Reflective Accounts

December 2018

Reflecting on my last reflective account, I'm glad I have chosen the course because the modules that are included will greatly help with my future career. I’m also looking forward to creating this year’s game because it has a lot of potential and because I like cyberpunk.

Reviewing my previous work, at the start I didn’t really know how much of the step up it was from a level 3. For my first 2 assignments, Mitches and Lauras, I didn’t quite get a pass because it didn’t put enough detail in to it, but I pulled it together learned how much of step it is and managed to complete Julias assignment to a professional standard. For that I needed to create a 5000-word article about the gaming Industry, for me, 5000 is quite a lot but I have done some previous work before at 12000 word, anyway I managed to get a pass on this and I’m pleased.

Moving on, I think the hardest thing I have done in the course so far is the walking animation in Maya because there is so much detail and little adjustments you have to do, I know I will get the hang of it thought and once I have made my own walking animation that’s it, it can be applied to anything that as long it has the same skeleton structure for example the animation can be used on any one in the game.

The trips I have been on this year have been amazing, the virtual reality we went to has made me want to integrate VR more in to my life and my work (they even asked me if I want a job there, but I had to turn it down because I live too far away). EGX was fantastic this year and needing to go and talk to the developers has improved my understanding in the gaming industry. Also, I can’t wait for the London trip because I haven’t been there since I was very little, I have never gone that far before and going to a studio to beta test a game is also going to be good for me because I will be able to ask them questions etc. Also, will be able to write a blog for it too and if we’re going to be spending 2 days next year at London for EGX then this can be a tester to give me an insight to prepare me.

This year I have learnt how to storyboard and what goes in to creating animations, I have also learned during Julia’s assignment about Brexit and how that will affect me and my future. In conclusion I feel like will get at least a merit this year and Will do everything I can to achieve this goal and get higher.

October 2018

Before I applied to this higher national degree course, First wanted to go straight in to a job because I knew I would have to pay for rent. I decided to go with the course because I knew that it would be a huge help with getting a job in the future.

What did I expect from the course?

Because I have come from a level 3 to a level 4/5, I’m currently not used to the amount of work I need to do, or how much I will need to do for each piece but I’m pretty sure, like in the past, I will get to grips with it. I am currently trying to balance each of the topics were currently studying and so far, I think I’m doing well with it. I am looking forwards to next year where we can work in groups because I want it to feel like it’s an actual game company.

In terms of people in the course I was surprised when everyone picked design apart from me. I thought there would at least be a couple that choose programming.

How did it meet my expectations?

So far, the course has met my expectations in which I know there wasn’t going to be the odd few assignments. I have tried blogging in the past. I’m glad that it it’s a part of the course and I want to work on it and have it a good place to build a portfolio. Another thing I’m looking forward to is at the end of the course where I have the chance to get a placement in the gaming industry and at least get a foot in the door with the work I do in the course.

What was harder and easier?

During my first couple of weeks I find it harder to get to college because I don’t know how to catch the train. This is good because it will prepare me for later in life. In class I found it harder to do the concept art because it was difficult to think of ideas I’m sure that I will find that creating the game this year will be easy, but I do want to set some challenges for myself such as doing VR only or something like multiplayer.

What have I learnt?

During my current time at college I have learnt how to create storyboards, concept art, some of the roles in developing games and the history of games. I thought that pong was the first game but the fact that it wasn’t, surprised me.

Conclusion

In conclusion I think that I will do well in this course and I think this is the right path for me.

End of the Year Reflection

Software Skills

This year I have improved upon my skills by using more industry standard software like substance painter and Maya to create 3D models and animation. Although this isn’t required for my future job it is good to understand how it works and what the features there are. Another useful tip I learnt is how to make normal maps without anything else such as rain and splashes.

Within the past year I have also leant how to use GitHub to manage and organise projects. This has helped loads in the year as if things were broken or deleted by accident and I was able to quickly fix it using reverting it.

Personal Skills

This year we were able to team up in groups of 2 and me and mat agreed to work on Project Ignite. The past 2-3 months of being together has taught me the importance of communication and teamwork within game development. All my previous projects I have worked on were just me.

As of communication, I think that next year, I will use something like a discord group to communicate with others within the team.

What do I still need to learn?

I think that one of the most important things I need to learn is C++. This is because I’m expected to know it as a programmer for games and it can also be very handy at times. Another thing I still need to learn is to get experience with another engine because if I’m able to widen my experience of game engines that I can use it will improve my chances of getting a job in the future. It would also be great if I could also dig in to how to do online multiplayer in unreal engine as this will be a huge help with next year.

Future plans

My plans with project ignite is to further develop it into a real game that I can showcase and have in the windows / steam store. From the first public beta testing that took place Sunday 16^th June 2019 had loads of positive feedback and some. I would like to have an actual story and a city map in which the player can interact with like fly cars etc… in virtual reality. In terms of job role, I like programming so I’m thinking, gameplay programmer or a technical artist. Another thing is next year the game will be ported to multiplayer. This means that it would need tonnes of testing and you cannot use 2 headsets on the same pc.

Work Experience as QA Tester and how it will help

Getting work experience as a quality assurance (QA) Tester for a well-known game company will allow me to have insight in to how they do internal testing, how they resolve the bugs and how they could implement fixes. The best thing about being a programmer is that I would be able to suggest fixes that could be made.