NIGEL COUTINHO

What went right?

• Developing for the PS4 was new for all of us in the team, but we saw through the limitations and requirements early on and tackled problems accordingly. This further helped us transition smoothly from one milestone to the next. We ultimately, successfully developed a game for the PS4 with a frame rate maintained at 30FPS.

• Communication within the discipline and with other disciplines went rather well. The vision and Ideas where executed well till the end.

• Each level designers had their own strengths and weaknesses. In order to balance and fill in the gaps, we were able to fill in each ones weakness with each others strengths. Doing so, we were able to maximize our efficiency and assign tasks to specific designers where theirs strengths lay

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What went wrong?

• We faced trouble with conveyance of how the glaive could be used and what objects can be interacted with. We had to focus at the end to find ways to convey and reinforce the conveyance to the beginner players. However, average gamers were able to pick up on the conveyance well. The conveyance had to be enforced with pulsing (hit me) emissive and scrape marks that gave a sense of how the glaive could be used to get to a specific target.

• We had an issue of having too many dynamic lights for the PS4. Without the dynamic lights, there would be no shadows cast by the player. Ultimately, we had to fake the shadow cast by using a shadow blob texture at the bottom of the player.

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What have I learned?

• I learned how to create animations using level sequences within the unreal engine. First learned how to use matinee during initial development stage for animations and cinematic sequences and slowly transitioned into using level sequences to adapt to new standards and access new features adding character animations to the scene.

• I began to learn how to script sequences and rapid prototype mechanics and further implemented these new skills into developing and integrating them into the game

• Learned how to use dynamic level streaming to load in the game in a small hub world, which is crucial to know for level optimization and frame rate maintenance.

• I learned a great deal using blueprints to script level game play elements and trigger animations. This helped to keep the level interesting with motion.

• I learned a lot on lighting during this project. The importance of light-mass and how artifacts are formed and how they can be avoided/removed. Also, different lighting techniques used and how a desired effect can be obtained. With these techniques I am able to know when to use different lighting types as ans when needed.

• Every level or a section of a level should have some context while designing. This will help artists streamline the process of developing the visuals and art requirements without affecting the game play.