Update 25/03/2020

Update 25/03/2020

Over the last few days, I have continued the implementation of new weapons and assets, in order to give my game some genuine variety, which will add to the replayability and also the players intruige over what weapons they may find. This has been a very rewarding process and one which I have admittedly gotten carried away with, adding an amazing variety of weapons, with the total number now at 60, 10 for each category. These weapons have been balanced based on research into other shooter type games, in order to make each weapon viable and unique from each other. Some may be less effective, but based on the research of Kafai (2010), it could be suggested that a players attachment to an item is based on their previous experience with the item and their ability to choose what items they use. By adding this wide variety, I hope to offer every player a recognisable weapon that they may correctly identify, leading them to a sense of satisfaction over using this weapon. 
Here are the 60 weapons I have implemented into my game. From left to right the categories are Assault Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Submachine Gun and Light Machine Gun.
Not only have I implemented these weapons, but also made bold improvements to their handling, reloading and overall feel. Weapons now drop empty magazines and in the case of the 3 shotguns (Spas-12, QBS-09 and UTS-15) which do not use magazines, the player will insert the correct number of shells, using the correct amount of time to do so. Each weapon has its own unique combination of stats, which include Damage, Range, Recoil, Rate of Fire and Reload Speed. These have been based on stats found in other titles, most noteably Battlefield 4 and Battlefield V.

Here is a short video in which I use a small selection of these weapons, in order to showcase the most notable changes to their handling. Below this video is the spreadsheet I used to keep track of the implementation process, as well as the stats used in game for each weapon.



In other news, I now have over 100 contacts on LinkedIn in the Games Design industry. Out of these contacts, I will begin messaging individuals who have experience in Character Design, in order to get feedback on the systems I am intending to implement, their experiences with character attachment and any process' which they have experienced in use that I may not have thought about. One of these contacts is UCLAN Alumni Peter Dimitrov, who is not only now in the industry, but also has previous experience as a freelance character designer. I lived with Peter in my 1st year at UCLAN and so have a good relationship with him, which I believe will enable me to get some good feedback and research from him.

Due to the current Covid-19 situation, it may prove difficult to organise study visits to developers in the UK and so I will focus my efforts on getting as useful information from these contacts as possible, in order to give me the best opportunity to improve my practises and research methods.



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