Day 20: Lights, Camera, Action!
Finally. I finally “finished” my 2D shooter game! WHOOO HOOOO!!! I mean I put finished in “” ‘s because its theoretically done. All challenges, all visible bugs squashed. When I look at it, my inner nerd comes alive and wants me to implement more features, and quality of life changes. Things like a better UI system in order to visualize all the different type of weapons you can use. I really wanted to make an instruction scene where it can show you the controls, and how to utilize all the goodies and power ups!
Alas, I reigned myself in, as this is an internship with a DEADLINE, and its approaching quick. When I started this journey, I had only 59 (ish) days to complete the coursework and engineer a game. And, since I’ve already spent 20 days on one iteration of a game, I decided, with the guidance of my team leader, that finishing the challenges and squashing all the bugs (that I found) was great, and that it’s time I move on to more, very important content!
CINEMATOGRAPHY!
I’m actually quite excited for this one. Cut scenes, shadows, lights, and how they interact with your game is so important. I am sort of a visual guy myself, I really enjoy a great looking game. And while it’s not everything, it can really transport you into the world and immerse the player in ways that are immensely impactful! I’ve just started my course, and it seems like a lot of information to take in, especially going from a 2D shooter, into a 3D environment, trying to build a stealth game with cut scenes!
The parts of the course I got through also covered why using lower quality reflections can be beneficial over these mind-blowing post processing, beautiful reflections. And basically, its due to what kind of game you’re building and if it can afford to use these expensive processes, for example, a mobile game would most definitely benefit more from using a lower quality reflection probe.
What am I excited for next? CUT SCENES. Although I haven’t started the section yet, I LOVE cut scenes and the role they play in storytelling in games. I do love me a good story, and learning a integral tool into delivering that narrative is both exciting and a bit daunting. But its day 20… I’ve made it this far, I’m gonna crush it!
Tune in tomorrow for more action!
