Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 8

Well, the presentation practice was so and so. It's clear they get the idea of what we are making, but we didn't show enough of it. We need to make it clear the context and direction this game is going to and I've been asking people for their thoughts on what we need to do.

I have a plan that might be able to help us get to the level we need to compete with the other games. Thanks to the new rule about Stage 3 people able to challenge for the presentation, we stand a better chance now. The first thing we need to do is create a new level layout. It's too clustered and me and Vinny can work out some path ways to make six rooms, plus the locked door. Instead of eight keys, we'll cut it down to four. The randomizer will be used too, either by the rooms or the keys themselves and we'll have the maniac appear after the player gets one key.

We'll set up some sounds and moments where the player see a shadow or hears a faint noise to draw suspension from the atmosphere. Lighting will have to be carefully planned and the textures will need to be double checked. A start and gameover screen is definitely needed at this point and we can easily put one in.

Creating the right atmosphere is the biggest thing and we need to make it scary. I just hope we can do it in time.

Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 7

Now that we have arrive at stage 2, every minute counts on getting everything prepared and ready for the next stage challenge. We'll only have one opportunity and that's on the 2nd of November. Anything beyond that will just make it harder for us to get to Stage 3. This upcoming week is all about putting our stuff in and getting it tested.

Documents are also going to be a major focus, but I'm sure we can all handle that. Josh has already gotten a good start on the art assets and will be working with Mason to make sure it looks good. Since Mason and Vincent live together they'll be the perfect team to work on level design and coding. Since Vincent is a better coder then I am he'll be there to also help Mason with a few things. My main job will be to make sure everything remains in tact and I can handle the issues and documents presented to me that I can work on (Excluding the ones that require the specialists to oversee them).

I've also been given the the Lead Writer position, so I'll need to start making character bios and overall Writing Bible in the next two weeks to come. I really want our game to pass because I don't think a horror game like ours has been done before, not to mention it's got a pretty good narrative based idea with it and I don't know how many other projects are going to need a narrative designer if our's doesn't pass. Nearly everyone is making a multiplier game, and while I won't say that narrative designers can't work in a multiplier setting, I find it easier personally if I have a single player setting to work in. Still, I will do what I can.

Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 6

Getting to stage 2 was a success, now comes the hard part. While we have basic mechanics and directions, we need to now brainstorm and deeper the meaning more. We already have plans to combine both mechanics of sound and sight into one gameplay feature, but now we must decided which of the new mechanics to work on first. Barricades or the random room factor. Bemis suggested working on the later since that's the key to making our game unique, something we wanted to find as early as possible in this stage.

Tomorrow my team and I are meeting and we shall plan the next few weeks. Our goal will be to get to stage 3 some time around the start of November.

Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 5

This week I got to meet with some of the members of Eidos who went to talk at our school about their career's and their famous game Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It was an interesting talk and I managed to talk to the narrative designer of the team where we shared a brief talk on the creation of the lore of the game and how such things expand the gaming world.

When the speakers spoke they helped me reinforced my belief that my skills in narrative design can help me get into Triple AAA titles like Deus Ex. My one fear is that my lack of programming skills will hinder me, but seeing how these guys managed to develop their skills very fast and rise above the latter helps me calm that fear down.

Yet this also challenges my view of the gaming world as well. It seems that you really need to spend more years then I thought was needed in order to get to the position you want to get into. It took one of them at least 8 years to get to a Triple AAA game and in this industry today, where people with less experience are finding it harder to get a job, it makes me realize that it's going to take longer unless the industry changes.

If anything, this presentation gives my view of the capstone project a sense that there is really more we need to look into if were going to go Greenlight. It only seems that were at the tip of the iceburg with our current project and in order to make it great we're going to focus more on what we can do with the mechanics we have and will be creating in the future.