Week 9 mainly focused on preparing for the upcoming public arcade event and making sure the project was organised before the final stages of development. This week, we discussed what would happen during the arcade presentation, what was expected of us as a team, and how we needed to prepare the game for external players and feedback. Compared to earlier weeks, the atmosphere around the project felt much more serious as we got closer to publicly presenting the game, which made me reflect more carefully on both my own contributions and the project’s overall state.
Throughout the week, many conversations took place within the team about scheduling, deadlines, playtesting, and preparation for the public event. The Slack messages included in this blog show how important communication became during this stage of development. Everyone was trying to stay up to date with changes, organise tasks, and ensure progress continued smoothly before the final playtest. Looking back, I realised how important teamwork and communication are in collaborative projects, especially during stressful periods near deadlines.
At the same time, this period was personally difficult for me because I was still dealing with health-related issues, which affected my attendance during some sessions. Even though I was unwell, I still wanted to remain connected with the project and continue supporting the team wherever possible. I made sure to communicate openly through Slack, ask for updates, and stay involved remotely whenever I could. Looking back, I think this period taught me a lot about responsibility and about maintaining communication during difficult situations, rather than completely disconnecting from the project.
Alongside communication and preparation for the arcade event, I continued to support the team by organising the website and updating the blog. The images included this week show how I helped organise sections of the team website, structure weekly uploads, and connect our work with the marking rubric so everything stayed clear and easy to navigate. I also helped teammates through Slack whenever support was needed regarding website management and organisation. Although this was outside my main role as a World Designer, I still believed it was important to contribute to the project’s overall structure and presentation.
This week also made me reflect on how much my role within the project had developed over the semester. Earlier in the project, I mainly focused on environmental visuals and atmosphere. Still, by Week 9, I found myself contributing in multiple ways, including communication, organisation, teamwork, and supporting the group overall. I think this helped me grow more confident, not only creatively but also professionally, in a collaborative development environment.
Overall, Week 9 became an important period of preparation, organisation, and reflection before the final public playtest. Although there were challenges both personally and academically during this time, I still wanted to continue supporting the project and helping the team move forward together. Looking back, this week helped me better understand the importance of consistency, communication, and teamwork within long-term game development projects, especially when working towards a final public presentation.