Final Build for 3D Game Design Class

Since the last version of the beta build, we've made a couple of minor changes. Most of them revolve around improving the animations and the UI of the game. This will be the last build made for the 3D Game Design Class that this project was initially conceived in. This does not necessarily mean that this will be the last of the updates for this game. Instead of discussing the changes since the last build, this will be more of a discussion regarding the overall development process.

Our development process - What went right?

Our group was able to function well when everyone knew exactly what they needed to get done. While we started slow, we eventually fell into a routine where we conducted playtests, gathered feedback, sorted through the feedback, and assigned tasks for each member based on what we changes we needed most immediately. We kept repeating this process week after week and even with the limited time that we had, we made drastic changes. This was something that worked really well for us as a group and it resulted in us creating a build that we feel good about.

Another thing that went well was regarding the construction of a concept for the game. Early on, all we had was an idea on the base mechanics of the game but the music and visual aesthetic lacked direction. Even though we invested quite a bit of time early on to make these decisions, we eventually landed on something that felt interesting and unique to everyone. This was overall a good thing because it was important to ensure that the majority of the team felt passionate about the game that we're developing and that everyone felt like they had a say in the creative direction of the game. 

What could have been improved?

While we eventually found a way to consistently get a lot of progress done within a short time frame, it did take a while for us to get to this point. We did not start off with a clear idea of the process and this is because for a lot of us, this is the first time we worked with such a large team with different disciplines involved. While the understanding within departments was decent, it took us some time to develop proper streams of communication and production workflows between the different departments. 

Additionally, we never really met up in person to work after the initial game jams. This was mainly because a lot of us live far from town and that some of our work required us to stay at home where we could work on our PCs. However, having at least one or two in person work sessions may have been helpful for days where we needed to make a lot of small decisions quickly or do internal playtesting. We did at least see each other during playtesting days and a large majority of us consistently showed up to these playtest sessions, which was great for team morale and engagement. 

What we learned from the process

We mainly learned about the production pipeline throughout this process regarding the production of games. We learned that while the bulk of creation comes in the ideation and early stages phase, fine tuning the game and ensuring the game FEELS good to play is even more important. Refining the game is particularly important for a rhythm game because one of the rewarding things about games in this genre is the satisfaction of pressing inputs on time and seeing big numbers fly or drastic effects play. There is a rush that comes from having a lot of feedback with every action and so the bulk of our work moving forward to Level Up will be focused on making our game feel good and fun to play. 

This experience was challenging and required a massive time investment, but it was very rewarding. There was a lot to be learned from working with a team this large and this was truly a unique experience that provided a lot of us with a glimpse into the world of game development. We hope to keep up our efforts for the next two weeks leading up to Level Up so that we can showcase a build that we are proud of!