ICT 2 Project Journal
Week 1
In the subject's workshop class session, we were tasked to complete our first cycle report. However, we were not able to because the project which we took for ICT 1 had already been completed. Therefore, we had to choose a new project for ICT 2. After discussing among ourselves, we agreed to take a video game project. We thought that it was the most suitable decision as the two of us - Roberto and I - already had some basic knowledge about Unity. Another reason was that Prof. Roberto Dillon, the lecturer and tutor of the subject, was experienced in video game design, so we would easily be able to ask for guidance and feedback in the future.
We met Prof. Dillon to inform him of our decision and he gave us two options: to work on one of his game projects and to create our own game based on our own ideas.
Week 2
After much consideration, we came up with the decision to create our own game based on our own ideas because we had a gameplay idea which we thought was quite unique and could be successful: a 3D turn-based strategy game. Our experience in playing video games and further researching made us realize that there were already many turn-based strategy games, but in a 2D space, not 3D. In a 3D space, a video game can excel on its graphics and presentation aspects which most simple 2D games lack of. With beautiful 3D models and Unity's advanced technologies, we were confident that we could develop a good-looking, fun and maybe addictive strategy game.
My teammates and I decided the arena of the game to be one similar of chess (the arena is divided to squares and each unit can only occupy one square). But obviously, the gameplay was not like chess. It was more like usual tactical RPG games, such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea. We then had another meeting with Prof. Dillon to tell him of our decision and he gave us a few feedbacks and suggestions to make the game interesting. He also told us to write a game documentation and gave us instructions and samples. At the end of the week, we managed to complete our first cycle report and submitted it.
Week 3
This week, we delegated tasks among ourselves. I would do the scripting, Edward would design the game assets and Roberto would do the overall management of the project while also helping us both on our tasks and write most documentations. We began searching for 3D assets. Based on the 3D assets we found, we decided the theme of the game to be a war between Humans and Undead creatures.
Week 4
The tasks which I did this week was mostly writing the game documentation and purchasing the 3D models for the character units. On the Unity project folder, I imported the models which I purchased and organized the files (models, animations, prefabs, materials, textures, etc) for easier access in the future.
Week 5
As there was a presentation during the workshop class session, we together prepared the presentation slides. I also helped in writing the project scope statement.
Week 6
This week, I started writing scripts to create the arena of the game and place the character assets on their appropriate locations. I also implemented some assets which Roberto and Edward created to the Unity scene.
Week 7
I began choosing the animations for each character. Since one of the models which I purchased (the Viking one) did not include animations, I had to create the animations by myself. I managed to complete this task using the help of Mixamo - an animation creator helper. However, the animations produced by Mixamo for the character were not very good or accurate. Therefore, I made quite a lot of adjustments to the animations even after using Mixamo.
One more issue which I encountered was some of the characters' animations would not play. After spending a lot of time trying to figure it out, I e-mailed the developers of the characters to ask for help. I could not continue on other aspects of the game because of this.
Week 8
The developers replied my e-mail. In the e-mail, they told me their characters' animations require Unity's new Mecanim Animation system and provided me links to tutorials on how to implement Mecanim Animations. So, I learned from the tutorials and familiarized myself with the new system until I finally managed to implement the animations.
Later, this week, I added the scripts which enabled the character units to move to other squares, given the destination square was within that unit's movement range. The units had different movement ranges.
Week 9
I modified the scripts again to enable the units to attack enemy units on their attacking range. Then, the enemy units would counter-attack the attackers if they were on range. I also added statistics to the units (health, attack, defence, resistance, etc). Overall, I completed the basic gameplay and combat system of the game.
Week 10
This week, I managed to implement special skills for special characters through scripting. I also implemented GUI elements (cards, health bars, etc) which Edward and Roberto created to the game.
Week 11
By now, the game had already been completed, although it still required a lot of polishing. Therefore, we decided to conduct a testing on our game. During the testing, we found that the testers had quite a bit fun playing, although initially some of them had difficulties in learning the gameplay. As a result of the testing, we found a few bugs which fortunately I was able to fix later on in this week.
Week 12
Finally, I added sound effects which Edward recently acquired from the Internet to the game. However, the sound effects were not copyright-free. Therefore, we could not yet publish the game.In this week, we presented the game to Prof. Dillon and the whole class.
