Real Worlds - Project Management

 Real Worlds - Project Management

In this blog, I am going to create a SWOT analysis, as well as a scheduling method and screenshots of how I will implement this with my own work.

Strengths: I picked the 2D pathway for this first part of the project. That's because as previously mentioned, my strengths lie mostly in 2D work, and my general workflow is faster, more efficient and results in higher quality work in a shorter timeframe. The idea I have is to create as much high quality work as I can for the client.

Weaknesses: Because I picked the 2D pathway, that means my workload will mostly consist of 2D. I feel I am competent at 3D, but I have a more time consuming workflow, which would result in less work for the client. Although the amount of research I can produce is large, I feel like my overall scope of research topics can also be too narrow.

Opportunities: With this being a project focusing on the client, I can begin to build up a portfolio of professional work, as well as learn some communication skills that will be vital in a freelance scenario. Another thing is potentially getting room for a job in this field.

Threats: I cannot afford to fall behind with this project, which means a schedule will be necessary. Even if the schedule isn't strict, I will strictly follow it, to avoid falling behind. Another thing to consider is creating eye-catching work for the client.

Scheduling

For this project, I am going to use a Miro board (RealtimeBoard, Inc. 2011) to create a schedule. This is what I have at the very start of the project. It can be viewed at the link here.

This will help me keep track of what I have done and what I still need to do. I aim to be as accurate as possible to the deadlines I have set myself in this schedule.

Week 1: 

This week was the beginning of the project. I completed the SWOT analysis which was vital for the beginning of this project. By focusing on my strengths, I can create the best possible work for the client. I also started some initial research into the Deadzone IP, as listed on my schedule. I set deadlines for myself, but I wanted to be ahead of these, and by extension be ahead of the project. Also, in 2 weeks time I plan to finish all my thumbnails, initial research and choose the genre of my game.

Week 2:

This week I focused heavily on my research. I was originally going to focus on one faction, do the thumbnails for that faction and move onto the next one, but I eventually thought that by focusing on the research first, I would have more source material to base my thumbnails off of, as well as the finalised idea for my game. I completed all general research I want done by this stage. I slowed myself down a little at this stage, since on the schedule I wanted everything research and thumbnail-wise done by week 3, which was possible but I didn't stress too much about completing all 60 thumbnails by this point, since I wanted to focus on quality and accuracy, not quantity, especially with these factions I am not entirely familiar with at this point. Next week I plan to complete all faction research and make a good start on the thumbnails.

Week 3:

This week I completed all thumbnails, faction-specific research, as well as finalised my character ideas within the specific game I have chosen. I am going to focus on a playable character from the Matsudan, and a boss type character from the Forge Fathers. Since I have finished everything here on my schedule up to this point, I added the final pieces of work I want finished before the client review. These three pieces of work I want for the client review are the two character sheets and the pitch presentation. By focusing all my efforts onto these pieces of work, I will produce my best work and therefore get the most useful feedback. As for scheduling what comes after, I am going to wait to see what feedback I receive from the client.

Week 4:

My main goal this week was to finish everything I could in preparation for the client review. I focused on completing my character sheets, which I did and was pretty happy with. These included the posed character with flat colours (I only did flats at this point so the client could fully look at the pose and proportions within it to determine if they are correct or not, also it means it disrupts my workflow less when I go back to change it), the backstories and the equipment breakouts. I also added some colour palette wheels. With this completed I also sought out some feedback regarding my designs, which was all positive. This made me confident in preparation for the client review.

Week 5:

This week wasn't heavy in terms of the workload. This was because I completed everything I wanted done for the client review. I was considering completing some orthographic drawings for the client review, but I didn't want to commit my time to that at this stage. The first reason was that I didn't want to go back and change proportions on multiple drawings since that would be more time consuming, and the second reason being we only have a maximum of 10 minutes for each client review. This includes them looking at the work, me answering their questions, writing down valuable feedback, and asking any questions of my own. Since I want to spend more time getting feedback, I decided to not add more work for less payoff at this stage. In terms of what question I primarily wanted to ask, it was about how I could create a scenario for the Forge Fathers and the Matsudan to fight each other within the game. I finished the pitch presentation, and waited for the client review next week.

Week 6:

This week was the client review where I pitched my work to Mantic Games. The review was 10 minutes long, and I had to pitch my ideas. After this, I received feedback regarding my designs, all of which I wrote. For the rest of this week, I focused on creating character sheets with the feedback in mind. I wanted to spend the next two weeks doing the key arts, with one week dedicated to each piece of key art. I also put this on my schedule leading up to the part 1 deadline.

Week 7/8:

  For each of the last two weeks leading up to the final Part 1 deadline, I did a piece of key art per week. This way, I had all the feedback implementation done, had two pieces of quality work finished, and my character sheets done too. Overall, I have really enjoyed this first part of the project, and can't wait to start on part 2.

Part 2:

Before I get into any of the scheduling for the second part, I wanted to address some issues I had in the first part of the project, starting with the SWOT analysis:

I said at the beginning of the project that 2D is my strength and that 3D is something I only feel competent at. In this part of the project that I am starting, A 3D blockout is a requirement for the 2D pathway, which gives me an opportunity to play to my strength with the rest of the requirements, but also build on my weakness of 3D. Furthermore, I am going to try designing my final illustration with 3D in mind - So far I haven't decided, but I intend to do something with 3D being a part of my final illustration.

Secondly, I feel my idea generation needs to be better. For this second part of the project, I am going to create more thumbnails and moodboards to help me, and ask for feedback where I feel I should have it.

Week 9:

I have taken a long break over easter, which has refreshed me mentally with this project. Addressing the big problem with this - I should not have spent as much time taking a break as I did, as this only leaves with me 5 weeks left of this project. This is still plenty of time, but not as much as I would've liked. To completely get back into a schedule, I went back to the schedule I had before, and began to plan out the final 5 weeks of this project. This schedule is much simpler, and basically a narrow path of steps for me to take. This helps me mentally as I can focus all my effort on one task before moving onto the next.

I also worked on the IP licensing report, which can be found in my research dossier.

Week 10:

This week, I worked on visual research firstly, creating moodboards of my main building and street furniture so that I could use them whilst thumbnailing. I then started the thumbnailing process: creating a batch, seeking feedback, and making more detailed variations based off of the feedback. I ended up with many high quality thumbnails I am happy with. I also moved observational drawing to next week along with 3D, since this way I can use my 3D blockout to practice textures on in 2D - preparing myself for my final illustration.

Week 11:

This week I started with the 3D blockout for my building and street furniture. I did this in a reasonable amount of time, but spent enough time to create a good 3D model at this stage overall. I am really happy how it turned out, and I feel a lot more confident with 3D after it. I then used that 3D model for some observational drawing and texture practice. Next week is design sheets for my assets.

Week 12:

This week I created design sheets. I managed to get all of them done, trying to opt for the most appropriate way to draw each of them in terms of orthographic and isometric view. I also felt confident with 3D, to the point I went back and blocked the street furniture out with more detail, helping me with my design sheets. With these done, I now move onto the final illustration next week.

Week 13:

This week I completed my final illustration. I drew over 3D, which has made me much more confident with the workflow in between 2D and 3D, as well has made me understand the software I use much better. I also completed my project overview, meaning I have completed this project. I can see myself using this method of scheduling in the future, as it has made me much more time efficient, and can get me on the right track to becoming more productive.

References:

RealtimeBoard, Inc. 2011. Miro [online]. Available at: https://miro.com [Accessed 6 February 2025]