Overseas Immersion Program

I am finally back in Singapore after the 12 weeks exchange program in DigiPen (Redmond). I realised that their teaching culture is different from Singapore as the teacher does not force the student to listen in class. The subsequent weeks after the first relaxing week has consecutively been hectic despite taking 4 modules. I did not have time to cook my meals, and the hours of sleep reduces. By the time the entire semester ended, I was exhausted.

Each game prototype assignment is 3 weeks long (1 week for planning) instead of 5 weeks, and it will be graded according to the rubric. The rubric is not properly explained to us because it did not specify some items and some terms were not described. Therefore, I took the risk in the final assignment by not having a lose state because it was not stated in the rubric. The professor penalised me for leaving it out.

I am most proud of my second assignment, which focuses on the element of sensation (Zen Rhino's Engagement Theory). Realising that my previous racing game idea has a big game-breaking flaw in it due to its core mechanic, I spent 1 week developing the game. You can find this game in my portfolio (Game Designer) and download it so that you can play it too.

Beat Box

Winter Break

I have completed the first semester of year 2 in DigiPen. There is 3 weeks break before Spring Semester (2016) begins. The next semester will be the most hectic semester as I will be taking 6 modules.

While creating the game in a team of 5, we experienced some communication issues as all of us have different working styles. The 3 of my team mates are very concerned about marks, whereas another team mate and I are more concerned about delivering a game which we are proud of. Despite our different sub goals, I believe that all of us has a common goal. That is, to create a successful game. No one in the team will want to do something which causes the game to fail.

After the end of the project, I was contemplating to change team as my team experienced a conflict and it is my first time experiencing a group conflict while creating a game. Changing group does not solve the problem, it is running away from the problem instead. A few days before Christmas, we met up with each other and expressed our concerns. By then, I have cooled off and decided to stay in this group and give it a second chance.

Non-digital Games

The lecturer has finally approved our Project and it now appears in the DigiPen Games Library.

Creating non-digital games is different from creating digital games. There are no controls, and the game logic is implemented in a different way. I will place one of non-digital games that my team and I have created, and I am most proud of as it scored full marks for the assignment.

2 Weeks Break

Summer term has finally ended! This summer term isn't as stressful as the previous semester because I took 4 modules. There will be a 2 week break before Fall Semester (2015) begins. I will be catching up on my rest and I think for my GAM, we will start to finalise the idea and start to prototype.

My team member and I have decided to put our CS Final Project into the DigiPen Games Library. Hence, we will be doing the game trailer during the break.

CS Final Project

It is almost the end of the game project. I learnt a lot of new things from this project from the design point, such as the 5 seconds walking rule. Adding obstacles in between will give the illusion that there are multiple routes to reach the end point.

I struggled while creating the combo system for the player as I did not know which combo system I should follow. In the end, I followed Little Fighter 2 as that is the only combo system game I played.

In the first 5 weeks of the project, we were just implementing the systems and no level design. During the last 2 weeks, we were focusing on the level design and bug fixing.

CS Final Project: Introduction

For the final project, we will need to create a polished top-down adventure game similar to the Zelda 2D series. We will be in teams of 2 to implement the whole game from scratch in Unity. Art and audio assets will be provided. We must implement a unique feature in the game, something that makes that game different from the others, besides implementing the mandatory features. The lecturers will be marking on both the design and programming.

Year 1 Cleared

These 3 months (January - April) has been the most hectic week for me as there were 7 modules, the most number modules my course has to take. After year 1, I can choose which modules to take during the summer break and I have chosen to take 4 modules that were offered. Before the summer classes begins, I had a 1 week break.