Week 0 - The Beginning

This blog will follow the progress of my 3rd Year Games Design Project from September 2009 to June 2010. I am hoping to use this oppitunity to focus on developing my own project idea, as opposed to year 2 where i decied to play an assisting role in my group. I finished the main 2nd year project with a slightly dissapointing grade, and feel that partly to blame was a lack of work that was mine in the final product that was shown (most of the assets that were designed or made by me ended up unused in the demo we made). This was not the fault of anyone in the group, but merely bad luck. With this project however, I want to make sure I have content being shown in the project, hence my decision to lead.


I have a definite idea of a project i wish to undertake (known for now as "Project Raijin"), which will focus on my interests in light-dark contrasts and socio-politcal aspects of games. I am not confident that i would be able to create the whole project alone, and so feel that gathering a team together to complete the project will be vital, and feel a project of this kind, with a strong premade concept, will attract colleagues on the course who have skills and interests specific to certain areas of game design (such as coreography or modelling), but struggle in the actual idea development stage. Raijin will give them and myself the oppitunity to focus on their specific interests with the concept i have devised as a base, though with this arrangment comes the need to ensure the project is a group work, and any ideas or opinions teamates have a taken into account; i do not wish to simply force my ideas upon them.


In terms of acuall choices of teamates, there are several other people on the course whom i am hoping to get in contact with upon my return. I have gained an offer of assistance from one colleague currently in the 2nd Year of the CGD course, Andrew Fletcher, whoose advice and skills will be of great benefit to me on the project. However, i do not wish to place too much work on his shoulders, as he will have other projects he will be undertaking as part of the 2nd Year curriculum and will likely only be avalible for short periods.