Week 14: 4/18/16 – 4/22/16

Monday of Week 14 was the ETC’s soft openings, where all of the ETC faculty were able to visit Phantasm’s project and go through the experience. In anticipation of softs, we were able to get in a lot of updates to the build that we weren’t able to implement with the previous playtest. We had new character models, an altered climax scene based on a variety of faculty and playtest feedback, and extra character reaction. We got a lot of helpful feedback, with the core message of it boiling down to us being on track with all of the major pieces, with most of the rest of the work getting the small details in. We uploaded the build from our softs presentation onto Box to distribute to Legendary.

Our refinement tasks have been worked on throughout the rest of the week, with facial rigs for various characters completed and animated. Characters are being placed in different locations around the environment, creating a more varied and interesting experience. We have also updated the soundscape for the climax to be timed and spaced out better. Phantasm also received a huge subwoofer, where we will be routing audio for bass during the build up to the climax and enhance the 4D feedback. We are also adding in a beginning splash screen and writing in a new, more straightforward voiceover, which we will be recording next week.

Next week:

Week 15 is the last week of production of the semester, with the ETC Showcase occurring on Wednesday, April 27th. The ETC will have prospective clients and alumni visiting each project. Phantasm will be treating it as an impromptu playtest and a chance to get some feedback on changes made from softs feedback. We plan on recording our new voice over and finalizing the splash screen next week as well. We will also continue to improve on the small details that make the world feel real to complete our refinement tasks.