As I want to get the most that I possibly can out of this project, I have set myself two SMART goals which are based on my ambitions. My main interest is 3D graphics and this is something I am very keen to develop further. On this basis, I have chosen to make a 3D game as this will give me the opportunity to work on this. I have set myself two SMART goals which I believe will go hand-in-hand and help me to reach these ambitions.
They are as follows:
To develop proficiency in Unreal Engine by designing and building a working prototype of a game over a period of three months.
I have decided to choose this goal primarily as I do not believe I have attained fluency in any game engine yet and this is holding me back. As mentioned in a previous post, I stated that I wanted to set myself a goal of becoming proficient in at least one game engine. I have chosen that game engine to be Unreal Engine (Unreal Engine, 2021). I have chosen Unreal Engine as it is particularly good for 3D graphics and it will help to foster that ambition (Dealessandri, M., 2020.).
I had been playing around with Unity (Unity, 2021) for some time and I find that it is very all-purpose, the interface is intuitive and its not very difficult to find my way around. However, I found it is very hard to create something in Unity without having reasonably good scripting skills. In Unreal Engine, I have experimented with Blueprint visual scripting within the engine and I have found that although it can get complex, it is very conducive for non-programmers such as myself, which means that although I realise I need to address programming as one of the principles of this unit, it largely removes any fear I had of it ruining the project.
As I want to make an RPG, I will use a tutorial series (Virtus, 2018) in building an RPG with the engine to help me build the framework and mechanics of my game, as well as to gain a greater understanding of how Unreal works.
To improve my 3D art skills within Blender by using the application to model, rig, texture and animate assets for a game over a period of three months.
This is a SMART goal that I have set myself in some form or another during this course but has not entirely been realised. It ties into the first SMART goal as I want to learn how to build my own assets in Blender (Blender, 2021) and then transfer them to my game in Unreal Engine, but of course it also reflects my interest in 3D graphics and rejuvenating these skills.
I will reflect on how much I have achieved these two goals at the end of each sprint during this project.
References
Blender Foundation. 2021. Blender (2021). [Software]
Dealessandri, M., 2020. ‘What is the best game engine for your game?’ [online], gamesindustry.biz, 16 January. Available at: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-16-what-is-the-best-game-engine-for-your-game [Accessed 26 January 2022].
Unity Technologies. 2021. Unity (2021). [Software]
2021. Unreal Engine. Epic Games.
Virtus, 2018. Creating a Role Playing Game – Unreal Engine 4. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL0cLF8gjBpqA8DcrhL_O9kD4jsUqhDR6> [Accessed 11 February 2022].
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