To say that there is some level of stress going on right now would be an understatement. While our game is moving forward with better results each time we QA it, there is still a lot of bugs and issues that need to be addressed. Beyond those areas that our project needs some focus on is one major area that still needs work - polish. Polish does generally include bug-bashing and such but in this case, I mean polish of the experience itself. The game's setting in particular is troubling to me. We have some elements that fit very well, but the environment is problematic - it's just not 'atompunk' yet. Unfortunately, there is little we can do to improve this with only a single artist, whose specialty is in animation, not environment. My artist is swamped with other tasks that are equally important - getting player animations in the game (something that is indeed later than most games but still important to have in there). This leaves us in a bind at this point with only 6 days till presentation time - what do we focus on? Do we risk further additions?
The way the team is going about solving this moving forward is by trying to really polish what we do have in place and make those elements shine. Sounds effects, music, narration in a campy "50's" style, and minor visual cues are all some fairly low hanging fruit that the team can try and reach in a short amount of time. In this regard, we have contracted a junior who is specializing in sound design to create for us some of our own effects. So far he has done remarkably well. We've also licensed a song for our title screen (and maybe presentation) that really fits the "50's science fiction movie" vibe. Lastly, we have found a good voice actor for narration but he can only record this Friday (leaving us only 3 days to get that into the game, not including edits). There is hope still. My team has set up a good framework for this game. Dialogue for instance already has components in engine that are ready to go - it just needs the sound files added and balanced. I'm guessing that narration will be the last addition that our prototype has, besides some minor bug fixes.
It hasn't been all rough though - this week the team focused on weapons a lot. This has been something that we desperately needed to solve for a while now. The QA results from our new balances and changes show that there is still a lot of room for improvement yet we are headed in the right direction. In particular, weapons felt more unique to players than in past builds (something that was really hampering our progress).
There are many aspects that need improvement in our project if we move into development next semester. That said, the game is in a pretty good spot and the tools are ready for production to begin. This last week isn't necessarily going to make or break our game in the running for full production, but it will likely make a huge difference in terms of the overall feel and quality as a whole. Narration in particular could have a huge effect on the overall 'atompunk' feel. Time will tell. For now, the team just has to remain strong for one more week. Regardless of what happens, I'm proud of this team for all that they have accomplished and done. I couldn't have asked for a better group of leads, nor one that deserved that title more than them.