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Hello All, I will keep this short, as sometimes I can ramble on and it is all very busy here. I've been trying to figure out a few different things, from the level aesthetics for Collisions, to UI Designs and other stuff. It has been a very busy couple of months. Firstly, I did the big heave ho move back to London and this has affected work. It has made it considerably harder for all of the team and the emphasis on communication has become more important than ever. We keep communication going by having video meetings every morning with Google Hangouts. This helps to establish the day and keep in touch with the team whilst discussing any problems and for feedback too. The other important aspect is that it helps keep up my morale and to be social with the team, because working at home is a lonely job, even with all those homely perks. Sometimes the connection on Google hangouts can be bad meetings can be bad, with stuttering and lag, however you have to put up with it and work through it. In emails, online chat can be misconstrued as cold and rude, but remember, this is online and it is tough to convey emotion, To circumvent that, I ignore the first response in my mind, because I know the team member is trying to get to the point quickly.
Other important aspects are to maintain focus and professionalism while working on project: working away by yourself at home does have its perks, however, you'll get distracted with other stuff in the house. It's easy to knock off early, or do something else. However, you have to have a strict timetable and rules to stick to, like all housework, shopping, going in the garden, even if it is sunny, is to be done after five pm, not before, because from nine to five is for work, the garden can be visited as a lunch break reward. Then when it's five, I stop, I don't do any more work after that, I just move onto personal stuff, because work and personal life start to blur when working and I may end up getting into a habit working all day and night with no separation.... That would be bad. So don't do that, have a break!
The Level
Work wise, I spent a few weeks working on one of the levels called Collisions. It's still a work in progress, but hopefully you will see a version of it soon in the next build.
The level has come a long way in a short time with development and the playtesting feedback we got a week or two ago has helped us to refine a few issues with areas for the player. One example was that some players were trying to click on unreachable glitches, so those have to be amended and hidden better.
The UI
I have been working on and off on the UI, most of the time has been spent experimenting with Patch cord patterns. We decided that we would need to have two different patch cords as just having one wasn't helping the player distinguish between interactive non-interactive patch cords. I have not been happy with the development progress of it, as some of the aspects haven't worked yet, I am sure it will get there, however, for the meantime, it's more head-scratching, time and research.
More to type, but I have run out of time Again, I did not keep this short.
I got to go.
Mus