 4, and since we have already used Gamemaker to demonstrate out level design, we felt that it would be best to use the UE4 prototype to show off our mechanical design.

We aim to have a playable prototype ready for the presentation in week 12, but if we struggle to find time to implement all of the things that we currently plan to, then we may have to settle for demonstration in the form of screen-capture videos.

We have continued to keep the game design document and technical design document updated as we add new features to our prototype, and we will hopefully be well equipped to spend most of our time developing the prototypes rather than having to catch up with unfinished work in the documentation.

So far in the UE4 prototype, we have configured the movement of the ball. By default, the player can only control the direction in which the ball spins, so the position of the ball is only controlled by the ball coming into contact with surfaces and having friction with those surfaces. We have added a push force on top of this, so that the player can control the ball's position while it is in mid air. We hope that this will make the game less frustrating for players by providing them with more constant control as they play.

Week 9

Our level design has been focused on more than the prototype, because it’s one of the most key elements of the game. Completion of documentation is a big task too, so there are lots of things to check. The game prototype should probably be the next thing that we focus on. Once it is out of the way, then we can focus more on other tasks.

Our meeting with the producers involved some discussion with regards to the prototype. We described how we have been using Gamemaker to develop the prototype video so far, purely as a way of demonstrating our level design. We now intend to create a prototype using Unreal Engine, as we would like to show what the exact look and feel of the game will be.

This may mean that we should shift our attention from prioritising the completion of the prototype video showing our level design in Gamemaker to a better, more accurate prototype created using Unreal Engine.

Week 8

Despite what was said in the previous internal meeting’s question section, the group has now agreed that there is no reason why we should not create some kind of template that would be applied to each level. We decided that the levels that have been designed so far should be analysed and adapted so that the process that the player must follow in order to complete the levels follows the same basic structure across every level. The difference will be in the specific mechanics that are used, and creativity comes from how to make this same structure does not become obvious to the player.

After this is done, we can continue to design more levels, which will include more unique abilities and interactions. Each team member will ensure that any changes made to the level template are updated in the game design document.

When analysing each level that has been created so far, we should seek answers to each of these questions:-

• What kind of task must the player complete in order to pass each stage of the level? (e.g. object interaction, specific form interaction, skill challenge)
• In what order must these tasks be completed?
• How are these tasks made obvious to the player?

Week 7

We have made steady progress with our level design and the development of the Gamemaker prototype. We have a process for drawing up storyboards for new level ideas, and then using those storyboards to create playable versions of levels in Gamemaker.

All unfinished work from previous meeting has been completed and steady progress has been made on work assigned for this week.

Everything is on track to be completed in time for the next meeting.

Week 6

So far, the group has updated sections of both design documents and continued with practising of Unreal Engine. However, we have decided that more practise is required before commencing with the development of the prototype.

We will maintain contact with each other as we practise using Unreal Engine, and continue with the prototype when we are able to do so.

Week 5

All members of the team agree that we had been relatively overambitious with the tasks that we set out for ourselves prior to our last meeting with the producer. We have successfully caught up with all unfinished work from last week and are making steady progress towards completing new work for this week.
With each of us having completed an Unreal Engine 4 tutorial, we are all ready to continue developing the game design and technical design documents.

Although it was only a small part of our schedule for the week that remained to be completed, our meeting with the producers made it clear that we must ensure that all work for each week is decided upon prior to that week’s meeting with the producers. After our last meeting, we immediately created our plans for the work to be done for this week, as this seemed to be the most urgent of tasks to be completed.

Two members of the group have made good progress with level design, having made storyboards and now moving on to documentation work. The other member has spent more time completing tutorials and using what he has learned to help with sections of the technical design document.

Week 3

Research

We realise that the level of research that we have done so far may be somewhat insufficient in completing some of this week's tasks within the allocated time frame. We have decided that our top priority for this week should be to improve the design documents. As a result, we may have to assign extra time after our next meeting to accommodate for this miscalculation.

We decided to play a lot of games in the ball roller genre as we thought that this would assist us in the creation of our competitor analysis. We also subsequently found that the more unique games that we played gave us inspiration for extra modes which we could potentially include in the later stages of the project, if time permits.

Design Documents

We also have come to realise that completion of the design documents will require a more extended period of time than we had originally anticipated. This is mainly due to us having developed our ideas for more complex game mechanics and level design, requiring a greater deal of elaboration within both design documents. By taking these things into account, and adapting our plan accordingly, we foresee no problems in completing tasks relating to either of the design documents.

Conclusions

Having played through a number of other games within the genre, and having briefly experimented with Unreal Engine 4, we have noticed that a possible issue which may occur during the game's development is that of game physics. The movement of the ball in UE4 feels very different to the way that the balls move in many of the other games that we have played. Due to our inexperience with UE4, and 3D environments/physics in general, we are unsure how much time and experimentation it will take for us to fine-tune the physics of our game to a satisfactory level.