Week 2: Discussions

Thursday 10th February 2022

WEEK 2 - PLAN FOR DISCUSSION

Today Kiera and I have arranged a talk with both Adam Procter and James Stallwood. We plan to have a quick discussion regarding our project and gather any resources or information that we can that might help us progress.

WEEK 2 - DISCUSSION WITH ADAM

Thursday 10th February

PURPOSE FOR DISCUSSION

Discuss progress, next steps and weekly check-up.

NOTES:

By 1st March you should have something to do testing with - User Research and guest talk.
Barclays Eagle Lab - end of March in St Mary's Stadium (31st) would be good to have a prototype ready to share with people.
Continue with refining the scope for now.
Keep schedule from Semester 1 and refine it for this Semester - then follow that instead.
Think about what the minimum requirement for our scope is.
Discuss with art technicians about equipment and the possibility of the space - level of interaction.
CONTACT DETAILS: Andy Brook - a.i.brook@soton.ac.uk 'Head of Technical Services'. "We want to make this box...with specifications...when can we get it?"
Testing - the feeling that people get? Emotional and physical regulation. Record this through fitbit and ask questions. This is important!
Use cheap fitbit to test people's heart rates.
Discuss with Chris regarding projectors.
CONTACT DETAILS: Chris O'Connor - c.s.oconnor@soton.ac.uk - "we love the projectors in the Rotunda, we want to project in the box...will yours work and how can we borrow it?"
Achievement Log - document what we have achieved that day in the form of blogs or week.
Document progress in Documentary Film.
Only document what's necessary to keep you on task!
Short updates - dev journal/blog. More marketing than documenting.
Analog fashion - pick progress we can track towards our goal. 15 minutes reviewing progress.

CONCLUSION

NEXT STEPS

Have prototype ready for 1st March and something to display at the Eagle Labs event at the end of March! (can be the same prototype)
Continue refining scope - think of gameplay, theme etc.
Re-create schedule.
Contact art technician and for projectors - send box specifications and project proposal. Contact details can be found in notes.
Think about how we might test - buy things to test with e.g. cheap fitbit.
Document progress in achievement log (have been doing so)
Keep documentation simple, short updates.
Continue as we are, keep pushing!

EVALUATION & REFLECTION OF DISCUSSION

WHAT WENT WELL?

Adam agreed that we were on track and encouraged us to continue refining our scope in the upcoming weeks. We still need to establish an idea and think about the concept, the gameplay and the theme. After we have this in place we can think about prototyping and testing which we will conduct using a heart rate monitor and discussion with players. (Monitor currently being ordered) Adam also agreed that by refining the scope now we can create a more refined schedule to follow for this Semester. In addition to this, he provided us with the contact information of the alumni in charge of the projectors and the Head of Fine Art. Next steps for us will be to get in contact with alumni to discuss the construction of the box and ensure we have all the hardware to make this idea possible. As of right now, we are happy with the outcome of this discussion and are aware of our next steps.

WHAT DIDN'T GO WELL?

Slight concern that we had a lot to do - we will take every week as it comes but for now we must focus on the scope of our idea. The next few weeks should be spent on the design of our experience and mapping out how it will play out.

CHANGES WE HAVE TO MAKE THIS WEEK:

Once we have finalised our scope we must distribute tasks between us and re-create our project management table. We must avoid giving ourselves too much to do and equally distribute tasks so we can individually work on our own things. Adam also brought up the concern of our individual roles so we must make sure to establish this first and make it clear before progressing with development. If we both continue to work on the same thing, time will be wasted and we'll become overwhelmed with responsibility.

NEXT STEPS FOR THIS WEEK:

This week we will continue to finalise the scope and re-create our schedule for the remaining weeks. We must also get in contact with Chris O'Connor and Andy Brook regarding the box construction and other hardware enquiries. Once we have this in place, we can begin to think about making basic prototypes and testing. (We must have a test for the Barclays Eagle Labs event on the 31st March).

TRELLO - UPDATED TO DO LIST

https://trello.com/invite/b/XQyFGSIT/821d9c2572f15025b306d2268f14624a/getaway-project-management

WEEK 2 - DISCUSSION WITH JAMES

Thursday 10th February

PURPOSE FOR DISCUSSION

Discuss setting up the foundations of our game in Unity and to gather inspiration around the theme.

NOTES:

Explained the scope and the boundaries of our game - 360 degree immersive space, the need for a physical box etc.
Suggested using 3D models/existing packs to create our environment rather than using 2D - however, doing this doesn't showcase our best skills.
3D packs would be easier to implement into the space. Can be better for time management but again not best choice for showcasing what we can do.
Touch Controllers can work in the space.
Difficulty projecting onto 4 different screens without Unity Pro.
Personally would prefer to do a 2D drawn environment.
What could the theme be? - Possibly narrative based. Players progress on a journey or traverse the environment. Think about our best interests and what we would prefer in the space.
'Late night drives' - watching the sunset, with a few meaningful interactions/animations around the space. What could they be? Birds flying out from trees, accompanied by sound.
Small meaningful animations - make players focus on the little things, to become grateful for them, appreciate the little things. "Take a moment".
Environment/theme of content - Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Mountains, The Alps, Austria, Hallstatt.
Bubbles in an environment where players could react with them - something simple yet effective.
A journey/growth/transition from day to night time
Technicalities - can experiment first in VR and then think about projection mapping etc.
Good to speak to Chris O'Connor next regarding the projectors first to understand how we can borrow them and how they might work in our space.
Can organise another discussion with James at any time - usually free on Thursdays. Will organise another session for the following week.

CONCLUSION

NEXT STEPS

Need to discuss with Kiera the content/theme of our space and what gameplay might be. Useful to brainstorm our own interests and preferences to have a general idea of what we'd like within the space. Like the idea of a journey.
Discuss the opportunity for 3D environment rather than 2D - make decision on this by the end of the day.
Once we have this narrowed down, we must contact both Chris O'Connor and Andy Brook for technical requirements, hardware queries and limitations etc.
Build basic foundation of space in Virtual Reality first to see how it might appear to players - with correct box specifications/measurements.

EVALUATION & REFLECTION OF DISCUSSION

WHAT WENT WELL?

After speaking with James we have a much clearer idea of the route we could take. We plan to have a discussion this evening to talk about 'our interests' and mind-map the kind of things or spaces we would find helpful in times of distress or discomfort. It was useful to gather another opinion regarding our idea and gain some inspiration for the kinds of things we could do. As well as this, it was good to begin speaking about Unity development to find that what we'd like to do is in fact possible but will require a bit of thought and to be more direct with our intentions.

WHAT DIDN'T GO WELL?

In discussion with James, he expressed his concern for projecting our Unity build across 4 walls with the ability for players to interact with each wall. He said this would require Unity Pro which may be inaccessible for us. Because of the implication of using 4 different cameras, he suggested building the space in a 3D environment (with 3D assets) which would require only one global camera and one unity build, which we would project 360 degrees around the box. This is something Kiera and I have to discuss because it would mean changing our existing refinements made to our project scope. Working in 3D isn't something we are most confident in and therefore would make development a little harder for us. The option for using existing 3D assets/packs isn't in my best interest because I'd love to showcase my own visual work in the space and I know Kiera has a similar mindset.

CHANGES WE HAVE TO MAKE THIS WEEK:

This week our top priority is to discuss how to overcome the challenges of the space and think about what exactly players will be doing and where. The first 2 weeks have been primarily based on decision making and problem solving to ensure our project is feasible and to allow us to get the best possible outcome. I am confident once we have these things locked down it'll become much easier and clearer for the both of us.

NEXT STEPS FOR THIS WEEK:

I'll be updating the Trello below with our weekly tasks and to do list. To begin problem solving and to come to a conclusion for the design of the space, the first thing Kiera and I plan to do is reflect on both discussions with our tutors. From here we must make rapid decisions regarding how we use the space and hopefully in the following week (week 3) we can begin thinking about theme, subject matter and visual design, as well as getting into contact with the necessary people regarding our physical box.

TRELLO - UPDATED TO DO LIST

https://trello.com/invite/b/XQyFGSIT/821d9c2572f15025b306d2268f14624a/getaway-project-management