May 20 – 24

On Monday and Tuesday, since the Sewers level is more or less finished, I was tasked with looking over the GDD (game design document) of Spellshot and laying the groundwork for a task list. We’re nearing the end of the 90 day challenge, so having a list of all the remaining things we have yet to make for the game is helpful. We’ve come a long way, and it’s cool to see the project’s transition from abstract idea to an actual product.

The Sewers are far from perfect, but I think they’re at the best they can be without requiring us to create assets outside of the asset pack. I’ll most likely be going back to the Sewers in the future to add such custom assets, and also to edit some parts to accomodate for the next levels. In the meantime, to meet the end of the 90 day challenge I have other things to do – namely, another level! This level doesn’t have a name yet – so I’ll just call it the Fort Entrance for now – but what’s interesting about this level is that it’ll be used for a cutscene, rather than actual gameplay. With Spellshot becoming more and more fleshed out, part of what’s being set in stone is the story of the game. With the story comes a better idea of not just the levels we’ll have to make, but also any other places that do not necessarily have any gameplay, but are more for progression of the narrative.The Fort Entrance will be one of those! So, I spent the rest of the week planning out this new area. I did the usual: sketching layouts, finding and saving reference images, and experimenting with the assets in Unity to see what I can and cannot do. What’s great about moving on from the Sewers is that I’ll get to use more of the asset pack, which is always fun! I actually took some time at the beginning of this project to make note of different core pieces in the asset pack, and subdivide them into groups that could be used for different types of places depending on what’s needed – which is great because it really speeds things up, and and the same time reassures me that all the levels I make with this pack won’t all look the same.

This whole week has been Spellshot, but Wednesday was a welcome break. Nick, Vince and I took a little day trip to Glenwood to check out a possible office! It was nice to get out of Philly for a while,  I’ve been here almost two years now but haven’t really gone out of University City all that much! The office isn’t amazing, but it’s definitely a step up from our current setup in terms of space. With only about four people, we take up almost the entirety of the tables at Vince’s condo’s business center, so if DVNC wants to expand looking at an office space is definitely a good idea.