Devlog: Maddy - radiatoryang/fall2018_gamedev1_morning GitHub Wiki

Devlog Week 14

Talk about one task you completed, and how long it took -- it probably took longer than you predicted... why? was anything surprisingly difficult or tricky?

I FINALLY finished the roll on the Katamari Ball in our game. I started working on the roll at the beginning of the project, and thought I had finished it pretty quickly, but as our game progressed, I realized there was a lot more to the ball than I originally thought. I had to change colliders, change speeds, write code for speed ups after certain times, program so the ball's controls will change depending on where the camera is, and so much more. I think it's now finished, but overall it was just a much more intense and long project that I expected it to be.

Talk about a mistake you made or a misunderstanding you had about the project... when did you realize it, and how did you resolve it?

I think the biggest mistake I made was in relation to the ball and the camera. I didn't understand that the camera needed to rotate with the ball so that the controls would be correct, so I thought the camera script was wrong. I tried to get by with just a camera the stays behind the ball at all times, but it wasn't until I looked at the real game again, that I realized how important rotating the camera really is.

Devlog Week 13

Emotionally, how do you feel about the project right now? are you depressed? worried? optimistic? excited? and why do you feel that way?

Well, after class I was feeling pretty unhappy with our progress. I wasn't really sure how to fix the problems we were happening and I wasn't really sure how to proceed until everything was fixed. As soon as I got home, I pretty much just coded for the rest of the day and I finally figured out what to do. After that, I started feeling much better!

Talk about one specific problem that happened with the project, and how the group fixed it

The main problem that I was tasked with finishing was the Katamari ball picking up objects in a strange way and getting stuck while it rolls. I wasn't really sure what was wrong with it, so I just started messing around with some numbers. Eventually, after hours of trying out different changes, I figured out that playing with the collider sizes and changing one line of code (deleting the original collider on the collectable) the problem was fixed.

Devlog Week 11

How did code review go? did you learn / realize anything about any part of your project, or workflow?

We didn't have our code review this week! But through talking with my team, we realized that we need to look closer at the pull requests before we accept them. Sometimes accepting the requests, even if they look okay, will still mess up our project.

Talk about one thing you are doing well

I think I'm doing a good job at chugging along with my part of the project. I try hard to update my group members on my progress while also committing a lot and merging as much as possible.

Talk about one thing you need to improve; how are you going to improve at it?

I think I need to get better at merging everyone's work with mine. We always seem to have a bit of trouble when we try to put everything together, so we're still at the point in our work where everyone is working on separate things because we can't put things together. I think we need to be more cautious of merging in the future and/or focus on having one person work on one prototype for the whole group while the rest work on smaller tasks in their own files.

Devlog Week 10

Other than the giant Git mess this week, how else are you feeling?

I feel pretty good about this project. I think we know what needs to get done and I don't think any of my group members have come up with any issues so far. I'm a little worried about merging our materials as we get further along in the project, but as long as we communicate with each other I think it should be okay.

What are you working on this week? is there anything you don't know how to do?

I've been working on the Katamari ball this week. I've been mainly trying to get the ball to roll around and pick up objects like the ball in the game does. I think it's been going pretty well. I'm just trying to get the feel right.

Devlog Week 9

What type of prototype is example 2, and why?

A look-and-feel and feel prototype for 3D planning. The purpose of this kind of prototype is to get feedback from users early on about the look and feel of game. This prototype is purely visual and for aesthetics.

What type of prototype is example 10, and why?

The pizza box prototype was about giving an architect a pizza box with the expected weight of the computer to see how it feels to carry the box and what the architect would do with the box. This helped the designers decide to come up with different formats for their computer in order to create an optimal computer.

What kind of prototype are you making for the final project, and why?

I think my prototype is more like example 3 because it's more about setting up the physical scene of the game. We are setting up the most basic version of 3D models for the scene.

Devlog Week 8

Which of the ports do you like most? What does the book say about it?

I liked the unicode PERL port the most as it is able to more accurately show what the maze will look like using PETSCII characters. The book talks about how the use of these characters really enhances the look of the maze as there are not gaps in between the slashes like there are for many of the other ports. Unicode PERL does seem to be a bit more finicky than other port choices, but the look of the port can make the extra lines of code worth it.

What is an "esolang"? What's the point of an esolang?

An esolang is a programming language that is meant to test what a programming language can do. They are often used for hacking or for fun, but not really used for normal or commercial circumstances. It's often used as satire to make fun of things.

In this list of esolangs, which is your favorite / which is most interesting to you? Why?

I think .Gertrude is pretty funny. It's meant to make code resemble Gertrude Stein poetry and I think that's very creative.

Devlog Week 7

What is the difference between platform studies and critical code studies?

Platform studies in relation to programming, is the study of the platform for which the code runs. Platforms are the basis for why it works, like the hardware and the operating system. Critical Code Studies, however, is more the idea of understanding what a code means in a larger sense. While Platform is looking at what is making the code what it is (small scope), Critical is looking at what this code represents (large scope).

In the “RND(1)” in 10PRINT, What does the “1” do?

The "1" is a positive value inserted into the function RND that will give the user a random (pseudorandom) number in between 0 and 1. If 1 is entered, the result will always be the same.

What does the 10PRINT result resemble? How would you use it for a game?

The result creates a sort of random maze out of characters. This is useful in a game if you want to create a game that has a different map every time the game resets.

Devlog Week 6

Link: https://polycount.com/discussion/205256/foliage-my-fourth-attempt-at-making-trees-id-use-some-critique-and-advice

What kind of 3D asset did they make? What techniques did they use to make it?

The person made various trees and was looking for some feedback. He says he made it in ZBrush. He first sculpted the roots and branches of the tree, to create a sort of skeleton for it, and then started adding the leaves and more details to the bark.

What kind of feedback are they getting? What was the most important feedback?

The person who designed the trees was asking for advice on how to make his trees more realistic. A lot of the comments were originally about how his leaves were too connected and seem to be the least realistic part. Eventually, after a lot of people were giving out some solid ideas on how to fix this, the artist starts to get frustrated, upset that no one seems to have an easy fix. People keep telling him to push through and just keep trying things if he doesn't want to listen to other techniques, but he just seems to want someone to fix the trees for him. A lot of people comment that the lighting is a bit off, which he then focuses on for a while, but eventually, someone suggests a video tutorial on how to create more realistic branches which helps the artist a lot.

Devlog Week 5

Which of those 10 things resonates with you? why?

The section that really resonated the most with me is the section about not being able to estimate tasks. As someone who likes to plan out steps of a project before I actually start working on it, I can't emphasize this enough. It's almost impossible to outline all of the tasks of a game before you make it, or make a super detailed schedule of things that need to be done. You kind of have to go with the flow with games, planning for the big things but letting the small things reveal themselves at the right time.

What did you do last week?

I spent most of my time last week working on the movement. I just wanted the character movement and gravity to feel pretty good before I started messing around with the other components of the game. Right before the end of last week, I also added some items that the player can collect and got the code worked out for that. I also modeled a pool and set up the main scene.

What are you going to do next? do you have any concerns?

My next plan is to make sure that all of my main components (yelling, collecting, and diving) work as expected. I'm not super concerned about anything yet, but I probably will come up with problems later on. I'm not really sure how I want to do the diving mechanic yet so that's kind of a dark cloud over my head.

How do you feel about your progress so far?

I feel like my progress is pretty good. I generally have a game, it's just not very good yet. I think it's all doable by the time we're finished with this project.

Devlog Week 4

Which of Michael Brough's steps seem most important to you? Why?

I think step five is the most important. Playing a game while you're making it, over and over again is super important. For testing that everything works, testing that it's actually fun, testing that continuing on is actually doable. It's super important to play your game as much as you can. I think you should always be an expert at your own game.

So... what is your midterm game concept? (2-3 sentences maximum)

I am making a game about the time I was a lifeguard in high school. The plan is to have a playable lifeguard character (me) that patrols the pool, has to clean up around the deck, and save a drowning kid.

What will happen in it? How big will your game world be? Can you build all that?

The main mechanics will be walking, picking things up, and diving in to save a kid. The world will not be very big; just the pool and the deck really. I think I'll definitely be able to build the world I'm imagining as there is not a ton to it.

What will be hard to make? Foresee any difficulties? What do you need to learn to do?

I'm not great at modeling so the idea of making so many 3D models is a little intimidating. That's the issue I'm most concerned with, as I feel pretty confident in my skills of programming what I want to happen. I think I just need to practice 3D modeling as much as possible to make something I'm happy with.

Devlog Week 3

Why do you think the user make renders at 2:22 and 3:18? Why do you think we don’t regularly make renders when working in Maya today?

I think that the user was rendering because they needed to see the progress of their work. We don't do this in Maya as much because we can see the final product as we are making it, therefore regular renders are not necessary.

Which functions / buttons from 3DS 4 are in Maya too? Name at least 3 similarities.

The Pathmaker
Smoothing Tool
Shape tools (move, rotate, etc)

What year is 3DS 4 from? Google / name two 3D games from that year.

.3ds 4 came out in 1994. Some 3D games that came out in 1994 include Nitemare 3D and Donkey Kong Country.

Do you wish you were alive making 3D back then, or are you thankful you are learning 3D in 2018?

Making 3D in the 90s seems very tedious and annoying so I am very thankful that I'm learning how to do it now, rather than back then. However, maybe having learned it in the 90s would have made the transition into better programs a lot easier and made them better modelers overall.

Devlog Week 2

Why do we rely on triangles instead of quads (squares) in 3D graphics?

Triangles are just more simple than squares. While triangles are three points in space, a plane can always be drawn through it while the same cannot be said for a square which is four points in space.

What’s the difference between Painter’s Algorithm vs Z-Buffer?

The painter's algorithm is the idea that you start placing polygons in a scene from the back and work your way forward, while Z-Buffering doesn't work with ordering, but rather the distances of each polygon using a z buffer matrix. While both ideas come up with the same result, the painter's algorithm tends to be the more simple of the two. Z Buffer also gets a bit tricky if two polygons have the same distance.

Look at a physical surface near you. What is it? If it were in a video game, what is its surface normal in Vector3? Why?

There is a carpet next to me. It's surface normal Vector 3 would be (0,1,0) because it is laying flat on the ground facing upward.

Pick a part of the video where you thought either "wow that makes so much sense" or "wtf is that, why would you do that?"

I liked the section in the video about Back-Face Culling. Basically, this is the idea that polygons are two sided, but only one side needs to be rendered as the player should only ever see the one side. However, if there's ever a glitch in the game, players can sometimes see the other side of these polygons, or the back-side, revealing what seems like unfinished worlds. This really made me understand better why these glitches happen while before, I never really thought about what I was seeing when I glitched in a game.

Devlog Week 1

Which industry role(s) sound the best and/or worst to you?

I think the roles that sound the most interesting are creative director, gameplay programmer, and level designer. These seem like the best roles for me, because I enjoy looking at the overarching importance of things. I like creating functionality like with gameplay programmers. I like figuring out layouts of everything like with level design and I like looking at games as a big picture like creative directors. However, the roles that seem the worst to me are the art director and animator as I am not one to enjoy making decisions about how things look in a game.

Which role(s) was surprising, boring, easy, hard, cheap, expensive, or ____?

I was kind of surprised at the role of the producer. I more thought of a game producer as more of a creative director instead of the person who is more worried about the cost/extras of a game. I also thought that the QA Tester role was a lot more challenging than I expected simply because of how tedious it seems.