{"id":393,"date":"2026-01-11T08:07:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T08:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/?p=393"},"modified":"2026-01-11T12:44:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T12:44:47","slug":"personal-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/2026\/01\/11\/personal-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Personal Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Design Approach Evolution<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Over this semester, my design approach transitioned from an idea-first visual focus <\/strong>to an experience-driven practice.<\/strong>
Early in the project, I was exploring atmosphere and symbol, but through iterative research I learned to design around how players feel \u2014 not just what they see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shift was strongly shaped by my sound research and solo travel reflections:
I began to think in terms of sensory rhythm, pacing, and presence <\/strong>\u2014 especially in slow-paced, reflective exploration.
Design became less about creating objects and more about crafting perceptual space.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Peer Feedback & Response<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

During in-class presentations, I collected peer feedback focused on the clarity of my core mechanics and their relationship to the design intention.
Instead of treating this feedback as criticism, I used it as a diagnostic tool.
It revealed that while the visual language and atmosphere were communicating effectively, the system logic behind memory interaction<\/strong> needed clearer articulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In response, I refined the game loop and explicitly positioned Fall into Memory as an interactive state rather than a symbolic transition. I also clarified the role of memory fragments within progression, connecting them more directly to player actions, buffs, and world expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This process helped me strengthen the alignment between design intention, mechanics, and player understanding, without compromising the project\u2019s contemplative tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Planned Improvements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Given more time, I would introduce earlier prototyping of core systems<\/strong>, especially sound and player feedback.
Many assumptions \u2014 such as the night\/day audio behaviour, or memory fragment pacing \u2014 were resolved conceptually and visually before being playtested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In future iterations, I would validate these assumptions earlier with low-fidelity playtests to help refine the emotional pacing in a more grounded way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reflection on Sound Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In defining the sound direction and conducting practical recordings, I realised:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In slow exploratory games, sound should be present and subtle \u2014 a companion \u2014 rather than foregrounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reducing music density and emphasising player-generated sound helped me understand how sound shapes emotion, rhythm, and presence without interrupting gameplay.
This confirmed one of my core project principles:
sound should function as part of the world system, not as its narrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Closing Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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This semester reshaped my view of game design:
from focusing on objects and visuals, to designing experiences and perceptual spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reinforced that games can be a place for presence, reflection, and emotional return \u2014
not just progression or mastery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Design Approach Evolution Over this semester, my design approach transitioned from an idea-first visual focus to an experience-driven practice.Early in the project, I was exploring atmosphere and symbol, but through iterative research I learned to design around how players feel \u2014 not just what they see. This shift was strongly shaped by my sound research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personnel-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":425,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions\/425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/jy3c23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}