blog9coursereflection

[blog9coursereflection]

Blog Post 9: Course Reflection

Throughout this semester, I think that my biggest takeaway from this class has been the concept of MDA and the importance of communications when it comes to game design. MDA of course refers to mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics which I think upon knowing what it is has helped me learn to appreciate games more. Communication was the one thing that I think was the hardest for me to get used to since I don't really like to work in teams and I was kind of forced into that situation in this class since I don't know how to code a game. But I’m glad that I went through because I can now more confidently approach my teammates to check in on progress as well as learning how to set work boundaries/establish self goals for myself and my teammates so that we could get things done in a timely manner. I think what I still need to work on is understanding how to use the burndown chart and daily scrum meetings. I never got the opportunity to try that out since we were such a small team and it did not seem like anybody wanted to try it out but learning how to effectively utilize this would be helpful in other fields of work that require this level of teamwork.

Overall, I think that all of the materials in this class connected well since they cover everything that relates to gaming such as story, gameplay design, art, marketing, and game testing. I think the only thing that might have felt out of place was the burndown chart and daily scrum reading since there was not much emphasis placed on it. It just seemed like it was a one and done concept that we had to learn instead of something that we got to apply over and over again like game testing and paper prototype although I think this would have been more apparent when working on a bigger project with folks in the Game Development Club. 

When it came to learning about games, I think that I definitely learned more from the lectures, videos, and short articles than I did from the textbook. I do not like reading long texts so watching the lectures and videos was easier for me to absorb the material. Some of the short readings were also helpful since I did not have to read for a long period of time. I think that getting to write about games and analyzing their MDA helped me appreciate all of the different elements that went into making them more. I definitely have a better appreciation for game developers now since I know the difficulties of designing a whole game and having to effectively collaborate with a team.