What did I learn?

I learned a very basic and amateurish understanding of Unity’s UI, and even then I have a lot to learn if I want to make anything worthwhile with the program. My ambitions soared too high at the start of the project, and then once I realized how little I actually know about Unity, I gave up on myself and did exactly as I was instructed with little to no creative flourishes. I need to know when to curb my enthusiasm.

What was easy?

I was able to learn how to use terrain layers to use multiple textures without any assistance. That’s about it. Even learning how to properly move the editor’s camera was difficult.

What was challenging?

Most of the project was challenging. I had a hard time getting a grip on Unity’s toolset. Even the simplest functions were complicated to me. I feel very stupid.


How could your submission be improved?

I need to learn how to handle raising terrain without making a whole mess of the environment, also I need to be able to paint textures gently and carefully. What I have currently is a sloppy mess. I also need to signify to the player what their goal post in the maze is besides the large peak, which was meant to guide the player to it. The goal mountain is likely obstructed in several areas from the player’s POV.


How could your professor improve your assignment?

I don’t know!? It’s not like my professor can just appear behind my shoulder at home and suddenly turn this project into some kind of masterpiece. How am I supposed to know how my professor could help me besides giving me advice on navigating unity and pointing out obvious design flaws?


How might you apply your knowledge in future projects or work scenarios?

My early struggles and boost of wasted creativity taught me that I should really not get too ambitious with these kinds of projects when I have no real handling of the program I’m using. I don’t have anything close to the technical ability I need to make the kind of thing I want to make, nor do I have the time to make something special right now.


How did a video or something inspire you?

My initial overambitious plans were inspired by Unity creators such as Kitty Horrorshow who make fantastic and atmospheric games that they create for their small niche audiences. Of course that inspiration didn’t really yield anything in my final product here.

So this project was my first foray into actually making something in Photoshop. I’m not really proud of it but it’s there and it’s probably the best it will ever be. I had a hard time conceptualizing an actual core idea for what the image would look like (I eventually chose “Fork in the Road” if you couldn’t already tell). The only creative choice here I’m somewhat proud of is how I used the color gradient in the background to support the idea of two potential paths represented through a contrast in color. The vector pattern in the background does look a little too busy to me; The best I could do with remedying that was adding a drop shadow to the fork’s layer to make it pop away from the background. I had an oddly hard time finding suitable images for the project and even now what I have might not fit the quota for resolution (the grass looks very crunchy).

I intuitively know there is something else wrong with this but I can’t tell what the exact issue(s) could be. Maybe I should have made more obvious cracks in the road where the fork pierces into it. On a more positive note, I think I’m actually making progress with learning Photoshop’s fundamentals for once. I might just start making random images for my own amusement in my spare time, I could use a new hobby. I guess I like my final product here. I’m not sure if I’m proud of it, but I like it.