Reflections
This page is for my final thoughts, after completing the production of FitIn.
Initial Expectations for this Production
My initial expectations for how this project would turn out isn't far off how it is now. I made a game in which you can load into levels, music playing in the background, and you can play through a circuit of walls that are coming at you. If you don't fit through a wall properly, you are brought to a window where it tells you that you failed, followed by a button to send you to the main menu, to then try again, try a different level, or quit.
There were a few things I was not able to do, due to time constraints and inability from lack of knowledge, since I was still very new to programming with VR. One of the things I wasn't able to implement was the Endless mode. This is because I didn't have much time left when it came to getting around to making that mechanic and level. I also only made a few walls in the project, again due to running out of time. However, I do still think that the quality of the project is high, and it is still a project which helps people suffering from heart conditions and/or being overweight, as the levels go quite quick, and doing them a few times can give you a good workout.
My Performance Throughout
The year 2021 has been quite stressful, with the inclusion of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and has for sure played a part in my performance with this project. I think that under normal conditions, my performance would be greater, and the project with it. I think that this matches the same kind of mood and performance as other students both in and out of the college that I attend since this affected us all greatly. In one way, the pandemic made it so we had to spend a lot of time staying inside, however, that in turn affected performance, due to motivation lacking from an inability to see family and friends. However, I do still think that what was produced and brought forward was of a good standard, and I would say that I am happy with how it turned out.
Technical Skills
I would say that despite my performance being less than if we weren't going through this struggle, my actual technical skill has been greater than I originally anticipated. Before this project began, I had little knowledge of how to make a functional VR game. I had reasonable knowledge from making other titles before this one, but this was leagues ahead of what I had already produced. I learned a lot of things while doing this, such as different ways of making and interacting with user interfaces, using map variables to create a specific sequence of a level, which is what was developed for the levels. I do still have a somewhat lack in 3D modeling, however. Whilst having previous knowledge from working with Maya during my time at college, I still have a somewhat limited ability of all of the tools and how they work. because of this, the quality of the 3D models that I made is not as high quality as I originally expected. And because of this, I was not able to make and implement as many as I originally wanted.
Project Management
In terms of managing my project, I think that my ability to do so was quite well. Blueprints and assets were put in the right folders, things were named correctly, in terms of what they were, and what they did. I believe I managed that ability quite well. In terms of keeping track of what I did, I think I also did well, through the use of HackNPlan, as well as sprint sheets and my production log. However, I do feel like my ability to manage time was somewhat lacking compared to the rest of my management ability, as I have stated before since motivation lacked during the time of production. I did manage to get more than the amount I expected to get, just not everything that I said I wanted to get by the end of the production.
My Overall Thoughts
Overall, I think that what was produced over the time that I have been developing the ideas and project of FitIn, I am both proud and happy with what came out. The piece fits within the theme of Move For Health, as described by the World Health Organisation, and works within the demographic of people aged 15-24, since Virtual Reality is still a fairly new concept, and is quite heavily used within that demographic, and is used a lot with rhythm games, especially for exercise.