Attraction Post #3: Scrum!!!

So we are finally getting our pipeline built for Attraction and this week we started our first sprint!  Last week we worked on environment mockups and character mockups.  Today, as a team, we chose which character mockups we liked the most from each person, and also chose a couple team members to start working on environment concepts for the game.  By Thursday everyone doing character concepts should have 15 character iterations.  Those who were chosen to do environment concepts will have a polished concept by Thursday as well.  These tasks qualify as our first sprints for the art side.  We are starting to narrow down exactly what our game will look like for the final product, and cater specific tasks towards people's talents and interests on the art side.

As far as programming goes, everyone seems to be on track.  Our level editor is almost completed and our team is working on a way to swap in and out assets on the fly while still playing the game.  This will be useful when we mesh textures, level objects, and other assets together to see if everything combined looks the way we want it to.  We also have a running git-repository, and the physics, controls, and UI are being polished this week too.

I'm proud to say that there have been no internal conflicts within our team.  Everyone is getting along with each other, and no issues have been raised by anyone.  The team leads on this project have been outstanding as well.  Each one listens to what everyone has to say, all with open minds, and all with the utmost respect for whoever is talking.  This team is incredibly talented, and each individual has a skill set that will benefit the project.  I'm honored to work side by side with each person on this team.

I'm incredibly excited to reveal that our LLC name will be Tripleslash Studios.  Our website is being set up as I type this out, and we will start trying to get our game/name out into the public by the end of the week using social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and others.  If you are reading this blog, that means that you must be at least a tiny bit interested in our game, so spread the word and follow us as we begin to dive, head first, into the development of the game Attraction!

What I accomplished this week:

• Created 5 character silhouettes
• Created 3 environment sketches

Attraction Post #2: Fall Break Overview

Fall break is now officially over, but, while on break, our team had their first two official meetings.  During these meetings we discussed everything from story, to mechanics, to repositories, to project management.  Every lead passed out homework for the team, including looking up different art styles of games for our art team, integrating a git repository for our programming team, and coming up with 2-3 puzzle ideas revolving around our magnetic mechanic for the whole team.  Also, as a team, we decided that the biggest aspect we wanted to focus on for the first few weeks of development is the pre-production.  If we can make sure everything is in place during pre-production, it will mean less assets thrown out during the production cycle.  This will bump up our work efficiency overall, although we may be slower during the beginning of our development cycle as far as creating the game.  Our next meeting is tomorrow, and we will be hammering down more details about the core game of Attraction throughout the next few weeks.

What I accomplished this week:

• Researched games that had 2D environments with 3D assets  
• Came up with 3 puzzle ideas revolving around our magnetic mechanic 

Attraction Post #1: A New Beginning

Hey everyone.  So as of today, Project Unknown, (Shocksolver), is no more.  The game got voted off by the board and will not be going on into development.  It was sad to see a game idea that we put so much work into get cut, but it's something we will learn from.

However, I am incredibly proud to announce that I am now the team lead on the game Attraction.  For all of you who don't know, Attraction is a puzzle platformer that involves the use of magnets to work your way through levels and solve puzzles.  You can repel away from, or pull closer to, a magnet depending on its charge, (positive or negative).  It is an incredibly fun mechanic that makes for an outstanding gameplay experience.  Our team consists of six artists and five engineers, each of whom is very talented in his or her respective field.  I am honored to be a part of such a great team, and am excited to help guide our group toward making one of the best indie games the Xbox Live Indie Game Market has ever seen.

Project Unknown Post #6: The Presentation

On Thursday of last week, we presented our game to Bob and Roger, (the two in charge of leading the EAE Capstone class), and we were a complete mess.  The pitches were unorganized, the concepts of our puzzle mechanics were confusing, and we needed a new name to clear up any confusion about our game's identity.  Over the weekend, we polished EVERYTHING.  From the prototype gameplay, to the slide art in the presentation, to animating the puzzle concepts.  We also changed our name to Shocksolver, which conveys the focus that our game centers around electricity and puzzles.
Because of all the changes that occurred over the weekend, we presented a polished pitch to the board of faculty members, gaming professionals, and industry employees this afternoon, and I thought our team did a fantastic job.  The presentation was precise, clear, and delivered the message we wanted to get across: combining puzzles with combat into a single entity.  The board will pick 2-3 of our games to go on to the development stage by this Thursday.  All that's left to do is sit back and wait.