World Map Progress and Additonal Tweaks

World Map Progress and Additional Tweaks

Today, I have begun working on the World Map for my game. Taking a 2D map of Earth and modifying it in Photoshop to create an aesthetically pleasing map for my title:

Upon this map, the player will be able to view their agents locations and tackle locations of interest and what they offer as they appear. These locations will be around the globe and at sea and will allow the player to play 5 types of mission:

Looting Opportunity: Dropped into an area of interest in order to explore the area and extract any important and useful pieces of equipment and weaponry. 

Enemy Presence: An area has been targeted by the enemy and troops have landed to occupy it. Infiltrate their new terroritory and eliminate them from the area.

Enemy Base: We have discovered the location of an enemy compound. Infiltrate the area and destroy their generators, wiping out as many of them as possible. The rest will no doubt flee.

Trader: A trader has been discovered operating in the area. Find him, secure his safety and begin negotiations with him.

Boarding Party: Board an enemy vessel at sea and extract any useful equipment and weaponry.

The main portion of the game will consist of these missions, whilst the player learns and develops new strategies. As they progress, the enemies presence will increase and missions become more difficult and eventually, the player will have the opportunity to attack the mothership so to speak, breaching the enemies HQ and eliminating them for good. Along the way, the players characters will develop into more powerful people, with more powerful abilities and weapons. Not only this, but they will develop relations between each other and learn how to do new things, such as craft and develop new weapons. 

On top of this additional development, I have begun making connections via LinkedIn, in order to have people I can reach out to to gain additional research for a report on my ongoing development and how my research is helping to shape it and my outside brand. This is vital to getting a foot into my door, where I can build from upon completing my masters, with active developers aware of my presence in the industry. Not only that, but there is a possibility that I could be offered an internship with JD, in the creative deisgn department, creating 3D models for their advertising departments. This connection was made possible through my brother, who is a senior photgrapher at the company.

This is becoming an extremely busy period and I have plans in order to keep up with my workload and responsibility for creating my brand and developing my presence outside of university. I am now upping my total working hours per week to around 60, keeping in mind that I also have work and etc to think about. These 60 hours will be split between the different elements I now need to account for:

Development of my title - 40 Hours: I will now work for 40 hours on my title, making the core of my projec tin this character attachment experience. There is much work to be done, but I am making great progress, which I will continue to upload to this blog. I am finding that I am learning an amazing amount about Unreal Engine and my confidence developing is continuously growing. However, as the Games Industry does not solely use the Unreal Engine, I should consider gaining confidence in other means of design, in order to give myself the best chance of having my presence recognised. 

Research - 10 Hours: I will now research for 10 hours per week. This is an area I know I have left considerably on the sideline, however it is now becoming vital that I show my ability to work via research and from found sources. This will improve my working standard and also allow me to gain confidence in ym own ideas and creativity, as I learn what others working methods are and how I can use them in my own devlopment

Additonal portfolio work - 5 Hours: In these 5 hours, I will begin honing my abilities in other areas, outside of my University work. This will involve 3D modelling and character design, as well as continuing to learn and develop skills in leading pieces of software such as Z-brush, Maya, Substance and Photoshop. If possible, I would like to begin learning coding languages such as C++, in order to give myself additional opportunities outside of University.

Connecting with the industry - 5 Hours: In these 5 hours, I will continue making contacts with active Game Developers, as well as increasing my presence on social media. This will involve contacting and sharing my work with active developers, in order to gain feedback and suggestions to improve my design methods. Additionally, by uploading regularly to social media, I will be able to gain a presence in the industry and make a name for myself and my work.