Week 2:
Planning

Friday 11th - Saturday 12th February 2022

WEEK 2 -

TO DO: REFINE SCHEDULE AND PLANNING

PURPOSE FOR TODAY

It's time for Kiera and I to re-create our schedule from last Semester according to our new project scope. This schedule should be more refined than the last and include every task distributed between us in order to achieve our intended final outcome. We will be using our methodology stated in our Project proposal to set ourselves appropriate milestones for the project and begin to set ourselves tasks to guarantee completion.

WHAT WILL WE BE DOING?

We will be using our newly fined Project Scope to breakdown the project week-by-week. We will then set ourselves a series of milestones to achieve according to our plans. We should begin by referring to our Project Proposal and making the changes necessary to re-organise this project.

GOALS FOR THE DAY

To create a new project management schedule, set clear milestones and distribute tasks according to our skill-sets and capabilities.

TEAM WORK - WHERE DO WE BEGIN?

We will begin by using our refined project scope to set our milestones and establish when we plan to complete the main stages of the project. This will lead into a breakdown of our tasks in a detailed weekly schedule.

OLD SCHEDULE: https://www.notion.so/Schedule-1c2b29b836404345963c9fbd9a44e06a

QUICK PLAN FOR TODAY

Saturday 12th February

Set milestones according to new project scope and methodology
Discuss capabilities/skill sets and roles in the team
Re-create schedule, refine and finalise tasks

TASK 1

WEEK 2 - METHODOLOGY

Saturday 12th February

THE AGILE METHODOLOGY

Last Semester, Kiera and I chose to organise ourselves in line with the 'Agile Methodology'. Our documentation for this can be found here:

https://www.notion.so/Methodology-543ab31f7ee14f9092ddbf65d5246d09

This methodology covers the 6 main stages of our project being:

Requirements
Design
Development
Testing
Deployment
Review

The Agile Methodology allows us to rapidly fulfil each stage of the project and allow for evaluation throughout each stage. This leaves room for constant reflection and changes if necessary. This methodology provides us with a breakdown of the project stage by stage, ensuring we have all the necessary moving parts before moving onto the next!

THE AGILE METHODOLOGY

Using this project methodology, were able to make a road-map which identified each task we needed to fulfil to complete the project. As our scope has now changed, we must recreate this road-map with a different set of milestones in place!

THE ROAD-MAP

Our previous road-map allowed us to establish the tasks we needed to fulfil within each stage which we must do for our new scope. The new road-map can be found below, this is a breakdown of each stage and what needs to be completed during each one:

BREAKDOWN OF THE ROAD-MAP / AGILE METHODOLOGY

REQUIREMENTS

Over the last two weeks, we have established our requirements and plan to refer back to this throughout the project. This stage is to familiarise ourselves with what we are aiming to achieve and to ensure that every design choice we make has a purpose and reflects back on this.

DESIGN

The design stage of the project will involve Kiera and I establishing our gameplay, mechanics and interactions, which we have already begun. As well as this, we will identify a suitable art style for our project and begin concept creation for assets such as environment, characters and other moving parts. Now we have a clearer idea of the gameplay itself, this should take place in the next few weeks. Sound Design will also be planned for during this stage as well as the setup of the physical space. The most important thing is knowing how we will set up this space and identifying the equipment needed to do so.

DEVELOPMENT

The first stages of development will be to prototype and test our game idea in line with our requirements and what is expected from it - in this case, emotional and physical regulation. After a series of prototypes, we will have a developed and refined idea which we can begin to program and create assets for. The development stage of this project will involve creating all the moving parts such as the code for the game and the assets players will be interacting with. In addition to this, sound production should begin around the same time we focus on asset creation to ensure we have these elements created around the same time.

TESTING

Testing will involve testing the effectiveness of gameplay with a series of playtesters. We have planned to use heart monitors to test heart rates before and after our experience, as well as a series of questions to touch on thoughts and feelings before and after. As well as play testing, we must carry out asset testing/checks to ensure the quality of our asset creation is as expected and everything works successfully - this will require a role to lead this. Others forms of testing will include the physical space working as planned, surround sound systems and gameplay working cohesively with this.

DEPLOYMENT

Deployment will involve gathering feedback and making the necessary changes according to this, as well as evaluating development against our initial design goals and requirements. During this time, we will also make bug fixes and final flourishes.

REVIEW

We will constantly review the success of gameplay, the physical space and other assets. Reflect upon our research and ensure everything is working as expected! We can do this with testers too, through surveys and questionnaires. It depends how much time we have to do these things too.

LAUNCH

The launch of our project will involve the creation of promotional material and a heavy focus on marketing. We plan to film a documentary for the process and have this edited in the last few weeks of the project, as well as a trailer. We must also plan for transportation to the arcade event and carry out last minute checks before both Winchester and London Shows.

PROJECT MILESTONES

Now we are aware of the tasks we need to complete during the next 10-11 weeks, we must set ourselves a series of realistic milestones for the project. This should be a basic list of milestones and dates for completion of each stage as seen above.

REQUIREMENTS

Begin: Week 1

Completion by: Week 2

DESIGN

Begin: Week 2

Completion by: Week 5-6

DEVELOPMENT

Begin: Week 6

Completion by: Week 10

TESTING

Begin: Week 3

Completion by: Week 10

DEPLOYMENT

Begin: Week 9

Completion by: Week 11

REVIEW

Throughout duration of the project!

LAUNCH

Begin: Week 9

Completion by: Week 12

NEXT STEPS

We have a realistic set of milestones in place and plan to progress with our project schedule. But before we begin to distribute tasks, we have agreed to establish our individual roles in the team to make task distribution easier.

TASK 2

WEEK 2 - ESTABLISHING OUR ROLES IN THE TEAM

Saturday 12th February

THE TEAM

Within our Project Proposal, we briefly outlined are goals in the team and which responsibilities we will be taking on. Today we plan to be much clearer with this to prepare ourselves for task distribution. You can find the documentation of this in our Semester 1 Project Proposal here:

https://www.notion.so/Team-e56309575e2f4b37bc74fdc56535b3d2

In our Project Proposal we outlined the following:

We outlined our individual skills which helped to identify what we'll be doing this project. After speaking through both of our capabilities, we have agreed to do what we know best in order to get the best possible outcome.

Personally, I specialise in 2D art, design and marketing. I'd be more than happy to take on any if not all of these roles and adapt if anything else is required from me. I have a brief understanding in Sound Design however, I feel it will be best to work with a Sound Designer this project to achieve something great. This way I can focus more on other elements.

ROLES

After discussion, we have agreed to assign ourselves the following:

KIERA WALTON

Designer - gameplay design, interactions, mechanics, prototyping.
2D artist - asset creation.
Programmer - coding/programming, the more technical sides of the project.

EMILIA POYIADGI

Marketing Executive - logo design, set-up social platforms, creation of promotional material, in charge of social media.
Designer - gameplay design, interactions, mechanics, prototyping.
2D artist - asset creation.
Art Lead - lead on visual design, asset checks, asset testing, establish art style etc.

WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM ME?

To reflect upon our roles this project, we have agreed to both focus on the design of the project, involving ideation, gameplay and mechanics etc, as we work well together and it makes it easier to share ideas. As we have been doing, we will continue to document this separately. In terms of our individual roles, I have been given the responsibility of Marketing Executive as I am used to this role and have already begun thinking about the branding of our game and studio. I will be in charge of all social medias and the making of promotional material for the project. Kiera and I have agreed to split asset creation between us as we both specialise in this area, however, I have been given the role of Art Lead! I have expressed my passion to direct the art for this project and would love to experience this role again. This'll allow me to have lead on the visual design and carry out testing/checks when necessary, as well as lead the creation of assets through a detailed art bible.

Kiera and I will update each other regularly and continue to work on both individual and collaborative tasks throughout the duration of the project. We must ensure to communicate our progress on tasks and document this in our 'Trello' week by week.

NEXT STEPS

Now we have identified our roles and set our milestones for the project, the last task of the day is to re-create our project schedule! This is where we input our tasks into a week-by-week schedule, allowing us to have better organisation and time management.

TASK 3

WEEK 2 - THE FINAL SCHEDULE!

Saturday 12th February

THE SCHEDULE

Our last schedule consisted of the appropriate tasks to fulfil our previous project scope. Over the last 2 weeks, we have made major adjustments to our project and now require a new plan for the remainder of the project. We have around 10-11 Weeks to work with and must present this within a more direct project schedule.

THE PROCESS

To do this, we worked collaboratively to distribute tasks across 12 Weeks, using the online program 'Asana'. This is an online management tool, providing us with the ability to organise, track and manage our work! We have used its 'Calendar/Timeline' feature to set our tasks as well as colour code them dependant on their priority.

PROJECT SCHEDULE - WEEK 1 - 12

Link to Schedule: https://app.asana.com/0/1201825439767799/timeline

KEY FOR SCHEDULE:

PURPLE TASKS - Highest Priority

YELLOW - Medium Priority

RED - Weekly Tasks

We have also categorised our tasks in line with our Agile Methodology - each of our tasks is linked to a stage of our project as seen below:

WEEKS 1 & 2

We have already completed Weeks 1 and 2 of the project so can now mark these tasks as completed successfully! Once tasks are marked as complete, they become darkened.

I plan to document a screenshot of the weekly tasks within my weekly discussions with Kiera to begin the week and familiarise myself with our tasks.

TASK 4

WEEK 2 - UPDATING TRELLO

Saturday 12th February

TRELLO

We set up a Trello to use to document our to do lists and mark tasks complete.

WHAT WILL WE USE TRELLO FOR?

Our Trello will be used to take note of questions for meetings, to do lists and to mark completion on tasks. This tool is used to visualise tasks rather than to keep referring to our schedule, it makes it easier to focus on what needs to be done that week. I will make sure to refer to the Trello after each week, and mark completion or attach documents if necessary. This is something that between us, we must keep up to date with to track progress.

Link to Trello: https://trello.com/b/XQyFGSIT/getaway-project-management

KEY FOR TRELLO:

GREEN/PURPLE - Design

YELLOW - Development

RED - Priority

BLUE - Marketing

Project Resources
Questions for next meeting
To Do List
Done/Completed Tasks
Changes

When you open each task, I have added a description for each one, outlining what exactly needs to be done! We can refer to the Trello weekly and add comments if necessary. Trello also gives us the ability to attach documents which can also be great for sharing work.

REFLECTION & EVALUATION

TODAY

Kiera and I have our schedules and planning in place to continue with the project. We have all the necessary tools set-up to better our time management and organisation which allows us to work both efficiently and effectively.

COMMUNICATION & THE TEAM

Now we have these tools in place, we MUST stick to them! The only way to do this is to have regular communication with each other in terms of the tasks we are currently working on and what we have completed. We must keep in contact everyday, which won't be hard as we live with each other, but we must still remember to put all data into the Trello and mark tasks complete. If we do this, we won't fall behind and will make it easier for ourselves to keep on track.

WHAT NEXT? NEXT STEPS

Referring to our schedule, we should begin Week 3 with another weekly discussion and then must get into contact with Chris O'Connor and Andy Brooke regarding the setup of the space. We must also create a survey to gather research around the environment options for our game which should give us a greater understanding around the content/theme of our game. If we are able to gather enough responses that week, we can move on with research around this theme.

To begin Phase 2, Week 3:

Phase 2

Week 2: Planning

Week 2:
Planning