Producer Devlog 5

Welcome back to the development updates of Perry's Pies. Sprint 5 of development has concluded and there has been a lot of progress gained over this sprint. On the modeling front, we finished up the major assets that are needed and we have arrived at a spot where I have begun putting extra effort in to making sure that my modelers feel like the time they spend and the work that they produce is valued and appreciated, even if it may not be used with what we have left. Our programmers got a ton of progress done towards implementation of assets, introducing the player/QoL additions, as well as getting Perry into the build for this sprint. Level design made great progress with Andy applying the finishing touches to the Ground floor and getting a great jump start onto the Factory level. Bill is almost completely finished with the Basement level and has set up some awesome prefabs for the attraction/deterrent items that are very helpful for the player. Colby worked on getting the audio that occurs when the player is getting chased by Perry which turned out really good and gave us another feedback option for the player when they are being chased. Lastly, Samuel got some great work towards getting the animations for Perry implemented into Unity. Besides a couple hiccups with textures/UVs for Perry's model, it is looking so good and I am so excited to see these things in action!!

3D/2D Art

For this sprint, we wanted to make sure that we got the last bits of crucial assets that were needed. This primarily pertained to the locks that the player will be collecting the keys for, but Bill was also looking for a few specific assets to add to his basement level. Where we are at after this sprint, we have more than enough models for our level designers to use for building their levels. Since our modelers have been kicking out so much work every sprint, I have been put into a little bit of a predicament.

The part that I am struggling with particularly is making sure that they feel like their work/time is valued. So, I want to avoid having them do work on assets that will not end up being used. This puts me in a position where I have to make these critical decisions to make sure that I give them the amount of work that they need to be able to ensure that they have the ability to get full credit for their blog posts, but, at the same time, also making sure that they feel like the time they are spending on creating these assets is valued and has worth.

So far, the primary way that I have worked on achieving this balance is through constant, clear, and affirmative communication. I have worked to put an emphasis on the value and significance that their work has in my eyes. Every piece of work that is done has value, regardless of the scope of the work. If the work done had any impact on the forward progression of the project, that work has value in my eyes.

On the 2D side of things, Koda worked on getting the main menu spruced up and looking good. This included getting the button sprites created and ready for Unity implementation, as well as creating an animated scene for the main menu. It turned out so awesome, especially with the implementation of the main menu music that was produced by Colby last sprint! With almost all of their work being implemented into the game, it really feels awesome seeing it come together!

Kaeli

Ana

Angel

Carl

Koda

Main Menu Animation (Link)

Programming

Programming for this sprint was very productive and we got a lot done. On Joseph's side of things, he got a couple systems created and working, implemented created assets, as well as squashed some bugs that were causing some issues. Alex made a ton of progress with Perry and was able to get him working to a point where we were able to include him into the build for this sprint.

Joseph really focused on getting a few smaller systems in place that focused more on adding some quality of life adjustments for the player, which included some aspects for kind of introducing the player to the game. This primarily came in the form of adding outlines to the deterrent (blue outline) and attraction (red outline) objects. This actually made a pretty significant difference when interacting with the items in the scene, especially when distinguishing to the player what was an attraction vs. deterrent item.

Alex got some massive progress made on Perry. This was not an easy process and took a lot of energy and willpower to complete. The primary reason for this was because of the way that the code for Perry was previously structured. In order to get to the point where we are at now, it did require Alex to have to scrap the way that he had Perry setup from the beginning of the project and rebuild it. Initially, this was really rough because Alex had spent almost 7 weeks on what he had and it was essentially thrown away. However, with the new way that Perry is set up, it is much more efficient, way easier to debug, and is working in a more ideal way. Although it took a long time to get to this point, I am so happy with where we are at. I am also so proud of Alex for sticking with this task. I can't imagine having to scrap weeks worth of progress in order for something to work, and I am glad that he was able to make this decision. He was able to make Perry working better than his 7 weeks worth of code in less than 3 days. 

Alex

Perry Movement (Link)

Joseph

Level Design

For level design, Bill continued working on the basement level and got some great progress done there. On top of that, he also worked on creating prefabs for the attractions/deterrents that glowed, allowing the player to see it while they are in the dark level. They turned out so awesome! I thought it was a really good idea to do because that way the player can always see where the item is from a distance.

Andy finished up the Bakery level and started working on the Factory level. So far, it has turned out awesome. He made some very much needed adjustments to the blockout and it feels like it is in a much better spot. Something I encouraged him to do was expand the size and details of the level. Previously, the level was very small and not set up in a way where the player could maneuver to avoid Perry. Since Perry interacts with the player via Line of Sight (LOS), having a very open level would make it particularly difficult for the player to get away from Perry, or even hide from him to prevent being seen in the first place. So, with the new changes, it is looking so much better and feels really good in comparison to the previous iterations of the level. 

Bill

Placeholder ambient music was used, but this is a great walkthrough demonstrating where the level is currently at!!

Andy

Audio

For this sprint, the main thing that we wanted Colby to work on was getting a sound for when Perry is chasing the player. This was something that was important to us because it gives the player the feedback they need to know when they are being chased, but most importantly, it is an easy way to indicate to the player that they are not being chased anymore. It turned out really great and we are very happy with the work that Colby did over this sprint.

Colby

Perry Pursuit Music (Link)

Animation

Samuel worked on getting the deterrent animation and the animation that plays when Perry sees the player created throughout this sprint. He also  worked on getting a couple of the animations that were already made put into Unity. They look so awesome! I am so excited to see them in the build. The biggest issue that we are encountering right now is that  there are some issues with the UVs/textures on Perry's model.

Samuel

Perry's Crawling Animation in Unity (Link)

Production

This sprint was very productive, and we made some amazing forward progress with Perry. I am so excited with where we are at. Although we didn't get him in a good spot until this sprint, I am so happy that he is working now. Through this sprint, there were 195 points assigned and we completed 162 with 33 points that were assigned, but not moved. The work that my team has put in has been above and beyond and they have all done such an amazing job! As we near the end of our project, I am excited to see where things end up.