Successes, Fails, Struggles
My project for this course entails creating a VR implementation of Arcade Classics. The games that we’re designing are Pac-Man and Frogger. We chose these games due to their impact on retro gaming culture and their influence on platform and maze gaming. We also wanted to create a new perspective (first-person) in the game to pay tribute to the originals so that older gamers could play again, as well as newcomers who could experience the game with a modern theme.
Some successes from our project stem from my teammates. They have been excellent in collaborating new ideas to implement into our project. We’ve discussed various designs for both games, and sought the best course of action to implement the best product we can create. We have not experienced any fails right now during our implementation, but when we do it will be a great learning experience looking forward. Some struggles we’ve had is the actual implementation for the project. Only few of us have experience creating a large product such as this, and to implement it into VR is a new landscape for all of us. Additionally, we plan on using Unity to create our game, and have some experience in this platform. I only have little experience with this software and will know that I have to learn to be at the level my teammates need me to be.
Feedback on this course
Some feedback for this course would include the technicalities that creating a project entails. As creating a game is stressful and requires extensive preparation, this course has helped me analyze potential problems that may occur and think of various methods and ideas to implement into our project. I found this course to be educational as it helps me understand the project inside and out, and what comes from designing a product that various groups will be involved in. Overall, I’ve learned various techniques and aspects that will be beneficial to any future projects and endeavors.
Career and Job Hunt
As my degree entails computer science with a focus in cybersecurity, I’ve been attempting to find internships involving security analysts. However, I have not had any luck so far in this avenue. I have been looking for other types of internships such as software development and have applied to various companies. To prepare for these jobs, I plan on acquiring on certifications to help me land interviews and show my proficiency. So far, I only have an AWS cloud practitioner certificate that many companies see as a positive in resumes. I have a potential externship at a hospital learning from their IT department and hope that this goes through. Overall, I’ve been attempting to gain more experience by acquiring certificates while applying for internships so I can prepare myself for interviews and potential opportunities in the future.
New Technologies
Unity is the only new technology I’ve been attempting to learn with our project. Unity is a gaming development software that allows users to create games for various consoles. For our project, we have to implement it into VR console, which is completely new to me. I must admit that it’s both exciting and stressful as I don’t have any experience with this. Nevertheless, my teammates are great in helping out with each other and hope for the best in learning this new software.
Life hacks
One life hack I involve myself in to lower my stress is taking a break at times. I found that, at times, schoolwork can be overwhelming, and if I attempt to push through, it burns me out, and I feel stressed, which can affect my mental health. That’s why taking breaks, such as playing video games and hanging out with friends/family, can be a great way to deal with distress. Also, I found that gaining experience in my project can help with my anxiety. This stems from my nervousness in completing my assignments promptly, and learning on my own time helps me calm my nerves.