The 2nd year begins...

So here we are, at the end of the first week of being back at Uni... you soon learn that nothing has changed since you left, straight away you're back into the swing of things and know that you have to crack on and get everything done. The only differences between this year and last year are that you have an idea of how much you will need to work, and the fact that everyone knows each other this time round so it makes it easier to just get in and get on with work as opposed to trying to get to know everyone and then work.

So what is this blog post is for, well basically just me talking about how I feel about all my modules and assignments that I have been set thus far and how I think they will go, etc. So without further ado, let us begin!
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Modding
At first I was slightly apprehensive about modding as it is a module that we didn't do anything on last year. Our modding is basically designing and putting together our own level in UDK... doesn't sound to difficult but it is as we have to really focus on getting the map layout working to a high standard, do all the 3D models and textures, fill it all with research, etc, so it is actually a very thorough and in-depth module.

For modding we put ourselves into self-chosen 3 person groups, my group consists of Matthew Jarvis, Tom Weaver and myself which is good for 3 reasons, 1) We're all good friends which will make getting on with the work fun, 2) We live in the same flat so its easy for us to sort out aspects of the mod together whenever we so wish and 3) Our skills at 3D modelling are all equally moderate, so we can evenly divide the work-load and know that no one persons models will look out of place with anothers.

For our mod we have chosen the theme of Ancient Egypt (we had a choice of 4; Medieval, Space and Industrial being the others), however, to put our own spin on it, we are having it set in modern times. To do this we are having our map layed out as if it is an archeological dig site that has discovered an Ancient Egyptian tomb - this fits the theme but also allows us to experiment with our models and textures compared to the norm.

Overall, modding looks promising thus far and we should hopefully do well in this module. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Practical Prototyping
I knew what practical prototyping was going to be before we started it - a mixture between Critical Games Studies from last year and a new area of making board games (which we did briefly touch upon last year to be fair), it gets us focusing in on what makes the games we make fun, right down to the core of theory.

In this module we work alone to make 2 board games across the course of the 2 12-week semesters that we have, the first is to focus on one core mechanic of play that we will be studying over the early weeks of the semester and the second is to focus on a particular theme that, again, we will work on over the early weeks of the second semester.

So far we haven't actually only started any work for this module apart from having to take note from a reading which I will do later on today or tomorrow. Overall, this module seems like it could be both interesting and very challenging so I will have to see how it develops over the year.
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Scripting
Scripting is an extension of the introduction to scripting module from last year, namely, involving making games and coding them in flash. This year, however, we are also going to learn how to do basic coding in Unity, a 3D modelling code program which should be interesting - this isn't until the second semester though.

For the first part of this module, which is the flash part, we have to work in self chosen pairs to make 3 flash prototype games (each based on a randomly chosen theme) over a period of 4 weeks each (totaling the first semester). There is also an essay that we have to do which is in for just about 3 weeks time... that's kind of chucking us in at the deep-end but I guess it works to get us going again and gets it out of the way.

For making the flash games I ended up going with Tom Weaver yet again, this is actually a sensible move though as the 'working in pairs' format effectively means 1 artist and 1 coder... and while I don't consider myself to be a coder the amount of coders in our class is lacking so, being one of the better 'average' coders I knew I would most likely end up doing this and therefore having Tom as my artist made sense as he is one of the best artists in our class. Also, like modding it means we can meet-up and sort the work out easily, etc.

Our theme for the first game is matching and so far we have done quite a good prototype actually... and quickly too which has suprised me... maybe I'm a better coder than I thought... anyways, if the rest of the module goes as smoothly as it is so far this module should be good.
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Group Project
The group project has changed considerably since last year. As we are 2nd years we are managing this year as opposed to last year when we were the development team, however, this year the development method we are using is different which actually involves the managers being much more involved with the making of the games itself which is both good and bad. It is good as it means there should be a constant stream of contact and communication between us and the 1st years but it is bad as it feels like we as 2nd years have got a much greater workload than the first years.

The development method we are using this time around is agile or scrum development which essentially, in laymans terms, means that we think of all the features or aspects of our game and put them in a lost (the product backlog), from this break them down into tasks (user stories) and then these tasks get prioritised and completed over 4 week sprints. This means that at the end of a sprint you have a working game - it might not be good, but it is a working game that you can test nonetheless.

My group, which were not chosen by us this time, is made up of Jack Stalley and myself as the 2nd year managers and Maria Barte and Leah Cheung as the 1st year developers. I'm happy with my team as 1) Jack and I get on well and so can work together easily and 2) Both are 1st years are good artists, so we are set on this front. This has left Jack and me doing the managing (as we have to), animation, sound and coding and, while I am not thrilled about being the coder in 2 separate modules when I'm not even supposed to be a coder, this means that we have a good spread of work.

For this module our theme is independence... how well exactly the idea that we have will go down I don't know, but as long as the game we make isn't to heavy on coding (for my own capabilities) and we have good story and artwork, etc, it should be good indeed.
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3D Modelling
Like with scripting 3D modelling is mostly an extension of what we started in the previous year which is good. This year, however, we are allowed to tie in work from 2 modules; namely we are allowed to make and model assets for our modding module in modeling. This is great, not just from a workload point of view but because it gives us an idea of how works would get passed around different departments.

The modelling is more intensive than last year, but mostly works in the same way, and because it is allowed to tie into modding we are marked on the quality of the model itself and the research gone into it rather than how it has been used to construct a level as we are in modding. Due to this, yet again, I am working with Tom and Matty but as this is effectively 2 modules links it doesn't matter and is beneficial if anything - we are still graded individually for our models and research though obviously.
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Anymation
finally, this module is the most fun but also the most scary as, like modding, it is completely new to us, but also because it is completely new to the Uni - it has been approved this year to begin just for us, we are the guinea-pigs as it were. This module as the name suggests involves making animation/s in a variety of ways - the 1st semester in more traditional animation software and art styles and the 2nd semester in Machinima... I am more looking forward to the traditional animation than the Machinima...

For the first semester we basically have as much freedom as we like, we have to make either 6 animation features (20 second long or so animations showing animation aspects such as walking, standing idly, etc) or make a short, full animation. This is good as it allows the module to be as fun as we want it to be and doesn't seem to taking... the only real problem is that having no prior animation experience I have no idea how easy or hard it will be.

So far, I have begun thinking of initial ideas and have got some good ones (I think)... I guess for this module I really have just got to wait and see how it turns out...
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So there you have it, that is what I am going to be doing for the year (or 1st Semester if I don't know exactly what the 2nd one entails)... I think it is going to be a mixture of fun, challenging and scary but that's to be expected - let's get to it and work hard!

So anyways, 'til next time - that's all folks!