Shalimay Nichols

Student Number: s3963848

Email Address: s3963848@student.rmit.edu.au

About Me

My name is Shalimay, I’m half Filipino and half Australian. Although I grew up in Australia, I still embrace the Filipino culture and celebrate their events and traditions. I graduated high school in 2014 and decided to work in dental assisting in which I obtained my certification and worked for 4 years. Although a really interesting and rewarding field to be in, my interest in games began to grow into something more of what I wanted to start a career in. So I studied a Diploma of Game Development which gave me a fundamental understanding of programming which has then led me to study a bachelor of IT here at RMIT university. In my spare time I like to either sew, play games with my friends, go for hikes, watch game playthroughs or learn something new. I also have 3 guinea pigs and a cat which keep me very busy.

Interest in IT

My Interest in IT

The interest started from games. I like games and I wanted to know how they worked and how they were made so maybe one day I could make my own. And whilst learning programming I had a realisation this is the future. That if I don’t learn something that so heavily influences the world around us, I would get left behind. I must adapt to the world around me and future-proof myself. So it’s lucky in a way it’s genuinely something I enjoy and am interested in. I like efficiency, if there’s an easier way to do things, I want to know or be able to figure it out. I also like to design things and IT covers all aspects of these interests as IT is everything from making things work to creating the user experience

When it Began

It’s hard to pinpoint but during high school, I hated not knowing how to do something in an app or program or I would always want to know the features of programs. I would often find myself spending lengthy amounts of time going through all the options of a program and just trying out what they do. Because of this experimentation, I was then the person people would go to for help with program features and also easily give advice when people didn’t know how to do something. It felt pretty rewarding when I was able to help someone and also teach them something new. The following years, I made friends who coincidentally had all studied gaming to some degree, most had finished their studies and they all really enjoyed the content and showed their work. I was so impressed and intrigued by it.

Event That Sparked Interest

There was a turning point I can recall was when I was at a gaming convention in 2019 and I got to try VR. I thought that it was unreal how something like this could be created and wanted to immerse myself into this next generation of gaming. So I got my own VR headset and found myself frustrated at the limited game options for it so far. Which is when I then decided that it’s time to learn how it works and how things are made for it. Having friends who had already studied game development gave me the confidence I needed to start studying as they were so encouraging and supportive of the idea. While learning I realised how fun programming is, I found it incredibly rewarding and fulfilling when I made something work or could solve a problem on my own. Not only that, this industry nurtured my creative interests as it was also artiscally involved. This is when I realised that there is a career for me that encumbers all my interests.

Experience In IT

Although limited, my experience in IT mainly stems from game development. I’ve had a lot of involvement in the process of developing games like creating the UI, creating stories, programming , developing the user experience, learning how to use different software such as Github, Blender, Visual Studio, Unity, sourcetree, Photoshop, and Audacity. I’ve done game testing, I’ve recorded and presented data in spreadsheets that explains whether a game is balanced or not and I have very briefly touched on artificial intelligence and augmented reality.

Why I chose To Study At RMIT

I chose RMIT because the Bachelor of IT course it offers covers many topics of interest in a reasonable time frame. Not only this but it had an option for distance education and as a person who works as well as studying, I needed that flexibility to watch lectures and complete the content when it suits my schedule. RMIT also offers allocated hours of personal tutoring sessions every learning period and I felt secure knowing that I have a lot of tools at my disposal for success. It gave me the confidence that I can get help if I feel stuck as a distance learner may not have those peer connections to help learn the content. The tutoring services are also available 24/7 which is the support offer that helped solidify the decision to choose RMIT.

What I expect To Learn During My Studies

I expect to learn enough about most areas of IT to have a fair concept about each area. This degree covers a lot of topics so that I’m able to gain experience in a lot of fields of study which would enable the decision on what I may want to pursue further. I appreciate the variety as it gives a lot of choices that other degrees would not include which opens many more opportunities for future job prospects as I will have a lot of experience in most aspects of IT.

Ideal Job

What Makes This Appealing To Me

This position requires an individual with experience in a lot of areas to help develop an educational game. They will be required to outline a roadmap that covers all aspects of development and business requirements to the finished product. Be able to create a mock-up of the game idea in accordance with the roadmap and able to create features necessary pertaining to the goal. The responsibilities involve creating the user experience, present ideas in accordance with KPIs needed, come up with ideas for development based on KPIs.

Skills, Qualifications and Experience Required For Position

The individual has proven experience and hands-on involvement in the industry of a senior game designer position. They have experience with creating a successful game from scratch or multiple successful games. Have a deep understanding of the user experience and writing complex game design documentation and development files. They must be organised, have great interpersonal skills to work in a team, have great analysis skills and have an eye for detail. They need the experience that brings a team together, to keep up motivation, stick to a timeline and quotas, know what makes a great game and know their market.

Skills, Qualifications and Experience I Currently Have

I have experience in working in teams on multiple projects varying from modifying a game to introduce more mechanics to win, writing a pitch of a potential game to present to investors, creating a game and presenting it and recording gameplay data and analysing it to balance a game. All of those which involved coordinating a team, good communication skills and conflict resolution skills, time organisation skills including schedule meetings, task allocation of certain time frames for meeting deadlines. Each project gave me the hands-on experience to pitch a game with examples and a mock up, develop it, add in features accordingly and document the entire game development process all in a team.

Plan On How I Will Obtain Skills, Qualifications and Experience

Despite the current experience, it would be ideal to create a game from scratch independently and document the process to truly understand all aspects of designing a game. Although working in a team to design games has given me a great deal of knowledge of the processes, there are definitely parts of the scripts and design elements that I would not have worked on personally and if the team needed help in some aspect, I would not have had that first-hand experience to be able to solve an issue and push the team forward. I also do not have a full grasp on what a realistic time constraint would be for different games or various complexity and lengths, how many people it would take to make it possible or how much is too many that would cause a too many-cooks situation. Although I have made games in a team, everyone involved had been relatively new in development which would heavily contribute to how long a game would take to make. Over time this would become quicker with more practice. In order to fit the criteria of this job, in my spare time or in jobs leading up to one of seniority, I would practise making games from start to finish to solidify the processes involved and increase my speed. A senior developer would ideally have many years of experience with many different teams. In order to get to that stage I would work in the industry to gain the knowledge of how to work with many different personality types and scenarios in order to bring those experiences to resolve issues in a future team. I would also further develop my programming skills to involve many other languages in order to increase my versatility across multiple game development platforms, it will allow me to use many different engines for different applications thus furthering my ability to resolve technical issues that the team may encounter. A good leader is someone who can lead by example, who can pass on knowledge and is adaptable and prepared. Things that are only gained by knowing the ins and outs of an industry and encountering and solving many problems which come with time spent working.

Results of MBTI, Learning Style, and Big 5 Personality Test

What Do These Results Mean To Me

The general consensus of the two personality-based tests (16 personalities[1] and big 5[2]) was that my strengths lie in making sure that people’s needs come before my own, that I thrive on routine and structure and have a strong sense of duty to my obligations. This personality type needs structure and respects hierarchy and relies on clear tasks. I take on a lot of responsibilities and care deeply about my peers’ feelings. I enjoy being around people and need to work on a team as I get fulfilment in helping others and bringing people together.. Although my strengths lie in connecting to others, the other side of this is being too sensitive and I often worry and try very hard not to upset people. It makes me vulnerable to criticisms and will generally avoid conflicts and divert topics to do so. I can draw accuracies from my learning style test[3] as I do learn by seeing how a task is done, I picture ideas in my head before I implement them. My results state that I am attracted to colour and stories that are rich in imagery which I can attest to as I find the most enjoyment from games and entertainment that is visually appealing and rich in colour use and detailed design, I also love a great spoken story that I can play out the images in my mind. Although a lot of the values align with my behaviours and my beliefs, there are many that do not. I have taken the Myer-Briggs test multiple times with varying results which seem to be heavily influenced by whatever mood I’m in or varying stages of my life. Which is unsurprising as people grow and change over the years, their values shift due to life experiences. The same could be said for the big 5 personality test. The learning style test seems to be fairly accurate as I do find it a more effective way to learn when I see something being done. I seem to score fairly evenly in all areas however the majority falls into visual learning. Although some critiques I have is that the some of the questions may have varying answers for whatever mood you may be in. For instance, the question about what you do when you give directions where the choices are, describe landmarks, name streets or just get the person to follow you to the destination may not be a result of your capabilities to recall directions but may be a result of your consideration of the other person’s capabilities. There’s a lot of assumptions in there that aren’t really specified. You may even identify with multiple answers but the test only allows the choice of 1. So although the results may give you a fair idea of your learning style, maybe you learn effectively equally in multiple styles.

How Do I Think These Results Affect Me In A Team

These results suggest that my behaviour in a team would be to do what’s best and strive for a win-win situation where possible. I’d strongly push for structure and routine for tasks and a rule-set and use my personality to bring a team together without being too overbearing. Thus hopefully creating an environment where people are comfortable with speaking to one another and know what needs to be done and when. My team would come first and I would be the first to lend a hand where possible as I feel a strong sense of duty to my peers and completing tasks. Because I enjoy working in a team, I find it motivating to collaborate with others which would keep the project on track and keep discussion active thus hopefully keeping the team motivated.

How Do I Take This Into Account When Forming A Team

When forming a team, this personality would be more than willing and gladly work with a variety of people and personality types. They would thrive mostly with a team with a set leader, set tasks and expectations. This kind of personality although very versatile, some considerations should be made such as making sure the team they are inserted into doesn’t have too many strong personalities clashing with one another that may disrupt order and processes. Ideally the team should be filled with similar personality types as they just want to complete what needs to get done and help one another to reach the end goal.

Project Idea

Overview

This is a VR application that helps individuals in a calming environment that teaches everyday, useful tasks and allows users to practise them until they feel confident to use the learned skills in real life. Users can interact with their surroundings with real world physics with useful tips, calming music and a simplistic user interface to navigate through the tasks at hand. It appeals to tactile learners where involvement engages interest and you can see a finished product which encourages a sense of achievement. This project will be developed in a games engine and aims to be as accessible as possible for many different demographics.

Motivation

A sample of 2000 millennials surveyed in 2018 by Airtasker [1], 50% admit they struggle with everyday tasks. Some of the data also records specific tasks that the sample group were not confident in doing such as 84% admit they are not confident in changing a lightbulb and 82% would not be confident cleaning a car. These staggering numbers are increasing as priorities shift to pursuing full time education and work from a young age and young people are leaving home later which generally negates the need for household tasks as parents usually handle those and thus the skills are not learned. That’s where the need for such an application to fill those gaps comes in.

Description

The proposed program is an interactive educational game for all ages to relax and enjoy while learning helpful skills for everyday tasks. While simulators are not a new concept, simulators used for these particular activities are lacking. Flight simulators are a cost effective way for pilots to gain experience with little to no risks, why not apply that to everyday activities. This app can even be applied to learning a new hobby without using the funds to purchase the materials and equipment for something that the user may not even end up enjoying. Not everyone is afforded the same life experiences and education on skills that are considered to be taught outside of school which is where this program comes in. While using search engines to learn how to do every day things has been helpful, there’s no substitute for hands-on experience. This interactive skills simulator offers an option to those who are tactile learners where watching a video and reading instructions may not provide the most effective form of educational delivery.

Tools and supplies can be expensive and in some tasks you risk injury without supervision from an experienced individual or you risk causing damage to items if you try to repair them. This app aims to provide a cost effective means for learning as most people have access to a computer with minimum specifications to run virtual reality or a basic game in general. The program utilises virtual reality where the user can explore their environment, pick up items and use items to complete tasks that they can then apply to the real world. Skills that can be investigated include but are not limited to mending clothes, changing a tire, lawn mowing, house painting, woodwork, patching a hole in a wall, putting air in tires, and cleaning. Features and considerations to be made include but are not limited to:

-Making sure the game is accessible, ensuring the resolutions are not too intense so graphics and physics are not too demanding on equipment.

- A non-virtual reality mode for those who do not own VR capable equipment

- Simplistic user interface to cater for a wide variety of age demographics as too much stylising can be distracting and confusing. Too many options can be overwhelming.

- A calming environment with relaxing ambient and positive encouraging prompts

- Available in multiple languages thus furthering accessibility

This game helps individuals learn helpful everyday life skills in a controlled environment. Where changing a tire and sewing can be hazardous if you don’t know what you’re doing, this game provides an area in which to learn. Many people can be ashamed to ask to learn these skills as they are generally viewed as skills parents should have already taught you, this program provides a shame-free area to practise. It will have real world physics to emulate the movement of objects using the Unity engine. This product will be available in steam which is a digital distribution service to allow for worldwide delivery.

Describe Software, Hardware, And/Or Other Equipment Needed

For the most efficient results, a team would need to be formed to cover the large amount of aspects involved with creation. To develop the game the software involved would be a physics engine such as Unity should be used, 3D modelling software such as blender, use of an IDE to program in, most likely Microsoft visual studio. A physics shader such as ShaderToy will need to be used. Where music is involved, sound equipment and music editing software. The development team would also need a VR headset and a pc with minimum capabilities to support VR and render 3D images.

Describe Skills Needed and How Feasible It Is To Obtain Necessary Software and Hardware Required

The skills required are knowledge of C# programming language to be used in Visual studios in conjunction with Unity. Scripts will need to be written for the game. The developers will need to know how to model and render 3D images and program physics shaders using OPenGL shading language. It would not be difficult to find the resources online to learn such programming as many resources and tutorials exist online. The software involved and mentioned are all free to the public. Unity however becomes a paid service when an individual earns more than $100K per annum but is otherwise free. Most people own a PC capable of running basic games and basic VR is available even on smart mobile phones when can be inserted into a headset which is an affordable and feasible means of using VR technology.

Outcome

If successful, people old and young alike wanting to learn or improve skills will be able to do so from the comfort of their own home. If successful, the need for expenditure for tools and equipment to learn these skills will not be necessary which will save people money, time and space and people will be confident trying out the tasks and know what equipment is needed if they ever come across an issue. This development will hopefully build a more confident community and enable people to have the ability to help others if their neighbours or friends need a hand. People will have the option to save money on hiring a handy person which is beneficial to those on a budget especially in an economy where the cost of living has skyrocketed.

References

[1] https://www.16personalities.com/

[2]https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test

[3]http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml

[4] https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/millennials-wiling-to-pay-someone-to-complete-everyday-tasks/48483/ 7th August 2019