Weekly Journals
Journal - wEEK 1
What have I done?
This week, I formally started the Final Major Project and I started by carrying out a Project Proposal. The proposal detailed my personal details such as name, pathway and student number, and what skills I have previously acquired that will help me in the development of this project. I will continuously update the project proposal over the course of the project with details such as Concept, Bibliography and timeplans. I have also finished my Initial Concept Presentation, where I created a Google Slide documentation detailing my idea at its current state and explained why I have chosen this concept, what inspired me and what the concept could look like if I were to carry this concept into development. I also started work on my two process research reports where I detailed all of the stages of the development cycle, and compared and contrasted my sources both primary and secondary to help inform my development cycle going forward. In these reports I was required to contact industry professionals. I managed to contact 21 professionals on varying social media platforms ranging from email, to X and also Bluesky, I expanded my contact source this year following last year's FMP, as I wanted to ensure that I gathered a larger range of sources and information. However at the time of writing this I currently only have three responses, although I asked the professionals a wide range of questions so the detail of this research should not be impacted if I do not receive any more responses going forward.
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What have I learnt?
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This week of the project, I have learnt not only about the key stages of the development cycle in more detail than I have previously, but also been able to learn deeper about the practices involved in game design and level design when it comes to the development cycle in these roles. This has been extremely helpful and will help inform my work practice and professional workflow going forward because I have been able to learn first hand from level designers about the practices and steps that they carry out during development. I have been able to take on this new found knowledge and will apply these professional work practices when it comes to planning and development in this project, to better improve my professional work and experience to reflect the workings of a professional working at a studio. Looking deeper into the development process has also been able to improve my approach to this project and helped me to plan out the workflow method that I will be following to help keep me on track and on time with the deadlines.
What could have been improved or gone better?
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I believe the area that I feel I could improve going forward is primary research. The problem of primary research is very out of my control and I have taken extended measures following last years failure in primary research, by extending my sources and contacting on a wider platform of apps and contact methods, although I have been more successful in this first week than my whole FMP last year I still feel that I could be doing more to receive a wider range of responses. As it has only been less than a week since I have sent off the questions to my professional contacts, I have high hopes that I will receive more responses and also I have had feedback from a further four contacts that have yet to answer my questions but they are willing to respond.
Any problems? If so, how will/have I resolve(d) them?
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The only issue that I ran into this week, that impacted my work was related to my home Wi-Fi, at around 6:30pm on Sunday 23rd February 2025, my Wi-Fi provided by Gigaclear went down in the area around my house, resulting in me being unable to access anything requiring internet for over 24 hours. The Wi-Fi then resumed normal operation on Monday 24th February at 9:40 in the evening, so I was unable to work on any of my coursework at home during these hours. I have managed to overcome this problem because I have enabled offline access on my Google Documents, so I was able to continue working solely on my Google Docs from home.
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The next issue that I ran into was regarding implementing pdf’s into Wix, the college has blocked a tool that I use to display embedded pdf’s into my website. This has caused me to rethink my implementation of the pdf files and instead of going for a clean and accessible approach to the viewing of the files, I now have to use a bland button that links to the pdf.
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My targets for next week and the remainder of the project are:
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Finish off my Process Research Report and record me presenting the video part of this task
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Record my initial concept presentation using OBS Studio and upload the videos to YouTube ready for implementation on Wix
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Continue to work at my usual professional manner and stick to deadlines
 Wi-Fi - Status Page showing downtime in my area (Note: Sunday has not been displayed as the company was not open on this day) |
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 PDF Viewer unavailable on College network |
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journal - week 2
What have I done?
This week, I continued working toward the Final Major Project in the process research report. This week I continued to work towards the content required for this hand in and I continued by recording my initial pitch presentation and also finishing both my process research reports, the specific game design report and also the video report that I recorded on OBS that detailed the entire pipeline of game development.
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What have I learnt?
This week of the project, I have not learnt any new or different techniques that I could apply to my work practice going forward. However, I have been able to finish my process research reports and these have helped significantly when it comes to improving my work practice, I have been able to make informed decisions for the pipeline of development that I will follow in this project and into the future, this research and development has allowed me to expand upon my previous knowledge and has helped strengthen this knowledge to make decisions to the different phases of the project as a game designer. My primary sources of information have also been a great help in me being able to successfully build knowledge around my game design centric work role and has helped me to improve upon my workflow before moving into production and also the following stages of development.
What could have been improved or gone better?
This week, I have not really run into any possible areas of improvement, however, if I was to dive deeper into my work practices I would say that I could have possibly improved upon the delivery of both my video report and pitch presentation, in these videos I kept stuttering and pausing, forgetting my train of thought resulting in an unsmooth viewing experience. Going forward I will ensure that I plan what I am going to say, in hopes that this results in a more smoother execution.
Any problems? If so, how will/have I resolve(d) them?
The only issue that I ran into this week that impacted my work, was related to the College PC requiring an important software update, as this came in the form of an intrusive pop-up screen I was interrupted several times throughout my Tuesday session. This problem was regarding an Admin change that required my PC to restart, I would close the pop-up but roughly thirty minutes later it popped up again resulting in an interruption in my workflow. See the problem solving page for further details into this problem.
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My targets for next week and the remainder of the project are:
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Move onto my second research report, a report into techniques that I can use as a game designer
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Continue to work at my usual professional manner and stick to deadlines
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Update the presentation of my website to reflect the changes in brand pack that I created in the first week
Journal - week 3
What have I done?
This week, I started the Research stage of the FMP project and I started by carrying out a research planner. The planner detailed my main areas that I would be researching into in my research report, I planned to research into planning and practical techniques that would be used in experimentation and analysed to be used further in pre-production and production of my project. I also planned the sources that I could possibly use for each area of research, this helps to reduce the time spent on finding sources whilst writing the report. In addition, I started to write my research report and also started to contact some professionals so that I could gather first hand research for this report, to inform a higher working grade and standard.
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What have I learnt?
This week of the project, I have learnt about different techniques and methods that I could use going into pre-production, I learnt about using 3D perspective drawings and blueprints to inform a level design and structure and also how to use scheduling documents to help the flow of the project workings. These have all helped me to inform decisions that I will be making in the future planning and pre-production stages of the project.
What could have been improved or gone better?
I believe the area that I feel I could improve going forward is primary research. The problem of primary research is very out of my control and I have taken extended measures following last years failure in primary research, by extending my sources and contacting on a wider platform of apps and contact methods, although I have been more successful in this first week than my whole FMP last year I still feel that I could be doing more to receive a wider range of responses. As it has only been less than a week since I have sent off the questions to my professional contacts, I have high hopes that I will receive more responses. Failing this, I will carry out primary research in other areas, for example I plan on going to a shopping centre to gather information about its layout and style so that this can help in the design of my levels, also, I am going to play and watch some professional narratives such as games and movies so this will class as primary research.
Any problems? If so, how will/have I resolve(d) them?
The only two issues that I ran into this week that impacted my work, were related to server based issues on a company's end and also AI generated sources on the internet. The first issue I encountered was that when contacting professional contacts on social media I ran into a connection error on X. At first I refreshed the page in hope of a change, but I was still met with a server error. I then found out that X had been subject to a server attack so the server would be down for a couple of days. This impacted my research because most of my contacts were on this platform, nonetheless I still managed to log on the next day and receive messages from one of my sources.
The next issue that I ran into was regarding AI Generated sources on the internet impacting the integrity and reliability of my online sources. When searching for sources on the internet, a fellow class member found an AI generated site, a site that I was also looking at at the time. This would have impacted the reliability of my research if I had not noticed that this was AI and so going forward I used more reliable sources such as books, magazines and journals as these would give me more trustworthy information.
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My targets for next week and the remainder of the project are:
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Finish off my Contextual Research Report
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Continue to work at my usual professional manner and stick to deadlines
journal - week 4
What have I done?
This week, I finished the Research stage of the FMP project and ​researched into similar narratives and real life locations that I can use as inspiration for my project and planning going forward. I feel that this research has been paramount to the success of this project and in the last projects the research has helped to identify areas that I feel I need to experiment on before moving into full time production.
What have I learnt?
This week of the project, I have learnt about different practical techniques and methods that I could use going into production and experimentation, I learnt about implementing audio into Unreal Engine and also how to code jumpscares and a HUD system into the engine, all of this will be used in experimentation and then applied to my final outcome, however, experimentation will come first in the decision making of what methods I would like to apply to the project..
What could have been improved or gone better?
In this research report I feel confident that I have carried out all aspects of this report to that of a high standard, however, one area that I feel I could improve upon is my real life examples, I did not look into blueprints of malls. Blueprints would help me to construct a more convincing environment in my game, and I forgot to research into this, however, looking at extended research this may be an area that I will touch upon before planning and pre-production.
Any problems? If so, how will/have I resolve(d) them?
The only two issues that I ran into this week that impacted my work were related to my personal health and also being blocked from a Google Document by the college server. The first issue I encountered was that I was off for the first two college days due to continued illness from previous weeks. Although I did have time off from college I carried out my contingency plan and worked at times that I felt I was better and still managed to meet the deadline on Friday.
The next issue that I ran into was regarding access issues to my research report document when I went back to college on Thursday, the document was functioning correctly until the page refreshed and I was met with a message saying Admin has blocked this item. I refreshed the page and I was able to continue working without fault, however, I still do not know what caused the error to begin with, it may have something to do with the offline working add-on that I had enabled after my internet issue from previous weeks.
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My targets for next week and the remainder of the project are:
Move onto planning and prep work for my outcome
Continue to work at my usual professional manner and stick to deadlines
Journal - week 5
What have I done?
This week, I started the Planning and Pre-Production stage of the FMP project and I started by carrying out a Concept Presentation. The Concept pitch detailed my current concept and showed how my research has influenced and shaped my project concept; this helped me to showcase my concept as it currently stands and show how I am going to put my research into practice. I also carried out experimentation on my planning documents, this was extremely helpful as I was able to practically execute my researched planning methods and so I was able to make informed decisions as to what documents I will be using in the project. I also started my main planning.
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What have I learnt?
This week of the project, I have learnt about different planning techniques and methods that I researched in my report, I learnt about using different scheduling documents, Kanban Board and Gantt Chart. I was able to analyse the effectiveness of each method and came to an informed decision about the planning techniques I would be carrying forward into my project workflow.
What could have been improved or gone better?
I believe the area that I feel I could improve going forward is the detail in my planning documentation. The problem with my planning documentation so far is that it is in a very basic state, I have the foundation set out but have not expanded fully on every area needed. I will need to expand upon documentation because it will allow me to fully plan all areas of my concept before production, allowing for a smoother production and development process. In order to improve my planning documentation, my full attention next week will be on planning and this is in hopes to improve and expand upon my planning.
Any problems? If so, how will/have I resolve(d) them?
The only issue that I encountered this week that impacted my workflow at College was the fact that during the process of carrying out my planning on Tuesday, I was met with a PC that would not connect to a wired network. At first I thought it was a server issue again, however after looking at the back of the PC I found that the LAN cable had been removed. I simply inserted the LAN and the connection worked again, this only took around 5 to 10 minutes off of my morning work and did not impact it greatly.
My targets for next week and the remainder of the project are:
Finish off my Contextual Research Report
Continue to work at my usual professional manner and stick to deadlines
Journal - week 6
What have I done?
This week, I continued and ultimately finished the Planning and Pre-Production stage of the FMP project. This week was mainly focused on the more heavy weighing planning documents that would require a large amount of content, such as the GDD, Story Bible and Test Plan. I also continued to update my planning documents with new edits and amendments to reflect changes or improvements in my concept. I have evidenced my changes on my Wix site, to show the changes in my concept and planning to reflect the standard of a higher working student.
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What have I learnt?
This week of the project, I have not learnt any new techniques, however, I have been able to carry out a test plan for the first time over the course at this college and I was able to learn how to structure this, by using past knowledge and experience from course talks and lectures.
What could have been improved or gone better?
Following last week's planning, I have been able to expand upon my documentation, however, I still feel that my planning can be amended and expanded upon further. So over the next couple of weeks in production I will be continuing to update my planning to ensure that I am up to date with the flow and concept.
Any problems? If so, how will/have I resolve(d) them?
​One issue that I encountered this week that impacted my workflow at College was the fact that during the process of carrying out updates to my Level Blueprint, I was met with an email blocking error when moving my blueprint from my phone to the college account, I was unable to send the updated blueprint to my college email. I first thought that this issue was caused by an account error or network error, however, as you can see I had full 5G connection and I was able to receive an email from the blocking or email tracking team, so this was not the issue. I was not able to resolve the issue however, I found a work around, I uploaded my blueprint to a Google Drive folder and was then able to share it to my college account.
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The second problem that I faced this week of planning and pre-production was that my PC at college initiated a Windows software update, this happened when I first went to login to the PC. I was unable to login to my account and subsequently had to wait fifteen minutes for the PC to successfully update. After the update I was able to continue working, in the meantime I worked on elements of planning that did not require the PC and instead used my phone to complete an updated level blueprint and also my GDD.
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The third issue that I encountered this week was in regard to my Wix site, when I was trying to upload all of my planning to my site I ran into an infinite loading screen that was stuck for twenty minutes. This stopped me from accessing my Wix site and adding all of my work to the site. I managed to fix this issue by refreshing the webpage and then the website worked as intended.
My targets for next week and the remainder of the project are:
Move onto experimentation and evaluating the effectiveness of each technique and how I can apply the knowledge to my outcome
Begin to move into production and start to grey-box my game environment.
Continue to work at my usual professional manner and stick to deadlines
Dev logs - weeks 7-10
For the four weeks of development I have decided to adopt a different approach to the weekly journals and problem solving, and have chosen to adopt a video format to showcase my work over each week, set targets and to also reflect upon problem solving and show the problem solving in action instead of in a written format. This way you are able to clearly see the problem that I have faced and how I have been able to overcome them, by combining both the journal and problem solving.
journal - week 11
What have I done?
This week, I carried out a playtest and website analysis session to gather feedback about my game, Wix site and how I could go about improving both, whilst sticking to the three improvement limit. I have also officially finished the launch phase of the project, as I have developed my final build and are now ready for post launch where I will carry out analysis into my outcome and work practice.
What have I learnt?
As this week of the project has been focused on completing playtesting and also making amendments I have not really learnt any new techniques or features, however, I have learnt one technique through my problem solving, this is how to assign a UI only input mode to my main menu in order for the cursor to be visible on the main menu UI.
What could have been improved or gone better?
I believe that no key area of improvement stood out to me this week and that is mostly due to the fact that I have been focusing on feedback and playtest review so I have not run into improvements to my work practice or game.
Any problems? If so, how will/have I resolve(d) them?
As I have stated above I found no major problems this week as I have been putting my full attention to feedback and review, however, due to some of the improvements mentioned in the feedback I have run into two issues this week, the first being that I am unable to find a resolution to fix the UI cursor issue and also after finding a solution I am unable to control the player once getting past the menu. Now I have been able to resolve both of these issues and this only took around ten minutes so it did not really affect my timeframes on this section of the project and I was able to carry out the rest of this week without any further issues apart from that stated in my problem solving.
My targets for the final week of the project are:
Create a post-mortem / final evaluation
Update my Gantt chart to reflect the updated status of my project