Hello everyone and welcome to the final installment of Trapped's production blog with me, your wonderful producer Dylan Levy-Gantt. 

This project has been a fun one and in this specific blog I will give insight on the inner workings of the development process and go into detail about what specifically went wrong, right, what we would do again, and what we learned from it all.  I'll go through the last sprint in detail after words but to start we can go over how the development process went during this semester. 

So to kick things off, What Went Wrong? 

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about what went wrong with production is communication. Communication plays a huge role in how a game gets made and the sooner everyone is on the same page about things, the better. This time around we have a couple people on the team that just didn't really understand the type of game we were trying to make so every time a card was sent over for completion, there would be questions. Now, questions are absolutely not a bad thing whatsoever. The problem is that we didn't fully communicate what we needed in the card, so of course it would come back to us with questions. This was entirely our fault as Zach and I could've been more attentive during the process to avoid possible development halts in the future. 

The next thing that went wrong was misplanning which features came first. During the beginning of development, we had sprint 1 as our very weird start. We started creating assets that relied upon other things that weren't even created yet. This forced us to reevaluate and quickly jump back on the ship during sprint 2. This should never happen in an official studio because every day that is wasted is weeks or months down the line that we need to spend fixing what should've been. That was the real wake up call for us this time around and we quickly changed course.

Lastly, in the beginning, cards were getting sent into complete without them even being tested in the first place. This is a huge no no. This is something that got railed into my brain 2 years ago and after noticing it, I quickly jumped on Zach's case and ensured that the other cards that would be sent into verify were tested entirely before implementation. This allows us to stay on top of development and see weeks down the line if we need or are missing anything.

Next up, we have What Went Right?

At the very top of the list is our scheduling. I made sure that we spent at least one day a week building the game or working on it. These build days were monumental in the development of the game because it allowed all the team to see what everyone was doing. This allowed a huge trust to be created between all the disciplines to ensure that every asset we want to get in, got in. This also allowed a fun day to happen on sundays where people can just drop in and play some games. The team dynamic was enhanced every time these meet up days were happening and it was so fun to get to know the team on a deeper level. 

The next thing we did right was staying ahead of schedule at least 1-2 weeks ahead of time. For development, there will always be surprises around each corner so the most you can do is be prepared weeks ahead of time anyway so that if anything does come up, it can be dealt with or already was known about to begin with. Development goes so much smoother when you have the foresight to understand that you will be surprised by bugs or features not working as planned. Being so on top of development allowed us to get in all the features we wanted and have them work with each other really well. 

Lastly, the final thing that went right was coordinating between disciplines. Every day I was on trello and the discord to ensure that when someone is done with something, someone else can pick it up and run with it. I was essentially the quality control between disciplines and I worked tirelessly to ensure the process was as seamless as possible. This ignited my love for producing and I love being that person that would die for the team. If I lost track for an instant, it would have all crumbled considering how many things I had to juggle. 

Now, What Would You Do Differently?

This question is easy to answer considering the hindsight I have over the whole situation of development. I would absolutely get team expectations and standards out in the open the first day we start production. Laying down the law of the land and setting expectations is a good way to hold everyone accountable and ensure development gets done in a timely manner. Over time, the team dynamic shaped anyway but if you let it shape itself, it will be irreversible and expectations won't go anywhere. This was the biggest mistake of development that won't happen next time. Next time I'm put in a position like this one, I will spend time early with the team to get in solid expectations and dynamic standards that will hopefully set the course better than allowing the team to naturally have it happen anyway. 

Next, What Would You Do Again?

This one is pretty simple considering the smoothness of this production cycle. I would absolutely do everything in my power to stay ahead of schedule like we did this time around. Allowing us to stay this far ahead of schedule ensured that the inertia of development wouldn't stop for anyone. Zach asking "Oh I forgot about this feature" and then me saying "Oh I already assigned that, it's being worked on now." Meant that we were exactly where we needed to be. In production, you need to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and do whatever you can to pick up the rocks or rubble in the way so the car doesn't get too damaged by the time you're at the end. 

Lastly, and the best question of the bunch, What Did You Learn?

This is a fun one because every time you're on a team, you learn something new. This time around, I learned how to better angle the project expectations with the lives of our teammates. For example, Deniz, our modeler, lives in Turkey at least for this development cycle. To ensure Deniz got what he wanted to out of the project, we had to work with him to match up when models could realistically be in by considering the time zone difference. This was new to me because online school brings a whole new world of problems and solutions. Overall though, each member on the team has a different perspective of what the game is and it's up to me and Zach to communicate the vision and schedule it out for everyone to do the best work they can. Every team is entirely different and you should do all you can to ensure the development process meets everyone's expectations. 

Now let's get into the work from this last sprint.

This whole project was 606 points. Wow. So from beginning to end, we had around 606 points for this whole project to meet the polishing standards we wanted. That being said, we were able to complete 456 points to complete this game to our liking. That is a rather large project but every burn down is different. Instead of just talking about the numbers, I'd like to just give a huge shout out to the team for sticking with it and undertaking every hurdle that came our way. Everyone on this team is a true talent and is has a bright future in the industry,

Now for department-specific work.

First up, as always, we have our programmers. 

Josh Knapp has been an amazing teammate from day one. Finally this sprint we were able to get in the crafting system for the game and we couldn't be happier. Josh has always been a solid performer and he actually got a job this semester at the time of development so we're happy to see what he will do in the future.

Next we have Tristin Rond.

Tristin was able to do so much behind the scenes this time around with audio and menu systems but the work we wanted to highlight was getting in all the credits for the people who worked on the game and all of the animations for the characters to finally bring our game to life. Tristin was amazing to watch this development as he improved his skills so much that he could've been able to do two jobs in one. Amazing work and a lot of potential here.

Next we have Trevor Davis.

Trevor this time around was all about closing up the loose ends in development. The death screen here, the options menus in the character select, and many many more. Trevor was an extremely solid teammate and, after getting some bugs in verify out of the way, he was pumping out feature after feature for us and we couldn't have been happier. Great work this semester Trevor!

Next department is Level Design with Xander Johns.

New assets in.

New map.

New poison particle.

New dash particle.

Xander is always a killer in the level design field, showing off whenever he can. I've worked with Xander on previous projects and, after being with him all this time, I've watched him really take hold of the project and run with it. Xander can always put the best material forward and he always sets the standard of how to do a good level designer job. Thank you for everything this cycle and I look forward to what you'll do in industry.

Next up, we have Connor Howard, our other level designer.

Added assets.

New map in.

New assets in.

Connor was great this semester, killing any card given to him. Connor has a bit of a slow work pace, only getting in around 3-4 points each sprint, but that means we have to work with it and plan around it. Connor always delivers on his tasks and will go to us whenever there needs to be some clarification or question answered. This allowed him to stay on task and produce great work . Excellent to see.

Next up we have our Art/Animation department.

Alex Miller is first!

Alex this sprint completely blew us all away with their amazing animations for our prison warden character. Alex this entire development cycle has been a complete show stopper. They can take a task and run with it and own it. This is more than Zach and I could ever ask for because from day one, Alex understood the aesthetic and vision of the project. This allowed them to make great work for us and immediately get sent right into the game. I mean, look at those animations!!

Next up we have our other 2D/Animator, Andrew Sloan.

Andrew also completely wow'ed us this time around with his ability to create nice animations very quickly. Andrew has been a rockstar this development cycle with his amazing art and aesthetic that guided our art style through until the end. Andrew was always available for us whenever we needed clarification on something and his attentiveness allowed us to have a seamless production cycle from the art side. I'm extremely proud of Andrew and what he's done for the team. Huge shout out.

For our last department, we have MODELING!

First up we have Deniz Camat, our main character modeler.

Deniz is an extremely talented character modeler and ripped through everything we gave to him. As you can see from above, his characters were really high quality even though the time frame was fairly short. After some bumps in the road trying to get certain models in on time, Deniz did a complete 180 and started producing models like we've never seen before. This was amazing to witness and Deniz has a bright future in the modeling field for the games industry. Good luck Deniz!

Next up we have Mark Hudson, our environmental artist.

As you can see here, you can clearly point out what map goes to what models and for that we thank Mark. Mark had a rough start at development but we met with him a handful of times to get the resources he needed to him to ensure a smooth production. Mark really wanted to do good work on this project and it shows. Look at all those environmental assets!

Welp that brings us to a close here at Trapped Studios. On behalf of Zach and I, I want to personally thank the whole team for their work this semester and I wish everyone well on the next project they work on. Love you all and GLHF!

*click*

-Trapped Studios