1/29 - 2/11/2024
The new Project Quest Cycle has begun! I have changed roles to become a Creative Producer, which means my time over the next few months will be split between production tasks including planning, management and communication, and design tasks, where I will be responsible for making changes to the level design of the game.
Time Breakdown for 1/29 - 2/11 | | Total: | 12.5h |
|---|---|---|---|
Encounter Refactor Meeting | 1h | Studio All Hands and Leads Meetings | 6h |
Task Creation and Castle Redesign | 3.5h | Creative Production Mentorship Metings | 2h |
Since the project was originally planned to take only four months, and had to be extended, we decided in our production meeting that the goal for sprint 1 would be to get the game as close to the original polish and vision as we could, before even starting to consider changes to scope or design. This meant that for the first two weeks, I would only be serving as a producer; a role I had no experience with.
Leading my first squad meeting as a producer was really intimidating, I felt like I didn't know how best to facilitate conversation and communication, especially since work on the project had just started and no one had any tasks they were actively working on, or could ask questions about. Eventually, we started to become comfortable with one another, and I feel like I did a good job setting up open communication channels between myself and my squad members (with the help of MQ taking over notes for the first week)
In the second and third weeks, I have felt much more confident leading the meetings as I get to know the members of my squad and understand what they are working on.
In addition to my work as a producer, last week I also was responsible for going back and updating an old level design from last semester. I chose the castle to start with. Keeping the same layout as the level design documents written last semester, I made some major revisions to the level's layout, while trying to keep the most important gameplay and story beats intact. (Most notably, I replaced the maze that was oddly positioned right after the castle doors with a series of lavish but believable foyers in which guards will try to stop your progress.)
Before the end of the sprint, I will be plotting a goal sprint 2 timeline for the level squad, finalizing the design for the castle level with graphics and precise map adjustments, and starting work on an updated design for the village area.
Project Quest
Nicholas Way
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