I have been fortunate in my time as a developer as to have not much of my work cut while doing project work. This has been due in large part to careful planning and the lack of any serious impediments. However it appears that my luck on that end has run out. For various reasons about 95% of my work has been cut at this point in time. In this blog I would like to discuss what was cut, why it was cut, and how I adapted to these changes. Some of you may have read a previous blog of mine where I explained how much of my work had been cut or modifies earlier in the project. I will only give a brief synopsis of that blog here for context. Around a month back, the format of narrative interactions changed and with it much of my work became obsolete and had to be changed or scrapped. It was decided that the narrative would be simplified and told through two methods. The first was through a text-less slideshow present at the opening and closing that would give the player motivation and set up the core story arc. The second way was through in-game interactions that would take place in certain areas around the world and would give the player context for the places or objects they were attached to. I chose to focus on creating the in-game interactions while a teammate (with greater artistic ability than myself) took control of the cut scenes. In the weeks following I wrote the text for these interactions, helped to decide their placement then finally implemented them in engine. The only thing left to do was to put the interactions in front of testers and see if they made sense. However that unfortunately never happened. In the sprint, after these were implemented businesses around the world began to take drastic measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. My team was no exception and we decided to begin working remotely and lost our ability to focus test. Because of these changes various things had to be cut and one of those things was narrative interactions. It was decided that since we did not have the ability to test them it would be better to cut them than risk player confusion. This coupled with the previous cuts meant that almost all of my work had been cut from the game. Under normal circumstances I would be unconcerned about this as the quality of the game is the most important thing. However this project being larger than any of my previous ones was a vital portfolio piece for me. I began to worry about using it for this purpose since my work had been cut and I was currently doing any work that would fit on my portfolio. In the current stage of my career this would be a huge blow and would weaken my prospects for future employment. This was especially a blow as I was not getting paid for this project and my only compensation (besides college credits) was having a piece to display on my portfolio. To combat this I approached my leads and asked if there was any work I could do that would be more in line with work I could display on my portfolio. There were a few tasks that I knew needed to be done in the upcoming sprints that I suggested I could take on. My leads were sympathetic to my position and helped find work that I could do that would fit in my portfolio. This was yet another example of how trusting my team led to a positive outcome. I have learned that being dishonest or attempting to hide things from your team can only result in disaster. However being honest with your team can only result in a positive experience as your teammates will help you resolve the issue. In this case I was honest about my feelings and what I wanted to get out of the project. As a result of my honesty I was able to take on work that I enjoyed and would help me in the future.
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