495 Advance Production

 Leggy: The Miraculous Robotic Arm

Level Designer

Sprint 6

04/10-04/24

    This sprint has its ups and downs. Multiple occasions occurred during the bug hunt, playtest, and GitHub. As I mentioned before, I don't understand GitHub. Still, my teammates, especially the lead and the producer, were a great help in guiding me with the consent updates based on scripts, providing better performance for Leggy mechanics, puzzles, and UI work, so that it would run smoothly before it reached the end. At first, it went well, but everything changed from this past Sunday to the last merge I did to the dev branch in GitHub. Tuesday comes around, and a new update relating to a new dev branch based on the original has complications. We had to merge for this new set-up to work for the latest version, and it had some complications for all the level designers within my knowledge. Most of the functionality of the scripts, materials, and mechanics wasn't working. As a suggestion, we had to delete the package and re-clone the repository for the new dev build version. Unfortunately, I received the bad news that my process in my branch has conflicts, which prevented it from being deleted within the latest version. For some reason, my bench got errors without me changing anything since Sunday night. I cannot do anything until this problem is solved before it becomes more complicated. Thankfully, I completed my levels before all this; I only needed to find a way to retrieve them for a new build for a playtest and the final.

The kickoff was a refresher from the previous meet-up on continuing to fix the puzzles for the playable playtest. While repairing my puzzle level, I would constantly playtest to figure out the issues before proceeding to the next step of the puzzle. I did find a bug that causes the game objects to increase in scale size every time Leggy interacts with them, and when letting go, the objects would either float in the air when released or get stuck near the claws. I had to confirm a solution: I had to leave the mesh, basket, and interactable to one scale while I could miss the mesh parent with the size. It also happened with Leggy, with the coordinates being zero, zero, and zero, no more or less, unless you want Leggy to function differently or cause issues. Another issue another level designer encountered was when Leggy grabbed the object in the hierarchy. We noticed it only caught the basket and the mesh but was not tag manager, which is the parent and causes the wrong information, which provides another issue by not calculating the score or the point when it reaches the goal zone. By the time we notified the programmer and the lead, all the level designers needed to pause everything to fix this issue, which it did. By the time I had reduced all the previous changes, I had put the new updated script and the new version of Leggy into the latest version. Everything worked; now all I have to add are the colliders to prevent the object from going through or any mishap happening when Leggy interacts, and it needs to open drawers one at a time.

    Afterward, I started constructing the next puzzle level; I had to ask one of the level designers to send me the child's room prefabs to use as the foundation for my puzzle. I had an idea of doing a child-related puzzle for a board game of Jenga by making a hilarious and challenging situation for the player to interact with the puzzle to have strategic knowledge by knowing the right moves before the towers or blocks tremble and fall. In the original game, there are fifty-two blocks, which makes sense, considering it's supposed to look like a tower. Having the same concept but stacking all fifty-two was an issue. It caused me to tremble and disassemble to fall every time I activated the game. I had to minimize to less than twenty for a better result without causing me to react like an earthquake had occurred. To make the goal zone functional, I had to apply a collider on top so the player could have the chance to build without being interrupted by a single touch. In conclusion, after finishing both puzzle levels for the new build, although an unfortunate event occurred with GitHub, I need to wait until all my effort is saved, functional, and usable for future playtests.

Sprint 5

03/27-04/10

                              

This sprint was the most impactful due to my team's progress. Who would know the extent of the significant jump to get to this point from the previous two first sprints from the lack of leadership and communication? As usual, we did have an upcoming error that impacted the whole project from GitHub. Still, a miracle of well-put leadership from the lead designer finds solutions for any miss-happens, and not once has another game been impacted. I was initially skeptical about using GitHub because of previous downfall experiences, but for some reason, it will be all right; in the meantime, I would still use my project process as a backup; better late than sorry. Any push, pull, and merge would be under the lead designer's and lead programmer's guidance for any updates. I want to understand this program for any future reference.

For this kickoff, we need to understand where we are in the process of adding everything in Unity with scenes and puzzles. Meanwhile, we await the updated version so Leggy can grab and calculate the goal for the upcoming playtesting. I contributed to constructing the Garage's level scene, which took me approximately eight hours by resizing and making it look simple without any gaps. The only issue I faced was that the model piece of the floor wasn't UVed correctly, which impacted the material when applied to the final result of the room. An easy fix from the modeler took two to three times to fix by going back to Maya, Substance Painter, and Unity. Later, I had to implement all the interactable models into prefabs. Still, Leggy was missing the script option to identify the object as an interactable rather than a simple display for the environment. I had to make all the model pieces into their game object, but I had to reduce it for an updated version of a working script as an indicator collider. In the meantime, I had to do it for all the tools and some of the art supplies to organize and use for the actual level. One by one, I had to utilize its proper implements for Leggy's knowledge.

Throughout the process, the issue arose with GitHub, so I had to put myself on hold while this platform situation was resolved for any upcoming occurrences. A quick resolution was to create another new branch from the dev branch to a new one for any complication from the lead programmer. With the fixes, GoalZone was made in the works for Leggy's accomplishments or goal to surpass the level and impact the player Leggy's happiness from the wrong and right actions. In doing so, I had to set up the puzzle to understand the impact of Leggy's happiness, from all the tools to the toolbox with individual colliders, scripts, and tag names. It took a while to implement their individuality. Yet, the only issue so far, or the bug, is when Leggy tries to sort the objects within their indication outline placement, and it doesn't recognize Leggy for some reason. So far, I need to wait to playtest it with Leggy rather than playtest in general for this level and the upcoming one. Almost to the finish line, and hopefully, people can enjoy something new from all others.

Sprint 4

03/06-03/27

                 

This sprint was the most unusual one because it has been unable to build for any playtest. It is likely to have a paper playtest from previous projects before the electronic build. As I mentioned during the last sprint, I had to make the man behind the current playtest and receive feedback from my level to understand how others suggest changes for the better. Yet, it lacks the functionality spectrum. I had to prioritize other tasks involving modeling related to my level designs.

The kickoff was a reminder of playtesting and getting feedback to understand the process so that others can functionally play it without any hassle. I just needed two other players to test within the major to better understand whether this was as fun and challenging as the first-level puzzle in the game. In summary, explaining how happiness works when gained/drained is needed. Consider adding a preview outline when placing tools. Maybe allow a limited "undo" option rather than instant happiness loss. Consider adding a timer or anything to make it more challenging and fun. These were suggestions that needed improvements in the engine, which I just got the green light for in this upcoming sprint. Hopefully, there will be no issues with the process functionality because its due date is approaching. 

              

          

             

Meanwhile, I need to be occupied. I considered modeling and textures and importing them into Unity under prefabs for easy access. While modeling the blocks for the Jenga puzzle, I wanted to create two blocks representing either new or overly used, as if the child from the game was using them for something else. I had to explain this to the lead and producer as I imagined utilizing them in the puzzle by differentiating their azure collision during the gameplay. Making them vibrate, making them hard to handle while placing them, or making them easy to knock over with the tiniest touch can demolish the tower, which I thought might make the game a little bit interesting with the combination of fun and challenge to let the player gain happiness points while creating during the process. Approve to process with my idea; while UVing, I made the mistake of randomizing the spot on the grid, not realizing it affects the textures in Painter Substance of creating some of the blocks horizontally and vertically. This process only affected it if I wanted to add a wood material, which didn't make any sense, so I had to go back and fix it on the second round when fixing the textures related to the style guide of making them pastel wood material. As for the results. As I mentioned, I separated materials relating to one from the reference and the other from the style guide. I had to make these materials into a 512x512 size for the aesthetic of being pixelated. In doing so, I had to follow along a reference from the lead example, and hopefully, I did it right so I don't do it again with the lack of knowledge, but now I understand it by using Photoshop. I would never have noticed. Lastly, I applied them in Unity and into their prefabs to better understand the construction process and added them without confusion. For the other task, I was also assigned to include all the wrenches of all sizes in the prefabs.

I learned something new in ways I wouldn't acknowledge until I needed the method for future projects. In addition, I want to playtest all my level puzzles before the very end of this semester.

Sprint 3

02/20-03/06

    This sprint was more progressive than the previous two sprints. The impactful motivation for the lead designer and producer was the bone of the whole team, even though it started rough. However, the only downfall for all the level designers was that we were blocked from the issues based on the rough program. It greatly affected the playtest from all the level puzzles, although the producer had an alternative idea to playtest by the man behind the curtain. Let's say it's a paper prototype playtest before the electronic playtest. The only difference is the aesthetic of how the game was supposed to be played, but it might change for the next sprint. 

    The kick-off was short and limited. I had to find a way to start the playtest, but unfortunately, the player's movement didn't work from the beginning. As a level designer, I couldn't proceed with the electronic playtest build, so the tasks were limited for me and others. Initially, I was asked to do some VFX until I could get an updated version with a working build. For starters, I had to finish the two puzzle levels by blocking them out in unity to demonstrate by improvising the level itself. One of the block-outs was to fix a radio, which Leggy needs to replace knobs, light bulbs, tubes, and the battery. If this level ever is played is by unscrewing the screws from all four corners from behind the radio. Then, remove or slide off the tray for an easy surface to replace the items. If there were the option to play around with the wire connection, it would be another task if there were an alternative method without causing any issues with physics. The other puzzle was meant for Leggy to play Jenga with different objects as a fun way for the players to complete this level creatively. Unfortunately, I had to put these default block-outs on the side until the player's movement was fixed and ready to test. 

    Afterward, I was assigned to do VFX, which I hadn't done for a while. Both tasks were related to binary code particle effects, which will imply Leggy's interactions by completing a task and draining effect from the happiness meter bar. They both might consider similar aspects, but the only difference was when Leggy completed a task, all the "points" would follow Leggy as an indication the task was complete and would gain happiness. To make this effect happen, I had to code some scripts to show that when activated, it would work. The other VFX allowed the texture material to fall in the gravity modifier as it fell whenever the happiness meter bar drained. Even though this was different from what I was supposed to do, I was tasked with an alternative method to playtest the first level as the man behind the curtain to understand if this puzzle was fun and challenging. I made a feedback form to receive suggestions for my level, making it impossible to lack the build. The only thing I have to do is have another person playtest my level before tallying up the feedback, having the current response of being essential with no other objective, and waiting for the proper build when it is okay to start. 

Sprint 2

02/08-02/20

Considering the ups and downs of this sprint, it's going well. However, I did not understand the changes mid-sprint for a new producer; by the end, the team became very proactive about the lack of progress. This change made a strong foundation for the team to stay on the right path to complete any work and be organized for once. Hopefully, for the next sprint, we can advance to have a decent playtest with more puzzles from all the levels we, the level designers, created.

I had never experienced the sprint kickoff because of the lack of cards, which was caused by being unorganized. We added a few more tasks for everyone but weren't organized enough to understand the board. From what I saw in Disgard, we had to remind the producer and the designer to create the right cards to document our process and what we needed afterward to be a one-point and three-pointer in Agile. Unfortunately, our original producer left the group, and thankfully, we received a new member on the same day. We had to start from scratch as new Discard meet-ups and organize the backlog and the board to achieve the next stage for our prototype game.

As one of the level designers, I was assigned puzzles four and seven with proposals and block-outs. I also annotated the workbench and the child's bedroom floor, as shown when there is a close-up with Leggy. It took a while to complete the annotated workbench because I had to research different perspectives of what the workbench has and needs and the limits for Leggy's interaction with varying puzzles inside the Father's garage. Annotating the child's bedroom floor was a random aspect of babysitting reference from back in the day. The puzzle proposals were the hardest of them all. The reason for picking a random situation for Leggy to solve and finding out mid-way was that programmers hadn't fixed Leggy's controller and movements until the end of this sprint. I had to limit myself because one of them was Leggy playing Jenga on the child's bedroom floor, which was very simple and functional. The other puzzle I had in mind was fixing a mechanical object in the Father's workbench, but I had some difficulty limiting Leggy's movement and physical aspect to solve with one single arm. At first, I wanted to have three different objects for Leggy to solve, but as I mentioned, I had to limit the functionality, so I picked the old radio rather than the desk fan or the coffee machine. With this only proposal, I made an annotated sketch of how the old radio functionality and the objects Leggy interacts with. Unfortunately, I didn't create a block-out for this level, which will be for the upcoming sprint. Lastly, for the last moment, I was assigned to make level one or zero, which I blocked out but was blocked by the lack of a controller that was not fixed in time. For the next sprint, I want to have the option to playtest my levels and see if they work for the next playtest.

Sprint 1

01/28-02/08

    I appreciate being a level designer at Leggy the Robot Arm. If my teammates want me to work on other tasks besides level design, I would gladly multitask within the team. At first, I was confused about the vision of this unique game by having the player as just a robotic arm, until the lead designer's excellent communication relating the discussion concerning the level designers being the narrators for the story progress based on the puzzle-solving. 

    This Sprint One kickoff was unfairly different from any previous projects. As one big group of eleven team members, we introduced ourselves and got a heads-up on the future process of creating this game. Only three members are level designers, which we group to come up for the first level or set in the Father's Garage. As a team, we devised an annotated map of the garage interior, the ARL of the props needed, and puzzle ideas. To continue with early progress, we had to communicate with the lead designer and producer for access to the green light. Unfortunately, we didn't start until the following stand-up when we got our tasks. 

    I was tasked with creating the first puzzle, or the archetype one, and picked the Father's task to Tool Organize on the workbench. I started to have a proposition of how this level of design can be applied and managed as Leggy solves this puzzle without any other objects than just picking up tools from the pile and dropping them into their designated area inside the tool chest. I suggested some UI ideas, dialogue interaction ideas, and milestones. Some were approved, while some weren't because of a lack of game vision. I created the annotated map and the block-out of the setting. All I have to wait for is the loop mechanics work so I can playtest my level before adding it to the electronic prototype.