Matt Forshaw MA Games Blog

  Project X Submission Update Part Two: Submission Links and References Submission Links To access all of my work, including the videos, playable .exe files and supporting documents, you may use this link to my Google Drive folder for this submission:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1McMjnv43M0sy7H3HFyS8HXUosXwyzXED?usp=sharing You may also find it more convenient to watch my submission video here: https://youtu.be/ajyHC5K8tDY References Asset Packs downloaded from the Epic Games Store: - Synty's Polygon Farm Pack -  https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/polygon-farm-pack - Synty's Polygon Town Pack -  https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/polygon-town-pack - Synty's Polygon City Pack -  https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/polygon-city-pack - Synty's Polygon Western Pack -  https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/polygon-western-pack - Synty's Polygon Heist Pack -  ht...

 Project X Submission Update Part One: Mechanics Breakdown During the course of this project, I have aimed to create a playable experience, which would allow me, as a developer, to experiment with mechanics, both new and pre-existing, for the purposes of creating relatable, attachable characters. Character attachment in games is a subject which has been been the subject of many reviews, so to improve my understanding of mechanics designed to nourish character attachments, I decided early on that I would create a character-centric experience which would allow players to create and develop their characters over the course of their playthrough. The intended effect of this experience was to try and create a relationship between the player and their characters. To do this effectively, I had to choose a selection of mechanics which would allow me to explore a variety of approaches to this topic. In the following post, I will break down the mechanics I chose to focus on, exploring how the...

Project Update 15/05/2020 Part 4: Portfolio Work This is the 4th and final part of my Project Update, where I will show off some of the latest work I have done to improve my portfolio. To see Part 3, where I breakdown the next stages of my project, click here: https://maforshaw.blogspot.com/2020/05/project-update-part-3-ns.html Alternatively, to see the latest preview of the project, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z9UBQurkW0&feature=youtu.be As well as working on my project, I have also begun adding to my portfolio. I recently completed a lecture on Udemy to help me improve my 3D Modelling and I am glad to say it has helped me with my confidence in modelling. I feel like this is an important step, as my project is very centred around Unreal Development. As a designer, I would like to show my ability to work on a variety on roles.  Here are the latest assets I have created: Fig 1. A combat knife, modelled in Maya and textured  using Sub...

Project Update 15/05/2020 Part 3: Next Steps This is Part 3 of my project update series. To see Part 2, where I breakdown the mechanics of my project and offer a look at footage of the latest playtest, click here: https://maforshaw.blogspot.com/2020/05/project-update-15052020-part-2.html Additionally, to see the video directly, click here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z9UBQurkW0&feature=youtu.be This part of the update will look at the next stages of my development process, such as what mechanics I still need to add and how I plan on innovating further.  To begin with, I will look at my progress towards the finished so far, looking at how the progress I have will enable me to progress and develop new mechanics. So far in my project, I have implemented the systems needed to generate dialogue for each location and variation of character availability. To complete this stage, I need the raw dialogue, which I am in the process of creating with the help ...

Project Update 15/05/2020 Part 2: Mechanics Breakdown This will be the second part to my update series, about the progression I have made in recent weeks in the development of my project. Part 1, going through my influences and artist connections can be found here:  https://maforshaw.blogspot.com/2020/05/project-update-part-1-rr.html .  In this second part, I intend to give a good outline of the progression of my project, as well as the development process ahead of me. In order to do this, the video below will give you the first look at the latest working progression of my project. Following this, I will breakdown the changes I have made and developments I have in progress.  https://youtu.be/6z9UBQurkW0 To begin with, I will first talk about the process involved in beginning the game. After recent developing and after speaking to artists such as Richard Lico, I have decided that moving forward, my characters will be designed to fit 3 archetypes.: - The ...

Project Update 15/05/2020 Part 1: Recap and Research This will be a long overdue 4 part update to the progress on my project. During this update series, I will begin to breakdown my research additions, such as my conversations with artists such as Richard Lico and Peter Dimitrov, they're feedback and how it has affected my design practises and the choices I have made. Additionally, I will go through a breakdown of my project, offering the first full look at all the mechanics I intend to implement, as well as the first look at a preview video from which the overall idea of my experience can be seen. Throughout this video, you will be introduced to all of the mechanics I have implemented so far and what is in the pipeline. In order to offer my research perspective, I will break down how the mechanics I have chosen to include have come from outside influences, as well as the benefit I hope to get from each mechanic.  To begin, I will first recap the main objectives ...

Character Development Techniques and Changes Over the last week, I have been processing my ideas and having extensive brainstorming sessions with my peers, in order to develop my techniques moving forward, as well as streamline the process moving forward. Below, I will list the changes I have decided upon, my reasons for doing so and how I hope they will improve the player's experience and attachment to their characters: - I have decided to change how my characters are created, in order to make the progression of relationships much more believable later on. In order to do this, I am pulling the player's ability to generate their characters traits in the game, as well as set their personalities to 3 archetypes. These will include: Physical character - A character who's main strength is combat. Although in conversation they may be blunt and sometimes arrogant, they are the strongest character. Benefits to this include increased physical stats and additional damage ...

Over the past week, I have begun the process of reaching out to industry artists, who I believe will be able to give me valuable information on their workstyles, inclusive of Character Design elements and Gameplay programming techniques. To do this, I have first reached out to them formally, introducing myself and the reason for the contact, before requesting that we have a chat about their experiences with the relevant disciplines. As of yet, Ihavent received any responses, however I am hopeful that I will be able to gain some invaluable lessons and experiences from these artists.  In terms of the progress I have made on my project, due to the current global Covid-19 situation, my progress has slowed quite dramatically, however, I am still on track with my project and hope to be playtesting 1 half of my game properly within the next couple of weeks. This will involve players playing through a couple of levels as one of their characters, fighting off enemies and testing balancing, ...

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....

Update 21/03/2020 Over the last week, in leiu of a normal and much appreciated schedule and work style, owing to the current Covid-19 situation, I have continued my progress on this project as much as possible, changing my working style in order to keep things fresh and focused. In order to do this, I first began by combing over sketchfab for potential assets, which when combined into a greater inventory would allow my game to have some real variety and a wow. factor. In this process, I came across the amazing work of a one 'Tasty Tony', who regularly uploads high quality, low poly weapon assets to sketchfab for use in peoples projects. These are free assets and the creator asks for credit, I have kept a record of all the assets I am using so that I may properly give him credit for his amazing work. These assets work well in my title, as my characters themselves are low poly and so using weapons of a similar vain keeps the overall aesthetic the same. You can find Tasty T...

Update 13/03/2020 Over the last 2 days, I have continued developing my title in order to begin some playtests on Saturday14th. So far, I have begun implementation of my AI, as well as beginning a basic level and the implementation of my world map and UI to match.  The player now follows through a path, first creating their soldiers, before heading over to the world map where random generated missions appear. The player selects their character and jumps into the level, in what will be missions to play, enemies to fight, loot to collect and abilities to improve.  Here, you can find the latest video update, showcasing the character creation and world map systems and how they can be used to enter missions: https://youtu.be/QI4vhHaXf8Q Tomorrow, I will begin playtests. These will be preliminary tests to find out how players respond to the characters they are creating and whether they feel the combat and character mechanics in place and planned would have an impact on...

Plan for the 11/03-15/03 2020 Over the next few days, I plan on continuing development of my title in consideration of a possible play-testing on the 14/03. This will be an opportunity to have multiple people test the creation, combat, looting and world map mechanics of my title, giving me the opportunity to have a visual on the required improvements to the game, possible bugs that need ironing out and the need for clearer instruction on certain areas of the game.  In order to have a successful play-testing session, I must complete the following, in order to give players the opportunity to have a semi-complete experience with the title. One at least, that asks questions about a players attachment to their characters and the potential for them to care about the characters story. Below, I will list all areas that I must complete and that I should consider looking back over, in order to give the title the best chance of being playable and most importantly, understandable and en...

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 d...

Character Attachment title progress and additional work with research Over the past 2 weeks, I have knuckled down on rebuilding my title from the ground up, beginning to deliver and implement the ideas I developed through speaking to my peers, on the advantages of different systems and mechanics that are proven to have an effect on character attachment. Additionally, by rebuilding, I have been able to clean up the project and plan for the future. An example of this comes from updating the weapons system, offering me greater freedom to increase the weapon pool of my game, offering unique looting abilities and a wider variety of enemies.  I have posted an update to my youtube channel, which you can find here: https://youtu.be/MDXuGXWtmbU In this video, I showcase the creation of your character squad. This involves customising the characters apppearance and name, either randomly or through player choice, as well as the generation of the characters traits and corre...