Completing the IRB training and starting my IRB application used up all of my hours this week. Again, as mentioned in an earlier post, the timing is working out quite well because this process is also forcing me to go back to earlier readings and notes to review the foundational aspects of this project. At the same time, it is a bit frustrating to have to focus on the reading/writing aspects of this projects after having reached the milestone of essentially completing the ticketing scene.

For example, I need to figure out how to handle my non-player characters, which will play a significant role for this project. There is the challenge of their design, since a goal of this project is to be aesthetically strong in order to aid in engaging interest. I need to find a design that isn’t too time consuming to pull off but that still looks good. I have considered the character designs found in the game Animal Crossing, which are quite simple but effective. I am thinking that I can’t quite take this approach, however, because my scenery is more realistic and doing such a simple character design could really clash. Another approach would be to go ahead and design more simplified characters and adapt the visual quality of the scenery to fit as needed, such as creating more bulky and round objects.

The programming aspects of this project I am also currently finding intimidating because there is a lot to consider in programming the actions of the various non-player characters alone. We also had the goal of using AI to generate the Social Stories at the start of each simulation, for example, and I am feeling like I want to get started on these essential components of the project. I know that I need to get this IRB application in first, however. I do feel that having some guidance on how to organize and schedule out the production of a game in general would be helpful for me at this point. I have thought about reaching out to someone with experience in game/VR production to see if they would be ok with volunteering some of their time and expertise. I have a couple of people in mind, though I am also quite aware of there very busy schedules…