EMMA TETHRAIN
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Today I write a "To Do"-list for the Designers so that when you don't know what to do next, you can pick a Task from the list. I added the assets that are going to be in the living room to the Trello. I have "Tennisarmbåge" right now so my elbow hurts really badly and has been for the few last days, but today it's really bad. I feel sick as well so I'm going to go home after lunch. Hopefully I'll get better with some rest. There as been no pictures from the artists today yet, but if they add any to discord then I'll make sure to add them to the post later. - Update - Felicia worked like crazy today!! She did such a good job!! Felicia managed to make the TV-bench and one big bookshelf and a smaller bookshelf. She made a VHS player and a thick-screen TV and two books and clutter. I have no idea how she managed to make all of that in one day, I am so impressed!! Wille added measurements to the Lock-pick tool in the middle
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Today we had our second Sprint! Showing what we've been up to last week and I'm so proud over what all team members have done so far! I made the sprint and held the presentation. Kevin helped me clean the presentation up a little bit as well! I also organized a bunch of stuff as usual. We had a meeting after the sprint with Anton and Stefan, the sound crew of the group and managed to give them a clearer concept of the game! Dufflebag by Felicia! (blender donut!!) Greta's Drip by Oskar!!!! Loke's progress on the Van!! Wille' work for today! Lucas made moodboards for all of the rooms in the house!
We had a designer meeting today where we went through questions we had regarding the game. Melinda talked about if we're going to have an inventory and how many slots it will have (around 4-5). How will crawling, running work? How will pushing and throwing stuff at Greta work? Melinda also suggested we added a laundry hatch so that the player could access the basement level in two different ways. However that would most likely cause motion sickness, so I suggested a Dumbwaiter (mat hiss) as an option. Kevin informed us about the questions that the programmers had about how Greta's AI system will work and we talked it through and came up with a solution that he will continue to work on (Aware system). He also asked if you drop one of your equipment, like the flashlight, will it stay on the ground in the same spot or will it teleport back to the player. One thing I was confused about was where the Art direction was going. What we decided for the art aesthetic was that the first floor and the second floor, basically the livable areas, were supposed to look like a normal residents house but now it seemed like the entire house was supposed to be horror themed. I brought it up to attention and we discussed it and reached the conclusion that we need to reinforce the vision that we had with the aesthetic. Kevin wrote a document directed at the art direction and we also spoke with lead artist Lucas about it so he makes sure people follows it. We will also make sure to inform the artists to read through it and follow it. Everyone agreed that this was a good meeting and in the future we'll make sure to talk as soon as we stumble upon an issue with someone. Bathtub and Stool made by Ellinor!! Player hands & Skull and Teeth made by Felicia!! Toilet paper holder and Towel rack and hook by Wille!! Sink by Lucas!!
Our studio logo that Felicia made today! Today I supported Alfonso's group "Monster Wash" with their structuring of the art aspect, and I also gave them my GDD for Burglar as a reference template since Lukas who was tasked with writing their GDD had written it in a storytelling format, which I personally would not have been happy to have to read through every time I needed to find a simple instruction. So I had a meeting at 10.00 with Alfonso and the Monster Wash artists to help out structuring them. And also a smaller "pre-meeting" where I helped Alfonso, Magda and Felix with structuring their work and what to bring up at the meeting and I encouraged Alfonso to dare to take place in the project. Since Lukas was away I told him to make decisions because they need to be made. Just like Fanny taught me in the first game project. I'm happy that I could help, even if it was just a little. I hope their game goes well!! I managed to work a bit more on my puzzle. But I feel like with Melinda's puzzle she made today, maybe there is too much focus on teeth-related puzzles. I'm afraid it will be too much of the same thing so maybe I'll change the idea. Melinda's puzzle! We started installing Unreal on our computers. The people left are; Felicia, Me, Oskar, Kevin and Viktor. Me, Melinda and Linus (designers) and Lucas and Felicia (artists) had a meeting at 14.00 where we discussed narrative. We got access to out dev kit today as well so that was exciting, and I'm in charge of it so I'll make sure it is well taken care of! Teeth and Skull made by Felicia! Floor material made by Lucas! Toilet made by Lucas! Lantern made by Ellinor! Lockpick tool set by Wille! Cigarette, Ashtray, Candle, Candleholder and Toilet paper holder by Wille! The safe Loke finished yesterday!
I updated meetings that we have had as well as the two scrums we have had so far on discord. I also informed the Sound designers over discord how to access the GDD and where to find the information they need. We also had a small designer meeting (me, Kevin and Melinda) where Kevin presented the system he had written for how Greta our AI will move around and her behaviors, and he did a really good job and thought about every aspect!!! I also added two puzzles to the Miro board. The Skull puzzle was written on paper so not all of the information is there yet, but I hope to include everything tomorrow. I also added the puzzle Melinda came up with, the dog and bone one. Puzzles on Miro board. Lockpick by Wille!! Dirt Decal made by Lucas, displayed on wallpaper and on concrete Level Blockout by Lucas! Dog by Felicia! So cute!! Loke finished the safe today and started on the Van.
Today I added props to Trello and to the GDD. A little of all that was added to the two. I organized a folder dedicated to Burglar so that I can organize pictures that artists & programmers & designers post, in folders from the first day to the last day of the project. Organisation! I had a level design meeting together with Melinda, Linus and our Lead environment artist Lucas. I also wrote a summary for the level design meeting in the discord server. I added more SFX together with Melinda to the GDD. A mix of old and new, this is just a few out of all of the sound effects. I added more teeth "arts and crafts" suggestions that the Granny would do to the Miro Board. I also started doing a gameplay Flowchart of the level on Miro Board. Arts & Crafts to the right and Gameplay Flowchart to the right. Made a template for upcoming Sprints and prepared for next weeks sprint so we only have to add information when time comes. Slides from the Sprint presentation template I made. Felicia managed to bake the dog today! Good job Felicia!! Oskar's progress on the Granny, it looks so good!! Lucas made materials and tested baking a light source as well!! Melinda's progress on the 2D level layout!! I had a "Team Take Off" meeting with the fellow SPI members, held by Lotta from 14.00 until 16.00, then I cried for an hour because I felt like I speak too much overall. But I got back to work and managed to write todays dev diary entry, so I'm happy that I at least got that done. Now I'm going to go home and cry it all out and pamper myself so I can come back refreshed and ready to work tomorrow!
I also wanted to have shown the sound designers; Anton, William and Stefan the GDD and where they could find information they need to know, but since I broke down I couldn't do it today. I'm going to check with the other designers tomorrow to see if they did it, if not, then I'll contact the sound designers and make sure they have the information they need. We started off the day with an introduction to Game Project 2. I feel really excited! Kevin and Linus held a meeting with the programmers today. Summary written by Kevin Me and Melinda had a meeting with the artists. Summary written by me Artist roles! Mood board that Ellinor made today Floor texture made by Lucas We had our first Sprint where we presented the game idea to the sound students from Högskolan Dalarna, and we got to meet and talk to Stefan, Anton and William who will work beside us for this entire project. I'm really looking forward to it! and they seem excited about it as well! Kevin made the presentation for todays sprint, and I added a slide for sound to it, based of on Melindas first presentation of the game.
Burglar drawn by Felicia Lindgren For Game Project 2 Melinda Emanuelsson's game idea "Burglar" was chosen and I was picked to be a part of the team as a designer! The team consists of: Designers: Emma Tethrain, Kevin Buda Andersson, Linus Jernström, Melinda Emanuelsson Programmers: Casper Juvas, Dennis Löv, David Bern, Viktor Niemelä Artists: Ellinor Levin, Felicia Lindgren, Loke Öhrström, Lucas Andersson Lundvik, Oskar Lindahl, Theodor Fransson, Wille Evensson 14 March 2023 I made a server on discord for everyone to use during the Game Project to come. I also made a template for the GDD and the Breakdown for us to use and made sure to post it on our Discord server! I added some information to the GDD to get us started, like props we need and sound effects and filled out the information I had. 15 March 2023 We had our first designer meeting and decided on the main roles we designers will have during the production, and backups in case. Product manager: Emma Tethrain Level Design: Melinda Emanuelsson AI and System Design: Kevin Buda Andersson UI Design: Linus Jernström Narrative: Emma Tethrain, Kevin Buda Andersson Redflag (mental health representative): Emma Tethrain, Linus Jernström Since in Game Project 1 there were groups that had bad experiences I wanted to make sure that we prioritized mental health and a good work environment, so I made up the Redflag role. So we have to representatives, me and Linus, that people can turn to if they have something on their minds. I also encouraged everyone to reach out to the teachers if they don't feel like they want to share their problems with us; As long as they seek help when they need it instead of keeping it inside and feel depressed. It's very important, and I want everyone to prioritize their well-being in this project and have fun time together! At the design meeting we also discussed different ideas we had about the game and the game scope. Dog made by Felicia Lindgren 16 March 2023
I made a mood playlist with Melinda so we could get into the feel of the game. We also talked loosely about the level design and the game aesthetic. We also discussed win and lose condition. I shared my idea about the player not just losing the game if they are caught by the Resident, but that they could get captured and had to break out from there. If that event happens then the resident will try to kill the player because they escaped. I wanted to do something more than just win and lose, and I liked the idea of giving the player one more chance before they lose, a chance to get back up. 17 March 2023 We had another Designer meeting since there were somethings I was still unclear about. The scope is:
We decided on the following game aesthetic: It's going to play out in current time, in 2023. The residents house have not been updated since the 70s, so it will have that aesthetic to the living quarters. The basement will be more updated and modern as the Resident put most of their wealth into their "hobby". As a game reference that the artists can use we decided on Resident Evil 7. We are going to have a art meeting next week to check with the artists and hear their thoughts about it. We decided that the house will be in the outskirts of town, in the forest so that the artists don't have to put too much time on surrounding environment and can focus more on the house itself. First group meeting: We had our first group meeting later the same day. However a lot of people were absent. I felt that we still had to have the presentation. Thinking back at the last game project, I was unsure about if I should do certain things/ make decisions without my designer partner at the time, Calle, if he was absent, but after a talk with Fanny, my teacher, she made it clear that at times like that, then I am the leader and will make the calls. So for the meeting I felt that going through with it would be best. I also don't know if the missing people will be here on Monday so I don't want to stop our plans because of absence. We decided that we will write a summary of the meeting and post it on Discord for everyone to see. Together we decided on the Studio name: Silent Partner Interactive We could not decide on roles for the rest of the group since people were absent and I didn't know what they had worked with previously and wanted to work on on this project. But the people that were present have told me about what they worked with and what they wish to work with so that's good. I also messaged two members of the group who were absent and they shared what they did and what they want to work with. I'm still missing information from other group members but I will take care of that on Monday. I also put Linus together with Kevin now in the beginning to work on Systems so we have work ready for the programmers when the project start next week so that they have stuff to do immediately. Melinda also made a level block out today! |
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