Producer Blog #3

Hello everyone, Sprint 3 has concluded, and I am back to share the awesome new content that was created and worked with this sprint! I will start with the programmers and then I will go one by one through the different artists and show off some of their excellent work, just like previous posts.

This sprint we were able to get the initial intro into the game to look nice and slick. This includes things like the main menu, the player color selection, and the level selection. We also optimized the attack and movement systems to better fit the documentation. Alongside that we had some cool 2D art, animations, and 3D models rise to the surface.

By the end of the sprint we were able to get 103 points moved to complete out of the 149 points assigned. This brought our sprint velocity up by 4 to the new 94 points. You can see this in the burndown chart below.

Our first programmer focused this sprint on getting the main menu, character/color selection, as well as level selection into the game and functioning. He did an amazing job, and it feels very smooth and clean. While there have been some technical bugs that have arisen in the character spawning, the format of the character selection is very nice. When you select a color, you also get a ring around your character in game so that you can keep track of who is who. This was all done by one of our amazing programmers.

Our other programmer worked on the second iteration of the attack and movement system to better match the design documentation. After that was completed, he worked on implementing the abilities and combos into the game. Alongside this, he figured out how to clean up the inspector with tabs for each different attack’s public variables. This was a huge help with organization and now that he knows how to do it, he should have a much easier time with organization in the future. The next task he worked on was the death mechanic/losing condition when all players die which leads into the checkpoint mechanic he made. He did a great job this sprint and I’m excited to see what else he will create in the future sprints!

For 2D art, we got some cool art in the form of a logotype and a background image. They turned out really awesome and will be implemented into the game soon!

Our character artist was able to get some really kick ass models done this sprint. He started on the ninja model, as that was the first model so far that is meant to be used as the player model. After retopologizing and UVing, he went on to making the heavy enemy model. This one turned out really cool as well! He was able to finish retopologizing and UVing the heavy enemy model by the end of the sprint.

Our prop artist made some cool, fitting props this sprint. He modeled and UVd the shinai sword, trophy, tea pot, teacup, punching bag, and mat for the dojos. Unfortunately, the shinai sword has been removed from the game since we do not have the scope to add a sword usability function. By the end of the sprint, all of these props were ready to be textured.

Our modular kit 3d artist did a great job this sprint working on the wind dojo modular kit. He completed the whole kit along with the UV sets for all of those pieces. This brought him to the point where he was ready to texture at the end of the sprint. The models turned out awesome and it will really add to the varying dojos in the game.

Our level designers were determined to get as much of their two levels each done as they could by the end of the sprint. We totaled with 4.5 maps completed and ready to be playtested by the time the most recent build was created. This was great progress and set the foundation to build upon once they start receiving real playtest feedback. I am excited to see how these levels grow in the future sprints!

At this point in time, we have two animators, the second being the 2D artist who also duals as an animator. I decided animations are more important than the 2D art required, so I switched him over to animation. He was able to get several animations completed by the end of the sprint. Some of these include the idle animation, the hurt effect, the dash, and the cross punch.

The second animator did a great job as well. He was able to transfer the weight map from one character to another so that the animations could play smoothly in Unity. He also completed the walk animation, the hook animation, and the uppercut animation. They did a great job!

Finally, our audio engineer kicked out his new tasks quickly, efficiently, and with good quality. He worked on many different sounds including the button press sound effect, the trophy dropping sound effect, the superman lead air and hit sound effects, the uppercut, shoulder charge, and hook air and hit sound effects, and a few more. We worked with him to determine how the sounds would flow in a combo and he presented us with the full combo that was being made in a single sound file, so it was easier for us to hear the flow. These turned out awesome and I am excited to see what he makes in the future sprints.

I am very happy to be working on this project with this team and I am excited to see the progress that is being made and to plan out the progress that will be made in the future. With that, I will say my goodbyes and I hope to see you at the end of sprint 4. Good luck to you all and have a great day!