FMP – Planning.

Planning is very important in this project due to the size and length of our project, this has meant that I have done some planning to be able to organize my work into sections, however I am very behind in my work due to lack of productivity and motivation.

For the planning I have done various things to help with organisation of the project, first off I created Aims and Objectives to plan more of a detailed personal planning sheet.

Aims.

Aim 1:
To produce a working tutorial level of my game that shows off the main mechanics of my game.

Aim 2:
To increase my knowledge and skill in Unreal Engine.

Aim 3:
To model and create my character as visually pleasing as possible.

Objectives.

Aim 1:
Objective 1: To create a basic area for the tutorial level.
Objective 2: To a script event that makes the practice targets appear when you move close to them or enter a new area of the level.
Objective 3: To make a projectile system for the player’s weapon.
Objective 4: To add sound effects and a basic soundtrack to the level.

Aim 2:
Objective 1: Start using Unreal Engine in my free time and make an effort to explore the programme.
Objective 2: Watch YouTube tutorials inside and outside of college.
Objective 3: Ask my tutors about Unreal or maybe request extra workshop lessons for Unreal Engine.

Aim 3:
Objective 1: Use software such as Mud Box at home to create a basic model of my desired character.
Objective 2: Texture the character as best as possible using either substance painter or Photoshop, if I do use Substance Painter I will need to learn how to use it.
Objective 3: Using Maya, animate the character to the best of my abilities.

Gantt Chart.

After the aims and objectives, I needed a way to plan it out on a week by week basis, for this I needed to create a Gantt chart,

This chart allows me to visualize my tasks by using color coordination to establish what  I have done and projected deadlines of my tasks, however sadly I am very behind in my work as the chart depicts.

Day by Day plan.

I have now created the day by day plan which has allowed me to plan out in detail the action plan for each day in college up until the deadline. The weekend and Monday hasn’t been included as they will be used for rest or creating and finishing work needed for the project, in theory they will be classed as catch up for unfinished or work that must be polished up to a higher standard.

May 1st		May 2nd		May 3rd		May 4th
Character		Texture		Rig		Animate
Modelling.		Character.		Character.		Character.
May 8th		May 9th		May 10th		May 11th
Texture		Animate		Block out		Create the
Weapon.		Weapon.		Level.		Level.
May 15th		May 16th		May 17th		May 18th
Create		Add		Design		Main Menu
SFX.		SFX.		Main Menu.		Music.
May 22nd		May 23rd		May 24th		May 25th
Firing		Target		Design and		Bug Tests
System.		Pop-up.		Create HUD.		and Polishing

Using this table allows me to create a day by day plan of what to do during these final weeks of the project. Once I had created the table I realized that if I was to finish one task every day, included the rest days I have, I would be able to finish the project a few days before the deadline leaving me time to bug test and polish my game to get the best finished product I can possibly make.

Skills I’ll Need to Learn.

When I was doing my pitch I came across the task of writing down the skills that I will need to learn in order to create my desired product within the time frame, and to a quality that I desire.

While this images contains my Aims and Objectives it has been slightly edited to include the skills that I will need to learn to get the best possible outcome of my game within the time frame.

Reflection.

I have been tasked with reflection on the work that I have currently completed, once I had looked through my work, I realized that I am very behind in my work as I haven’t completed enough work to meet my deadline within the coming weeks. This has left me quite far behind in my schedule. I think that the only way for me to be able to catch up and meet my target deadline is to start doing more work over the weekends and after college during the week. While I am pleased with the quality of the work that I have created, I am really disappointed with the quantity of work that I have completed.