Personal Reflection

During the creation of Dig It, I have learned a lot about multiple parts of the game development pipeline and in particular, I value the lessons acquired about planning and design the game the most. I have a more Game Design background, which is one of my passion, so I covered the role of a technical game designer on the team. In addition to this, since I was also involved in a group project at University as a project manager, I also directed in this project the planning and management areas with my teammate, Giovanni, giving feedback and prompting new ideas.

In the first part of the production of Dig It, I sketched out a diagram of what the game would have been in terms of core loop and features. Then, after a discussion with Giovanni, I refined the concept using the points raised from the first meeting. After that, I wrote a pitch and a detailed design document for the first assignment, which was proofread and revised by Giovanni. The lecturer feedback was also really valuable for what we achieved in the end.

When we started writing the code following the structure of the diagram, I evenly divided the tasks based on our area of expertise. I laid out the basic structure of the game by using and adapting the engine developed during the practical session, while Giovanni dived into the A* pathfinding algorithm having more experience with C++.

When the base of the game was ready, Giovanni implemented the AI while I was more dedicated in menus, player actions, usability options, and scene management. Having been gained a certain experience with the Engine I also covered the role of fixing bugs and solving syntax issues.

In the last part of the project, Giovanni was more dedicated to the sounds of the game, while I refined every part (AI, physics, menus, etc.) and looked for bugs.

Finally, we decided to split the parts of the documentation evenly and continued to playtest the game to find bugs and tweaking the features in order to achieve a better experience.

The overall experience was challenging and satisfying and working with Giovanni taught me a lot.

Thanks for your attention,

Harbrus