Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTec Level 3Extended Diploma in Creative Media ProductionGames Design

Unit 78 – Digital Graphics for Computer GamesHA2 – Transformation Production Log

Name Michael Hughes

Date: 2nd November – 9th November

Today I began work on my project, I decided to scope out my project to see what needed doing, in this case, I scoped what the client would require, and evaluated my project management skills, as well as this, I pre-planned deadlines and analysed how well I can comfortably or have difficulty with the specific programs I have been already taught on the course and how well I can use them, I decided to note down a contingency plan in case worst comes to worst and I am required to fall back on something I otherwise wouldn’t enjoy doing as much as my previous idea. As well as this, this week consisted of me drawing out budgets and how much I would make theoretically, this depended on how much time I spent per day and days per week on the project and I had to produce a formula for how this would all work out. I wanted to initially spend around 50 hours on the task at hand, although this week I have fell behind and only done around 5-6 hours instead of the full 10 I originally planned to do.

Date: 9th November – 16th November

I didn’t actually get much done this week and have now fallen behind even more, none the less I have still made progress in certain areas, I have worked more towards my software tutorials and tried to get those out of the way before trying to develop my actually character, this way, I get a better understanding of how to use illustrator effectively, In turn meaning I can produce a more professional standard of work from my designs. However I have managed to think of a setting (1800’s venice/rome) and now have relevant pictures on an illustrator file that will contribute to finding the perfect scene for my jewel case. I could have done more this week, although I haven’t been as focused due to personally not liking this part of my task I found this part a little tedious and slacked a lot, if given the opportunity again I would definitely apply more of my time on my skills with raster based imagery and focus on getting the task out of the way first.

Date: 16th November – 23rd November

This week I decided to focus on reflection of the work I have previously done, to try and improve it. Some of the pieces of work I re-adjusted was: My tutorials for illustrator, My logo, My background, The project scope and the Thoughts behind my game plot and storyline. Personally I feel as though this was rather well because I have evaluated the work I have produced and really improved it. I have also started production of a character profile, this entails all of the thought that has gone into my character and the progress they make through-out the game, how this improves them and what they will look, and feel like to play in the game. I could have done much better on this task, for instance I could’ve explained the evolution of the character and the fact a player can be damaged and scarred, this is really critical in the games designer perspective, it forced me to think outside the box for the design because of the face not being shown by a mask, it would leave only the body to really heavily think about and construct. I also think the guy Fawkes mask was a very good idea when developing my character, this means that I could represent a true symbol of an anonymous protagonist or masochist (whichever the player decides).

Date:23rd November – 30th November

I decided to work on my final design for the jewel case; this included the tracing, photo shoot, and construction of my character. I had only 1 picture to use, and didn’t do a full photo shoot, although this didn’t give me any other options, I feel as though this was the perfect image, although the guy Fawkes didn’t wear top hats, I believe this to be a adequate representation of the kind of outfit they did wear. I also took inspiration from some films when creating my final piece, meaning I could construct an image that represents not only an anonymous character; however it can also reflect other views on the concept as well. The Picture I chose for the background is of a dark woodland area, with a deep blue looming fog, and jagged trees I think this was a bad idea considering the original setting was intended for Rome/Venice, although It can be argued these are the outskirts of the large cities. I think this came across well and I adapted the Jewel case to suit the overall picture, If I was given this task again I could definitely have spent more time working on it, and also developing a better background, maybe even take a photo shoot with various “stances” that the character would have when playing the game.

Date: 30th November – 7th December

The final week I have spent evaluating and Analysing my work, this was done too see if I could improve in any areas. It turns out that I had to re-word my game synopsis and change my logo ever so slightly so it fit the jewel case. Even though I think I’ve done well on the task at hand, I could have certainly managed my time and organised myself alot better, meaning stick to the hours I said I was going to put in (within the schedule) and keep updating different parts of my work to try and pull off a more professional standard using a range of techniques. However, the character design, jewel case and Game genre/storyline document were done rather well in my opinion, I used professional standard techniques to construct everything and the game was explained thoroughly.