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Weekly Journal
week 1 (28/02/2022)
This week was the beginning of the project and I spent my time doing some mind maps as well as other initial idea generation methods to discuss what it is I wanted to do for this FMP. I debated the idea of Creating a VR Japanese weapon pack however after much discussion I came to the conclusion that doing this would be to similar to other members of my course as others wanted to also create a VR weapon pack. I wanted to keep the Japanese weapons theme so, I had a long conversation with my peers and in the end I decided to create a Japanese blacksmith workshop as it allowed me to keep the weapons idea but it also allows me to make something more uncommon.
Week 2 (07/03/2022)
This week was spent solidifying what it was I wanted to do but I also filled out my proposal form detailing what exactly my idea was but other things such as how I have progresses over the last 2 years but also how are my skills now. When I managed to get the proposal form finished I moved to looking at how to make my Pitch. The pitch is the big piece of content as we need to clearly showcase to our peers and lecturer what it is we plan to do and go through different sections.
Week 3 (14/03/2022)
For this week I mainly spent the time writing up my pitch for Friday the 18th of march. After I delivered the pitch in front of class I was asked questions and given feedback on areas I need to look at moving forward so that I can effectively make the project I'm hoping to create. Another thing I did was using the feedback given I added things to my Wix to better explain and help people when looking at my project for example which assets are more of a priority compared to others. for week 4 Id like to finish making any changes since getting the pitch feedback and Id like to start doing my research so I can begin to prepare for the production stages. I am currently working within the time set and I'm not behind so I am going to ensure I stick to that.
Week 4 (21/03/2022)
The week I sent my time Evaluating my pitch as well as making some needed changes to my website after getting my feedback from my Pitch. I began my research by making and sending out a survey on Microsoft forms, this was done to see how many would be interested in what I am doing but what preferences they had about games. After doing the survey I spent my time looking at what key research areas I needed to look into for this project.
Week 5 (28/03/2022
This week I began to start my research I began looking into three initial research topics the history of the Sengoku period, History of the Katana and History of the Kunai. This did take longer then anticipated to research however as I spent a lot of my time ensuring that I had all the necessary facts but I also wanted to ensure what I was saying was correct and not a bunch of lies.
I made sure to make a word document dedicated to all the websites Id used so that if I was spending to much time on one thing at college, during the Easter I could access the websites so that I could continue on with more important topics.
Week 6 (02/04/2022
This week was the last week before our two week half term, I mainly focused my efforts this week on getting more relevant reference links for my word document to use at home but my main area of work this week was on Pre-production. For the pre-production I focused on gathering reference boards of the assets I aim to create within Maya, this time round I intend to follow the references more closely to ensure an asset that resembles the image its based on. after gathering the reference boards I moved on and made an updated asset list as well as a priority assets list, the priority list allows me to see what assets I need to have within the scene and others that are more accessories. My final part of pre-production this week was making character concepts within Hero Forge, even though my games perspective is first person If I could make the game with other characters I think Its best to still make a few rough design encase I ever revisit this idea in the future.
Week 7 (11/04/2022)
Easter break
Week 8 (18/04/2022)
Easter break
For the last week of Easter I Continued with my research writing up more topics and finishing ones already started such as the history of the Sengoku period. The research took me a few days to focus on as I had others things to work into my days but I was successful in making my concept art for the pre-production. I made five digital art pieces one of the scene itself, two of the katana and two of the Kunai. I should have spent more time on the concept art however due to plans and etc I only had the time to make what is shown on the pre-production.
Week 9 (25/04/2022
This week was the beginning of production and thanks to the research I had already done as well as the pre production I found that I could do the production with less issues. I started off modelling some of my basic assets such as the quench, Sharpening stones, anvil, table and the bellow box. Some of these assets were easy and gradually they got more challenging for example the bellow box isn't full finished yet and I will need to finish it next week and the reason for that is because it has a very odd design and trying to make it is proving rather challenging, I had a lot of fun making the table as it was something a bit different and a mix of a few different designs I had gathered during the pre production. Next week I'm hoping to model my furnace and clay container once I've finished the bellow box, I will be doing some theory as well such as write ups and etc just to ensure I'm not forgetting anything.
Week 10 (02/05/2022
This week I continued with the production I started last week and I also continued with my research. For the modelling side of things I managed to get the Three assets I talked about last week made but it did take longer then I originally anticipated. The bellow box from last week I completed quite easily as I knew what areas I needed to change and work on so I finished it after about an hour but the furnace took me about a day and a half to make due to its different designs and looks. What I mean by that is I didn't really know what design to choose as they were all different but share a few similarities, so I ended up picking one design as the base design and then I took inspiration from others to make the furnace. While making the furnace I had to go through a range of different looks while making the top of the furnace as I didn't quite known how I was going to make the top of the furnace.
I messed around for a bit using different tools and eventually found one that I liked. Once the furnace was done I made the clay container which was a simple cube, from here I spent the rest of my time doing write up and research. next week I aim to make the Kunai and katana.
Week 11 (09/05/2022)
This week I made the Kunai and the Katana The kunai wasn't as difficult to make but the main issue I have with the kunai is that when I add edge loops the main blade decides to break a bit and it kind of ruins the model, I decided to compromise a little and move onto the katana which ended up being the most difficult thing to make for this project. I knew the katana would be a bit of a challenge and take a long time but I didn't give up and I kept trying even though it was really difficult. the original katana was scrapped as it was broken and ugly so I decided to find some new tutorial videos to help me out. The new katana took me a long time to create as the blade was the most challenging piece, I wanted the blade to have its iconic curve at the tip but also the nice bend on the blade. The katana was a pain to make but once it all was finished I was proud of the results, there are issues with the blade mainly at the tip of the blade but I am very happy with how it all ended. Next week I aim to finish off any models, do write up and try to start adding textures or materials.
Week 12 (19/05/2022
This week I was able to finish off the base models for my project however due to a lack of time and needing to complete areas of theory I have had to scrap the idea of UV mapping and Texturing my models as there is simply not enough time, this is annoying however it happens so I will now fall back onto my backup plan where I aim to get my assets into unreal engine and either have the models in a greyscale format or a basic material format so I can then have an almost unfinished asset pack idea. After looking back at my models there are some that need to be fixed but as I said I have to make some sacrifices to ensure I can still finish the project so I regretfully have to make a few changes and modifications to my original idea. For my final week I aim to finish all my theory, have the assets within unreal, create a storefront page and finish my evaluation.
Week 13 (23/05/2022
This week was the final week of the project and for most of it I spent my time making any finishing touches that would help me showcase and display my work. I spent my time putting my assets into unreal and creating a few different variations for my scene as I wanted a scene at day and one which was a bit more smoky and darker, I finished off any research elements that I had been needing to finish. The evaluation I've written goes through my 2nd year but also my experiences during this project as I wanted to have a detailed evaluation for my final project, I think its been an ok week however I will admit I have a feeling that more could have been done, I am happy with the project but I do feel like I could have done more.
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