This document contains 16 weekly progress updates from Ross Loynd on the development of a video game for a BTEC course final project. Each update summarizes the work completed in the prior week and outlines plans for the coming week. Throughout the project, Ross worked on various aspects of game development including character design, level design, gameplay programming, and sound design. He encountered several challenges integrating all elements into a unified game and went into an extra 3 weeks of development time to address issues.

1. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
IG4 Final MajorProject
ProductionDiary
Ross Loynd PROGRESS UPDATE PLAN FOR NEXT MONTH / WEEK (IncludingPossible
Contingency Plans If ProblemsAnticipated)
Mon W/B 05/01/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Throughthisweekwe made a planof our usage of time,bymaking
a projecttimeline,givingusideasof howlongwe’ll have tomake
our game and howsoonwe shouldgetthe workdone.
I’ve figuredoutwhoIwant to have as projectpartnersbasedon
howuseful they’ll be tohave,whetheritbe forexpertise orto
make the workloadsomewhateasiertohandle,increasing
productionandqualityof the game.
Researchintowhatwouldmake ourgame playable,
interestingtootherpeople,we’lldothisbyprimaryand
secondaryresearch,lookingintoothergamesand
askingpeople whattheyfindinteresting inagame like
ours isto be.
We’ll alsobegintolookintowhatequipmentwe’re
goingto needtoprogressand make whatwe desire as
an endproduct.
Mon W/B 12/01/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekIhad initiallystartedoncreatingsome research logsas
well asmake sure I knowwhat basicneedswe’ll havetoaccessto
create what we’re planning.
I progressedwithTask1, summarisingproductionbriefsandgiving
examples
NextweekI’ll continue withmysecondaryresearch,
gatheringexamplessimilartowhatI’dwantas my
projectas well asprimaryresearch,seeingwhatpeople
like ina game like whatI’dbe workinginto
Mon W/B 19/01/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekIworkedoncompletingTask1 in orderto be able to
progresswithmy original projectplan.
By completingtask1 I couldcontinue andfinishsecondary
researchas well asfinishmyprimaryresearch,compilingresults
and puttingthemonmy blog.
I keptto schedule despite havingtowrapup withtask1 and I’m
workingat a well pace.
Ideasgenerationwill be myfocusfornextweek,
workingonthe basicssuch as environments,howthey’ll
lookand howthey’ll work,characterideas,ideason
howthe game will playoutetc.
Mon W/B 26/01/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekI beganmy ideasgenerationaswell asfinishingupwith
some secondaryresearch,whilstputtingprimaryresearchresults
ontomy blogger.
Withthe ideasgenerationIputup ideassuchas what the starting
area shouldlooklike insketchform,Iwill endup analysingthis
image laterinthe productionline soIknowwhat to putintothe
game etc.
I’mkeepingonschedule andontime witheverythinguptonow,
wrappingupsmall detailsinmyspare time.
Withideasgenerationbeingawide varietyof different
thingsto produce,somanydifferentideashave tocome
intoplay,I’myetto considerwhatit isthat will take
place as a gameplaypartof the game.

2. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
IG4 Final MajorProject
ProductionDiary
Mon W/B 02/02/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Continuingmypreviousworkonideageneration,Iquicklydrewup
small sketches,ideasthatwere justrollingoff mymindratherthan
heavilythoughtthrough.
I made the decisiontoallocate anotherweekontothe ideas
generationforabit more time actuallydesigningpixel based
artistry.
ThoughI made more time forideasgeneration,everythingis
maintainable andontrack.
NextweekIplanonworkingintomore digital basedart,
pixel artspecifically,seeingif Ican transferdrawn
designsintopixelbasedsprites.
Mon W/B 09/02/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Workingfurtheronpixel art,makinga bosslike characterI figured
out more effectivewaytoshade the spritesImake as well as
animate themtogive themsubtle movement.
Whilstmakingspritesformore neutral enemiesIbegantodraw
out ideasfora main character, goingfora more basiclooking
character withfewdefiningfeatures.
Thoughit’sintendedonbeingaveryneutral lookingcharacter,it’s
difficulttonothave anydefiningfeatures.
As I progresswithmycharacter andideasfor my
character, nextweekI’mgoingtoallocate some time
intomore ideasforthe character,more finalizedideas.
Mon W/B 16/02/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
WithinthisweekIworkedmore onmy character,lookingfor
subtle changeswhile Iworkedinonmylevel.
As there’salotof detail requiredtomake a character simply,it’s
hard to come up withsomethingthat’sbothneutral and
memorable.
NextweekI’ve allocatedmore time intocreatingthe
character ina finalizedideaasstartingonmore level
basedideas,differentcodingetc.
I will alsoworkwithothermembersinmyteamto
create a pitchor at leastan Ideafor a pitch.
Mon W/B 23/02/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekIpreparedforour presentationof apitchabout our
game to showour ideasto people outside of ourworkgroup.
WhilstdoingthisIalsofurtherworkedintoconceptsforthe
character of the game.
ThoughI’m goingto needtoallocate more time intothe
productionwiththe pitchtakingupthe majorityof my time
throughthisweek.
NextweekIwill be performingmypitchandthen
gettingbackintoworkingonthe productionof the
game,more importantlythe levelandcharacterdesign.
Mon W/B 02/03/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Thisweekwe performedourpitchtoa relative success,
strengtheningourownideasonwhat’sto appearinthe game as
well asshowsomeone outsideof ourworkgroup whatour planis
to see howgoodof an Ideainmightbe.
Nextweekwe begintoworkonbasicsoundsfor our
game,but we needtolistwhatkindof soundswe’re
goingto needinorderto create those soundspre-
emptively

3. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
IG4 Final MajorProject
ProductionDiary
Mon W/B 09/03/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Thoughwe delayedmakingsoundstil’we made furtherprogressin
the productionof our game,we made a spreadsheetof whatwe’re
goingto needtomake,basicsand so.
We’re workingintoactual gameplayandplanningwhat’sgoingto
occur in the game from the verybeginning.
Nextweekwe’re goingtogo into furthergameplayand
hopefullystartupon the actual gameplayphysicsfor
each person androom.
Mon W/B 16/03/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
WiththisweekI workedpartiallyongameplaylike putting
backstoryinit and a start screen,I lookedintocreatingatheme
songor tune forthe game butI’ve reserveditfora laterdate when
I’mmore prepared
ThoughI’d intendedtodomore I findthere’stoomuchworkfor
me to take onmy own
Withnextweek,I’mgoingtoworkheavilyonthe assets
of the game and creatinga startingmini-game of sorts
to pushthe playerintogameplay.
Mon W/B 23/03/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
In thisweekI’mworkingintothe initialgameplaylevel,makingit
like my2D sidescrollingshooterbutwithmore realismandbased
heavilyonplatformingphysics
AndthoughI have all my ideassetoutit’shard to execute them
withoutthe specificknowledge of coding.
I planto make more progressinmy initial game,usingit
to port the playertothe maingame stage,beingthe
Hub.
Mon W/B 30/03/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekI’mattemptingtoworkto my productiontable andwork
more on sounds,butI feel I’mgoingtoneedtodelayproduction
til’later,goingintoour3 weeksof unallocatedtimeonproduction.
NextweekI’mgoingbackto basicsand makingsure the
game has basicassetslike scrolling terrainandmore
finalizedbackgrounds
Mon W/B 06/04/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekI’mgoingto continue workingonthe initialgameplay,I
wantto make sure I have itfiguredoutand readyto have some
soundsimplementedintoit
The difficulty withthisisthatI’munable tofigure outwhatit isI
wantto do withit,that I’m somewhatcapable of doing
NextweekI’mgoingtocontinue workingonmyown
game whilstalsoconductingmyteamto workon foley
artistryand sounds.
Mon W/B 13/04/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekIrequestedacouple membersof myteamgo outto
create general foleyartistry touse,collectingawide range of
grunts,walkingsounds,grasssounds,ambience etc.
I workedontexturesforotherpeoplesgamesasmygame isnear
completion.
NextweekI’ll gobackto mygame andhopefullyfinish
the core game readyfor refinerywhile we prepare for
combiningourgames.
Mon W/B 20/04/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekIcontinuedtoprogressinmy game,thoughit isn’tyet
complete Ineedtoadd more obstacles,arrows,whichgowithmy
wallsandcollide withthemtoo.
NextweekIplanto finishmygame thoughwe may
needtogo intoour 3 weeksof backupto finishour
whole game ratherthanmy own.

4. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
IG4 Final MajorProject
ProductionDiary
I’mstill yetto workon mybackgrounds,I planusingloyaltyfree
paintbrushesof mountainstocreate asimple background.
Mon W/B 27/04/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Thisweekwe tookthe decisiontogointo ourreservedtime and
pushproductionanextra 3 weekssowe can create it howwe
intendratherthanit be rushed.
Withmore time we can make a more enjoyable game.
I primarilyfocusedonmusicthisweekaswe hada small amountof
free time touse the correct room.
NextweekIwill finishmyportionof the game to be
mergedwithotherpeoplesinordertomove towards
the final product.
Mon W/B 04/05/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekIcompletedmygame,ithas a couple of obstaclesto
jumpover,projectileswhichcanbe deflectedandanending,nowI
justhave to importmy musicand mypart of the game is done.
Thoughthe difficultynowisIcan’t change small detailsinmygame
once they’re mergedwithotherpeoplesgamesorthe codingwill
be mis-matched
I planon workingonmusicfor everybodytouse intheir
gamesas well asmy own,usinga guitar,pianoand
potentiallyadrumset
Mon W/B 11/05/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Withthisweek,Iwentback to mygame and ironedoutanybugs,
an Issue we were havingwasclashingourgamestogether,our
systemsandobjectswhichhadsimilarnameswere clashingand
creatingerrorsfor the rooms of mine anda teammates.
As we’re still ratherpremature withthe software,it’shardtoknow
whatit isthat will fix thiserror.
NextweekI’mgoingtoassistmyteam in combiningall
our gamesthat we have so far as compile errorsare
casinga lotof issueswe thoughtwe wouldhave been
able to avoid.
Mon W/B 18/05/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
We continuedtoworkonfixingourcompile errorsbyrenaming
our personal fileswithanissue whichfixedthe errorof things
beingrenamedinto“filename_new”whichcausederrors,though
we’re nowstrugglingwithanewerrorwhichclaimsthingsare
missing.
NextweekIplanto entirelyironoutthese errors
betweenourgamesand make themall run inunisonto
create a finalizedversionof ourgame
Mon W/B 25/05/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
ThisweekImanagedto helpfigure outwhatitwas causingerrors,
whatwe didn’trealiseisthatimportingfilesfromall ourdifferent
projectsentailedusputtingthe filesfromeveryone’sfilesintothe
maingame folders.
These errorshave causedus a tonne of issuesandmade it sowe’re
missingalot of resourcesinour game witha lack of time
For the final weekIplanto have the executableready
for our game withall our gamescombinedtocreate
somethingforpeople toactuallytestandplay,we hope
to gaintheirfeedbackandrecordit intoour evaluation.

5. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
IG4 Final MajorProject
ProductionDiary
Mon W/B 01/06/15
(Detailed Weekly Summary)
Thisweekwe gainedfeedbackfromothergroupsof people ina
recordingsessionanduploadedittosoundcloud,Iplantotie up
any loose endsonplanningandproductiontomake a finalized
blogreadyfor assessment
Once my workhas beencheckedandreferredbackto
me I’ll fix anythingthat’soutstandingtocreate a better
grade for myself.
PROGRESS UPDATE PLAN FOR NEXT MONTH / WEEK (IncludingPossible
ContingencyPlans)