Reflective Journal

02.03.26

Course Review

 24.02.26

Mind Mapping and Context

The objective of this session was to consider the various contextual applications of our project theme, that being mythologies, as well as to select 1 media text for contextual analysis to initiate our project.

The aim of the first session was to outline what mythologies were and what people or creatures were in them, and what they meant to the story, their symbolism, origin, etc.

We define mythologies based on stories that are derived from cultural traditions or legends, usually with meanings or lessons tied to the human condition.

Some ways we can interpret a myth is what it's trying to say about perhaps specific people, maybe as a way to scare off people, such as old wives' tales, or as a warning for future generations to know of, or to just be scary, though some could be inspiring.

As a pseudo-practical, we made mind maps outlining different mythological creatures and other topics.

What I learned from the mindmap was that there were various depictions of haunting creatures and stories, all with different messages, symbolism and lessons extruding from them. such as my teammates' additions of adding a banshee or the puca puca.

What I have learned from this session is the potential direction I could take my FMP with various different meanings and symbolic storytelling decisions that I could sprinkle into whatever it is I make.

For what direction I could take, perhaps something that speaks on a setting holding something specific and is in turn a holy place with a mythological being being present in it, perhaps one with angelic properties giving it a high status.

For what I would like to avoid, I would primarily like to stray away from anything too grounded, as I would like to create something that is a bit out there in terms of mythology.

For media Texts I have chosen to research I have chosen:

• Jujutsu Kaisen - Mahoraga/Makora

• Deltarune - Titan

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26.02.26

Reflective Journal - Week 1

Regarding my project's direction, I strongly believe I will be making a game with a heavy focus on biblical angels.

Based on this, I've decided that I will research them aswell as use the contextual analysis I've already done, to craft design work for the game and sketches of the characters I want to implement.

Research activities I will conduct to gather this data are to use a mix of primary and secondary research. 

For primary research, I will be attending a trip next week, on Thursday, where we will go to a museum about mythological beings, and my hope is that there is something there to read and take photos of to widen my knowledge about what I want.

For secondary research, I would want to go over what I wrote for my contextual analyses and additionally research the themes behind what angels represent to write a short but well-crafted mini story for the game I want to create, using imagery and architecture that the player may pass by.

Additionally, I may create a Google Doc and a Google Drive folder to hold all my project work to stay organised and on task.

I might do this by setting a few tasks or just one that would need to be done by the end of the week, and then reflect on what I have before repeating the process again next week, vice versa.

General feelings about this project are high but worrisome, as I do not want to become overambitious with this project and try to do things that I wouldn't be able to do in my current skill set.

However, if all goes well and I plan accordingly, I believe this project will go smoothly and be as effective as possible.

04.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 2

- Iteration on designs -

During this week, we had a lesson where we analysed different designs and drew them in our sketchbook before iterating on them, which means to repeat a process over and over again, changing things before iterating again, looking back at what came before and then vice versa.

For our first task, we were asked to doodle the last character observed in our contextual analysis. I drew the Titan from Deltarune, as it was the last thing I looked at.

Our next task included iterating on a different character that we knew multiple times. These were the changes I had made;

This is the original design with nothing added or changed about posing or character; it is Mahoraga from the Japanese manga series Jujutsu Kaisen. This is a character whom I have previously researched for my contextual analysis.

To interpret it different i exxageratted ther posing, giving them a bigger and stronger build and lowering them to the ground, crouching while giving a meaner look. 

The feedback I got from this, when reviewed by my other classmates, was to exaggerate further on the scale of him.

To iterate further based on the feedback, I increased this size to a monumental scale and increased the size of the ring above his head aswell. I drew a small cliff to show the sheer scale of him as he towers over it.

I tried to show off and incorporate a specific type of phobia with this drawing, that being megalophobia, although I don't think I did it as well as I could have.

If I were to iterate on this again, I would change up the perspective aswell and the design a little bit to maybe be a bit more lanky, just to change up the body sizing.

Overall, though, I think these iterations work for what I was trying to achieve for the most part.

After these iterations were done, our next task was to look through a book of mythological monsters and draw one of them. I chose to draw this large golem figure with sharp jagged rocks decorating it. I drew a smaller person below it to show the scale of it compared to a normal person.

After the rough drawing was done, I iterated on it like all the others before it ut this time changing a few features on it to seem more elegant and nimble with angelic features such as sharp stone wings and a glint of star for a face.

The feedback I got from this was that they liked the new original ideas, showing a good understanding of my work ethic and what I researched before.

I quite like these iterations as they feel a lot more different than the ones I did before, though I don't like that wings feel more organic than rough and rock-like.

Taking away from this, I think I'd want to use iteration to try different variations of designs when creating characters for my FMP.

11.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 3

- Proposal workshop - Trinax -

For this lesson, we listened to a lady who talked about her work at Trinax and what she does there, giving us a clearer picture of how to give a presentation to pitch an idea.

To give us that, though we did an activity to present an idea for an interactive game using Google Slides in a group of 3, we presented it together; this was the presentation that we used.

 I liked the process of presenting something and planning something simple with quick mockup sketches. If I were to take anything away its that mockup sketches are very useful for trying to visualise what you want to do.

17.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 4

- PechaKucha - test show -

This week, we were tasked with creating a Pecha Kucha to propose our idea of a game or animation to the class and link it back to the theme of mythologies and research we did over the course of the past few weeks.

I started to create mine and built it up a bit, and added notes on when and what to speak about on each slide. After some of it was done, we were tasked to present to a class member, hear feedback on it and improve it.

After I had 2 with one on ones of my classmates, I collected some feedback from them, and I wrote it down. The feedback from both was mostly the same, stating that visuals from the presentation were good. But my overall performance was lacking in volume, and I read off the script that I had written a lot.

Taking this away to further this into my full presentation in front of the full class, I will continue to develop my presentation as normal with the visual aspect.

However, I will need to adjust my script a bit and read less of it and adjust the volume of my tone to be louder so that everyone in the class can hear me.

24.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 5

- PechaKucha - real show -

This week, we presented our Pecha Kuchas. I presented mine on Tuesday; it went pretty badly, but I got most of the points I wanted to say out.

After I had finished my presentation, I was given feedback on how it went, what I did well or didn't, and if my proposal was interesting.

Most said they found my pitch interesting and liked how it linked back to my theme about mythologies and interest in angelic creatures and the overall look of the presentation.

However, many criticised my constant re-do's of slides whenever I messed up, stuttering, a clear lack of script preparation, and constant reading of it once I had it.

If I were to take anything away from this experience, it would be to write my script in a Google Doc and not on speaker notes underneath the slides, as well as properly prepare beforehand and read less off my script with a clearer and louder speaking voice.

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Now that my Pecha Kucha is over, I decided to start working fully on my Final Game Project. The first thing to do is to make proper animations for the main character so that I have a good basis to type of sprite art I want to achieve, right now I am experimenting with idle and running animations. The idle is fully complete, being very short and simple to understand on a small scale.

Here is part of the running animation that I did.

Finishing both of them up, I believe they turned out very well, and I learned some minor code skills/experience using Construct 3 to choose which animation to use when an action is done.

If I were to change anything, it would be to colour them correctly and remove the block-out base colour scheme that they have right now.

Through the next 2 weeks, I will be on holiday and may do some additional work on the game, but I will not give it too much priority. Once it is over, I am planning on doing a concept sheet for my game to realise my idea and work more fluidly in Construct with knowledge in hand on what to do.

14.04.26

Reflective Journal - Week 6

- mockup/game concept sheet -

After finishing up on some writing from the past weeks, I started to create a rough game concept sheet, detailing what I need and want from my game, the gameplay, loop, systemic breakdown/mechanics, etc.

I did this by creating a Google Doc to note these down, which is shown below.

    

As of writing this, it is unfinished, but I will be adding more to it over time, aswell as well as creating a traffic light system to help keep track of what is ended in the game and what's done or is being worked on.

I also created a moodboard to visualise what I sort of want from the aesthetic of the game, which is shown below.

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For final thoughts this week, I have added more to my concept sheet on details discussing the narrative and mechanics/systems within the game.

I took special care in writing the core conceptual narrative for the game, writing something simple that can be open-ended and interpreted in different ways.

I showed a classmate of mine, and they gave me feedback stating that the concept is very good and interesting while also being simple.

takeing away from this week overall, I will continue to adjust my concept sheet further through the coming weeks and use it accordingly to keep up on work, I may also during the weekend do some futher work on my game animation wise for my player character as there is one frame that needs to be done which is the dash animation, this will require hopefully light coding and drawing skills to do.

I may also start to conceptualise the tutorial level of the game using grid sheets that I will take home to work on.

I have only 5 weeks left to finish this project and have it ready before the deadline. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, but hopefully I can get what needs to be done using the simplest and time-efficient methods. However, I will have to be careful about the quality of my work.

22.04.26

Reflective Journal - Week 7

- Grey Boxing first level -

This week, I set a goal to create a sketch of 1 of the levels I have for the main game, that being a basic tutorial before entering the tree where you ascend upwards and then greybox that level in Construct 3 as well as coding in my first interactive object for the player to make progress with.

I sketched out the tutorial using Construct 3, drawing loosely while using what I learned from my previous lessons discussing game design in mind when drawing it all out.

I also sketched out what my interactive assist object would be.

The concept for this object is simple: you jump on it, it pops and bounces you higher before respawning, ready to be used again.

It is a traversal object that helps you reach farther places and also INSTANTLY refills your DASH.

After I had completed both these sketches in Adobe Photoshop, I went to construct 3, using the main build of the game I had already created.

Using it, I started to greybox the level I laid out in Construct 3 with simple blue boxes, snapped to the grid and simple text to explain the controls/mechanics.

An issue I ran into, however, when I moved to creating the Tree sap Bubble object, is that when popped, I want it to become invisible for a moment before reappearing, ready to be used again, and while it does do that, there is a slight issue where it may sometimes flicker and be able to be used twice or an infinite amount of time upon reappearing.

I have tried to fix this issue by changing code and disabling collisions, but none have proven to give a fix. I will leave it for now and come back to it at possibly a later date, or change the design of certain levels to hide the small bug, since it is not game-breaking.

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As of writing now, I have fully completed the tutorial level following the level plan I made for it.

It has nearly everything I would need to add to it; however, a checkpoint may need to be coded in right before the challenging segment of the level where the player will fail.

Apart from that, I have also added some sound for more feedback on controls as well as to add a certain mood for the level, being soft and relaxing with barely any hazards in place to stop the player, being a gentle way to introduce them to the game, it controls and mechanics that they'll see being used all throughout.

I also did one quick playtest with a classmate behind me; I wasn't going in with the mindset yet, just as a quick way to test it before a real analysis of someone playing. However, the response they gave was quite uplifting as they described it as fun, smooth, and fast, and the tutorial text I had in place made a lot more sense than in previous builds.

They also enjoyed the sound design, such as the footsteps and the music playing through the level. I will be sure to make a note of these going forward and make a start on doing a proper Player test with another one of my classmates.

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After making final changes to my game by adding menus and checkpoints, it was ready to be playtested. This was the feedback I got.

Overall, a fun experience; however, the tutorial stage they played seemed slightly challenging from what they said, so I edited it after 2 people played througha nd asked 1 more person to play through it, and they had less trouble.

They thought the sound design was great and felt like everything was smooth and polished, and enjoyed the additions of checkpoints.

Taking away from this, I will continue to employ the current techniques I am using and keep the mechanics the same; however, I will try to adjust and rethink level design, adding multiple paths for more experienced players and another for less experienced, so all can get through how they'd like to.

Overall, this was a successful week with great additions to my game and an outstanding push forward to start work on the other levels within the game, such as menus, saving and checkpoints implemented. Before any new levels get added, I think polish is far more important than whether the game looks pretty or not, so I may start work on that.

After all that, though, which shouldn't take too long to do, I will start to map out the first official level for the game as well as experiment with the timeline function of Construct 3 to see if I can create 1 cutscene, even if it is the most basic of sorts.

27.04.26

Reflective Journal - Week 8

- FIRST Blocker -

To start the week off, I wanted to attempt to code a blcoker enemy for the game, similar to a goomba, reusing the code from the bubbles I created before.

To do this, I watched a video on how to create simple Mario enemy AI in Construct 3. It is very useful for creating all sorts of different AI/Enemy types. I may use this video again in the future.

I then followed the steps to code a simple gooba that faces a different direction when hitting a wall.

The code was fairly simple and easy to make, though I may change this code to make it so that instead of hitting a wall to change direction, it walks to an edge, then changes direction.

I gave it similar properties/events that happen when you jump onto a bubble; however, I still need to add a damage effect to the player, which I will do now using a different video.

This video shows me how to create a simple effect over the player character to change when overlapping with another object, in this case, an enemy/blocker.
I will use this to demonstrate to the player when they take damage.

Videos used:

For creating the simple behaviour for the enemy

Damage effect used

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After a bit of tinkering with this blocker, I made it so it effortlessly bounces between invisible blocks that the Blocker can collide with, whilst the player can't. I did this by creating a set of code that acts as a filter for the block used to flip the blocker's movement to turn off collisions ONLY for the player character.

This at first was very confusing, as I did not know the right code to use until I was shown instructions by my teacher, where I figured out how to create block/object filters. This is a very useful and short piece of code and something I would love to use more in the future.

I also sketched out a very simple plan and ideas for obstacles for the first level, using my knowledge from previous lessons, as well as watching an additional video for a refresher on level design. I managed to create a rough plan for the level.

Overall, I think this week has gone alright. I was able to code in my first blocker; however, I was not able to finish the first level using the plan I created, which has me worried about the future of this project and how I can implement other features that I would like to add.

Although, I do think this project from where it had started has been going well overall, there are just a few worries I have with it but I do think that by next week i hope to finish level 1 completley with all events, obstacles and etc. implemented so I can then move onto creating some visuals for my game as right now it is in an unfinished state compared to everything else.

To do this, I will use my moodboard, which I created a few weeks ago and start drawing out potential designs for decor that can be used, as well as a design for the main player character, as right now I don't have the clearest picture in my head.

05.05.26

Reflective Journal - Week 9

- 3 weeks left -

Something I forgot to comment on from last week's journal is that my teacher, who has given us this project, playtested our games aswell as watched other people's animations to give us feedback. They played it by themselves with no instruction from us.

The feedback I got was fairly positive, as they gave me guidance on things to consider going forward with a strong set of controls and recommended another blocker that takes advantage of the player's Dash ability.

Other negative feedback I got was in talks of certain animation and sound bugs, such as a step sound and moonwalk bug aswell as a comment on how the AI I have for the game so far is quite limited, recommending an airborne blocker that has varied movement patterns, giving more versatility to the player with the tools I have given them.

With all this in mind, I will continue my approach with how I'm developing the game so far. However, I will attempt to add a new type of blocker in the future that is similar to what the feedback I got back recommended, as it is quite interesting to me and doesn't seem too hard to code.

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As of writing, there are about 3 weeks left before the final deadline of the project. With that in mind, this is what I have done for this week.

I have fully blocked out level 1 for my game. It has small branching paths that the player can take with 2 new additional blockers meant to ease them into the game: a spike which stuns them and pushes them back, as well as a simple AI blocker that moves from left to right. Hitting either side of thes

The BMS blocks (Blocker Movement Switcher) I've placed will flip their movement and march them forward, vice versa.

The level consists of a large tower climb with one cutscene and an end boss (which I have not coded yet). I have designed it to become progressively more difficult as you climb higher, with checkpoints separating segments to save a player's progress.

The map is quite big, so it would take a beginner player quite long to get through, which is why I added a mid-section cutscene to break up the gameplay for a second, foreshadowing the future boss at the end of the level.

- Thoughts & Primary research/player test

I did a few player tests on the current build of my game for primary research and got back fairly useful information and knowledge on bugs still troubling my game, such as being able to stand on the spikes that push you back.

I received feedback requesting more control options, such as binding the jump key to both space and the 'W' key.

As aswell as recommendations to make the section where you slide on a wall easier and to provide a clearer example of how to kill an enemy.

Overall, I think this week went well with the game being nearly done for a demo.

For how I feel about the project overall, I think it's gone well, and I feel confident for the last 2 weeks of this project, for it will be done by then.

11.05.26

Reflective Journal - Week 10

-Boss battle coding - 2 week left -

My goal for this week is to create a boss battle for the end of level 1 and start creating asset design for my game for menus, UI, and level tilemaps using my Moodboard as a source of inspiration.

Before starting to code, however, I added temporary sprites for the boss to use while creating actual sprites for it later; these consisted of 5 solid-colour animations with letters corresponding to the different states it was currently in.

Using this, I attempted to code the boss's AI with the help of my teacher. However, despite our efforts, there were many bugs and issues, such as the sprite not flipping correctly or the boss repeatedly bumping into a wall before stopping.

And with one week left as of writing, I am unsure I can figure out how to code this AI into the way I want it to, have it ready and bug-free by the deadline. I may have to compromise and scrap this altogether and do something else to have the game ready by then.

Overall, this week didn't go as I would have hoped it would, as not much progress on the game was covered, except for a few areas and an additional concept sheet being made.

Next week, which is the final week, I am planning to polish up some details about the game, create a quick extras menu and level select and see what else I can do that won't require a lot of time and effort to do in just a few short days.

02.03.26

Course Review

 24.02.26

Mind Mapping and Context

The objective of this session was to consider the various contextual applications of our project theme, that being mythologies, as well as to select 1 media text for contextual analysis to initiate our project.

The aim of the first session was to outline what mythologies were and what people or creatures were in them, and what they meant to the story, their symbolism, origin, etc.

We define mythologies based on stories that are derived from cultural traditions or legends, usually with meanings or lessons tied to the human condition.

Some ways we can interpret a myth is what it's trying to say about perhaps specific people, maybe as a way to scare off people, such as old wives' tales, or as a warning for future generations to know of, or to just be scary, though some could be inspiring.

As a pseudo-practical, we made mind maps outlining different mythological creatures and other topics.

What I learned from the mindmap was that there were various depictions of haunting creatures and stories, all with different messages, symbolism and lessons extruding from them. such as my teammates' additions of adding a banshee or the puca puca.

What I have learned from this session is the potential direction I could take my FMP with various different meanings and symbolic storytelling decisions that I could sprinkle into whatever it is I make.

For what direction I could take, perhaps something that speaks on a setting holding something specific and is in turn a holy place with a mythological being being present in it, perhaps one with angelic properties giving it a high status.

For what I would like to avoid, I would primarily like to stray away from anything too grounded, as I would like to create something that is a bit out there in terms of mythology.

For media Texts I have chosen to research I have chosen:

• Jujutsu Kaisen - Mahoraga/Makora

• Deltarune - Titan

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26.02.26

Reflective Journal - Week 1

Regarding my project's direction, I strongly believe I will be making a game with a heavy focus on biblical angels.

Based on this, I've decided that I will research them aswell as use the contextual analysis I've already done, to craft design work for the game and sketches of the characters I want to implement.

Research activities I will conduct to gather this data are to use a mix of primary and secondary research. 

For primary research, I will be attending a trip next week, on Thursday, where we will go to a museum about mythological beings, and my hope is that there is something there to read and take photos of to widen my knowledge about what I want.

For secondary research, I would want to go over what I wrote for my contextual analyses and additionally research the themes behind what angels represent to write a short but well-crafted mini story for the game I want to create, using imagery and architecture that the player may pass by.

Additionally, I may create a Google Doc and a Google Drive folder to hold all my project work to stay organised and on task.

I might do this by setting a few tasks or just one that would need to be done by the end of the week, and then reflect on what I have before repeating the process again next week, vice versa.

General feelings about this project are high but worrisome, as I do not want to become overambitious with this project and try to do things that I wouldn't be able to do in my current skill set.

However, if all goes well and I plan accordingly, I believe this project will go smoothly and be as effective as possible.

04.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 2

- Iteration on designs -

During this week, we had a lesson where we analysed different designs and drew them in our sketchbook before iterating on them, which means to repeat a process over and over again, changing things before iterating again, looking back at what came before and then vice versa.

For our first task, we were asked to doodle the last character observed in our contextual analysis. I drew the Titan from Deltarune, as it was the last thing I looked at.

Our next task included iterating on a different character that we knew multiple times. These were the changes I had made;

This is the original design with nothing added or changed about posing or character; it is Mahoraga from the Japanese manga series Jujutsu Kaisen. This is a character whom I have previously researched for my contextual analysis.

To interpret it different i exxageratted ther posing, giving them a bigger and stronger build and lowering them to the ground, crouching while giving a meaner look. 

The feedback I got from this, when reviewed by my other classmates, was to exaggerate further on the scale of him.

To iterate further based on the feedback, I increased this size to a monumental scale and increased the size of the ring above his head aswell. I drew a small cliff to show the sheer scale of him as he towers over it.

I tried to show off and incorporate a specific type of phobia with this drawing, that being megalophobia, although I don't think I did it as well as I could have.

If I were to iterate on this again, I would change up the perspective aswell and the design a little bit to maybe be a bit more lanky, just to change up the body sizing.

Overall, though, I think these iterations work for what I was trying to achieve for the most part.

After these iterations were done, our next task was to look through a book of mythological monsters and draw one of them. I chose to draw this large golem figure with sharp jagged rocks decorating it. I drew a smaller person below it to show the scale of it compared to a normal person.

After the rough drawing was done, I iterated on it like all the others before it ut this time changing a few features on it to seem more elegant and nimble with angelic features such as sharp stone wings and a glint of star for a face.

The feedback I got from this was that they liked the new original ideas, showing a good understanding of my work ethic and what I researched before.

I quite like these iterations as they feel a lot more different than the ones I did before, though I don't like that wings feel more organic than rough and rock-like.

Taking away from this, I think I'd want to use iteration to try different variations of designs when creating characters for my FMP.

11.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 3

- Proposal workshop - Trinax -

For this lesson, we listened to a lady who talked about her work at Trinax and what she does there, giving us a clearer picture of how to give a presentation to pitch an idea.

To give us that, though we did an activity to present an idea for an interactive game using Google Slides in a group of 3, we presented it together; this was the presentation that we used.

 I liked the process of presenting something and planning something simple with quick mockup sketches. If I were to take anything away its that mockup sketches are very useful for trying to visualise what you want to do.

17.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 4

- PechaKucha - test show -

This week, we were tasked with creating a Pecha Kucha to propose our idea of a game or animation to the class and link it back to the theme of mythologies and research we did over the course of the past few weeks.

I started to create mine and built it up a bit, and added notes on when and what to speak about on each slide. After some of it was done, we were tasked to present to a class member, hear feedback on it and improve it.

After I had 2 with one on ones of my classmates, I collected some feedback from them, and I wrote it down. The feedback from both was mostly the same, stating that visuals from the presentation were good. But my overall performance was lacking in volume, and I read off the script that I had written a lot.

Taking this away to further this into my full presentation in front of the full class, I will continue to develop my presentation as normal with the visual aspect.

However, I will need to adjust my script a bit and read less of it and adjust the volume of my tone to be louder so that everyone in the class can hear me.

24.03.26

Reflective Journal - Week 5

- PechaKucha - real show -

This week, we presented our Pecha Kuchas. I presented mine on Tuesday; it went pretty badly, but I got most of the points I wanted to say out.

After I had finished my presentation, I was given feedback on how it went, what I did well or didn't, and if my proposal was interesting.

Most said they found my pitch interesting and liked how it linked back to my theme about mythologies and interest in angelic creatures and the overall look of the presentation.

However, many criticised my constant re-do's of slides whenever I messed up, stuttering, a clear lack of script preparation, and constant reading of it once I had it.

If I were to take anything away from this experience, it would be to write my script in a Google Doc and not on speaker notes underneath the slides, as well as properly prepare beforehand and read less off my script with a clearer and louder speaking voice.

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Now that my Pecha Kucha is over, I decided to start working fully on my Final Game Project. The first thing to do is to make proper animations for the main character so that I have a good basis to type of sprite art I want to achieve, right now I am experimenting with idle and running animations. The idle is fully complete, being very short and simple to understand on a small scale.

Here is the concept/iteration sheet I created for the main character.

My main inspiration was Sonic the Hedgehog aswell for their anthropomorphic animal designs aswell as using Eden's animal inhabitants as a base of reference.

I iterated on the design, removing and changing proportions slowly till i came out with something I liked, having him slimmed down for a more aerodynamic body that would flow nicely in the wind while he ran.

I also went for a rabbit, as they usually are pretty athletic.

Here is part of the running animation that I did.

Finishing both of them, I believe they turned out very well, and I gained some basic coding skills/experience using Construct 3 to choose which animation to use when an action is performed.

If I were to change anything, it would be to colour them correctly and remove the block-out base colour scheme that they have right now.

Through the next 2 weeks, I will be on holiday and may do some additional work on the game, but I will not give it too much priority. Once it is over, I am planning to create a concept sheet for my game to realise my idea and work more fluidly in Construct, with the knowledge in hand of what to do.

14.04.26

Reflective Journal - Week 6

- mockup/game concept sheet -

After finishing up on some writing from the past weeks, I started to create a rough game concept sheet, detailing what I need and want from my game, the gameplay, loop, systemic breakdown/mechanics, etc.

I did this by creating a Google Doc to note these down, which is shown below.

    

As of writing this, it is unfinished, but I will be adding more to it over time, aswell as well as creating a traffic light system to help keep track of what is ended in the game and what's done or is being worked on.

I also created a moodboard to visualise what I sort of want from the aesthetic of the game, which is shown below.

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For final thoughts this week, I have added more to my concept sheet on details discussing the narrative and mechanics/systems within the game.

I took special care in writing the core conceptual narrative for the game, writing something simple that can be open-ended and interpreted in different ways.

I showed a classmate of mine, and they gave me feedback stating that the concept is very good and interesting while also being simple.

takeing away from this week overall, I will continue to adjust my concept sheet further through the coming weeks and use it accordingly to keep up on work, I may also during the weekend do some futher work on my game animation wise for my player character as there is one frame that needs to be done which is the dash animation, this will require hopefully light coding and drawing skills to do.

I may also start to conceptualise the tutorial level of the game using grid sheets that I will take home to work on.

I have only 5 weeks left to finish this project and have it ready before the deadline. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, but hopefully I can get what needs to be done using the simplest and time-efficient methods. However, I will have to be careful about the quality of my work.

22.04.26

Reflective Journal - Week 7

- Grey Boxing first level -

This week, I set a goal to create a sketch of 1 of the levels I have for the main game, that being a basic tutorial before entering the tree where you ascend upwards and then greybox that level in Construct 3 as well as coding in my first interactive object for the player to make progress with.

I sketched out the tutorial using Construct 3, drawing loosely while using what I learned from my previous lessons discussing game design in mind when drawing it all out.

I also sketched out what my interactive assist object would be.

The concept for this object is simple: you jump on it, it pops and bounces you higher before respawning, ready to be used again.

It is a traversal object that helps you reach farther places and also INSTANTLY refills your DASH.

After I had completed both these sketches in Adobe Photoshop, I went to construct 3, using the main build of the game I had already created.

Using it, I started to greybox the level I laid out in Construct 3 with simple blue boxes, snapped to the grid and simple text to explain the controls/mechanics.

An issue I ran into, however, when I moved to creating the Tree sap Bubble object, is that when popped, I want it to become invisible for a moment before reappearing, ready to be used again, and while it does do that, there is a slight issue where it may sometimes flicker and be able to be used twice or an infinite amount of time upon reappearing.

I have tried to fix this issue by changing code and disabling collisions, but none have proven to give a fix. I will leave it for now and come back to it at possibly a later date, or change the design of certain levels to hide the small bug, since it is not game-breaking.

-

As of writing now, I have fully completed the tutorial level following the level plan I made for it.

It has nearly everything I would need to add to it; however, a checkpoint may need to be coded in right before the challenging segment of the level where the player will fail.

Apart from that, I have also added some sound for more feedback on controls as well as to add a certain mood for the level, being soft and relaxing with barely any hazards in place to stop the player, being a gentle way to introduce them to the game, it controls and mechanics that they'll see being used all throughout.

I also did one quick playtest with a classmate behind me; I wasn't going in with the mindset yet, just as a quick way to test it before a real analysis of someone playing. However, the response they gave was quite uplifting as they described it as fun, smooth, and fast, and the tutorial text I had in place made a lot more sense than in previous builds.

They also enjoyed the sound design, such as the footsteps and the music playing through the level. I will be sure to make a note of these going forward and make a start on doing a proper Player test with another one of my classmates.

-

After making final changes to my game by adding menus and checkpoints, it was ready to be playtested. This was the feedback I got.

Overall, a fun experience; however, the tutorial stage they played seemed slightly challenging from what they said, so I edited it after 2 people played througha nd asked 1 more person to play through it, and they had less trouble.

They thought the sound design was great and felt like everything was smooth and polished, and enjoyed the additions of checkpoints.

Taking away from this, I will continue to employ the current techniques I am using and keep the mechanics the same; however, I will try to adjust and rethink level design, adding multiple paths for more experienced players and another for less experienced, so all can get through how they'd like to.

Overall, this was a successful week with great additions to my game and an outstanding push forward to start work on the other levels within the game, such as menus, saving and checkpoints implemented. Before any new levels get added, I think polish is far more important than whether the game looks pretty or not, so I may start work on that.

After all that, though, which shouldn't take too long to do, I will start to map out the first official level for the game as well as experiment with the timeline function of Construct 3 to see if I can create 1 cutscene, even if it is the most basic of sorts.

27.04.26

Reflective Journal - Week 8

- FIRST Blocker -

To start the week off, I wanted to attempt to code a blcoker enemy for the game, similar to a goomba, reusing the code from the bubbles I created before.

To do this, I watched a video on how to create simple Mario enemy AI in Construct 3. It is very useful for creating all sorts of different AI/Enemy types. I may use this video again in the future.

I then followed the steps to code a simple gooba that faces a different direction when hitting a wall.

The code was fairly simple and easy to make, though I may change this code to make it so that instead of hitting a wall to change direction, it walks to an edge, then changes direction.

I gave it similar properties/events that happen when you jump onto a bubble; however, I still need to add a damage effect to the player, which I will do now using a different video.

This video shows me how to create a simple effect over the player character to change when overlapping with another object, in this case, an enemy/blocker.
I will use this to demonstrate to the player when they take damage.

Videos used:

For creating the simple behaviour for the enemy

Damage effect used

-

After a bit of tinkering with this blocker, I made it so it effortlessly bounces between invisible blocks that the Blocker can collide with, whilst the player can't. I did this by creating a set of code that acts as a filter for the block used to flip the blocker's movement to turn off collisions ONLY for the player character.

This at first was very confusing, as I did not know the right code to use until I was shown instructions by my teacher, where I figured out how to create block/object filters. This is a very useful and short piece of code and something I would love to use more in the future.

I also sketched out a very simple plan and ideas for obstacles for the first level, using my knowledge from previous lessons, as well as watching an additional video for a refresher on level design. I managed to create a rough plan for the level.

Overall, I think this week has gone alright. I was able to code in my first blocker; however, I was not able to finish the first level using the plan I created, which has me worried about the future of this project and how I can implement other features that I would like to add.

Although, I do think this project from where it had started has been going well overall, there are just a few worries I have with it but I do think that by next week i hope to finish level 1 completley with all events, obstacles and etc. implemented so I can then move onto creating some visuals for my game as right now it is in an unfinished state compared to everything else.

To do this, I will use my moodboard, which I created a few weeks ago and start drawing out potential designs for decor that can be used, as well as a design for the main player character, as right now I don't have the clearest picture in my head.

05.05.26

Reflective Journal - Week 9

- 3 weeks left -

Something I forgot to comment on from last week's journal is that my teacher, who has given us this project, playtested our games aswell as watched other people's animations to give us feedback. They played it by themselves with no instruction from us.

The feedback I got was fairly positive, as they gave me guidance on things to consider going forward with a strong set of controls and recommended another blocker that takes advantage of the player's Dash ability.

Other negative feedback I got was in talks of certain animation and sound bugs, such as a step sound and moonwalk bug aswell as a comment on how the AI I have for the game so far is quite limited, recommending an airborne blocker that has varied movement patterns, giving more versatility to the player with the tools I have given them.

With all this in mind, I will continue my approach with how I'm developing the game so far. However, I will attempt to add a new type of blocker in the future that is similar to what the feedback I got back recommended, as it is quite interesting to me and doesn't seem too hard to code.

-

As of writing, there are about 3 weeks left before the final deadline of the project. With that in mind, this is what I have done for this week.

I have fully blocked out level 1 for my game. It has small branching paths that the player can take with 2 new additional blockers meant to ease them into the game: a spike which stuns them and pushes them back, as well as a simple AI blocker that moves from left to right. Hitting either side of thes

The BMS blocks (Blocker Movement Switcher) I've placed will flip their movement and march them forward, vice versa.

The level consists of a large tower climb with one cutscene and an end boss (which I have not coded yet). I have designed it to become progressively more difficult as you climb higher, with checkpoints separating segments to save a player's progress.

The map is quite big, so it would take a beginner player quite long to get through, which is why I added a mid-section cutscene to break up the gameplay for a second, foreshadowing the future boss at the end of the level.

- Thoughts & Primary research/player test

I did a few player tests on the current build of my game for primary research and got back fairly useful information and knowledge on bugs still troubling my game, such as being able to stand on the spikes that push you back.

I received feedback requesting more control options, such as binding the jump key to both space and the 'W' key.

As aswell as recommendations to make the section where you slide on a wall easier and to provide a clearer example of how to kill an enemy.

Overall, I think this week went well with the game being nearly done for a demo.

For how I feel about the project overall, I think it's gone well, and I feel confident for the last 2 weeks of this project, for it will be done by then.

11.05.26

Reflective Journal - Week 10

-Boss battle coding - 2 week left -

My goal for this week is to create a boss battle for the end of level 1 and start creating asset design for my game for menus, UI, and level tilemaps using my Moodboard as a source of inspiration.

Before starting to code, however, I added temporary sprites for the boss to use while creating actual sprites for it later; these consisted of 5 solid-colour animations with letters corresponding to the different states it was currently in.

I also drew out a concept sheet for the boss I am planning on using, which I named Minos, Heaven's pet.

They're an animal that roam the tree halls and were tended to with the god's presence, but when he disappeared, so did the care for them.

He was left to skulk through the rooms littered through the halls, scurrying for food, consuming filth, starving endlessly, eventually losing their sight due to dehydration.

Using this, I attempted to code the boss's AI with the help of my teacher. However, despite our efforts, there were many bugs and issues, such as the sprite not flipping correctly or the boss repeatedly bumping into a wall before stopping.

And with one week left as of writing, I am unsure I can figure out how to code this AI into the way I want it to, have it ready and bug-free by the deadline. I may have to compromise and scrap this altogether and do something else to have the game ready by then.

Overall, this week didn't go as I would have hoped it would, as not much progress on the game was covered, except for a few areas and an additional concept sheet being made.

Next week, which is the final week, I am planning to polish up some details about the game, create a quick extras menu and level select and see what else I can do that won't require a lot of time and effort to do in just a few short days.

18.05.26

Reflective Journal - Week 11

- Final Week -

My objectives this week are straightforward: get the game as polished as possible by adding menus, UI elements and creating some assets for the levels I have in my game, such as coloured player sprites for my protagonist.

To get started on this goal, I have created a bunch of new menus, which I coded in using a separate event sheet. I did this so it does not interfere with my main event sheet, which is used for the entire rest of the game.

In addition to this, I edited some layouts, such as the Main menu and created brand new ones, such as a level select, context menu and gallery. The gallery I was most anticipating making, as I wanted to make one during my last game project; however, I had no time or prior knowledge of how to code it.

All menus work seamlessly with each other and allow me tos how off unused concept art within the gallery and provide context for the story of Eden's climb in the context Menu.

(I also took a page out of Rayman PS1 and provided some controls within the Context menu to give the player a little heads up on how to play)

To create the context menu controls, however, I decided to use some temporary assets taken from itch.io; I have credited them in my bibliography in my blog.

I have additionally created some UI elements for my game to keep track of the amount of time or how many collectables the player has collected.

As for audio, I created a small audio plan to keep track of what I had currently in the game. I most likely will need to add more to this and think of more sounds to use in my game.

Going back to visual assets, I tried making some assets myself, such as a wood texture for inside the tree in level 1. I found it did not look that appealing to me, so I decided to scrap it and look for alternative tilemaps to use online temporarily.

In my search, I found a tileset that matched what I had in mind for an outdoor aesthetic for the tutorial level, which I found on a site called OpenGameArt.org, made by Eris.

I will be Harvard referencing the site from where I got it in my bibliography aswell as creating a new layout in my game for a credits section, from where I got any assets that are not mine in my game, for people to view

-

As of writing, I decided to scrap the idea of using these assets in my game and instead went back to the boss idea from last week.

I decided this as my teacher decided to take a copy of my game and troubleshoot the issue with my boss, and try to fix the issues I was having with it previously. After he had done that, he sent it back to me with the boss nearly complete, with it working exactly how I intended it to work.

However, I ran into another issue, that being how to set the boss after the player dies to it. After a bit of tinkering, I coded a system that would move everything back to where it originally was, but the problem was that the boss would flip when the player died and if it was facing the right side.

To solve this problem, my teacher and I troubleshooted the problem, tried to isolate it and configured code to best suit the need for when the player dies to flip or not to flip the boss sprite.

Now the boss is working as intended when the player dies, and now I can focus on FINALLY completing level 1 and getting it ready for the upcoming deadline, which, as of writing, is tomorrow.

-

As of writing, it is the last day of the week, and my game is more or less as done as it can be for this moment. My boss i working, and I have play-tested my game with 3 people to get feedback on the whole experience from start to finish.

Feedback I got was mostly positive; any criticisms were about how the wall jumping was a bit finicky to work with and how there are a few bugs that, if there was enough time, would need to be ironed out.

But overall, it is a solid experience with lots of potential and an interesting concept, according to the people I tested the game with.

Thoughts:

For quick thoughts on this project, as I will be going more in depth in my evaluation, this game turned out fairly well, the game works well, and each section I coded in is functional and works with little to no trouble.

However, to make all this happen, I had to focus more on the code than on the visual aspect of my game, so the game is mostly coloured blocks that are meant to convey different things to the player, such as red spikes, blue solid ground and orange passable walls.

But I think the reason for this issue was my inexperience with working with Construct and attempting to figure out how to code different things. If I f i knew what I was doing beforehand, it would have gone quicker, giving me more time to create visual assets for my game

However, I do have the experience now with knowing how to code things better, so if I were to do anything like this again, I feel like I could work better to be able to create a better final result.

Overall, I am satisfied and proud of my game despite the lack of visuals because it works so well with how I envisioned it, and I am glad I added lots of sfx to try and make up for the lack of visuals to give some sort of clarity to the player to know what they are doing.

04.06.26

Character concepts

- Additional bits -

Other Character concept sheets:

Angel:

Hideous Mass:

Him: