In this evaluation, I will be reflecting on not just the practical work, but the path and process that I took, including the planning and presentation as these are skills that I'll need down the line. The brief for this project is to create my product based on the skills that I've learned so far. My goal for this project is to make a diorama of a derelict arcade in a photorealistic art style and my inspiration for this scene was an arcade from my childhood that I revisited earlier this year. This project officially started on 28th February and is an extension of unit 12, as unit 12 was a specialist study document, where you delve deeper into a sub-section of Games Development that you are interested in and want to learn more about. The sub-section that I decided to look into was Hard Surface Modelling (HSM) and I linked HSM to my arcade diorama through the arcade machines that I've made as HS models are generally models that are machined or man-made.

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At the beginning of this FMP, I was feeling excited and ready to start a new project as I had just finished unit 12, which was heavily focused on writing. I was longing for a project of this size so that I could test not only my modelling prowess but also my current ability to record and document my work in a presentable manner as, without presentation techniques, your work may go unnoticed. As I chose HSM in unit 12, I got to know a little more about it, and I learned that to push my work up to the next level and to make them more realistic, I'd have to start texturing my models. The best texturing software that I know is Substance 3D Painter, learning a whole new software within this project in hindsight may have been something out of my reach and unrealistic, however, as it was my FMP, I wanted to go all out and build the best scene that I've built before. In the end, I didn't end up texturing all of my assets but that wasn't to do with me not being able to, it was more of a time issue. The one asset that I did manage to texture looked amazing and I'm pleased with how it came out.

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Near the start of the project, I made four small concept scenes using MagicaVoxel which is a voxel-based modelling software. The four scenes were a campsite, lighthouse, arcade, and a swamp house. I didn't realise it at the time but realistically, the only scene that I could make with my current skills was the arcade scene as it's the only scene that didn't have to have a landscape around it. Some people might say that building the other three scenes was a waste of time, however, I'd argue otherwise. Even if you're not going to make these ideas and you already know what you want to do, it's good practice to show your thought process and express your creativity.

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As a whole, the project went quite well, however, I had some hiccups along the way. Most of them were small, however, there were a few that were harmful to my project's success. The main problem that haunted me throughout the project was whether I had enough time to finish all the work before the deadline. With a moderate amount of cramming close to the end of the project. I had almost finished my practical work with a week left, however, I forgot to leave myself enough time to document my work. With a few late nighters and spending most of my free time writing up my work, I managed to get it done, however, it wasn't enjoyable. I did create a Gantt chart but I swiftly neglected it and thought I could more or less skip it and focus on other "more important" aspects. Completing this project, made me realise the effectiveness of setting up a proper action plan and how detrimental it can be if not done properly or cared for.

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Despite the flaws that were present in the way in which I approached my work, I have acknowledged them and I'm working towards overcoming these flaws one step at a time. But enough about flaws, let's talk about the positive. I would say, with full confidence, that this project was the best one I'd ever made. Comparing this project to my last, this project has been so much better in every way. and even the way that I presented it I'd argue that the placement, wording and overall presentation of my Wix site had also been upgraded, and because of this, the readability of my site has gone up a few levels.

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Whether it is small or large, there are always some things that don't end up how you envisioned them to, and I'm no different. I fear that I could've made my final product better, and if I had more time, then I would've, however, I ran out of time to texture all of the assets. I had the thought of texturing my assets from the beginning, but after doing a survey asking "if you were to change something from my scene, what would you change?" one of the results answered that they would add textures to the assets, and I fully agree that it would make it look better. I managed to get one asset textured in time, and it made a world of difference, as my scene is derelict, having no texture to my assets makes them look brand new, which isn't the look I'm going for. Adding scratch marks, stains, fingerprints, and dust to my assets would've concreted the idea of a derelict arcade, the lighting also looks old as the room is filled with dust, creating light rays coming through the window. I'd go as far as to say that without the lighting, some may not know that the scene was meant to be derelict.

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I did make a Gantt chart planning out how much time I would spend on each topic, and in what order, however, I neglected it and stubbornly thought I could finish the project without looking at the Gantt chart that I made. Which almost always doesn't go so well. I'm sure you've heard this quote one way or another but had I listened to this quote my project may have taken a turn for the better. The quote was, "He who fails to plan is planning to fail." - Winston Churchill. The topic of the quote has been in a constant quarrel as some fully resonate with this quote and believe it, and some argue that "Failing to plan is planning to fail" means that with no plan, you still can succeed, however, the chance of that happening is slim. Taking the results from this FMP, I'm leaning towards believing the quote. No matter which one I resonate with, the results stay the same, and I'm ready to learn from these mistakes to make sure it doesn't happen again.

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There are a few skills that I need to develop to be able to handle the workload I was given, but the main ones that I need to focus on are; time management, staying on top of things and getting others' opinions on my work throughout the project. Starting with time management, one way of managing my time is to take a step back once in a while and look at the project as a whole which in turn will help me monitor my work, and keep on pace to complete the task at hand on time. Secondly, to stay on top of things, for example, my weekly blog, I need to take a little time out of my day each week to write down what I've done. Completing this project made me realise the effectiveness of doing things like this on time if you let it build up then it becomes an even bigger problem. I wasn't paying attention to the weekly blog for the first half of the project, and I only realised how much work I had let build up when it was too late. I had to write up the first half of my weekly blog over Easter break, which nobody wants to do. The fear of having to go through that again will deter me from doing that again. The last skill that I should work on is getting others' opinions on my work throughout. I did send a couple of surveys out during this project, however, for the most part, I didn't get any answers that enhanced or added to my project. This was due to the questions that I asked not being detailed enough or not having enough options.

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If I were to be given a similar or related situation again, I would keep the overall way that I approached the task, however, I would add structure to it. As I found out the hard way, structure and something to guide you is the key to completing your task. To make sure that the structure I add is the right one, for the next projects that I'll be doing, no matter the size, I'll be testing out different software and techniques to give me the highest chance of success.

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