🗒 Note from 2026-01-16 16:38:53

Final week


Situation:

On the day of submission, I had been working on the project, trying to finalize all the different things and adding some extra bits of information for the game. I wanted to add a very obvious visual for the soul in the cutscene. Unfortunately, I hadn't merged for a while so the merge parts of the map Leo had created. This was a massive problem because I was supposed to make the video over night and I was unable to. Fortunately Leo fixed the map and created a video to take to the presentation. I couldn't make it due to latest train I could take didn't get me to Kingston in time.

We got some valuable feedback from Hope.

With regards to me, since I had used such poor quality mic, the voice lines were unclear. She asked for subtitles. She also requested a little more colour and also a background in the game. We also had a bug with the turning of page.


Task:

-We need subtitles on our voice lines.
-We need a background.
-We need to fix the bug with the page animation.


Action:

I started by adding subtitles to each voice lines. It's quite easy to add subtitles in unreal due to it being attached to each sound byte. Once that was done, I looked into the background problem. Our background kept losing colour due to the post processing we had applied. Hence, I had to come up with a new way to apply background. I did some research and ran into blended Materials. So to create the texture we have now, I took two texture, made the background of front render transparent and added the second texture as the background. This created a post processed foreground with a sketch like texture and a vibrant background.

I looked into the turning animation and the only thing that had gone wrong was the play rate. So I reversed the animation and set it again and everything was alright.


Result:

I managed to add appropriate subtitles and fix all the issues regarding the texture and animation on the book.


Summary:

I'd like to start by saying I hate Unreal engine. A merge of our work destroyed part of Leo's work on the map. This caused the game to be unplayable due to the triggers being destroyed. Frankly, I blame myself because I was the person who decided to work on the project till last minute. But due to this, we had to quickly remake part of the map and make a video of it with the latest additions. This almost caused a big issue and I learned a lesson in trying too hard without accounting for something going wrong at the last minute. Had I just stopped working and had been satisfied with all I had earlier, we would have had a video with everything fine. It was due to my insistence that the project was worked until last minute. I think I'll stop and just record a video next time.

The feedback Hope gave me was received I worked on it quickly. Our work was done by the deadline with minor changes to the build.

With regards to teamwork, Leo has always been a great teammate who delivers on his promise. I didn't have any problem working with him as we have our strengths and weaknesses and we know how to cover each other. This is the fourth project we have worked together and by now, we know how to deal with each other. I think he gives me his 100%.

Unfortunately for him, I think I have quite a bit to learn about ambition and when to move on from something. Had I done some irreparable damage on the day of presentation, I don't think I would have forgiven myself for putting Leo in that position. I was swept up by how much fun I was having and how good making animations felt. This blinded me to the possibility of something going wrong. From now on, I will keep a healthy amount of time between each submission and work. Leo was very understanding and I am grateful to him.

I learned a lot on this project. Especially with regarding media production, narrative and trying to tell a complex story. Unreal engine is a powerful tool to create visually appealing animations as well as a strong engine that has a lot of powerful tools that can be used very creatively. From rendering areas of the level on a surface to creating blended materials to making cutscenes with a lot of particle effect with ease, I now feel more confident moving forward with any project I am going to participate in, confident in my ability to produce great cutscenes.

I am immediately going to use this skill I have acquired in my final year project. I wasn't initially going to have a cutscene in the game but now I am absolutely going to add some cutscenes. It has been a journey and I am genuinely grateful to have worked on this project. This has created immense growth in me, as a student and I can't wait to show what I can do with it.

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