Case Study

The Production Timeline AOPM1

Here is the main and very basic production timeline as you can see you start with ideas and once you start formulating plans and start getting an idea of what you want the product to be / look like you can move to production to start development. If as a team the idea changes or doesn’t work you go back to pre production to think and see what and where you wanna go to from there. Once you get the idea you want and its final after the core product has been made you move to post production which includes everything that happens after or in the final stages of the production of the product.

The production process

Firstly you get ideas which can be done by game designers. If they have an idea they6 can pitch it to a team of people to see if it will be worth working on and completing.

Next you move to pre production, in this stage a small group of people take about what the game is gonna be and hows it gonna work. You would find answers to questions such as. Who is the audience? How long will it take to develop?. This small tema normally consists of maybe a producer a programmer and an artist. so its not many people and the team is very small and used to see if they think the game will work or be viable and if it will sell and be successfull.

Production is the longest stage of the process and is all hands on deck. It can take anywhere from 1-4 years maybe even more depending on the size of the game and the team you have to make it. This is where the game starts to take shape as you have all the teams working on there speciality which adds together to make the game. During development their goal is to hit certain milestones. A big one is Reaching the MVP which is the minimum viable product from here we have milestones in development such as vertical slice pre alpha, alpha , beta. One the game has reached all these the last milestone is gold master which is when the game is ready to be published. Then we are in post production in which the agme is checked to see if its 100% and also publishing and marketing of the game can happen.

Preproduction the most important stage?

Preproduction is arguably the most important stage of the pipeline. Pre development is the stage before the game is being made where in which a small team get together including maybe a member from every specialty to talk about the game. They answer big questions about demand for that type of game, how it is going to work, will it make money, how will it be made. the answers to these questions determine if the game is gonna make money and be successful before starting development so in the chance that the team doesn’t think it wi8ll do well they wont waste there time making a game over a few years. So the purpose of this is to make sure the game is worth making and will make money and obviously this is the most important stage as if this want here companies would lose lots of money on wasted time and effort games that either wont sell or just wont be possible to make and achieve

Production stage.

The production stage is the main and longest stage this happens when the gams has been pitched and agreed upon and this is where everyone starts working on the game. each team starts working on there speciality for example. artists start making the art and assets fore the game and the devs start working on the gameplay mechanics. In pore development there is normally just one of each role talking about the game or maybe a couple to get the idea of the game formulated and ll the bog questions asked. In development its all hands on deck so all of each role is doing there part for the game. They normally have a lead in there field for example a lead animator a lead programmer and these people keep there team in order and keep them organised. Above these people is the producer this person keeps all the teams working together in synchrony and not going off on tangents which could affect negatively on the game. Producers are very important in keeping the workflow for the game efficient and making sure that the game and the teas hit milestones in development and go further into getting a fully finished game.

Difference between alpha beta and master

Alpha is the stage in which all key features and foundations are lay down and is a very basic and uncompleted version of the game whereas beta is the second major milestone and is where the game is a lot more advanced and key elements of the game are normally not changed. At this stage is basically just finding bugs in code and fixing them and making sure that the game works and is smooth the master or gold master should contain no bugs and be completely finished this version is sent to the publisher to be released to the public.

Post production.

Post production happens when the game has been made and its ready for release but at this stage there are still some things that happen and some tasks that have to be done. So firstly some people are relegated to maintenance of the game and keeping it working for example if any bugs arise and also a team may be put on making dlc for the game. Others may move onto a new project or even a sequel for the game. But mainly in post production part is the post mortem/debrief which is where all the code and assets are stored incase they are needed but the teams talk about how the game could have went better and what went well and didnt so that the next project can go even better and even smoother.

Job Roles and Hierachies

QA and Producers

A qa or quality assurance is someone who tests a game or product to see if it works and games companies normally hire a few or a team of them to play and test the game before release or to test game updates before they release them to the public.

Their job is to play a companies game and look for bugs and glitches that they find while playing.; They dont play the game to enjoy it their job is to test different things and if they find a bug report it to the team it relates to so they can fix it before release

We have them to make sure that the quality of a game is as higha s possible. if a game is going to release they want it to be as stable and bug free as possible so this is why we have them as they help keep games bugfree and fun to play.

It is a good route into industry because is because you get to know people in industry and you get to show that you are hardworking and determined in front of people making the game so it can open opportunities in the future for you and can be a good route into games.

The way the other teams is when they find a bug they will get in contact with the team that is responsible for that part of the game, For example if there is an animation bug they will demonstrate and show the animating team the problem whereas if its a gameplay bug they will show the dev team as they can work on fixing it. This helps the production of products as it means the game works is stable and works well so there needs to be no wasted time if they release with bugs and need to fix it

Producers

A producer is kind of like the management of the game they overlook the different teams and what they are doing and working on

They make sure all the different teams are meeting deadlines and making sure that all the teams are collaborating and making progress towards the end product

We have them so that the different teams stay focused on the goal and to make sure that the teams are still working collaboratively even though they are working on different aspects of the game

if we didn’t have them industry would be a nightmare. different teams would go on different tangents and maybe work on things that wont work in the game. Teams would also probably les focused and sure what there targets and end goals were so teams would run into problems and maybe cause delays with the game. Without them a game would be majorly delayed and most likely would cost a company lots of money due to countless mistakes which is caused by the lack in communication

Hieracrchies

As you can see there is a hierarchy in teams when it comes to game development and with it comes different roles and responsibilities. So im gonna focus on programmers. So a junior programmer is the lowest in the chain they most likely will work on little things such as bugs and small gameplay features they will also most likely be looked over by someone higher such as a normal programmer or senior. A senior or lead is higher up the chain and has more responsibility. They probably overlook and work with a group of programmers and they will work on bigger more important things. SO the senior or lead will be overlooking making sure his team are making progress towards the goal. At the top manager or director they will overlook everyone and make sure all the small teams of programmers are working well and that all the features are getting made and that deadlines are being met.

Target Audience

A target audience is the group of people you are aiming to market your product or game towards and make them want to buy your product. You would define your target audience in a few ways. Firstly age is a big factor. You need to know what age you are aiming for to target your product towards them for example a gory violent game isn’t aged at children it would be aimed towards adults. Another factor is culture. Some countries have laws and beliefs so if you are aiming for a certain culture it would have to fit in with there beliefs and laws. Also gender is a big thing as a very feminine pink game wouldn’t be suited for boys it as it would be more targeted at girls of a young age.

It is very important to define your target audience because if you want your game to make money you need to know you have a target audience who might like the game and buy your product. For example if you had a really childish game but lots violence and gore. you wont really have a target audience and no one will buy your product but if you focus on a target audience and make a game a fun childlike game then you know you are gonna have a lot of interest and you are gonna make good profit.

target audience is linked quite close to the amount of profit your game is gonna make. as you need to have a good focused target audience to make much profit and if you really do make your game closely linked to your target audience you are most likely gonna have a lot of people from that group buying your game causing you to make lots of profit.

Regulatory Bodies

Pegi and esrb are regulatory bodies in which review games and their content to give age ratings for the game. These are important for consumers as it informs them about the game and its content as some people may be affected by certain content. so this helps inform consumers before they buy so they know the game is suitable for them. If we didn’t have them we could run into lots of problems as people may get games that weren’t suitable for them that could have content not suitable for that age. This would cause lots of problems for companies and lots of maybe anger from fans and consumers. This could lead to a loss in future profit and a bad reputation.

These are the descriptors that pegi looks for

All of these are adult themes and have a big influence on the final rating that the game will get. For example a game could have nothing of 7 but if it had a very descriptive and detailed sexual content then the game would get a high pegi rating. The way the pegi system works is it doesent really matter if it has any of these descriptors as part of its content. the way the pegi system works is it is about how severe these are. so if a game has mild sex violence and infrequent language the game may get a 12 whereas if the game has severe sexual content and gory violence then the game could get rating such as an 18.

These regulatory bodies are linked to target audience as if you are aiming for a certain demographic or age group you want the pegi rating to be at this age or below so that it can be bought from your target audience which means that when thinking about your target audience you need to make sure these descriptors are either avoided or aimed for depending on who you are aiming the game

Market Research

WII2 Know the regulatory, ethical and legal requirements applicable to the games, animation and VFX industries WII3. Understand how products in the games, animation and VFX industries are taken to market

Market research is important and is where you gather research about the your consumers needs and wants so you can cater your product to them and make as much money as you can. It involves lots of aspects like researching what’s popular in the market and what sells but also where there is a gap and where you could make the most money if you made a product there. To make a successful product you need to sell your product to as many people as possible and market research helps with this massively as you can research the areas of the market that make money and sell and where your product would fit. SOme aspects that come under market research are.

Platform of release- You want to see which platforms do the best with your type of product for example if games similar to yours sell really well on pc you may want to make that your primary platform of release.

Target audience- If you are aiming for a certain target audience you may wanna see whats trending with that audience and what kind of games that audience are playing and interacting with

Genre- You might wanna see what genres are big and selling well but on the other hand if a market is too saturated you may wanna avoid that genre and go somewhere else. A good way of seeing what genres possible is seeing what youtubers and streamers are playing s they have a big influence over there audience who will probably wanna play that game too

Impact of market research- Market research helps massively and can impact your game and determine whether its a success or failure. This is because t helps you focus your game and know which market and audience you are going tro sell your game too and helps you know how is the best way of doing so.

It is important to do at the start of development so you know from the start the exact way you are gonna make your game fit into the market and can focus on making it fit those parenthesis as close as possible so that your product has the best chance of selling and doing well in the market.

Market research links quite heavily with financial success. Without research and just making a game can make it fail and not do very well and you will have to be lucky to make good money. whereas if you research before hand you know exactly how to get the attention of your market and cater to them so you can make good money and profit. However either way not all games will sell. With or without market research games can fail and can be successful. Market research helps make this chance of success higher and can make your game be even more successful and make more money

World Building – Design and practice.

ISIW 1 Understand the concept of an imagined world in relation to games ,animation and vfx industries.

So im gonna be using the scenario ” your making an animated film about a world that has become uninhabitable”

-Time period is gonna be a little in the future around 2050

– The movie is gonna be set in a destroyed run down post war london

– The back story is in 2040 conflicts between Korea and America had started to go and unrest was happening in both places. The conflict grew when a us soldier killed some Korean nationals and then war broke out. between 2040-2046 the war just grew and grew and more countries got involved on both sides. It became the biggest war in history as nearly every country was involved in 2049 the Korean force and there allies grew weak and that’s when the war became nuclear every one of their nukes were fired and us and their allies retaliated . It became know as “the day the clock hit 12” in reference to the doomsday clock. 95% of all living creatures perished on that day and another 4 percent dies in the next few months. The last 1 percent live in a broken world with no means of to survive and nothing to eat apart from spare food they can find in the ruins. This one percent are just delaying the inevitable as the world is to broken and radioactive to reproduce and illness and death is inevitable as time goes on.

-The area this focuses on is gonna be specifically post war london

-I want this movie to seem as real as possible in a real world

-The level of technology is really low now as everything id gone. all infastyructure is destroyed there isnt technology or electricity that really works anymore

-clothing is the same but the character has dirty clothes with maybe holes in to show the effect of war and reflect the broken world

-Not may animals live in the world only some in specific places but in our movie the character thinks he is the only one left as he hasnt seen any animals. There are still some people but with 99 percent dead not many are around and the world is a lonely place

-The buildings are what you would expect now its our world but the world has been destroyed by explosives and debris so the world is a mess buildings are mainly destroyed or broken down

-The landscape like destroyed and ugly. there are craters everywhere and debris covering the earth. most plants are dead causing the world to be dull and look dead. The world being dead caused by man just reflects the feelings of the movie as basically everything is dead and life is over

How does the world effect your game

The visuals are gonna be realistic with real actors and scenes but very dull and grey. this is to reflect the dead feeling of the earth and can be backed up by the clouds of dust and radiation caused by the war.

I have already mentioned the story i will paste again.

The back story is in 2040 conflicts between Korea and America had started to go and unrest was happening in both places. The conflict grew when a us soldier killed some Korean nationals and then war broke out. between 2040-2046 the war just grew and grew and more countries got involved on both sides. It became the biggest war in history as nearly every country was involved in 2049 the Korean force and there allies grew weak and that’s when the war became nuclear every one of their nukes were fired and us and their allies retaliated . It became know as “the day the clock hit 12” in reference to the doomsday clock. 95% of all living creatures perished on that day and another 4 percent dies in the next few months. The last 1 percent live in a broken world with no means of to survive and nothing to eat apart from spare food they can find in the ruins. This one percent are just delaying the inevitable as the world is to broken and radioactive to reproduce and illness and death is inevitable as time goes on.

Due to this our character is in the world trying to find people and survive but witj everything being dead and the world basically unliveable the movie is gonna show the effects a war could have and its gonna be a very sad and lonely experience for him. also a very painful one as he has lost everything

The character is gonna one guy called Fred who survived the war and has came out of his bunked just trying to piece everything together and cope. he is gonna be the only main character with a possibility of seeing others. but i want to portray this lonely sad feeling through as many ways as possible and the effects war has had on the war and the people who survived.

What key things will happen as a result of your world design

The war on the world has caused many effects and events. The world at this point itself is basically dead not many plants and barely any animals so its gonna be hard for the character to survive and he has to fight for his survival and look for food and means to survive.

Also the radiation has broken the climate weather is completely different and unprediactable and rain and storms are acidic due to the chemicals in the air making it very dangerous and hard to survive.

Over time the world is gonna get worse and slowly deteriorate until no one and nothing lives. the world will one day become just nothing a lifeless planet caused by the conflicts and greed of mankind and their inventions.

idk if there could be a sequel as the plan is that the world ends and so dies the main character he held out for as longa she can but he eventually dies along with everyone else as the world becomes impossible to live on the end.

Monetization Models

PM 2 Plan Provision of requirements for a specific production

WII 1 Understand job roles , career structures and business models across the games , animation and vfx industries

WII 3 Understand how products in games , animation and vfx industries are taken into the market.

Premium- Is a set price for a game and can be for physical sales digital or any other type. The advantages to this is it guarantees the company money for every player they get and especially if its part of a franchise it can earn a company a lot of money from returning customers. On the other hand if its not part of a franchise and the price is too high new players may be wary of buying or paying the price as they might not know what to expect leading to less money and sales

DLC- There are many types of dlc in games but for this im gonna talk about the bigger ones. some examples of this are in breathe of the wild and all the call of duty games there will eb the base game and then different packs that come out over the year. Also players could get a season pass which gives all these dlcs maybe at a reduced price. This method has a lot of advantages as if people like the game this gives them a reason to keep coming back every time a dlc releases and can revitalize the hype around the game when one drops maybe bringing in new players. And this earns a lot of money due to the average season costing around £35-40. On the other hand if the game fails and doesent have many players all the time put int season passes may have been wasted and they may lose money. Also a player might enjoy the game but not enough to pay another £30+ for some more content.

Free To play- Free to play is where the game is free and you dont have to pay to play. this can come in different forms in mobile and other platforms. A great example on mobile is clash of clans and a great example on other platforms is fortnite. So this may seem like not a great way to make money but being free allows anyone to play the game and can open up the game to so many more players. As its free players dont need to really want the game to give it a go and a lot of players may play and really enjoy it and get hooked on the game. Free to play games normally have other methods included like ads or micro transactions so with this influx of players if they get hooked they are more likely to spend some money on the game. One downside is with it being free there is a chance that players wont spend money and this could cause them to earn not enough money and maybe lose money that they spent in development.

Production Management. Agile

PM 2 Plan the provision of requirments for a specific production

PM 3 Be able to co-ordinate a production process

What is Agile- Agile is a methodology in which is used in projects by teams developing a project in which a team looks at what they need to do and the tasks required for the project to be finished and do different processes to make the development process as efficient and successful as possible. Agile isn’t a specific way of doing something it is more of a methodology and there are different tools teams can use in the agile way. For example we have source control and repositories so that a team can all access all the files of the project and can all see the progress and work on the product effectively. Secondly scrum meetings are very important and can be part of this agile methodology. It is where a team gets together every x amount of time and talk about tasks they are doing and problems as a team. this lets the team see how the project is going and the progress each member is making so that the team can have good communication and know what they have to do for the project keeping the team working efficiently.

Agile helps us develop products in a few ways and also helps the team work highly productively. Firstly it helps the team keep track of what they need to do and what tasks need to be accomplished so they can stay focused on what needs to be done. Secondly things like scrum keeps all the team in communication and working as one so the team can work together to get all tasks done on time and together so that the product can be made as efficiently as possible. Thirdly a burndown chart helps the team see if they are ahead or behind target so the team can know how things are going and know if they maybe need to put some more time into the product or change something so they can keep working as best as they can and have the product released and made for the deadline they have set

Funding a project.

There are many ways in which developers and studios can fund their project and each have pros and cons to them.

Working with a publisher- Working with a publisher can be a great way to fund your project as they can help in many other ways aswell including sorting out some of the harder aspects of releasing a game like age ratings while giving money to fund the project. On the other hand to get a publisher you will be giving up a big equity in the game so they will be getting half the money the game makes and also lead a game how they want since they have money into it and hoping it works.

Crowd sourcing -`Crowd sourcing can be a great way to fund a game as you don’t have to give up any of the game and you can have that injection of money to make it. It can also make the community be a big part of the game and can maybe help have that core community ready for your game. On the other hand there are some cons. For example you may not get enough money or crowd support which could make it impossible to make the game. Also when the crowd have put money into your game they expect the product eventually so if it becomes hard and you feel like ending the development you will get lots of backlash so you basically have no choice but make the product as best as possible.

Grants/funding support- You can get money and grants from government and other places for your project. This is great as its free money from the government and you may be able to get tax returns on your game which is even more money if you fit certain criteria’s. Some cons to this is to get some of the tax returns you may be stuck and need to fit very certain criteria’s so it may take some of the freedom from your game. It can also be quite hard to get these grants aswell so it could be difficult.

Self funded- There are lots of pros to self funding for example it means the product is all yours and its your time and money thats used to make it. So you dont owe anyone anything and any money made will be yours. On the other hand doing it this way could make the game take a lot longer to make as you might need to keep getting money to put into it. Also if the game fails and doesn’t do well its all your money that you have lost and you will be at a loss

Investors- Investors can be a great way to get a large amount of money for your game and can bring your game to another level and make it possible to make it better than you imagined. On the other hand an investor will want an equity for their investment and this could be as high as 50-60 percent. This means half of the money the game makes wont be yours. Also with an investor they may want to see the game go a certain way or they may pull their investment out. this can take the freedom from your game and give them control on how it goes.

Loans- Loans can be a quick way to make money and get an injection for your game however its risky and their are probably more cons than pros. A loan will have interest that will build so you will have to pay a lot more back then you borrow. Also if the game fails this loan will still be their growing and you will need to pay it back. If its the company they will be liable and pay it back but if you are solo the loan will all be your problem and may be unpayable causing large debt for you in your life.

Publishers

Publishers may be a great way to fund your game and get it released but publishers do so much more than just fund the game. here is a list of extra things they can do.

Sales- they can have sales members who can help present and sell your game in differnt places

Marketing- They can try help give your game attention and show why it should be bought and help build interest.

Manufacturing- They can actually make the physical games that can be sold in stores of different platforms

Pr and social- They can make your game well known and be active on social media outlets building hype and getting attention for your game. They can also get in contact with influencers and streamers to play your game and show it off to their fans which can be massive in gaining popularity for your game.

Scrum

What is scrum?

Scrum at its core isn’t just a little meeting from a group it is a lot broader than that. Scrum is a framework that is used to help implement agile development. it is a very big part of project management and can include meeting in which a team gets together to talk about progress made on a project and a team can use this to communicate and see what they are going to work on and do moving on. In an ideal world a scrum meeting could be held in a team daily but this isn’t fixed and as it follows the agile principles a team can talk about what’s best for them. Another big part of this is user stories in which members in a team can ask other members of other specialties what they need and these can be the main focus and be used for the sprint.

Sprints?

A sprint is used as part of a scrum. A sprint is a time period after a meeting in which a team focused to get a minimum viable product release. Once an MVP is made new prints can happen to increase and make new features so that this prototype can keep getting built on . A sprint normal lasts 1-3 weeks in a project and after that sprint their will be an even longer scrum meeting to talk about what progress ahs been made and if the work has been done

These help us to develop projects very efficiently. It keeps the team all together in communication so as a team they can see progress and what’s being made. It helps teams outline if there is a problem and if so maybe find a solution and work around it. Also it helps keep the team focused and not stray away as the communication and the sprint goal means everyone knows what they have to be working on so that time isn’t wasted and the deadlines for the product can be met

The waterfall method was an older production management method where the base idea was set in stone and when you would only test what you built and only review what you tested. Im sure it was better than no management but scrum is a lot better for projects.. For example in scrum its possible to set different goals of what you want the product to be and have. You can basically change the whole idea if you needed and work on it from there to get the mvp whereas in the waterfall u need to stick to that idea and keep going till you have it right which I personally don’t think is as good and effective as

Immersion

There are many ways in which game devs create an immersive experience for players in their game.

Senses

Senses can be used in differnet ways in games to immerse the players.

Sight- Sight can be used as the game can have quite realistic visuals that can make a game immersive. It can make the player feel like they are in the world causing this feeling of realism. Also visual reactions when interacting with things in games can create that sense of immersion in a game.

Sound- Sound is massive in games when making an immersive experience different things such as ambient music sound effects and background effects that can do this. For example footsteps can make it feel like you are really walking and different effect due to actions. such as gunshots can make it feel like you are really making these things happen and the effect is really happening

Sound in games

Sound in games is used in may ways to portray different moods and to have different effects on the player. Sound can be used to build or show . Anticipation , atmosphere , reward the player , feedback/recognition and informative audio.

Anticipation– This can be shown through different ways. For example in a horror game eerie music can start when you enter somewhere or close to something this can build suspense and build that anticipation. Also anticipation can be built or shown using progressive music. so music that builds and builds as you get near something of interest to build that anticipation and then when you get there there can be a crescendo.

Atmosphere– Atmosphere in games is massive and is really important when establishing the mood and feeling of a game while immersing the player in a world that seems more alive. Creating atmosphere in games can be done by making background music for the game for example in a nice happy game maybe a light happy melody while in a horror game a dark screechy violin song. Using the right music for the right game can really be useful in establishing this mood of the game and creating more ambience. For example the music in animal crossing changing every hour and at different times of day can give off differnt feelings and moods

Reward the player– This can be done in many different scenarios in games. A big example is opening a chest in Zelda and that sound effect playing. doing this in game can really make the player feel good as if they have accomplished something and can really encourage the player to do more and maybe get another chest. Some other examples of this can be after killing bosses or doing quests. games will play little tunes which are normally quite happy and short and can just make the player want to keep going s they feel good about what they have done.

Feedback / Recognition– sound to do with feedback or recognition are basically in every game and most people probably don’t pay attention or realize but these sounds have been put for a reason. An example of this is when a player opens a menu or maybe clicks an option in game a sound will play. This can subtly add some immersion to the game and make the player feel like there choices are directly impacting the game making it more real and immersive. AN example of this is reload sounds in games like call of duty

Informative– Informative sound effects are used to tell the player something without straight up telling them. It is telling them through sound effects in games. A great example of this can be breaking someone shield in Warzone as you get the sound effect which tells you that they are now low health or in some games when you get a critical hit its a little higher pitched to tell you that you have done it. So these sound effects are used to give information to the player without breaking the immersion of the game by just having text or speech tell you.

Sound is very important for creating an immersive experience in games. this is because it can really be used to portray feelings and moods making the player feel like they are there and other sound effects that give off information or rewarding the player can really make you feel like you are there doing something and getting feedback or rewarded for it.

Legal and regulatory issues in the GAVFX industry

There are many different legal issues in the gavfx industry. Each if violate may come with their own consequences and legal probelms

Copyright Laws- If someone has a copyright or patent on something this can cause problems for developers if they maybe wanna do something thats similar. The person or people with the copyright have the full right to control their product. so if this is infringed upon it can be ordered to be take out or a company maybe sued for infringing on their copyright. Normally in these cases they will get rid of what is causing the copyright problem and change it.

Software licenses- Most software licenses are very particular and have conditions. For example in unity there are personal licenses and professional ones. If a company uses a license in the wrong way to make money the software they are usings company can use for money as it is breaking the agreement and they can get back money for the violation

Micro transactions- In games there are a lot of gambling and in many countries this is illegal for under 18s which means for the game to be legal their they would need to either make the rating an 18 or maybe exclude that aspect of the game for the country. If a company violates this they may be sued or face legal charges. A way to make these a little fair is having the odds of the drops in the game and make it known so that of someone decoded to buy one they know there chances and can make informed decisions

Country specific laws- in some countries there are many very specific laws just to that country for example a few years ago nazi symbols were vey censored in games such as wolfenstein so it would be a legal challenge if the game was posted without care. also in china there is a censorship against violence and gore. If a game is shipped and goes against these laws the country can challenge to block it and make it illegal in the country unless its changed which can cost the company lots of money.

Regulating means to keep control over something and keep it meeting certain standards etc this is why we have regulatory bodies in games to control them.

The regulatory bodies we have are ESRB and PEGI. These are in charge of doing the certification and age ratings of games.

It is important that products are regulated as if they aren’t there may be very bad consequences and different companies could get sued for their content. Like games with gambling need to be 18 or they may face big consequences for exposing children to that content so.

What makes games successful beyond core gameplay

There are many ways in which games are successful beyond the core gameplay. There are a lot of different features and additions that developers can add and normally do add to their game to increase the fun and depth and increases the chance of hooking people in to play their game more.

Multiplayer- Multiplayer is a massive one and one we see in the majority of games these days. Multiplayer brings players together ad lets players with the same interest play together and have fun doing what they enjoy. It also brings a massive competitive nature in a lot of games which helps engage audiences as they want to win. AN example of a game tat uses this well is fall guys. Fall guys is only multiplayer and a very competitive game . with their being only one winner it gives players that need to win and be the best which engages audience and makes people want to win to prove they are the best in the game.

Alternate endings- Alternate endings are a great way to make a game more successful. these are mainly for single player games so with their isnt any multiplayer this is the core game and alternate endings increase replay ability. A player can complete the game but then want to see the other endings and play the game different. A great example for this is Until Dawn as there are many endings in which different amount of people dying. These decisions changing the game can really make players want to play again to get better outcomes and better endings like saving all the characters.

High scores/ Online leaderboards- This is a great way in which can maybe make a game a lot more successful. This goes back to that competitive nature of gamers and the fact they want to be the best and be at the top. AN example of this is pacman. while the leaderboards aren’t online it makes a player want to get higher and higher score to see how good they can get and how well they can do. They always want to top their high score and become a better player

Achievements /challenges- these are a great in games and can really increase how well it does. Players like getting recognized for their feats so when you do great things and you get an achievement it makes you want to play more. also a lot of people like achievement hunting and collecting s many achievements as possible so this can bring that fun aspect to a lot of player games and makes it a lot more fun. A great example of this is one I’ve played red dead redemption 2 the achievements and different challenges such as the collectables and the hunting missions was great and really made the game a lot more fun having to get all the achievements. it definitely and the game better

Exam techniques

Time management- Time management is crucial when doing an exam and it means making sure you have enough time to complete all the questions and finish the exam. So doing to do this people my divided their time equally by the questions and if they run out of time move on to the next quickly It can keep people focused and prevent them from wasting time getting stuck on a question.

Question planning- Planning for each question can be very useful as you are making sure you know what the question is asking and know the structure in which you will answer it definitely focuses you if you do this as you stick to your plan. It also helps incase you get stuck you can look at your plan and know the direction your answer will take to prevent you going off course.

Paragraph structure- paragraph structure is a useful technique when answering questions as it keeps your work in a neat and orderly fashion. I don’t personally know if i will follow this technique as i forget when I’m in the moment but I definitely thing doing this increases the flow and conveys the answer you write in a better way.

I definitely think most these strategies will help me and I think that I will use the question planning and the time management when doing my exam as i think it will definitely keep me focused and going down the right lines for my questions

Example question.

Fall guys.

It is important to identify the target audience of a game so that a company can focus on making their product suited to that audience so the game can sell as much as possible. A target audience isnt just an age range but also gender and ca also be the type of player. So to identify the core audience of an existing game we should look at the style of which the game is in and what is included also on how the game is made. SO for fall guys it is a very fun friendly colorful game which makes it seem like the target audience is aimed towards younger children and younger generations it is a very fun squishy game. On the other hand with the competitive nature of the game and the company designing the game to be very competitive this opens up the target audience and can interest a lot of people all the way from teenagers to adults as seen in many othe rgmes they love compeoetitive games and this game has the basis of becoming a very competitive based game.

So if we are making a sequel this will impact the game massively as they will have to follow he same basis to keep their target audience tey will have to keep the squishy friendly style while keeping that competitive nature of the game. If they change anything or maybe make the game more violent or less child friendly then this means that the game would get higher ratings and wouldn’t have the same fun squishy effect it does now which could take a lot away from their target audience and not add anything to the game in sense of an audience or monetary gain

How to pitch your idea / game

Pitch Deck

There are many ways to pitch your idea and where and when you can do this. Firstly there are many ways in which you can structure a pitch and there isn’t really a set way. It also depends on who you are pitching too as some companies may have different requirements and things they want. In a pitch the main aspect is trying to sell your idea. Here as some things you can do or maybe wanna include to pitch your game in your pitch deck

-Include a detailed explanation of your game. Be detailed and enthusiastic so you look confident to others in your idea and may grab peoples attention and make them interested.

-Try and bring research and data such as sales charts etc to try show why your game has a good chance of being successful. This also shows that your idea has been developed while also showing evidence in which your game has a chance. the way sales charts are important is because it may show there is a gap in the market or a trend that you are going to hop on which will make your game have a good chance of success.

-Show off other work you have done in the past. If you have other successful projects this can give confidence to whoever you are pitching too as it shows you know what you are doing as you have experience. This is important because at the end of the day everyone wants to make money and if the people you are pitching too think you will make profit they will invest or get involved.

Now these are how to pitch and what should be included now where you could pitch.

There are many ways in which you can pitch your idea or project. This can include to companies that you could possibly work with as they may wanna hear your idea and possibly work on it. Pitching could also be done to just a group of people you know who may wanna help with your product and help make it. And then also social media is a big one. games can be pitched on social media where they can gather support and start working there game with support from fans this can make the process a lot easier

Why would you pitch your idea

there are a few reasons you would want to pitch your idea. Firstly as this is an idea you may think its good but telling more people can help as they may be able to give feedback and help your idea be even better. secondly it can get you support for your game people may be interested and could follow the process and be future customers and buy your product. Thirdly it maybe get interest of companies or investors who could invest in your game or want to make your game and as a company which can be great and make your game a reality with the help of a studio.

After?

After your pitch there are a few things that could happen. Firstly the worst option there may be no support for your idea it may get no interest from anyone and from their you could either move on and try think of a new idea or try develop and make the one you have better and more compelling but if the pitch goes well there may be a few different responses. Firstly a studio may wanna work on your game and work with you to develop this game and make it a reality. Secondly investors may wanna pledge some money towards the project and be part of it giving you funding to fund the project. Thirdly a company or investor may not wanna get involved but you may get some fans and supporters who may follow the process and could be future customers.

Game genres and trends

Excusive games- Exclusive games are games that are bound and only releases on certain platforms and may not be available on any others. there are many examples of exclusives on any platforms and here are some examples

Halo series-Xbox- The halo series was exclusive for a long time and a staple for Xbox and was exclusive for a long time but now there are some released on pc and its now expanding out. so it has lost some exclusivity but now its just bound to pc and xbox.

Uncharted series-Playstation- The uncharted series is a long time PlayStation exclusive and a game you see no where else its only ever been on ps through all the consoles and continues to stay on the platform.

Why do we have exclusive games. We have many exclusive games across all platforms and these are used to try get players to go to that platform for example if a great exclusive game comes to xbox but a player only has a pc. he may be inclined to get an xbox to play which brings players to the platform. So exclusives are there to try bring other players to there platform.

Game genres-

Action ,Adventure ,Simmulation, Roleplaying ,Multiplayer ,Sports ,Puzzle ,Platformer ,Metroidvannia ,Strategy ,Fighting, Horror. Each are unique in their own way and have completely different ways of playing and features. Some may be similar and some games me fall under more than one but the genres have very different descriptions and are completely different.

Current trend. Currently their are some different trends in the games industry these trends include battle royale. These are still quite prominent and many game such as warzone apex legends and fortnite still get a lot of active players and people getting into the game. Another trend is battle passes or season passes these bring new content to the game and reward players for levelling up and normally have a premium pass which needs to be paid for every season for better and even more exclusive rewards

Personally i have mixed opinions on trends. For players and consumers trends can be good and bad for example it means there may be great games come out and great features but on the other hand it may become repetitive as many new games might all follow the same trend making it slightly stale for players and boring them. And for developers on one had it may be great as if there is a trend they may get many players and be able to make a lot of profit on there game but on the other had if a game is being developed due to a trend if that trend dies before release this could cause a lot of money loss for the developer and their game may not do well on release

Employment and company types

Different ways of working in GAVFX

1. Freelance. Freelance is where u aren’t employed permanent by a company or studio you are self employed and may apply for different positions on a temporary contract to make some money. For example a company may be doing a project and need a programmer for a few days in which you will get paid your fee to do that.

Advantages- There are some advantages of working this way. For example working this way you can get a lot of experience working on many different projects and get a lot of experience and built a strong portfolio. Also working this way you can get paid more and your fee can be higher than if u were in a company due to taxes and doing everything from home. And thirdly you can work on multiple projects at once which lets there eb a chance to make quite a lot of money if you are working on 2 or more projects at once so you could make a lot of money.

2.Employed. SO you could simply work for the company on a permanent basis. You could get this jo0b by applying for different positions and with a good application and a good portfolio you could get a good permanent job to work at.

Advantages- SO the advantages for working full time at a studio. firstly its stable. This means you have a full time job that’s stable which means a stable income and you don’t need to worry about dry spells which you may have to do if you were freelance. Another advantage with a stable employment is the chance for career progression. as you work and gain experience for a company you may climb the ladder of the company which is definitely an advantage that freelance doesn’t have.

Disadvantages- So some disadvantages may come with this type of employment. Firstly it will mean you don’t really have much control over the work you do and the hours. This may be ok but some people may prefer to work there own hours which is more possible if you freelance. Also another thing is if you are employed there is little chance u will get anywhere near the experience on different projects that a freelance will get. Finally is the salary. The salary may be good but you may be able to get more as a freelance on multiple projects. Being employed just gives you that certainty that you will get paid.

Sole Trader- A sole trader. a sole trader is someone who is self employed and works as there own company. SO how that would work in the gavfx industry is they could work freelance and go help on different projects with there cost that the company would pay them per day etc. They make money by doing these freelance jobs and doing as many as they can. They have a hourly rate that they want and when the company needs the help they will pay the freelancer this fee for as long as they work. This may be higher than other employers as when you are a sole trader you need to do all your taxes as you are your own company and a freelancer may keep all their invoices and personal expenses when doing there taxes at the end of the year.

Games pitches

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Here is my hypothetical game pitch for our game. I think it went quite well and with more time we could have made our pitch a lot better.

Mini Mock

Im very pleased with how my mini mock went and my high merit. I went into the exam without looking at the game because I wanted the experience to be authentic as the real one will be and I still came out with a high merit. In general I think id di very well but i know that if I wanted to aim towards distinction I would have needed to back up my points a bit more so that I can have more developed answers and explanations and also I know I would have to also explore how a sequel could be better.

Companies in GAVFX

there are lots of types of companies in this industry. Here is a list of ones that there are

Game studios- Ubisoft, square enix, project red- these make the actual games and develop them.

Publishers- Tencent games, sony interactive – These release the games and can do a lot of the managing of the game and helping it release

Regulatory bodies- Pegi ESRB- These do all the reviewing of the game and give the age ratings. this is a legal requirement and games need to do this to be released.

Finance challenge

First gotta get a full figure of profit

so Total revenue – Costs

= 400,893

Platform- The platform would make 30% = £120,268

Publisher- the publisher would make 42% =£168,375

Developer- developer in total makes 28% = 112,250.

Each developer gets a quarter so 7%= £28,063

Pressure Points And Cash Flow

There are a few different pressure points that may occur

Staff- Staff could be a pressure point as during development people may take sick days or people may leave the company or even go on maternity leave. This can put a lot of strain on a studio to keep on time and adds pressure to meeting specific deadlines. This can be prevented a bit by having a good producer who has prepared for thgis can can get temporary staff in to keep up on the project. Its a lot about budgetting so they can afford new staff.

Events/marketing support- Events can be a big bonus for a game in the long run but without preparation can definitely be a hinderance. It can cause delays and slow down development as time needs to be taken to work on the event instead of the project. at the way to get around this as much a s p[possible is for the events to be planned at a good time for example at the beginning of a project or another way is to hire staff specifically for the event side of thing to prevent it negatively impacting the studio.

Deadlines/milestones- Deadlines can definitely be massive pressure point for a project. Not meeting a deadline can cause a lot of problems including the obvious delay and falling behind but also some investors and publishers may only release funding if a deadline is met which can cause massive problems for a game. This can also lead to crunch which is a badly looked upon by many people and really demotivates the team. To get around this and be more secure in meeting deadlines more staff could be assigned to a project as this increases the flow of work making deadlines less stressful to meet and if this cant be done. a temporary crunch may happen to help meet deadlines but this can negatively effect peoples motivation which may hinder in the long run.

Revenue share

So after a project has been released and the profits and money is started to be made. once costs have been covered the profit is then shared between the platform publisher and developer. SO firstly a platform normally takes around 30 percent of the sale of a game basic fee for every purchase. so a £40 game they would get £12 of it. This is normally quite basic and similar with all games. Next we have the publisher and developer The publisher will recieve a set amopubt that has already been decided. This is normally between 30-50 percent of the profits and revenue. This depends on the investment given to a project as the higher the investment the higher the % typically.

That leaves the rest of the profits to the developer which will go back into the company and cover many things such as future salaries. equipment and digital assets and anything that is needed for the company. may even be used in future projects.

Lifecycle of product from consumer perspective.

1. Announcement- This is where the first teaser and game is announced maybe without a release date or anything. This is the first anyone hears about a game.
2. Initial trailer/Gameplay- This will be further into development when maybe some time has been put into the game where some gameplay can be shown off and cinematic trailer could be made.
3. Game conventions/Open beta- These are where the game can finally maybe get played some. in betas or conventions the game gets out there and normally a lot of what has been done is shown to the public and in a beta they may be allowed to play the game.
4. Release trailer-The release trailer is normally when the game works and is done. it will showcase cinematics and gameplay to try grab customers attention and make them wanna play. This is really used to show off all their hard work in a trailer
5. Release-This is where the game is released and people can actually play through the game. this is what the consumer have been waiting for so they can play it and enjuoy the product.
6. Reviews- Reviews are a big part and may make new players come if they see the game has good reviews. these can be done by normal players and people who bought on release but also critiques and game news companies such as IGN and gamespot.
7. Post launch content and plan- this is what is used to keep players. depending on the game this can come in different way such as “battle passes” Dlcs and even just free normal updates to keep the game fresh for players.

How to improve lifespan

There are many ways in which a company can increase their products lifespan. This includes multiplayer as this makes players play together and want to keep playing. some people don’t really like single player games so adding this along with single player really gives players more reason to play.

Regular DLC’s are another great way. dc gives more content to players and makes them wanna play more and gives more content for gamers. This can keep the game fresh and lets players come back every time it releases.

Marking exam.

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Here is an example of an exam I marked. I marked student 7 and i believe a lot of areas were missed and therefore I think he got a fail and if he improved and added these sections he would be able to get a pass or maybe a merit if more detail and explanation was put in.

Job roles and interactions.

The job role I would like to get and be a part of is programmer and with no experience in industry I would most likely be aiming for Junior Programmer role in a company.

As I don’t have a lot of experience or any experience in industry I wouldn’t be aiming for freelance as it may be hard to get work as there will be lots of freelancers with experience out there.

So I would most likely be aiming for a full time job as this would provide job security and give me an income so I wouldn’t have to worry about not getting work.

1. How would I get that job?- SO there may be a few ways I could get that job. Firstly I could possibly find applications on the companies website and there may be an application process that way. The company may also put appeals out on social media and sites such as linked in looking for workers in which in could apply and maybe get into some interview processes for the job that way.
2. What would i do in the job?-In that job as a junior programmer I would be most likely be working as part of a team overseen by a senior and lead programmer who would be leading the programming movement of the game or product. I would most likely be working on one feature or part of a feature in unison with my other team members until together we had made a completed feature for the game.
3. How would you work with other job roles?-The way i would work with other job roles is there would be a producer on the project who would keep everyone working together and informed setting deadlines and making sure everything was going to plan. The producer is very important and would be telling the lead and senior developers what needed to be done and worked on and they would then help manage us and inform us what to do for the game. As junior programmer if in a big company there wouldn’t be much direct contact and work between different roles as a junior I would be just working under what the lead wanted and they would be making sure we were keeping to the right pace and doing the right thing. As a developer interaction between QA will be big and there would be direct communication and if they find bugs these will most likely be given to the juniors to deal with. Which means there will be direct communication between them.
4. With this contract the only drawbacks i can see is it could get a little boring maybe as when freelancing you do a lot of different things and projects. Also Freelancer may get paid a little more for there work but they aren’t full stable contracts which is a positive of a full time job. The job security and income is very important and can be very big positive.

Exam style Q

In breathe of the wild it is very apparent that the game aims to go for people teenage and up most likely 13-25. This is apparent due to the in depth story and graphics that are used within the game. A younger player wouldnt really understand the story and characters as it is very in depth therefore it is apparent that the game is aimed for older gamers and audiences. Also Breathe of the wild got a pegi rating of 12 which is a big definitive way of seeing the target audience as it is further evidence to show that the game is for teenagers and up. Finally i dont think the game is aiamed for people too old which is why i said 13-25. As the art style and gameplay and story is more of a youth thing and more of what would appeal to younger players. A 40 year old most likely wouldnt be interested in this game therefore the game isnt aimed at them.

This will impact game development massively as with the target being the older gamers. The game will have to focus on differnt things which appeal to this market such as a an in depth profound story and the looks and aesthetic of the game will have to be beautiful. Unlike children who just like bright colours and dont care about story really s they dont understand as much. But yes this will lead the development of the game in a very specific direction to try appeal to the market.

It is very important to research your target audience so that the game can be anywhere near successful. Knowing the audience you are going for is imperative so that the game you are making will appeal to this audience and the company can be successful. Also knowing the audience you are going for can make problem solving and such easier so that u know what would be best for the game when aiming for these people.

Exam style Q

When making a game there is a development cycle that is followed and is used to make a project run in efficient way and to try aim and make the product at the end be an amazing and profitable succsess. So to start off the developmental process there is pre production. This is where an idea is formulated and refined so the team have a fully functional idea and everyone knows what they are doing.

Along with this a lot more happens during pre production this includes making plans such as pages on trello where all of the tasks are planned out, burndown charts and asset lists. These are very important too and a big part of pre production. Also roles all the roles could be given out so each person has been designated tasks and they know exactly what they have to do. Pre production is a very crucial part of the development cycle and is used to plana nd make sure everyone is on the same page and ready to make the product.

Now onto development. Included in development there are a lot of phases and deadlines that the team has to reach. The first big milestone in the development cycle is reaching an MVP. An mvp is very important and is the first main goal in any project as with an mvp there is something playable no matter how small it is. an mvp is the minimum viable product and is what is aimed for in every project. this version of the product will be the bare bones and will simply be a working prototype but working none the less. This could be just one level for exmaple or even blocked out worlds without the models yet. This is no where near what the game will look like it is so that the game can get better in increments instead of having missing parts here and there.

After an MVP is reached from here the game aims for alpha and beta stages. this is where the game is worked of and made complete. This is where they aim to create everything they planned too and make the game a fully functioning product . during these stages a lot of testing happens and changes may happen to the game but by the end of the beta stage the full game is expected to be basically done and the game ready to polish.

So after beta the next stage of development is now just focusing on release. During this the game is polished and any bugs that break the game are ironed out. This stage is trying to make the game be at the highest quality and ready for release.

Once this stage ahs been done the game is now basically ready for release. After release the game then goes into post production and during this stage the team reduces a lot and the goal is now to just fix bugs when they release and make possibly additional content and updates for after release. and that is basically the development cycle for this game.

Agile, waterfall and scrum revision.

Goal setting

My goal for this week is to review and go over all of the info on pressure points. it is the part of this that I struggle with and I believe that if i re read over all of the slides about it and maybe watch some videos on the topic will help my knowledge.

Kahoot Reflection

I think i did quite well on the kahoot i got 20/23 and one of them i only got wrong due to me rushing and not reading it fully. then the other 2 i got wrong were fair and square and possibly areas i have to improve on.

The question that caught me out was a bout world building and it asked if talent treea and crafting is part of world building and i didn’t think it was and got it wrong. and i found the certification question hard as the answers were all part of it just not the actual thing and i ended up getting it wrong.

I think the areas i may need to revisit are the certification just so i can get a full understanding on it and also world building to see the obscure areas that it covers instead of the basic ones so that if it were to come up i would be confident answering.

Revision technique : Teaching

The area i am going to be focusing on is Pressure points. The reason I want to focus on this topic is because I am not confident in the topic and don’t think I would handle a question well if it was around this topic. therefore I want to use this revision technique of teaching to try and gain more of an understanding of the topic so that i can feel confident when talking about the subject.

Blog review

I believe i have made some progress so far on my presentation and i think that with some more time i will be able to get it finished to a high level and feel comfortable presenting what i have done

In order to be ready from now to next week i think that i need to add some more visuals to my presentation as now its all writing and also add some more slides on pressure points and more about the bigger picture and the long term effects they can have.

I think to understand this topic a bit further i think that it would be useful for me to see some videos to try get more info and knowledge on the subject and then I would be able to transfer this into my presentation and present it confidently.

Presentation Reflection

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Powerpoint ^

1. So my approach to this task was to firstly choose the topic i was least confident in and then start reading over lesson slides and researching the topic. I wanted to get that knowledge and understanding before starting to form my presentation. After research I then started structuring it in a clear way and in sections so it would be easy to present and teach.
2. I definitely think it as useful as i genuinely do feel quite confident in the subject now i think reading it out and speaking really helped it stick by saying it out loud and to the person i presented to.
3. In my opinion the most challenging part of the task was structuring the info in a teachable way.. the actual learning and presenting was good. But when it comes to structuring and making the PowerPoint it was a little tricky deciding and i changed my mind at one point.
4. I think the quality of work i produced was quite high. The presentation was clear and nicely designed with a picture on most slide to add some visual stimulus. I think if i were it make it better i would maybe add some more visuals. But at this time i am happy wit what i made and think it looks food.
5. I found the process of actually presenting quite easy. At this point i had a lot of knowledge fresh in my mi9nd so actually presenting wasn’t too bad and i found it quite easy to do so with my story.
6. I 100 percent do feel more confident as before doing this I really didn’t know but now I genuinely know it and would be confident if any exam questions mention it.
7. Yes i would use this strategy again if I don’t understand any topic. It worked well with me to understand my topic and it probably would if I didn’t it with something else or another topic,.

Case study topic audit update and reflection.

In my recent audit and ranking I showed that my weakest areas were cashflow and pressure points. since then I have did some good revision techniques and for pressure points I did a presentation type of revision which was very effective and I’m confident in that topic now.

On a whole a few weeks before the exam i believe i am quite confident in the majority of the topics and really there rankings can be interchangeable, However as i have done another mock and seen how some of the questions can be structured i have realized a couple topics from the list in which I am not fully confident with and found hard in the mock.

SO the couple of topics i am struggling with currently is world building and what makes a game successful beyond core gameplay. SO basically in the mock a question came up about the core pillars of the game and I really didn’t know how to answer it or what it means. Other than this question i was confident answering the rest but I believe revising these topics will help me be able to tackle a question like this if it comes up.

My plan for the next couple weeks is to try learn and get a good understanding of these 2 topics the way I will do this is by going over the lesson slides and watching some videos on the topic. After doing this I’m going to go back to the question i struggled on and try answer it for a new game and see if I’m more confident with the topics then.

Easter Mock Reflection.

1. I got the grade of merit on my exam, the reason I got this is because I hit all categories at merit level and one as distinction which I believe averages and comes out as a merit grade.
2. I believe my strengths were when i got into the game development process and i hit this category as distinction as I went into pressure points when explaining the problems that could arise and how it could be avoided
3. My ares of weakness was definitely business practices in industry. i still did these to a good level but if I want to be aiming for the distinction level its probably go into it more wit more explanation of the industry and how things and people work together.
4. So question really through me but after further analysis it was just the wording that messed me up as i didnt see it as it was. But other than that i realize i definitely have to research about the industry and the practices a bit more so i can get into more detail when explaining so that i can get better next time and maybe hit the distinction category.
5. The way im going to do that is by going over lesson slides around the topics and also watching some videos to try further my understanding. I would then try re answer the question from the mock to see if i could do it better and hit a higher grade for the question.