Industry Portfolio Development

Week 1-ish

Not much tangible work has been put into the project so far. I've gathered up a folder of Portfolio Worthy Stuff, aptly named "Portfolio Worthy Stuff", and did some research on other game designers, mainly Joshua sawyer, design director of Fallout: New Vegas, also known as Fallout: We Made It As Addictive As Actual Vegas. Yeah, pretty slow week. Work will pick up soon on my project "Breach", in the coming weeks.

Week 2-ish

Website is now more up and running than it was. Look how nice and shiny it is. Work began on amending and updating my old design document for "Breach", including expanding the story synopsis and adding a bestiary of sorts, now with pictures. I will continue to put work into this document until it is in a finished enough state to start creating a prototype narratively focused environment in UE4. That's all, Folks!

Week 3-ish (not really)

Design document is taking shape nicely. Now there's a moodboard! The images used will help me during the creation of my blockout room. Work on this will commence soon, and it should hopefully look like some blokes dim bungalow by the end of its creation. Progress updates will either be added below this post or shown on week 4's.

Week 4-ish (I think)

Blockout has begun! Its just a rough bare-bones bungalow right now, but soon it'll be filled with all sorts of goodies, like a bed, a few couches, and maybe even a toilet! Throughout the week I will be populating the rooms with stuff that would logically go into the rooms. I followed a floorplan based on a search from "Average UK bungalow layout" and made a few modifications, such as getting rid of 2 bedrooms. Images will follow.

Week 5-ish (Maybe?)

Now there's some stuff! The first hallway, kitchen and utility room have all started to be populated with all kinds of interesting stuff, from an oven, to picture frames, and even a coat rack, I promise it's cooler than it sounds. For now, I'm going to keep populating the rooms with stuff that should logically be in them, like sofas in the living room, a bath in the bathroom, and a desk in the study.

Week 6-ish (Okay definitely not)

After much consideration, considering I'm not an artist, the decision was made to stop making my own assets. Fear not, dear reader, for Assetville Town came to the rescue! I found a free pack on the Unreal Store that fit my projects visual aesthetics, and contained far more than I thought in terms of what can be found in a house. Filling the bungalow with various stuffs and things has rapidly increased, and now it actually looks like someone lives in it! Below are a few examples of how lovely it looks

Week 7-ish (getting slowly back on track)

Holy smokes, Batman, that's a lot of progress! That's right, thanks to the Asset town asset pack, the once barren bungalow is now fully furnished! From a crammed conspiracy closet, to a lavish living room, the homestead has really taken shape. Work has also been done on making a very basic first person character who can walk slowly though the building, more than enough. Now work begins on making all the doors (and a wardrobe) swing open. Then the lights. Then a few finishing touches. Then, knowing this project, a complete overhaul in week 9-ish. Stay tuned for that mess!

Week 8-ish (Hey, it's almost right!)

¬"On the First (Eighth) Day (Week), God (Me) said; "Let There Be Light(ing)" and God (Me, again) saw the light, and the light was good (Okay-ish)"¬

You heard it hear first, folks, we have lights! Now when you play the level, you aren't wandering around in somewhat pitch black, wondering if that's a chair or a child. The lighting has been kept slightly dimmed to keep with the atmosphere, and as to not blind the players. It's not perfect yet, and it's far from great, but it's far from bad too so that's a win in my books. Also, doors! Not The Doors, unfortunately, 2 of them are dead; but actual working (albeit automatic) doors! Just walk up to them and they open, slightly grazing anyone with a larger than average nose. There's also a hidden door disguised as a wardrobe, how cool is that!

Week 9-ish (back OFF track)

So, no total project revamp (yet). We're getting to that stage where everything is oh so nearly done, except the stuff that isn't. What has been done recently is the fog. It now looms over the town like a bad case of sinister-itis. There is also now something other than endless void going on outside the window, with houses, trees, and mountains making the view slightly less lonely. What's left to do is arguably the main bit of the storytelling, the voice lines. These voice lines, recorded by me and my lovely partner (thank you) are going to play out of an answering machine, and provide a little bit of context to the world. The script is ready to go, just need to record, and edit, and add to, and implement, and cry when it sounds bad. Anyway, here's a screenshot of the outdoors!

Week 10-ish (It's finished, so it's okay to be late)

This is the end (for now), dear reader. The voice lines are in, there's subtitles when the player looks at stuff, and there's a pause screen so that you're no longer eternally stuck in that damn bungalow. It's been a wild ride creating this tiny play space, from starting out making my own assets like i'm living in some IKEA based nightmare, to having lights be really really really annoying (they still are but I do not care for them anymore). There is now a somewhat highly detailed level, with some not s detailed gameplay, and some alright voicework. But, it's done! Unless you're blind or skimmed through, you will have noticed the "for now" I added up at the start. Well, I had so much fun making this that I very well might continue! I know, exciting stuff, but don't give me all your money until something actually happens. I plan to make more houses in the street, maybe a cornfield, a small shop etc, and even an enemy type, that'd be fun. But that's coming later, for now, I close the doors on this bungalow, and set it alight... I mean, call it a night. Toodles!

I'd like to thank Chloe, George, and my PC, Patricia