Switching focus

The last thing I would have expected to affect the production of my project was a global pandemic, but that is where we are at the time of writing. Due to the worldwide situation university has closed and a lockdown has been put into place, this has, unfortunately, had a big impact on the production of the project, as I do not have the required equipment at home to effectively make my game. I have been able to implement some of the project before the lockdown was put into place however this was no way near the amount, I would have liked to have implemented overall; unfortunately, there is not much can be done due to the lockdown. However, this does not mean I will just stop working on the project, I will inside focus on what I can do during the lockdown which is more design for the project. However, I will set myself design goals and deadline; this will be to help stop myself from overdesigning as I will aim to stick to things, I would be able to produce myself. I will be designing as if I had more time than I currently do, as designing for something that could be done in a month and a half would limit what I can design; and since I am in lockdown there is not much else I can do other than design. To this end, I will be taking the design a bit further than I would have normally as it will be the large bulk of my work now.

So, what will I be doing now? I will list out what I aim to do now in terms of design, from now on any for of implementation will happen as when I am able, which is not ideal but the best of a bad situation. This is the list of design goal I will aim for, for the remainder of the project.

1. Give the first level design a pass over to see what improvements can be made.

2. Design more puzzles with more depth and narrative tied into them.

3. Make paper prototypes of these puzzles and test them where possible.

4. Develop the story of the game further using more historical references, to give more accurate information.

5. Design more levels and if possible, use free software such as Blender to block them out (home equipment allowing)

6. Once a more fleshed out story has been developed, linking this in with level and puzzles design that span across 3 different levels.

Now that I have more time for design it is important that I set myself clear goals and limits to this design. This is to stop myself from going crazy with design, to the point where I would never be able to implement all the design I have made. I will use this as an opportunity to put to practice many different design skills and philosophy’s I have learnt over my time at university. While this whole situation can be seen mainly as a setback, which there is no doubt that is it, it is also an opportunity for me to work on the pure design of the project much more than I would have been able to otherwise.