D1

D1

I have given myself a timescale of 60 weeks to make my game, I believe this an adequate time to make a game that only has around 6 hours of gameplay to it and also won’t be too complicated to make due to the fact that the setting of the game isn’t the biggest due to it being set in a village. In that time, I will have to do things such as my research, story, script, gameplay ideas, concept art, game levels, voice overs, graphics, advertising, game engine, sound and music, prototype, testing, prototype release, bug fixes/game improvements, testing, advertising and finally the game release. All this in my opinion can be achieved in a time period of 60 weeks and I have proven this in the development of my Gantt chart. In my Gantt chart I have set out how long each section of my development will take and when I need to start and finish each one. For example, due to my Gantt chart I now know that my research for my game should take around 4 weeks to do, after my research comes my story development, my story development will begin on the last week of my research and will take 3 weeks to complete. Thanks to my Gantt chart I now know how everything is going to be set out and when I need to be finishing each section of development, this is useful as it can justify my 60-week time period that I have given my game.

As for the popularity of my game it is something that I need to worry about less despite it being an indie game, the indie game scene is on the rise in recent years with the amount of games being put on kick funding sites such as Steam on the increase. In fact, Steam is becoming so popular that now other websites are being set up to support the indie game scene to make sure less indie games get unnoticed, sites such as Itch.io is a site that offers a pay what you want technique and offers minimum pricing. Due to this it has become hugely popular and it was revealed by Itch’s co-founder Leaf Corcoran that the company has already paid out $393,000 to developers which is likely to rise. Not only that but due to sites such as YouTube and Twitch, games have become more recognised and popular than ever. If a YouTuber or Twitch streamers plays my game, especially one that is very popular and well known, then it can lead to my game being instantly well recognised and well received in the games industry. This is something that is crucial as it could lead to a massive increase in sales for the game as people may want to check out what their favourite YouTuber or Twitch streamers is playing. The best way to make sure that the games do get played by these people I could possibly hand out free copies to them as then they will be more encouraged to give the game a chance and if they like it then it can only benefit me in the short and long term.

From looking at other well received and popular indie games I have noticed that they the majority seem to be released in August or September, therefore, the launch date for my game will be August. This is a more sensible idea in my opinion, one reason for this is because it means my game will avoid the Christmas surge of games that are released either in December or near it just in time for Christmas, by doing this they maximise their profits. This usually includes the big franchises such as Call of Duty and Battlefield; I also have to consider games such as FIFA who usually release their games in September. If I released my game too near Christmas, then I would be competing against the big companies and franchises and that is something I wouldn’t be able to win, this would then probably result in my game going under the radar as it is highly unlikely that someone would pick my game over one of the bigger ones, therefore I will take the precautionary measures to make sure that doesn’t happen. As for the budget of my game it will arguably be in the tens of thousands, this is due to the fact that my game would only be receiving funding off me and off a kick-starter campaign meaning the amount of my money available to me will be quite small, on top of that my budget won’t have to be that big anyway due to the fact that I won’t have any multiplayer features on my game and I won’t have to advertise it at a mass level in terms of things such as TV adverts.

P5E

P5E-Legal/Ethical Issues

When making my video game I need to think of possible legal and ethical issues before my game is released on the market. One of the biggest legal factors I need to get right is the age rating of my game. The age rating of my game will be a 16 due to it having strong language in it and a decent amount of strong violence. The definition of a sixteen is applied once the violence in a game reaches the same as it looks within real life, there would also be an element of bad language as well since my game includes all this. Therefore, it makes sense to make sure it is at the right rating just to be safe. Another thing that will have to be done is that I will have to make sure that the trailer that I create doesn’t give false impressions about the game, so for example if the trailer has loads of different clips of the game in it and then I change the game and take those bits out of the game this could cause problems. This is because if someone buys the game based off what they saw in the trailer and then I do not update the trailer I have given that person a false impression and that means that I have made someone buy the game based off something that isn’t even in it, in other words I have mislead them.

Another legal factor that I need to keep in mind is Copyright, this could include things such as product advertising, certain areas of the game (if it is based off a real place), the script and the story as well as other things such as the music. For things like the script and story I will need to make sure that it isn’t identical to any others from past games otherwise it will lead to the creators of that game claiming that I have copied it without their permission. The same applies for things such as product advertising and music, unless someone asks me to put it in the game for them I will otherwise have to ask them permission before including it as for things such as music I will need to pay the artist for their work before I can include it in my game, this is also known as royalties. As for product advertising it would be the same concept, although usually it would be the other way round as the company would ask me and pay me to include their brand so that would be the least of my worries when it came to Copyright.

I have to also make sure people are not offended by the way the characters in my game are portrayed and represented. For example, if I have a character that is from a certain race, religion or gender then I cannot use stereotypes to describe the character as that would be offensive to that group of people and would give the wrong perception to everyone else about someone in that certain group. I have to be careful with how I have certain characters that I create, the women in my game can’t always be seen as the ones needing rescuing and need to offer something in my game to suggest otherwise. My game doesn’t just need to avoid stereotypes; it also needs to represent a wide range of different people. Britain where my game is based is full of all different cultures and beliefs and this needs to be shown in my game as it would be unfair to just have a group of white characters who are all Catholics or Christians. I need to include all groups such as Muslims, Hindus, Jews and so on. That way everyone will be receiving a fair representation.

 

P5D

P5D-Target Audience

The target audience for my game will be anyone who is in to an adventure/action as these are the two main genres of my game. The game offers the players plenty of action during the game and is definitely an adventure game that they would enjoy as it is a fairly large village that gives the players a lot to explore whether that be one of the houses which will all be accessible, the main centre in the village as well as the surrounding woods where the player will be able to go a certain amount of distance.

Anyone who is in to first person games will also be able to enjoy this game as it offers both first, second and third person options which can be experienced for the whole game. This will be done in the hope that more people who enjoy varying views during their gameplay will be more attracted to play the game. The game is also arguably more aimed at the casual gamers compared to the more hard-core gamers, this is because the game offers no online and only has a story mode on it.

This means it is more suitable for the casual gamers who only play their games occasionally as it isn’t a game that’s going to have people playing it for years as after someone has finished the 6 hours of story mode there isn’t much else to do on the game unless someone wants to re-play the story mode they have just finished. My game rating will be a 15 due to the action that is involved in the game, this means that the age range for my game will be anyone who is 15 or above.

The game I will be producing will cost money if someone decides to buy it, although I haven’t decided the price just yet it won’t be something that is too expensive as I don’t want to put people off when they are interested in the game. Hopefully, if the price is an acceptable one more people would be willing to buy the game and that will in turn increase my sales. The reason the game isn’t actually free is because there will be nothing such as DLC’s coming out that someone would have to pay for meaning I will charge people straight away to make a profit on the game.

The game will be released on most games consoles which includes PS4, XBOX ONE, PS3, XBOX 360 and PC. By doing this I will be able to increase the amount of people who are actually playing my game and by doing this I will be able to make a bigger profit overall on my game. I also think this is fairer as by bringing it out on so many different gaming platforms as this means that less people who may want to play my game.

P5B

P5B

Planning and Design

Firstly, we will have to set up a storyboard to help plan out certain levels within the game as this will then give me a set structure and give me a better idea and understanding of what my game and levels are going to look like before I try to make them. This is useful as this means the game won’t look rushed if it’s already pre-planned as it would have been well planned out. It also means that if I have a set structure then I won’t question a certain level that I am making as I will already know the design that I was going for. I also created a Gantt chart, a Gantt charts aim is to offer a project schedule to people, meaning it would be very beneficial to me in making sure I hit my deadlines. This is because it allows me to work out when I need to start the next part of my project and when it needs to be finished, without this I would have no structure which would make it so much more likely that I would go over the 60 week target I have set myself.

Development

I have many different development stages to do with my game that is set out over a 60-week period, which I believe is an appropriate time to make a game. My development includes, research, story, script, gameplay ideas, concept art, game levels, voice overs, graphics, advertising, game engine, sound and music, prototype, testing, prototype release, bug fixes/game improvements, testing, advertising and finally the game release. I believe these are all things necessary to the development of my game or any game. To help me stick to a structure for the development

Characters

For my game I will have to create my main character first of all as this is key for my game as a main character is something that is needed for a player to control and route behind. For my game I have created a character called Teddy Tent who plays a detective. I will then have to create other side characters who are less significant than the main character but still play a big role within the game. The side characters will be there to help the main character in his missions with useful information and help as these will be people who know the place that the game is based in unlike the main character Teddy. Next comes the villain, the main character, or the good guy, will need a villain to compete against as the game is basically based on Teddy trying to defeat the villains in the game. For my game there will be numerous villains for Teddy to defeat as he will be trying to defeat an evil cult, this is probably a good thing as it extends the game time which in turn makes it more interesting for the people playing the game. I will then also include background characters, although they aren’t relevant they are still important, by that I mean they are characters who have no input in the game or any value but are there for effect in order to give off a more realistic feeling to the game. These characters will be likely be duplicated all over the map in different outfits as the player isn’t going to spend any real time with them and will only pass them in a street, meaning I can save myself some time.