We did it! My team and I were able to grind it out till the very end and submit an amazing game. I am so proud of everyone and their constant hard work. We are all sad that this experience is over but glad that it happened, and I am so grateful that I was able to meet such fun, passionate people and work with them for a semester. With Same Day Delivery completed, we can now take the time to look back and see what went well, not so well, and what we learned throughout development.

Obviously, there was a lot that went right and wrong over a whole semester, but we had to choose the major things that really aided or hindered development so that we could go more in-depth on each of them. The same goes for what we learned, as I am sure we learned at least one new thing each day, but we had to choose the largest ones to talk about here.

What Went Wrong:

There were three major things that went wrong during the development of Same Day Delivery, and the first of these was level design. While the levels for our game turned out beautifully, they weren't always that way and, mostly due to my own errors, were the largest barrier we had in early development. This was because besides a general idea of "alien suburban neighborhoods", I had little to no idea about specific details for levels, only the base description. This hurt the level design quite a bit, as it took a lot more research from both me and the level designers to narrow in on the complete idea for levels, which took up time. As well as that, we didn't know how to begin making levels in Unity, so we ended up having the level designers make annotated maps for too long, resulting in not only a lot of unnecessary maps that weren't in scope but also us finding issues with our level design system much later than if we got them into Unity sooner.

The Game Design Document was also an issue for us, and as the designer, that is my fault and my fault alone. We had a great first addition for the large document, but after that, I did not update it nearly as much as I should have. Features that were listed in the document were also missing some of the more specific details, leading to my groupmates having to ask multiple questions about different features to make sure it was what I wanted. There were also no reference images in the GDD, which we did solve later on, but those would have made it easier to give an idea as to what things should look like.

The last thing that went wrong for us was our implementation of completed work or lack thereof. Our artists were constantly producing great work, but due to all that was going on, we were more often than not slow at getting those models, sounds, etc. into the game. Not only does it feel bad for artists to go through builds not seeing the things that they made a week or two ago, but some assets came with issues, so getting them in late made it more difficult to fix them.

What Went Right:

Communication was definitely a huge plus in our development, both inside and outside of the classroom. It didn't take long for everyone to get adjusted to the work environment and understand the importance of making things as good as possible the first time around. Due to this, and the fact that everyone on the team is simply amazing, communication came very easily to us. Whether it be asking questions about tasks or asking for help from other developers, it seemed that everyone was very comfortable communicating and this led to issues being fixed much faster than if we didn't have good communication. Despite the things that went wrong during the development of Same Day Delivery, no issue lasted more than a day or two thanks to the great communication within the team.

Our work environment is probably my personal favorite of all the things that went right, as it allowed for an efficient yet relaxed team. Although everyone on the team is a hard worker, they are all also very friendly and joke around a lot. These things combined lead to a team that grinds out tasks like crazy, but also has a lot of fun and laughs while working. This made the class so much fun and we all looked forward to seeing each other and having a blast, even when in times of crunch and stress. I feel this is the most valuable thing a team can have and I hope to experience the same work environment in the future.

Lastly, our solution to a lack of reference images on the Game Design Document, a Miro reference board. Early in the semester, one of our groupmates showed us Miro, and set one up for the game. This site allowed us all to quickly add in and organize any reference images. Along with sorting images into groups, we could add notes about what works and what doesn't, use arrows to point out specific details, and even draw our own beautiful images if we wanted. The amount of things we were able to do in Miro was very useful and the ease of access was a great addition.

What We Would Do Differently:

The biggest thing we would do differently would be to get into Unity faster. Although our programmers were in Unity very fast, as mentioned earlier, our level designers were not. This did lead to issues, both with getting them into an in-progress project and us realizing level design flaws later than we could have.

Fully fleshing out features is another thing we would do differently. As mentioned earlier, my groupmates would have to ask questions about the smaller details of features, so in the future, I would sit down and think of every little detail for different features just to get everything written down and make development move quicker and more smoothly.

Lastly, we would get reference images for most, if not all, tasks that we assign. If it's something we can get an image for, we should, because it helps get ideas across very fast and helps a lot more than describing it with words.

What We Would Do Again:

Creating an environment that encourages joking around and sharing your work is something we would definitely do again on any team. It is so fun and exciting to share all the cool things we are making and have the freedom to make jokes and laugh while working. As long as the team is still efficient while working, I would love nothing more than to have fun and laugh and smile as we did with this class.

Next, as any team should do, we remained open to larger changes, even later into development, as long as it was sure to improve the quality of our game. Our main example for this was with level design, as only a week before submission, we decided to scrap the idea of one big map and opted for 5 smaller levels, each with its own name. Not only did this do a lot to reduce lag, but it also made the gameplay loop more fun, with players now being able to unlock new levels and neighborhoods.

Lastly and most obviously, we would get tons of playtests again. This one is a no-brainer for any game development team, but players do give good suggestions and find a lot more issues with your game than you can find by yourself. Every playtest brought new ideas and suggestions, and our only regret was that we weren't able to get even more playtesters.

What Did We Learn:

Firstly, teamwork definitely makes the dream work. From our work environment to the communication we had, this team was my biggest realization of just how far a good team can get you. Sometimes you will just have to realize that you can't do everything on your own, and you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help and work together to solve seemingly insurmountable tasks.

We learned so much about audio and animation in this class and just how much it can add to a game. For all other classes thus far, we were told to stay away from excessive audio and animation to allow more time for mechanics and smooth gameplay. However, after dedicating as much time as we did to animations and sound effects, we now see how impactful they can be. From funny sounds and walks to exciting music, so much of a game's atmosphere and aesthetic can be changed with sounds and animations.

Lastly, we have learned that despite our best efforts, we will always have a love-hate relationship with GitHub. Although it is a great tool that allows us to do what we do, it will never be without flaws. We have learned to accept that and prepare for it, instead of continuously expecting it to work perfectly. There will be errors, there will be clashing files, we just need to accept it and work through it.

Conclusion:

I can't possibly thank my team enough for working as hard as they did throughout the entire semester and making it a fun time for all. It was stressful, it was fun, it was such a great learning experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. As well as that, thank you all for coming with us through Same Day Delivery's development and progression. This whole thing has been such a great time, and I can't wait to start the next project.

Game Designer

-Kevin Estes