final review

as a whole, the project was successful. time lines were not overrun or missed, and tasks were completed in the right order. there were some problems i encountered while coding the game, but these were sorted out quickly. this means that i was not stuck on the same task for weeks.

there weren't many problems i encountered. i had some trouble when coding the enemy movement. i have used a level array, but everytime i tried to make the enemy fololw the path, it would just keep going straight. i had to do some research on the internet and found that some symbols were missing. after this was fixed, i again ran into another problem. when coding money, i could only add a score every time a level is finished, not every time an enemy is killed. the system still works, you just get a big reward once instead of many small ones. these few problems caused a delay, but i caught up with during the easier tasks, thus not overruning the deadlines.

i think my planning was quite effective. i have dedicated some time to each task by using the Gantt chart technique. all i had to do is check what section is due in next, and concentrate on it. this really helped me keep up with the project and complete it on time.

keeping up with progress

this is my updated version of Gantt chart. it shows that i am up to date and have been recording my progress. no deadlines have been changed as there was no need to.

Review of FlashTD

The game I am making is in its final stages of creation. By following my time schedule in Gantt chart, I have completed it stage by stage. There were many things that went right, and some things that required a bit of change to the original plan.

Originally, I have planned to use graphical images made in Photoshop as actors in my game. However, after some research on different games was completed, I have decided to use simple shapes drawn using code instead of images. This way the game itself would be easier to make and would not require me to spend hours creating separate images.

To create FlashTD I have used many different snippets of code built on top of each other to give a final result. It was much faster than creating the whole game at once.

Some design change requests have been made and approved by the client. These were just some layout and functionality changes that would make the coding easier but keep as much of the original game as possible.

There were some problems with the coding of the game itself. When i was making the enemy movement, I could not make them go left. Every time I told it go left, it would go right or just keep going straight. This has consumed a couple of hours until I figured out what the problem was.

The game still requires some tweaking to be done. That’s why it is still in its final stages. For example, I wanted the score to update each time an enemy was killed, but only managed to update it every time a level was completed. Also the money system is not developed and balanced properly. It does work, but not as I wanted it to. After level 8 you just have too much money to spend. This might be caused by the multiplier I used, which multiplies the level number by reward set for killing each enemy. I am planning to make these changes sometime in the future.

During the next week’s stage, final preparation, I will be making some user instructions to be supplied to each player.

Progress

I have finished my game. It would obviously benefit from some improvements in various sectors, but considering the timescale I would not have enough time. I have also completed a major section from testing, which means I am a couple of days ahead.

i did not upload the finished game at exactly the right date, but it is now uploaded

Current progress

i am a bit a head in my project. currently i am coding the money system into my game. this section has to be done by 01/06. the actual game is almost finished. now i just have to add extras, such as lives and money, maybe a message if you win or lose.

Gantt chart

This is the Gantt chart I created for my project. It contains all the tasks that will have to be completed during this project. Resources, dependencies and milestones are shown

Tasks now overdue and why

There are still some tasks not completed. I have not done the Gantt chart in MS Project 2007 and Critical Path Analysis. The deadlines have not been reached yet, so I still have some time to complete these tasks before they are overdue.

Tasks that have been completed

Many preparation tasks have been  completed this week. Project Initiation Documentation was comlpeted, which contains all the informationabout my project, and it was later presented to the client. Also I have researched why projects fail, and wrote a report on how to avoid these obstacles. A risk assessment has been done for my project. It contains all the likely reasons why my project could be delayed or failed. A project life cycle document has been completed. It shows the step by step progression of a project and what tasks are included in each stage. Some research on project management tools and methologies has been done and recorded in a report.

Meeting the client

I have met my client for my project. We have discussed the game and what the client wants from me. He was happy with what I had to present, letting him know what the game will do and roughly what it will look like.

To provide even more detail, I should do some research and find out what type of TD games are popular and what type I should choose for this game.