A compilation of the comments I have written on other people’s blogs so far.
Week 1 – Sofie
Hi, I’m Emma of team Qilin.
I liked your post, it was an interesting blog entry which in a pedagogical way explains what you’ve done, how and why. It would have been great if you’d added some images, as it would have been nice to see what the final outcomes were. You’ve explained what you did and how you did it, which was great! However, it might be an idea for the future to go into some more detail. For example, what did you and the other graphics student talk about when you talked about the fireflies? What did you look at for inspiration and why did those things specifically inspire you?
I also liked your reasoning for the general division of the art and sound design. All in all, I think you wrote a good blog post, that could perhaps have benefitted from some more detailed reflection and some images, but that explained in a clear and easily grasped way what you’ve done this past week.
Good luck this week!
(https://gamedesign905092715.wordpress.com/2018/02/09/power-up-the-week/)
Week 2 – Samantha
Hi, I’m Emma of team Qilin!
I’m sorry this is a little late. I liked your post, though! It was very interesting! I think you wrote a very clear and easily grasped text that illustrated in a nuanced way the process of the preproduction of your game. I’m really interested in the DMesh programme and your art style as a result. You mention that the art style is meant to further the plot, since they have the same origin, and I think it would have been nice if you maybe quickly would have summarized the plot. Since most people who aren’t in your team probably don’t know it, and it would probably have made the connection a little clearer. It might also have been an idea to summarize what DMesh is, for us who don’t know what it is. I realize you plan to write about just that in the future, so just like a sentence would have been nice.
I like your reflections on the values of thinking things through, and testing. I agree, evaluating and redoing things is the key! It might have been nice to have seen some of the drawings/tests you made, just for some visuals for your reflections. All in all, I think this was a great post, you reflected a lot, and you explained what you did, how you did it, and why you did it.
Good luck this week!
Emma Jelving Eklund
(https://artdevsam.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/style-guide-and-pre-production/)
Week 3 – Hanna Aho Lind
Hi, I’m Emma of team Qilin!
You’ve written a really interesting piece on how scrum has affected your development. It is a fairly personal reflection, and a very well written one. I think you very clearly explained how scrum has affected your own attitude and perception of working in a team and reading about that was really interesting. Your thoughts are presented in a very clear way, and everything you write has sound reasoning and explanations.
That said, one thing that might have been nice would have been if you’d have written more about how scrum has affected the group dynamics and workflow. I can quite clearly see how it’s scrum specifically that has triggered the development you’ve written about, however, it might be an idea to point out more specific things as well as the whole. As is you sometimes lose track of that scrum is what triggered your personal development.
All in all I think you’ve written a nice, if personal, reflective piece that explains how scrum has affected you and why. I’m not sure what the ‘what’ part of the critique would refer to on the topic of scrum, but you’ve written a comprehensive reflective post so I think you’re fine.
Good luck this week!
Emma Jelving Eklund
Week 4 – August Demirsson
Hi, I’m Emma of team Qilin!
I enjoyed reading about your designs! I think you explained nicely how you thought about level design, and why you made the decisions you made. It was interesting to read about the layout, I like that you introduce different types of obstacle constellations and especially that you use those to force players to realize that they must shoot enemies. One thing I have a question about is the thing about 20 seconds, do you mean that if the player dies in this first segment of your game, they will only have to replay a maximum of 20 seconds? If so, pointing out the specifics would have helped communicate clearer. Also, does the screen scroll? I also read the other comments you’ve received, and contrary to Theres, I assumed that the screen didn’t automatically scroll upwards. This might have been a thing you could have cleared up in your post. In addition to this, do you die from the trees through simply touching them, or does the screen catch up with you and crush you?
I think you wrote a good blog post, all in all! You clearly explained what you did – the level design for the start of the game -, how you did it – by arranging trees in various combinations -, and why you did it – to teach players that trees are bad and shooting enemies is good. Interesting and pedagogical design!
I’m sorry you’ve received so many comments, no one else in your group posted anything this week!
Good luck this week!
Emma Jelving Eklund
(https://gamedesign673637781.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/level-designing-the-start-of-our-game-august-demirsson/comment-page-1/#comment-16) 7th of March
Week 5 – Josefine Ringstad
Hi, so sorry that this post is a little late!
I think you’ve written an interesting and informative piece of writing that shows quite clearly how play tests affected your group. I like that you talked about many things that you received feedback on as well as your fixes for said problems.
I can relate to your problems with power ups not looking friendly enough, but I think your solution seems good! Not having to re-draw and animate another design is generally a better option in my opinion. It would have been interesting to hear if your solution worked on testers, but I suppose you can’t see into the future.
A thing you might want to consider in the future is simply elaborating more on the ‘how’ part of things and the actual process. Your thoughts are really interesting and it could have been nice to hear some more of them! For example, how did you solve the problem with the tutorial? How did it look before you changed it and after?
All in all a nice and informative text! You’ve clearly explained the ways in which your team has benefitted from playtest feedback and it was an interesting read.
Good luck with your post-mortem!
Emma Jelving Eklund (of Team Qilin)
(https://juniorartproductions.wordpress.com/2018/03/07/playtesting-and-development-changes/comment-page-1/#comment-1) 19th of March (awaiting moderation)
Week 6 – Alexander Saleteg
Hi, I’m Emma of Team Qilin
I’m glad to hear that your team seems to not have faced far too many problems. It sounds like you’ve all learnt a lot and had a fairly good time.
You take up some problems and and successes in your text, which is good. It could have been nice if you would have expanded some more on some of your points, as you are fairly brief in your reflections. You’ve written a lot of explanations for what you were up to at certain moments during the course and it might have been interesting if you’d have focused more on your own reflections. It might also have been helpful had you included some images to go with some of your more technical points, such as the evolution of the powerup..
That said, I enjoyed the read! I’m sorry your laptop crashed, animating is hard enough without having to wrestle an uncooperative computer. Despite this, you seem to have had an okay time.
Have a nice weekend!
Emma Jelving Eklund
https://gd2developmentas.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/blog-6/comment-page-1/#comment-14 23/3 2018
When Graphics and Academia Collide 