This post will serve as a review of the progress made to my game, ADOS and SPUD throughout the semester.
Overall, I am happy with the outcome of my project. While not everything was achieved that I had initially set out to do, I had overcome many more hurdles than I had initially set out to do, making use of problem solving and research capabilities
What Worked:
The design of levels inside Unreal Engine has been my passion throughout the course, and I believe that this translates into the project that I have made. Interaction between the two clients not only feels natural, but fun to play. I watched several people play this stage of the game and have a lot of fun trying the mechanics and interacting with each other. Mechanics and level design was made clear, and the players learnt what they needed to know very quickly.
Working in Unreal Engine is a comfortable place for me, and allowed me to experiment more and go into a less documented area of the Unreal space. I feel that I have challenged myself to create this project, and have further developed my design skills.
Models that I did create, while not perfect, I believe are well designed and make the environment a much more complete place. The choice of using mostly cooler colours, such as blue, lead to the environment feeling a like a lab or an office, where there isn’t any life. Creating an environment and a feeling in the audience is what I strive to do when I create a game.
What could have gone better:
While the programming aspect of the game was challenging, it unfortunately impacted the rest of my project and the ability to perform to the scope that I had initially envisioned. I am proud of what I have made, but it is not quite the vision that I initially had for the project. I had intended for all models to be created by me, as well as at least one more level implemented, but the challenges of creating an asynchronous game with VR and PC unfortunately lead to the suffering of other aspects of the project.
I was also limited by my hardware. My computer hasn’t struggled to run VR games in the past, however when starting the project, I was unaware that I would need to run two instances of the game. This means that I was not able to fully test the project as I had intended, at least not to it’s full capabilities. Limits from the hardware caused issues while testing, as load times were bloated and programs kept crashing, causing more issues with the project beyond my control.
Final Thoughts:
While I had run out of time to fully complete everything I had set out to do at the conception of the project, I have succeeded in creating a fun experience for two players to experience together, to highlight the differences in points of view and working together. With some more time, I can refine the gameplay experience and enhance the game, with the addition of more levels and assets and more time to be more inclusive with my designs. The project was ultimately challenging, and while it didn’t reach it’s full potential, it ultimately filled it’s goal of making a fun asynchronous multiplayer experience for two friends.
ADOS and SPUD, waving goodbye
Mitchell Eastment 