Introduction

Hey, this is Vincent Ridpath. I was one of the programmers for Devilish Double Down. I implemented a simple dialogue system, and I worked back and forth with Dameron on the turn-based combat system and enemy functionality. I also ended up creating all of the menu widgets and implemented the sound effects and music that were provided by our artists. Based on the Kanban board, where I assigned the size based on approximately how long I believe it took to implement, I should have worked about 26 hours on the project.  Some items were assigned to both me and Dameron, so I split my estimate on those. I would say that the 26 hour estimate is probably fairly accurate, however a decent amount of additional hours were spent discussing design and development among the team as well. 

Difficulties

I personally didn't have too difficult of a time working on the project. There were a few bumps on the way, like some merge conflicts or miscommunications, but we were able to solve those things fairly easily and move on. Personally I just wish we had more time to spend on this game, because we chose to develop something that was beyond the scope of a three week project. I think the game would benefit from more polish and balance, but given our time frame and the fact that we even worked beyond the 21 hour requirement, I am still very proud of what we completed.

What I Learned

I got to learn about a lot of Unreal stuff that I hadn't messed with before, especially with widgets. Most of the things I implemented in this project were things I had never done before, such as creating a dialogue system, or helping with turn based combat. There were also some takeaways I got from working with my team members, some of whom I had never met before. Communication is incredibly important so that everyone knows what is expected of themselves and each other. We had a few communication mishaps, but in the end it was a good learning experience and any miscommunication we had did not detriment the project in the end.

What I'm Proud of

I'm really proud of the final product we were able to deliver in this time frame. I think everyone on our team did a really good job and we were able to make something with a pretty big scope for a three week project on a small team. Like I mentioned earlier, I got a lot of new experience with Unreal and with working in a team. Also, even though I worked beyond the expected/required hours, I didn't feel overworked because this was a very fun project to work on. 

Blueprint UE Links

Dialogue System: https://blueprintue.com/blueprint/nufi653s/

HUD Battle System: https://blueprintue.com/blueprint/6v7z4mck/

These blueprints were collaborative and thus contain work done by Caitlyn and Dameron as well.