As we have now reached the 3rd Sprint, I think it’s time to really focus on my goals if I am to have a satisfying game experience. The goals below are between two sprints. What I want done this sprint = highlighted.
🟢 Priorities
- Coding the hair braiding game
- Conversations popping up
- Dialogue working
- Tooltips
- Characters showing in the game
🟠 Necessary but not urgent right now
- Start screen, bare bones
- 3D models of cardboard objects
- 3D Modelling Objects
🔴 Style Points (Add if everything gets done on time or if it is very simple to code)
- Hands Moving
- Cloud Movement
- Beginning cutscene & fade in start scene
Week 7 (9/03/2026 – 15/03/2026)
- 1) I finally added an introduction sequence to the game! I used light leaks to represent the blurring of reality and her paracosm. I showed it to Hayley, and she was thinking of taking a more realistic angle, which is also intriguing to me.
- 1.1) I used VideoPlayer and the dialogue code from the game for this scene.
- 2) I finally made a LinkedIn post! I introduced our game to my network, garnering quite a lot of views and some likes from coursemates and outside people. I’m glad that I could finally post this and actually advertise my game.
- 2.1) A few people commented that they found my idea interesting, so I’m also glad there’s a little traction around that — I feel that my idea is coming together even more.
Week 8 (16/03/2026 – 22/03/2026)
- New Visual Overhaul! Adding some of Hayley’s finished art, I’ve put these through Photoshop and used brushes to give them a more “crafty” feel, like they’ve been painted a bit messily (wet lines from painting/glueing). I feel that the world is much more alive now.
- I added an incidental audio code – now and then, music will play incidentally, adding more life to the world. I added Hayley’s song, her Oboe version, and the birds’ chirping sound effects I downloaded from online. Right now, the fading-in of the sounds isn’t great, so I still have to play around with the audio source or do it manually in a video editor.
Week 9 (23/03/2026 – 30/03/2026)
- This week, I started the code for a tooltip trigger that will be the base of the code. I’m having lots of problems with this code so far so I decided to switch to the video below.
- ^ 26th of March was the WIG (Women in Games) event. I posted in the chat for an open invite to connect and connected with some of the people who attended the event on Linkedin! I found the event useful, but I did not get to talk about my game. Still I am hoping to promote the game with another LinkedIn post during the 4th Sprint, as it is coming together well.
- ^ I implemented my first tooltip, using the video above. These activate when you press E when hover over it (Onmouseenter). I wanted text when you collect the first one to show its a mechanic in the game, but it malfunctioned above with a funny glitch.
- ^ Designed a diary entry for the tooltip for lore and to increase intrigue, might be subject to change.
- ^ I made a quick crumpled paper using the tutorial below. I then added a UV Sphere and used the cloth and collision and animated the sphere (you can also see the video below).
3nd Sprint Playtest
I organised a playtest with someone outside the course who could meet me in person. I feel that it was important to get a person who was outside of the course or had no clue about your game idea, as they can offer fresh perspectives. In this case, this person had no idea what the game was about before. Here were the results of their playtest:
As this playtest was conducted in person, there was some additional feedback:
- Adding things to make the movement easier (like arrows for edge panning)
- Move the Crumpled paper object closer, as it was too hidden (they couldn’t find it as well)
- Change the camera bounds a little
This helped me to improve the game even more, and I have fixed some of the issues already.
Reflection of the Sprint
I got quite a lot done with this sprint. I eventually got the tooltip system working, so the next sprint will be more focused on implementing this more. I will also start to create more objects. I am a little worried that I am getting more behind, but at the same time, feeling very motivated that I’ve made so much progress.
Things I’ve got done
- Tooltips and some Lore
- Music
- New Graphics