Game Development Diary

First Meeting

Date - Wednesday 11th February    Time - 13:00 - 14:00

In our first meeting we talked about what kind of game we actually wanted to make. At the start we didn’t really know and just threw out a few ideas like a choice game, a zombie game, and an escape room. We went through them for a bit and said what we thought about each one. The zombie one sounded good but we realised it might be too hard to do properly, and the choice game didn’t feel that interesting for gameplay.

So we ended up going with an escape room idea. It just made more sense for us and we thought it would be easier to come up with puzzles and things for the player to do. After that we started thinking about the setting. We said it could be some kind of secret place, and then came up with the idea of a compound like Area 51. We liked that because it’s kind of mysterious and we can put random stuff in it and it still makes sense.

Then we figured out what the player actually does. The idea is that you go around the compound looking for parts to build a UFO. The parts are hidden and you have to solve puzzles to get them or unlock areas. When you finally get everything, you build the UFO and escape.

By the end of the meeting we had a proper idea instead of just random suggestions. This helped us to invision our game and all be on the same page.

Second Meeting

Date - Wednesday 18th February   Time - 13:00 - 14:00

For our second meeting we started getting more into the actual game instead of just the idea. One thing we kept going on about for a while was whether to do it in 2D or 3D. At first we were kind of split because 2D would obviously be easier, but 3D just seemed better for what we’re trying to do. We didn’t decide straight away, it took a bit, but eventually we just said we’d go with 3D and figure it out as we go.

We also had to sort out roles which took a bit of time as well. I ended up doing coding, which I was fine with, and everyone else picked what they were doing. I also made the Main Menu, Game Over, Pause Menu and Level Selection screens. We didn’t make it super strict on who was doing which task. We left the roles open for help if it was needed.

After that we looked at the map and just kind of threw ideas around about what it could look like. Nothing too detailed, just where rooms might go and how the player would move through it. It’s still pretty basic but at least now we have something to work from instead of just talking about it.

By the end it felt like we actually got somewhere compared to the first meeting. Not everything is fully planned or anything but it’s a lot clearer than it was.

Third Meeting

Date - Wednesday 25th February    Time - 13:00 - 15:00

For the third meeting we mostly just tried to get organised. We used Trello to assign roles and put tasks down so everyone knew what they were doing. Before this it was a bit all over the place so it actually helped.

The main good thing about it was being able to tick things off when they’re done. It sounds simple but it made it easier to see that stuff is actually getting finished instead of just talking about it. You can also see what’s left which helped a bit.

We didn’t really come up with new ideas this time, it was more just sorting everything out and making sure everyone knows what they’re meant to be doing next.

Fourth Meeting

Date - Wednesday 4th March   Time - 13:00 - 14:00

In the fourth meeting we were mainly just trying to get used to Unity since none of us really knew how to use it properly yet. We didn’t have a proper plan for it, we just went on it and tried things out to see what worked.

At the start it was a bit confusing, like even just finding where stuff is took a bit. We tried uploading assets into the project and seeing how that works. Took a few tries but we got it eventually.

We also tried making scenes and switching between them just to see how it all works. It wasn’t anything complicated, just getting used to it really. Same with sprites, we looked at how to add them in even though we’re mostly doing 3D.

It was a bit of trial and error the whole time but at least now it makes a bit more sense than before.

Home Work

Date - Monday 9th March    Time - 20:00 - 21:00

While I was at home I went on Unity and tried to sort the main menu. I wasn’t fully sure how to do it so I ended up looking a few things up while doing it. I followed a youtube tutorial (https://youtu.be/DX7HyN7oJjE?si=6K6uAcdYIC_qE8Es) and used AI models to help.

I made a new scene for the menu and added a couple of buttons like play and quit. Getting them in the right place took longer than I thought, it kept looking a bit off.

Then I tried getting the buttons to actually do something. The play button loads into the game scene now, took a few tries to get it working. The quit button works perfect and the levels menu works. It was originally going to be for options but was changed to levels.

Issues

Date - Friday 13th March    Time - 13:00 - 14:00

We had a few problems trying to share the Unity project at the start. We tried doing it through Unity but it just wouldn’t work properly and kept causing issues, so we kind of gave up on that after a while.

In the end we just used GitHub instead and put all the files on there. It was a lot easier to deal with and everyone could just go on and get what they needed.

It actually helped more than we expected because you could see what everyone else had done and if something wasn’t working it was easier to notice. It also made testing better since we were all using the same version of the game.

It wasn’t what we planned at first but it worked out better in the end.

Fifth Meeting

Date - Wednesday 25th March    Time - 13:00 - 14:00

Today we spent most of the meeting talking through the game design and making sure everyone was on the same page.

We went over the core loop again and talked about how the player should learn the controls and then slowly be pushed into harder parts so it feels fair. We also talked about enemy types and how they behave, and that the level layouts should make players move around instead of just standing still. After that we looked at the art and UI and decided we want the screens to stay consistent, with the same font and colour style across menus.

For tasks, I’m making the Game Over screen. It will show the final score and how long the run lasted, plus a short message about why the player lost. I’m going to add buttons to restart, go back to the main menu, and maybe a quick hint button that explains what the player could try next. We said that the screen should load quickly and not take too long so it doesn’t break the flow. For next time I’ll have the screen working and plugged into the end-of-level logic so we can test it properly.

Home Work

Date - Thursday 26th March    Time - 10:00 - 10:30

While I was at home I went back onto Unity and worked on the main menu again. This time I was mostly trying to get the buttons to actually do something instead of just sitting there.

I had to put in some simple C# code for each button. At the start it didn’t work which was kind of annoying, but it turned out I just didn’t link it properly in the Inspector. Once I fixed that it started working.

The play button now loads into the game scene. It took a few tries because I forgot to add the scene into the build settings at first, so nothing was happening when I clicked it. After fixing that it worked fine.

I also did the quit button which was easier, it just closes the game. It doesn’t really show properly in Unity when testing but it should work when the game is built so that’s fine.

The level select button works as well. I just reused the same kind of code but changed the scene it loads. It was meant to be an options menu before but we changed it.

Sixth Meeting

Date - Thursday 26th March    Time - 13:00 - 14:00

In this meeting I worked on the level select menu in Unity. At the start it looked very plain and a bit messy. I had to spend a while just lining things up properly and getting everything centred because even small things being off made it look bad. Once I added the main background panel, it started to come together a lot more and started to look like a proper menu.

I then made the level buttons. I tried to keep them all the same size and evenly spaced, which took longer than I expected. I kept adjusting them slightly because it’s really obvious when they’re not lined up right. I’m happy enough with how they turned out in the end.

I also added a back button in the corner so the user can go back. It was simple enough to add but it makes the menu feel more complete.

One annoying part was dealing with scaling. When I changed the screen size, things didn’t stay where they were supposed to, so I had to fix that a few times.

Issues

Date - Friday 27th March    Time - 15:00 - 16:00

While creating the levels menu I ran into an issue where the level selection button wasn’t working properly. At first I didn’t know what was wrong because everything looked fine in Unity, but when I clicked it nothing would happen.

I went back and checked the code to try and figure it out. I also ran the code through AI to see if they could find the issue. It turned out it was just one incorrect line, which was enough to stop the whole thing from working. It was a bit annoying because it wasn’t obvious straight away, so I had to go through it more than once.

I started troubleshooting it properly instead of just guessing, and I also checked the error messages that Unity was giving me. That actually helped quite a lot because it pointed me closer to what the problem was.

After fixing the line of code I tested it again and the button started working like it should. It didn’t take that long to fix in the end, but figuring out what was wrong took a bit longer than I expected.

Seventh Meeting

Date - Wednesday 8th April    Time - 13:00 - 14:00

In the seventh meeting we mostly focused on sorting out the last few issues with the project. We went through the game and checked for anything that wasn’t working properly. Some of it was small stuff like things not lining up right or buttons not working properly, but we fixed them so everything runs a bit smoother.

After that we went onto Trello and looked through all our tasks again. We checked what we’ve already done and what’s still left to finish. It helped a lot because we could actually see how close we are to being done.

We also sorted out who’s doing the last few bits so nothing gets left behind. By the end of the meeting everything felt more organised and we had a clear idea of what we need to finish next.

Eight Meeting

Date - Wednesday 15th April    Time - 14:00 - 15:00

In the eighth meeting we focused on getting everything working properly across everyone’s versions of the project. One of the main issues we had was with scenes not loading correctly, which turned out to be because not everyone had the same asset files. The file also had to be zipped as it was too large to share normally or across Github. 

To fix this, we had to make sure we shared the asset files properly with each other by email. Once everyone had the correct files in their project, the scenes started loading the way they should. It took a bit of time to figure out what was missing, but once we did it was an easy fix.

After that we tested the game again to make sure everything was consistent for everyone. It helped a lot because now we know that what works on one person’s version should work for everyone else as well. By the end of the meeting things were running much smoother and we had fewer issues with the scenes.

Ninth Meeting

Date - Tuesday 21st April    Time - 16:30 - 18:00

In the ninth meeting we mainly did a full run through of the game to see how everything plays from start to finish. We all took turns playing it so we could spot any issues that might not show up when just testing small parts.

While doing this we noticed a few last problems, like small bugs and parts that didn’t feel quite right. We worked through them as we found them and fixed anything that could affect how the game plays. Most of it wasn’t major, but fixing it made the game feel a lot more complete.

By the end of the meeting the game was running properly and felt much more finished compared to before.

Tenth Meeting

Date - Wednesday 22nd April    Time - 09:30 - 12:00

In the tenth meeting we focused on getting our game uploaded to Itch and finishing everything off. It took a bit of time to make sure all the files were correct and that the game actually ran properly outside of Unity, but once we sorted that it was uploaded successfully.

After that we spent some time reflecting on the whole project. We talked about what went well, like how we managed to stay organised using Trello and how our idea developed from something basic into a full game. We also spoke about what we could improve, like managing our time better and fixing issues earlier instead of leaving them towards the end.

It was also good to look back at how much we’ve learned, especially with using Unity and working as a team. By the end of the meeting everything was properly finished and it was nice to see the game fully completed and published.

Personal Reflection

Looking back at the whole project, I think we actually did a good job overall. At the start we didn’t really know what kind of game we wanted to make, but after a few meetings we came up with a solid idea and stuck with it. It was good to see how it went from just random ideas into a proper game that we were able to finish and upload.

One of the main things I learned was how to use Unity. At the beginning it was quite confusing and I didn’t really know what I was doing, but after using it more and watching tutorials I started to understand it a lot better. I worked on things like the main menu, level select, and game over screen, which helped me get more confident with coding and linking everything together properly. I also realised how important it is to test things properly, because small mistakes like not linking something or missing a line of code can stop everything from working.

Working in a group was also a big part of this project. At the start it was a bit unorganised, but once we started using Trello it helped a lot because we could see what needed to be done and who was doing what. Using GitHub also made it easier to share files and keep everything up to date. Communication was important as well, especially when we had problems to fix.

We did have some issues during the project, like problems with sharing files, bugs in the code, and leaving some things too late. That made things a bit stressful near the end, but we still managed to sort everything out. If we did it again, I think we would try to manage our time better and fix problems earlier instead of leaving them.

Overall, I’m happy with how the project turned out. We managed to create and publish a full game, which shows how much we improved over time. It was good to see everything finally working after all the effort we put in.