Project Planning

As the group leader, I've been looking into different group planning methods.
I used to use google calendar, as I could allow others to subscribe to it, and could clearly see the dates of the tasks. Though as more tasks overlapped - which they will - it became cluttered and difficult to see what was most important.
Ideally I want some kind of Gantt Chart of a year, that can be zoomed into for months.
We're using freedcamp at the moment, because it's a free service that allows users to remotely view the same information - our milestones and planning deadlines.
I've seen a website that offers a Gantt chart view, and also some PC software that does the same - it's just a case of finding something that everyone can use and open (as it may come down to having a file on dropbox that's constantly updated). The problem with the PC software, is that Simone is using a Mac...so we need to find something that will work on both..

Something I've found myself doing is over-estimating how long things take to build and complete. My estimations of time (especially during time in uni) are a little too long, and I think realistically we can complete tasks much quicker. Even though my personal deadline is quite a while before the actual hand-in, I still think that the milestones are generous.

[edit]
I've recently found GanttProject, a PC/MAC software that should enable us to view the project as Gantt/Brainstorm etc and gives flexible dates and responsibilities. I'll start filling it with the information I already put into FreedCamp.

The beauty of this project is that I can visually see all of the milestones, which ones overlap and assign people to the individual tasks. They're also colour coded as to the type of work (concept blue, modelling red).
There's also a wonderful resources tab that people can open to see which tasks they personally have to complete.

The Idea

This is the main plot basis (not revealing what happens IN the game demo though).

Date 2068

Elita (our female lead), once a military nurse who fell far behind enemy lines, now a spy for MI9 (Once a covert group set up during WW2 covering military intelligence, disbanded in 1945; now reformed) protecting European interests and lives. War has raged between the three superpowers of the world; China, Russian and the USA – the battleground being Europe. (For a century the three largest superpowers were fighting a cold war. First was the space race, second the net race and finally a fight for the European continent.) 

Elita was promised an extraction to safety, to her family, in reward for her services. Her motivation starts clear; to help others and fight for freedom. But who is she working for and what will they make her do or become.

Demo Plot

Elita is tasked with finding military codes within a highly guarded base currently occupied by the Chinese, set into a mountain in the Alps. She's working for MI9 to serve her continent, but also waiting on them to get her to safety – something they haven't been doing, as she is quite useful for them. After a communiqué with the commander of MI9, she enters the base.

On entering Elita, masked and kitted out for stealth (though unarmed) must traverse through the maze of tunnels, sneak past guards, find key cards and operate the correct terminal to steal the data.

How the game will work:

A lot will go wrong, and rather than dying/game over Elita will be transported back to the beginning, ready to start sneaking and finding items again. This is so that the game will not be considered 'too hard', as some of the puzzles are quite tricky. There will be quite a few set-piece animations and cut scenes, to build the atmosphere and reality of what could happen..

Link to Vimeo scripting test

This is the scripting test within Unity.
https://vimeo.com/40512901

Josh Research

I've been mainly researching the technical game-building aspects of making the game. This meant teaching myself javascript and making a series of scripts that test what we need in the game.

This shows that we can physically make the game in all technical areas. We still have a few tests left to run, but what we're going to do, and have been advised to do, is to make a fully working prototype using blocks to play out and trigger events in the entirety of the game.
To learn javascript I used http://www.codecademy.com/ and a book from the library. I had to also use a LOT of reference from the unity manual (as certain functions worked differently in Unity than in websites).

I've also been looking at the importation of complete cutscenes into Unity - meaning I could animate the whole scene in Maya, and then export that whole cutscene. This should make character contact and interaction seamless and smooth.

Looking back on my research it's mainly pipeline research, which is where I'm always really interested in projects. I like finding ways of doing, and making things work efficiently.

Shambolic

Our game company name is Shambolic Games. At the moment the game is being coined 'Project Elita'.
We've made some preliminary maps and drawings to flesh out our idea, and have started to create both a Game Design Document and an Art Bible.

Updates will soon follow.

The project is to create a Game Design Document and an Art Bible for a new game using the Unity engine.
There's a quite a bit done for research, and it'll follow shortly :)

Here is a link to a Unity test, testing out the basic javascript coding for the game.
http://vimeo.com/40512901