Hello! Welcome to the final post for The Adonai Invitational! Our final build is up and the project is complete. It has been an absolute pleasure to bring this idea to life through the past few months with our team of 10 game dev students. From the first playtest involving a greycube and spheres for wheels riddled with collider issues to a fully fleshed out chariot racing game complete with challenging AI, two tracks, powerups, a unique Focus system, audio, and an original aesthetic; it has been quite the ride.

I'm extremely proud of the project we were able to put together and cannot thank the team enough for being patient with me, especially at the start, as I did my best to get us on the right footing early. I had never led a team before, let alone one this size, and having such a positive and dedicated team was one of the primary reasons we were able to get such a good project polished and published!

For the rest of the post I will be going over what went right and what went wrong through the project cycle specifically regarding design and team communication. Go check out our production post mortem to see a look into the eyes of our fantastic producer, Nathan Beste.

Looking back on the past few months the team really came together not only because of their work ethic and dedication but also because we were able to consistently get a build out every two weeks with minimal bugs and specific build goals that I established early on. Deciding what to test and when was a huge part of being able to iterate effectively every two weeks and I think that shows especially in our track design, chariot speed, and AI opponent racers. Our single best total for playtesters came in sprint 3 where we were able to get 51 unique playtesters which I was especially proud of as we had a diverse mix of testers and in addition further developed my skills in being the certified 'carnival barker' for our project.

As we moved away from our test track and the aforementioned 'cube cart' our first level started to take shape. One of the first things I had the team do, specifically the 3D modelers, was establishing our visual look early and even without textures letting play testers and our own team know the direction we were heading in. Even without proper animations having at least our base chariot and horse models in as well as some place holder terrain and props was a big success for us early on as we were not attempting to do a classic racing game. As we progressed through the project it also made it easier for us to see which gaps needed to be filled on the levels and which assets were or were not working for the aesthetics of the levels.

With the visuals established early and easily modifiable one of our strengths as a team was a consistent pace and clear goals established not only for the builds that were due every two weeks, but also for the scope of the project. The game was not designed to be overly complicated or require an excessive amount of systems to be effective. In this sense once the core features were established; a good level of speed, the ‘hit the reins’ ability, and the AI racers we were able to get a very solid baseline to work from. Within the confines of our scope as a semester long project I think this was very beneficial to us and gave us enough room to breathe and flesh out what we had, instead of having to rework or tweak every new system or mechanic that was added. 

As the project moved along we were blessed to have a steady hand on the wheel at all times. While I was busy approving or kicking back work, bringing the game design document to life, and checking in with the team, our producer, Nathan, was someone I could always lean on. Although not specifically related to design, having an open and clear communication lane with my producer was one of the better aspects of the project. It allowed me to make sure we were on pace, within scope, and gave me the room to make sure that I was getting as much as possible into the game. It was a huge benefit for me as a designer and also for the entire team. The backlog can speak for itself.

Finally, I felt that one of the best parts of working with this team was the positive morale and attitude. Our game was not something we ever took too seriously, in the sense that it was a racer involving chariots and Greek mythology, but most specifically horses. It allowed for endless good times and a positive vibe throughout the team and helped us grow not only as professionals but as teammates doing their best to bring a project to life. We can attribute much of this to our internal horse morale and it was loads of fun.

Having established the strengths of the project I want to touch on the aspects that could have gone better. First and foremost, me and Nathan did not properly utilize our level design tandem to its full potential and it was without a doubt the biggest mistake we made as leads on the project. I did not know William or Hudson very well when we started and we felt that having two people work on the same level might get messy or end up having one step on the others toes. It was not until much later in the project we realized that this was a huge mistake. Hudson and William’s strengths complemented each other. Hudson was fast and agile in developing the frame or ‘skeleton’ of our level while William had a great eye for detail and aesthetic implementation. As a result our levels moved at a slower pace than we would have liked and we ended up having to completely drop the concept for our third level. In hindsight we would have had Hudson come in and create said skeleton for the level and once established, move William in to flesh it out and add the ‘meat’. The potential results? More complete and robust levels from both an aesthetic and gameplay perspective as well as a better overall workflow and ultimately, in my mind, a completed and polished third level. 

View of Grove of Artemis and Coast of Poseidon 

Contrary to what our initial thoughts were Hudson and William worked extremely well together, and it was only towards the final sprint or two of the project that this was realized. It was a huge mistake not realizing their strengths earlier and giving them the chance to showcase their skills and collaboration, and I sorely regret it. 

Another aspect of the game I wish I had been more on top of was the art direction. Although we had our assets in the game and visually distinct once the textures started getting applied it was difficult to keep them consistent. We had two modelers and texture artists as well as a 2D artist. All of them did absolutely incredible work but from my perspective I should have sat them down and really nailed down our art style and direction before it became too late to change the work we had done. I was pleased with how the game came out but there were areas, especially on when we had both levels implemented, where I could have been more strict and specific on exactly how I wanted the level assets to look especially with the UI and chariot racers.

We also had to rush our lighting and audio at the very end which I should have pushed for at around sprint 5 rather than at 6 and primarily 7. We barely gave ourselves time for a real lighting pass and audio was implemented competently but could have been much more refined. I did not have a good enough backlog of audio ideas from the GDD and it was felt at the end.

 Finally, I wish that taken more time to really consider what a card needs to be considered complete and done. I learned as the project went on that kicking back work even if a teammate had worked hard on it is ultimately better if it isn't right, because we need to get it right to create the best game possible. My team was awesome when taking the feedback I gave them and I wish I would have given myself that same benefit. Being able to say “I don't know let me get back to you first” or simply “I don't know but I can find out” would really have helped to nail the cohesion of the project across aesthetics and gameplay. This also ties into not rushing work and taking the time for myself to make sure that each and every card is valuable. 

I am so grateful and proud of what we accomplished through the course of the semester and it is something we can all look at and say ‘yea I worked on that’. It gave me invaluable experience as a designer and leader and I will never take that for granted. Thank you all for sticking with us and for the last time, we hope to see you on the track!

-Ben Smith and the Adonai Racing Team