This project was a very insightful and enjoyable experience for me. Before this I had never worked in VR or anything to do with video games, so it was a big learning curve for me. Luckily, we paired up with Ana, who was our VR collaborator for this project. She was very open to ideas and made it a point to work with us sound arts students when it comes to the story, visuals, and everything to do with the VR aspects. And we did the same with sound, sending her examples, and what could be done with our abilities. Working with her was a very positive experience.
Though there were lots of communication issues with the other sound artists throughout the project, I am still proud of the sound my classmates and I have created.
One thing I would do differently would be to not take on all the work if people do not do it, I found myself doing this and it adds a lot of stress and overtime which I found rather tolling. For my next collaboration project, I want to have a clearer and stricter timetable with my peers, which I think could make it easier to get people to do the work.
One thing I thought went well was the workflow between Ana and me. There was a mutual respect for each other’s craft, and we were both open to ideas for one another, which helped further both the sound and visual aspects of the game.
Another thing I thought went well was the presentations and crits. I get rather shy when presenting in front of people, and can find myself avoiding looking at the crowd, or tripping over my words when speaking. The crits were a good way of putting myself up in front of my peers and people I respect, and to try and overcome that fear. Luckily it was not just me doing the presentations. So, I always had someone to bounce off during presenting. This made presenting in front of the class smoother.
Overall, I am very happy with the final product, the skills I have learnt, and most of the collaboration experiance.