Game presentation a thing of the past

With the game presentation over, there's still work to be done. Team Adventure WV put in many hours of hard work so I commend each and every one of them.

However, very soon a big presentation is coming up entitled GLOBALORIA EDUCATION PROGRAM PREPARING WV STUDENTS FOR DIGITAL WORLD and there is some last minute tweaking that will be required for full functionality. Steward Deering has been working on some of the elements of the game including the implementation of sound, additional navigation features, etc. Good job Steward!

And now--as promised long ago--I will share a little bit about my experience working on my first game including: 1)What I did; 2) What I learned; 3)Problems; 4)Future plans.

What I did:

I was responsible for the interface design of our game. The interface is the screen that you see before you play a game and while playing the game. Think of the interface as every tool outside of the game. This includes creation and design of an introduction, start and stop functionality, creation and design of menus, navigation between menus, design of any tools within the navigable menus, and a preloader device (eg. everything but the games and sound).

What I learned:

When you set out to learn Flash, you will find many avenues for exploration. Drawing, coding, design functionality, and animating are among some of the attributes you can explore. Knowing Photoshop and InDesign definitely helped me pick up on Flash quicker because the Adobe programs have some of the same functionality. That said, Flash is very unique from all other Adobe programs, and so knowing anything other than Flash is not a prerequisite.

When I first started using Flash, I was most interested in shape and motion tween features. (For an example of this click here).

Motion tween has been especially useful for creating animated narrative and objects in general. With either type of tween, you can fade in and out using the Alpha tool--also something I have been using frequently.

Drawing is a bit challenging in Flash, so if you're an expert in photoshop, don't be surprised if Flash gives you trouble. However, Flash does seem to have a particular brand result unique from Photoshop by default and drawing in Flash can be advantageous at times.

Using and learning Action Script is often meticulous and time consuming, but I spent more time using tweens with multiple keyframes. Gradual and purposeful movements between keyframes can create very positive results with animation.

Overall, I think I have a well-rounded experience with Flash and I am much more confident in my ability to use Flash to accomplish workplace projects.

Problems:

I ran into some problems with developing the preloader, which required more ActionScript learning than I had hoped. I went through several AS tutorials but none of them correctly addressed a preloader that would function properly based on the way I had intended it to work (a map gradually fills in with color, county by county of the state of WV, until all counties are full).

I had problems coordinating efforts for research. Much of the information I was provided, did not apply to the content needed. All of the information that was gathered for me was disorganized, or not in a format that I could use. This was, in part my fault, as the dissiminator of the info, but also the fault of everyone involved (researchers) who did not communicate with me or where lack of understanding was present.

I had problems with the group overall, because there was little communication between each of the 3 divisions: Game 1, Game 2, and Interface creators. This lack of communication led to problems with the integration of the games into the interface.

Plans

I hope to continue working on Flash, and I know I am better prepared to take on larger tasks, work with a team of developers, and plan and organize. I also plan to learn any programs that may eventually compete with Flash, like Silverlite for instance. In my experience, I have found that knowing one program that has similar capabilities, often makes it easier to learn a new program.