Supervisor Meeting - 12

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor: Ryan Locke
Date: 20/04/15

Agenda

• Dissertation
• Current Progress
• Next Week (Hand-ins)

Progress Report

• Spent all of the meeting discussing my dissertation which helped a lot. Various topics arose however it was primarily Introduction and the contextual review. Both of which were good - just needed some aspects changing.
• We never got round to talking much about the portfolio - just what was linked with dissertation
• Discussed how he would like my portfolio submitted. All that he wants is for it to be well labelled and not too many folders

Agreed Action Report

All we discussed was the dissertation so the aspects of that that needed looked over were:

• Structure of Introduction. It's a good introduction but needs to be structured a little better. It also needs to define aim and objectives clearer
• Main was similar - needed to re-jig parts of that and perhaps input a few more quotes
• The main topic of discussion was the methodology (which I had just sent him that day). It needs most work due to my lack of understanding with it but Ryan has helped make it clearer. I need to work on that quite a bit.

Personal Notes

So this week was all dissertation. At this stage my practical work is pretty much done - just polishing it at the moment. I am spending all this week completing my portfolio however I did spend Monday night, editing my dissertation to the recommendations made. My plan is to get more feedback on Monday and use Monday to complete all the references and make changes to the dissertation. Tues will be spent proof reading and finalizing it. I will then hand it in Wednesday after one last proof read

By the looks of things I will have one or two more blog posts completed before I hand it in (Hand in is Monday 27th). I will do these after I finish my portfolio. I will carry out another end of week review before finishing off with one last overall year review post.

Supervisor Meeting - 11

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor: Ryan Locke
Date: 13/04/15

Agenda

• Dissertation - Ending Intro/results/discussion/conclusion
• Hand Ins - Blog, presentation and exposition
• Testing my game

Progress Report

• Spoke about dissertation. I have given Ryan a copy and he will look over it and get back to me regarding what needs altered
• I have now found out that we do not need to hand in a physical copy of our presentation and that the blog is handed in alongside our portfolio. As for the exposition, I explained my plans for that and everything seem ok with that so I do not need to worry too much about that.
• As for testing my game, I was made aware that there was no need for participant testing in my game and that this was a waste of time. Especially as it is so late in my project. I already have plenty of  criteria to use in order to produce final version of game.

Agreed Action Plan

• Blog examples of how my final exposition will ideally look - some mock-ups can go a long way. As for business cards, a suggestion was made (to save money) to purchase decent ones - which I would keep on me and hand out to those I choose and then have standard ones lying about that people can help themselves too.
• Looked quite a bit into my dissertation and got a better understanding of the 'methodology' section. It was apparent that I had too many different methods. After careful discussion it was agreed that I would remove 'case studies' and merge iterative testing with final testing but change the heading to critical evaluation.
• Me carrying out practice based research was valid for an evaluation process. I was unsure this would be the case but I am now aware and so there is no need for participant testing.

Personal Notes

It was good to get another meeting on the way as it had been quite some time since our last. I did not really get a chance to show much of my work but we discussed my dissertation mainly which has helped a lot. With the main concern of this meeting resulting in me not actually needing to test my game using participants, it means I need to re-plan my week as this was the main intention. This is not a bad thing however as it has saved me quite some time.

Revised Plan

• Go over Methodology
• Complete results (evaluation) and conclusion
• Run through whole thing to a completed state
• Blog exposition stuff
• Plan new ideas for story-telling aspect in my final game

I have a busy week ahead of me due to personal commitments however I am hoping I can achieve the revived plan.

Supervisor Meeting - 10

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor: Ryan Locke
Date: 20.03.15

Agenda

• Visual Dissertation Doc worries
• Game running slow issues
• Dissertation start

Progress Report

• Do not worry about this too much - it is merely a guide to help with dissertation/research
• Look into framerate options/other techniques to perhaps distract the framerate issues
• Start asap! Look at example dissertations to help get a start

Agreed Action Plan

• Start dissertation - look at other examples to help get started (with headings etc)
• With regards to dissertation - look at Vis Dis Doc to help although change it about so that 'horror' is the main thing to talk about
• As for game - look at frame rate, post process techniques to perhaps mask any issues/enhance game
• Look at UE4 examples and study the material nodes to see how exactly their materials/assets look so good

Personal Notes

This week the meeting took place over Skype as Ryan is unable to get himself into university. This will probably be the process for the next few weeks. It worked really well and we ended up having much more time to discuss my project. We are now approaching the end of March and I am still at a decent point in my project. It is now time to begin my presentation and come April, think about sorting showcase stuff and preparing for final hand ins. I will re-draft a plan of action at the beginning of April but for now, in the last week of March, I have some things I'd like to sort first:

For Next Week

• Start dissertation - headings (perhaps very very rough draft)
• Have game finished to an 'Alpha' level - ready to test, polish and finalize
• Possibly some more research

Supervisor Meeting - 09

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor: Ryan Locke
Date: 16.03.15

Again, this week Ryan was absent so I was unable to see him. I do have a few concerns regarding my project so I will perhaps email if I feel the need to see him before next Monday. I wish to discuss the practical issues I am having in which the game engine is running slow and frame rate is very low. I am also concerned with my Visual Dissertation Doc as I feel I want to start writing my dissertation but not having this complete is hindering that.

Supervisor Meeting - 08

This week our supervisor was unable to attend the meeting due to injury. However I have decided to still set my tasks for this next week.

• Complete Event04 - Burning Orphanage
• Re-do Visual Dissertation
• Complete journal articles found
• Create First draft Dissertation
• Write up PT
• Books/Journals relating to new Vis Diss Doc

Sadly I fell a little behind plan last week so I really want to catch up on myself this week. I do not feel behind but felt I did not carry out as much work last week as I have done in previous weeks.

Supervisor Meeting - 07

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor: Ryan Locke
Date: 02.03.15

Agenda

• Show new Visual Dissertation Doc
• Show new Journals/Articles relating to horror techniques etc
• Show practical work

Progress Report

• He really liked the progress of my visual dissertation doc. We discussed this is detail highlighting the ares of 'player experience'. 
• We looked through the articles/journals I had found. These were specific to horror games and how to create horror and proved very interesting and brought up some interesting conversation.
• Was pleased to see more progression. Suggested that it's time to start looking at how to make the user feel uneasy - looking closer at P.T. (Silent Hill) and seeing how they achieved an uneasy visual environment

Agreed Action Plan

• For Visual Dissertation Doc look at - player experience=interaction, agency, feedback (results/progression in game)
• Methods/devices that affect player agency
• Change interactive environment to something like 'Gameworld Environment'
• Perhaps a deeper analysis of P.T. (Silent Hill)
• Look at devices for visual storytelling

Personal Notes

Was a very pleasing discussion. With regards to practical, he emphasised how important it is too make sure it is relating too my research. He was pleased that I had been doing that and wants too make sure I continue and do more of it. I mentioned my action plan of being finished by end of March - with April to polish and he is fine with that.

As for research, he is pleased with what I have - it's time to start looking more at my Visual Dissertation Doc and looking at player agency etc more closely.

For Next Week

• Complete Event03 - 'Death Of A Soldier'
• Spend one evening on Event02 (Missed out doing it today)
• Adapt Visual Dissertation Doc and research into player agency
• Research into devices of visual storytelling
• Read book: 'Horror Video Games'

I am still feeling very good about my project. Ryan was very pleased with the sound effects I had created and added to my game and this has really made me want to excel with much more. Now it's March I am going to spend my weekends purely on research/dissertation and the weekdays for practical work. - Depending on work flow, I will most likely add Friday to being a 'research day'.

Supervisor Meeting - 06

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor: Ryan Locke
Date: 23.02.15

Agenda

• Show Journal Findings
• Look at 'Visualize Dissertation' Doc
• Discuss Practical Stuff

Progress Report

• Journals I had found were very good. He was pleased to see that they are leading me into different paths associated with my project. He stated that it is important that sometime down the line, I start to cut what I do not need and focus on the topics/information that is suitable for my project.
• He was pleased to see my first draft of my 'Visual Dissertation' Doc. He mentioned that this will change quite a bit and I should update it regularly. I have found it very useful for when it comes to researching. 
• Again, he was pleased with the amount of work carried out this week. A few tweaks are needed for my newest scene (feathers too big) (audio). - For audio, he suggested grammarphones or adding more 'low quality' e.g crackling/echo too the recording. A lot of interesting things can be done with sound.

Agreed Action Plan

• A more in-depth look at Silent Hill - puzzle element (the cleverness of these puzzles relate to film elements
• Look at player agency and the importance of manipulating agency
• Start looking into audio - techniques/styles for horror

Personal Notes

Once again I have had another very good session. He is pleased with the level of work I am completing each work and how it has become more professionally done. He is liking how my journal research already looks like literature reviews. This is pleasing me a lot and I aim to keep up this amount of weekly work. As the weeks go by, I will find myself having more time to put into studying and hope to increase the work load.

For Next Week

• Game Reviews - Half Life 2 - Silent Hill
• Journals on Player Agency
• Complete Event02 - 'Mother Issues'
• Look into more horror elements - audio/lighting etc

I have now got a rough plan of action in my head in regards to my project. I want to create an event in my scene each week. With 5 events and 1 completed already. This gives me to the second last week in March. I will round it up to the end of March to have a complete game that works and is pretty good. I will then use April to polish this up as much as possible, going through every aspect and making sure it is as good as can be.

As for the dissertation/research - I will continue with the amount of research I am gathering at the moment. When it comes to March, I will be dedicating ever weekend to research/dissertation writing - using the week to focus on practical and possibly some research/game studies. I will re-asses this big plan at end of March.

Supervisor Meeting - 05

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor: Ryan Locke
Date: 16.02.15

Agenda

• Discuss Last years blogs
• Mention my new hallway idea
• Question about using textures via cgtextures.com etc

Progress Report

• My concern with the blogs is that I found some of last years blogs, quite short and some a bit too personal. When I brought this up Ryan told me not too worry - that my blogs were going very nicely. I am keeping them up-to-date and showing exactly what I need to be showing.
• I wanted to ask about using the likes of cgtextures.com as I have been creating my own textures in fear of copyright and not looking as good an artist as those who do their own work. He told me that I was not being graded on my texture creation but I was being graded on how effective I communicated a horror story through the environment. So to save as much time as possible, by all means, I should use cgtextures.com and other similar resources. Of course I will be editing these textures and crediting the original picture in my dissertation.
• I never got to discuss my hallway idea due to a heavy discussion on research

Agreed Action Report

• Look at Journals - Journal of Gaming Worlds - Game Studies Online - Sage Journals
• Use Google Doc too - Visualize Dissertation - Log journals/references
• Use cgTextures to my advantage - credit where needed

Personal Notes

Another good session today. Ryan was pleased with my progress and just really wants too see my research move up a gear! So I will start looking into journals and using Google docs to store references. As well as the research I wish to test my environment so fr and progress with the rest of it.

For Next Week

• Using google docs - create a visual document for dissertation
• Research into a few journals - make use of storing references
• Start developing first event of story - 'Gravity Law'
• Get a few people to test my environment - initial level

I am now at the stage where everything is needing some form of attention so it is important for me to time manage efficiently. Tonight I am going to do my final polish of the bedroom scene. I will then leave this until around April until I finalize it for good. I will begin developing the rest of my environment. I want to test this room and get some constructive feedback that I can then apply to the room and the rest of the environment. Research is hugely important so starting tomorrow I am going to begin with that and get myself a good amount of research over this next week.

Supervisor Meeting - 04

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor Name: Ryan Locke
Date: 09.02.15


Agenda

• Show working Dynamic Materials
• Discuss changing mesh issues - new potential idea
• Discuss getting the bedroom near complete for next week

Progress Report

• Supervisor was pleased too see I had manage to accomplish the dynamic materials in Unreal 4. He was also pleased to see how my environment had improved over the weak through a couple of little changes.
• Suggested I look more into 'replacing mesh' as oppose to 'dynamic mesh'. But understood my idea of using a plane and just changing the material although a really good normal map would be required to enhance the 3D effect.
• Never got this far due to in depth discussion about various other topics (See next section)

Agreed Action Report

• Look at last year's class' Honours Project blogs - can be a good help
• Perhaps look at the link in my last blog post to help set up a structure criteria
• Look at bookmark/reference managing - can be extremely helpful for dissertation
• Create a document that 'visualizes' my project dissertation questions etc

Personal Notes

This meeting went much better than expected and has definetely perked me up ready for the week ahead. I felt that I hadn't accomplished much in this last week, but my supervisor thought that I had done lots. He was pleased with the research carried out and the practical skills I had developed. What also was a huge relief for me was how he praised the development of my piece - which I hadn't intended to develop. I just added a few things and it immediately looked much better.

For Next Week

• Create bedroom and intro story alongside it to a satisfactory level
• Look once more into 'replacing actors' in game time in my environment
• Create a visual document of my project dissertation
• Carry out some more specific research - via journals e.g gamestudies.com

With all this in action I hope to begin looking at and perhaps developing the Asylum parts of the environment next week. I hope to have a lot of the environment complete by March and then I will begin to use the weekends in March to develop my dissertation and research.

Supervisor Meeting - 03

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor Name: Ryan Locke
Date: 02.02.15

Agenda

• Show progress/ receive feedback
• Pitch level deterioration technique idea
• Maybe discuss research

Progress Report

• Supervisor was pleased to see my progress and how I had developed a good understanding and knowledge of Unreal Engine 4. The technical skills I have learned and tested were a great achievement with plenty room to enhance and improve.
• Really liked the deterioration idea. This change was due to feedback received in my last progress presentation. Much research and practice has gone into figuring out whether this will be possible or not.
• Research was not fully discussed but he made it clear that next week, he wants to see and hear what research I have been carrying out.

Agreed Action Report

• Look into how to create suspense - whilst still telling a story and use this suspense to tell the story.
• For the deterioration, look into 'lerping' and perhaps vertex painting.
• Look into 'player agency'
• Develop a thumbnail comic strip of the story that shows; events, why they happen, how they happen etc.
• Think about the order of the story - building on intensity

Personal Notes

This was a very in depth discussion. I was pleased how much my supervisor liked my deterioration idea and the potential that could go with it. One thing that has got me a little anxious is that he feels my models/textures a not that good. This was a little disheartening as I thought they were better than that. However I do see his point. I have the chance to create something fantastic, I may as well spend a lot of time on the texturing etc. This is my weakest aspect I feel - especially when trying to make them look as real as possible.

For Next Week

• I plan on figuring out how to change from one material to another within the game
• Develop story through a thumbnail comic strip style animatic
• Lots of research - Player agency, changing/revealing stuff to enhance horror, building suspense in story, Silent Hill PT
• Maybe look into developing better textures

My idea is that next week, I will build the first room you start in and look at introducing the story through that room. If I can have that completed by the end of the week, I can then start on the asylum aspects of my game. 

Supervisor Meeting - 02

Student Name: Christy McLaughlin
Supervisor Name: Ryan Locke
Date: 26.01.15

Agenda

• Inquire about the showcase form due 2nd Feb
• Discuss potentially using Unreal Engine 4
• Beginning my final piece using assets created in first semester

Progress Report

• It turns out that the showcase form is actually due in 13th Feb. Our next lecture will be discussing this in much more detail but I was assured it is an easy form to fill out and not to worry about it.
• I was told to definitely carry my project out in Unreal Engine 4. I was previously using UDK however I was in the process of applying for a free student version of Unreal Engine 4. I was granted it and have began becoming familiar with the interface and controls.
• I was told this would provide a great start by having a visually pleasing block out. Looking at it so far I think with some of the assets I have created, there is not much more work needed to enhance them. This makes sense as I did spent a long time on these assets in first semester. Of course there is lot's more to do but it's a nice start to my project.

Personal Notes

This meeting was primarily discussing what I was going to be doing in the next week or two. I emphasized that I am ready to start building my environment and want to have a relatively good block-out to show for next week. I also am interested in seeing my progress for next week in order for a more realistic judgment of the upcoming weeks ahead. It was also stressed that I should, 'record your learning & tests' so I will be making an effort to do that.

Meeting with Supervisor - 01

I met with my supervisor for our first official meeting and it went smoothly. A brief update of my project and and where I was was given and where I aimed to be for the following week then followed. This will be the standard discussion in these meetings as they are for me to ask questions, seek guidance and help as well as for my supervisor to see where I am in my project.

Aim for next week

I aim to have my level design sorted out. At this point I am unsure if I will have the whole environment sorted but I at least aim to have the first section complete - the hotel. From there I can move on to a day or two's worth of visual research followed by creating the environment and putting it into a game engine.

Meeting with Lecturer

Today I met my lecturer in order to get feedback for my project proposal. This went very well and I managed to channel a more appropriate direction for my project. I have been struggling to pinpoint what I wish to accomplish but a few points were raised:

• Difference in linear and non-linear storytelling in environments
• How to lead player through story in a subtle manner
• How too keep it engaging

Whats Next

Next I aim to have my story and level design complete as well as the main ideas for narrative and storytelling in place and ready to create. I am seeing the lecturer again in 2 weeks and definately hope to have achieved this by then and much much more.

Supervisor Meeting (Group)

We had our first meeting with our supervisor today - Ryan Locke. His plan is too have maybe two more group sessions as well as half hour individual sessions every week. We began by discussing each others project so he could get a more in-depth idea of what we were looking to do. He was fully on board with my project and I felt he understood what I wanted to achieve. He mentioned that I'd need to re-word it for a more suitable title as well as complete plenty research into other games.

The next few weeks (before Semester 2) I plan on creating a story for my environment and planning exactly how I want my environment to be so as soon as semester 2 starts, I can begin building it. I have already emailed the hotel I am basing it on asking for some reference images and archive photos so I can begin looking more into that in order to figure out the story I wish to convey.

Meeting With Lecturer

I organised a meeting with one of my lecturers today as I was having difficulty with what I was meant to be doing for my pre-production portfolio hand in. After this meeting I feel much better about what I needed to do and even with some changes applied to my project aim, I feel more comfortable with what I am doing. This is an overview:

Immersion or Environmental Storytelling?

It was mentioned that immersion is a very difficult subject to tackle, mainly because it's very difficult too measure. A simple question was raised to me: "How are you going to measure how immersed the player is?" I had no idea. My lecturer knew this would be the case and helped me to find a more suitable path.

After having a discussion of what I wanted to be doing and why I picked immersion it was clear that my project was fundamentally looking into environmental storytelling. Relating this to immersion it came apparent that I could research the impact of environmental storytelling and how to successfully achieve this. Without ignoring immersion completely I can still discuss the importance of immersion and how environmental storytelling can help immerse a player.

Pre-Production Portfolio

The discussion we had regarding the portfolio helped out a lot. It was clear I was on the right lines but I needed to really home-in on my project and begin tests relating to ideas I have for my project. So far I have already created a few 3D environment scenes and I was told it's perfectly alright to re-use these scenes as part of testing. With this in mind I can attempt to perhaps tell a story within these environments as part of testing 'environmental storytelling'. There was a really good blog post I had a while back which showed different aspects of environmental storytelling. It would be good if I used the headers used in this article to begin my next set of media tests.

This Blog

As for my blog, I have been doing a good job although there are some pointers. One would be to start tagging each blog with suitable tags in order for easier navigation and a proper 'file system'. In relation to my practical work posts, it was made apparent that if something goes wrong I state it and show what it was however I don't seem to say or explain how I will avoid this issue or fix it for any future pieces. This is a common error made in blogs and is definitely something I can amend in future.

Where To Go From Here?

This meeting has definitely helped to shape what I will be tackling these next few weeks, ready for my hand-ins. I have my research proposal to edit up in relation to my project aim change. That is a simple task which I can sort over the weekend. As for my pre-production portfolio I just need to start creating pieces that show what I will be doing next semester. Simple things like; how I am going to change the scene from hotel to asylum? What rooms am I going too need? How will I be conveying the story? All these aspects must be covered and with careful consideration and thought, I can apply useful and relevant media tests to the environments I have already created.

Week 7 - Meeting with Lecturer

Today I was going to begin my 3D practice but before that, there was a few things I needed to clear up. I arranged a meeting with a lecturer along with my coursemate in order to help us out on general 3D issues we were having.

My main issue I was having in previous tutorials was UV Mapping. I found that different tutorials UV mapped differently and this was confusing me. I wanted to find a 'correct' method that I could use and apply to my pieces from now on. I found out that there is no real right way. The direction you take can depend on your personal learning style and, in professional practice, your teams pipeline. He did give me some useful information mentioning the best practices and the most useful for a game pipeline.

He also mentioned a book - which I already have - 3D Game Environments by Luke Ahearn. I have yet to begin looking at this book but it is something I will do in the near future. We also discussed modular design in depth as this is another important aspect I wish to grasp as it is an efficient way too create environments.

We discussed 3D practice and he said that it is ok too make mistakes in your work - thats how you learn. So he mentioned if I ever make a mistake, pause, document it and hopefully try too remember it for next time. It's best too take things slowly and understand your mistakes in order to help improve your skills.

Meeting With Lecturer 02

I never blogged my first meeting with a lecturer as technically I met up with her before the semester began, but all it entailed was me sharing my ideas for the year in order to make sure I had the right idea of 4th year.

So today I met with another lecturer in order to help narrow my ideas down and guide me forward as I felt I was coming to a stand still or block in my research path. Up till now I have been focusing on research, online and in books. I have been concentrating on mental illness in games and education in games. After the meeting today I have found myself taking a slightly different and more appropriate approach towards my project.

Just to remind you, my idea up to this point was along the lines:

To create an interactive experience through a 3D environment showcasing the historic transformation of mental institutes. This will be portrayed through the eyes of someone with a mental health issue to help raise awareness for mental health.

With this aim I wanted to create an accurate and realistic atmosphere to help immerse the user in the environment. I also wanted the user to experience it to the full and not only learn from it, but want to learn from it.

The issue with this idea - which was made apparent in this meeting - was that it is a fairly wide scope and I will end up focusing on topics such as; psychology, criminology and history. The problem with this is that it may just be too distant too art that it is not an effective use of my 4th year honours project in Computer Arts. So with this in mind and writing things down on paper I have found a new area to home in on whilst still have touches of my old idea.

I am now looking into focusing on storytelling through a 3D environment with the environment being a mental institute. I still want to show the historic change that has occurred through the years and with this in mind, I can focus heavily on creating atmosphere, and perhaps some sort of fictional or factual story that entices the user to proceed through the environment.

This is much more suited to me as over the years studying I have always had an extremely keen interest in; 3D environments, horror genre, narrative/storytelling and atmosphere. I am excited to proceed with my project with these changes in mind. Again, in a few weeks, this all may change again. That is what is expected in this field whilst carrying out research however I will proceed as normal and gather more research and see where that takes me. What I also want to begin looking into is a more visual approach to my project such as moodboards, blackouts and some 3D pieces that I can practice and develop with.

So things I need to consider and look into now:

• My Audience
• A Story
• Horror-sub Genres
• Atmospheric mood

Books/Reading to look into:

• First Person: New Media as Story, Performance and Game by Noah Wardrip-fruin, Pat Harrigan
• Game Design as Narrative Architecture by Henry Jenkins
• Chris Crawford

This meeting has proved very helpful and I will be looking to arrange more with the same and different lecturer in order for different perspectives.