The journey to achieving a degree in Computer Science has been challenging, rewarding, and eye opening. This week has been focused on polishing my game and getting my capstone video ready. I look forward to expanding on this Unreal Engine prototype. The journey has just begun...
With only 1 more week left of school, it has been an amazing journey in getting my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. This week has consisted of many long hours at night getting my project to where I want it to be. I finished my final report at a whopping 42 pages in length. I also finished the essentials of having a game prototype. I plan to make a few tweaks to the game over the next 3 days. As I type, I realize that I still need to have my final capstone video complete and hope to have a draft video up tonight. I anticipate not finishing my video until Friday night.
This week I was able to get functions for the character to take and use objects working along with creating HUD's for the player. I created an in game HUD and an inventory HUD. I was able to get the ability for the player to utilized the inventory working as well and started working on the character's health aspect. I met with my client this week. He was able to get a previous version of the game loaded but could not get the most current version loaded. I will have to solve to figure out why this is so. I was unable to take my ETS test this week as there was a miscommunication with the testing agency. I plan to take my ETS test this Friday.
This week we were able to review how to give a successful presentation. I was also able to review the ETS computer science field test. In implementing an incremental grow and shrink function. I found it difficult to also implement it with the smooth grow and shrink functionality of the character. This ended up taking more time than expected. I was however able to get this successfully completed. I also was able to successfuly make my character fly when small via a jetpack. I found this weeks work to be both challenging and rewarding. I can't wait to see what the next week brings.
This week we were able to view some good tips regarding job searching an interview tips. I also was able to complete my website which can be accessed here.
This week was all about smoothing out the grow and shrink function for my character. I was able to implement a seamless growth and shrink function. When messing with the characters size, I also realized that they were not moving "normally" so I had to figure out how to iron out the movement physics of a larger or smaller character. I was able to make up a few hours of work but need to work harder next week to get back on track.
My advisor gave me great advice regarding keeping a project timeline and prioritization.
This week I received some good feedback on both my resume and LinkedIn profile for seeking a job in the industry. I need to add projects to both to showcase what I have done in school over the past years since I have no work experience in the industry.
I created a commercial for my Capstone project which was fun and excited me to create more. The commercial consists of the initial character build along with interchangeable camera and showcase of shrink and grow functions.
Here is the commercial:
I got a bit behind due to family functions but hope to get back on track next week.
This week was mainly used to work on my project. We received some good pointers on job hunting, resume building, and cover letters. I was able to finalize my resume and cover letter.
Last weeks article was in regards to holding successful team meetings. Successful team meetings have 3 parts to them. This is the planning phase, the actual meeting phase, and the post meeting phase. During the planning phase, you should layout who should be present for a meeting and the goals outlined for the meeting. Also evaluate whether a meeting is even necessary. Sometimes a goal can be achieved by a simple string of emails. As a team leader, you want to make sure everyone of importance can attend the set meeting; otherwise, it may be wiser to postpone the meeting to allow for everyone to contribute and achieve the goal. You should provide documentation before the meeting to allow the people attending to review and form ideas ahead of time. More can come from the meeting when the people attending have time to think about the agenda. During the meeting, the team leader should set a positive tone and keep on track with the agenda. Of course, the documents distributed before the meeting should be used during the meeting. You do not want to set a precedence of people feeling pre-distributed work is unimportant. As team leader you also want to make sure everyone participates in the meeting. Finally, you want to create an action plan for post meeting follow up. After the meeting, meeting minutes and the action plan should be published within 24 hours. It is important to make good on the action plan and follow up with everyone at the established time on their current status on the action plan. Finally a debrief of the meeting is important where everyone is allowed to discuss what went well and what they would change about the meeting. Using these meeting principles can help a team leader achieve the goals they strive for within their team. I hope to be a team lead in software development and using these principles will help me when the time arises.
