Team Progress The design for level 2 was completed this week and the team is now in the process of implementing all its features for the upcoming beta code. Level 1 was also slightly modified to include more narrative and ambience, although our primary goal these past few days had been to understand the direction our game was headed and to go from there for level 2. Thus far, we were able to revisit what we had for the alpha code and complete aspects of it that were unfinished. We were also able to get started on level 2, with the assets nearing full completion and the mechanics being in the works in terms of programming. My Contribution I participated in designing level 2 this week, helping determine the experience that players would generally go through within the level and what sort of map layout and interactive elements they would encounter. The process of coming up with a decent level that contrasted the game's introductory one (which was infamous for being too empty and lacking in substantial gameplay) was a long and arduous one. The meeting lasted for hours as we did our best to pick at all the details and nuisances of the suggestions that were being made for level. Eventually, a conclusion was reached and, after the foundations were laid out, I returned to my role of making assets for the environment. I completed drawing the map for level 2 and its many components early in the week so that coding may begin as soon as possible. On top of this, I started gathering more sound effects and some background music that we may use for the final product to help lend the game some much needed ambience.
Reflection Our team was able to work out the communication issues that we were having, which was very beneficial to our progress this week. There seems to be less stress involved in the creation of the beta code, which is a nice contrast to our experience developing the previous milestones. Regardless, there is still a lot of work to be done and an issue we will most likely encounter is dealing with the complexity of coding the "final boss" encounter we still plan on including in the game. It may not be a feature that will be part of the beta code due to insufficient time, but it is something that we still hope to conclude our game with. Tackling this issue will require a lot of hard work, time management, and seeking help when it is needed.
