I was chosen to be the first year group lead for this project as I had already gained some confidence in the previous Global Game Jam and I had a good rapport with my peers.
Aztech is a puzzle adventure game in which the player has to use ancient technology to bend reality and unlock the keys to their escape.
This game was made at the end of my first academic year at UCLAN. A mix of first years were paired with a mix of second years to create a game within 3 weeks, showcasing what we have learned and allowing the majority of people to make their first game.
Aztech
Development Info
Project: UCLAN Game Jam
Start Date: July 2018
Team Size: 16
Role: First Year Group Lead, Blueprinting, Level Design, 3D Modelling, Texturing/Materials
Project Length: 3 Weeks
Software Used: Unreal Engine 4, Maya, Substance Painter/Designer
Responsibilities
I was set as a group lead for this project alongside a 2nd year student named Peter. Part of my role for taking on group lead was to document what my fellow first years were progressing with and if they were in attendance during these 3 weeks. Additionally we had 3 meetings throughout with our tutors to discuss the project and the group as a whole.
Finally, due to a lack of attendance for the scope we had set, I had to undertake many roles to make sure that the game jam produced a working game.
What Went Right
My section of the game got an audible ‘Woah’ from the class.
Visually our game stood out above the other teams, despite the gameplay not being polished.
The team members that showed up over the two weeks had a great time and most of them won prizes for their work.
I was able to Blueprint my puzzle and create the visuals for the room without too much help.
What Went Wrong
Roughly 1/3rd of the team didn’t show up for the entire two week duration of the project.
One of the group members responsible for a section of the game dropped contact with the rest of us and showed up with his work last minute.
Transitioning between the puzzle rooms didn’t work as intended so we had to manually spawn the player during the showcase.
The scope was unintentionally too big for the team we ended up with.
What I Learned
It is okay to be agile with a project. A meeting with the team members that did show up to re-evaluate the scope would have made the project much more manageable.
We should be looking to ‘make more with less’. Rather than 3 separate puzzles we could have used 1 in a variety of ways. This way more time could have gone into polishing the game.
