Unit 7 - Media Enterprise

Key:

Teacher marking - Pink

Self/Peer feedback - Red

Amendments - Green

Throughout your blog you are lacking any improvements or peer/self feedback. You know this is required. You need to rectify this ASAP. Feel free to check out other blogs from the class.

leafmedia.jimdo.com

My game is a 2D Roguelike Dungeon-Crawler set in a post-apocalyptic world entirely under the surface of a now-dead Earth, after a nuclear holocaust consumed the world in fire. Players follow 'Sam', a genderless character who has decided to venture out from their home in an attempt to get supplies for their family, and find their father, who had originally set out to do the same thing months before. I designed the game to include elements from a few games I'm rather fond of, and know are quite popular in the market.

A brief is basically a mega checklist that keeps the original design from straying away from its idea. It allows the team creating the game to know exactly what they are creating, how it was envisioned, and how it will be finished. It contains graphs, images, detailed descriptions, and pretty much everything the team requires to function smoothly, rather than getting confused and creating the same thing twice.

Contractual Brief

A Contractual Brief is created between an employer and a client, which will outline the duties of the company and how they organise their work. It states the expectations of the client, the prices that have been agreed, and the terms of payment. This document is always classified as legal.

Advantages

This brief gives the company an idea of what the client wants, as well as a stable range of prices where the client and the employer will agree on a set income.

Disadvantages

A heavier workload may be required of the employer by the client, which may hinder their ability to deliver their best work. Another issue is a lack of creativity in the area if the client desires written designs rather than graphical ones.

Formal Brief

A Formal Brief is a normally straightforward and simple document giving a detailed description of what the employer wants from the company, rarely having any unwanted information. This may not always be classified as a legal document.

Advantages

The document is clear and concise, giving an easy to understand idea of what is required of the employer. As well as this, it is not always a legal-binding document, which allows the company to both express their thoughts and opinions and be able to work around the contract if they so desire.

Disadvantages

The contract is a lot more general, rather than a normal contract, which is explained in more detail. The employer and the client may also disagree on the opinions and decisions which are listed within the contract.

Informal Brief

This type of brief is a lot less professional than a traditional brief, where it outlines the project verbally, rather than having a written document to work from. There is a discussion between employer and client where they agree on the details and terms of the contract.

Advantages

Since there is little to no guidance in this type of brief, it is very free and flexible to work with and allows the employer to add in and maneuver their own opinions before it is finalised.

Disadvantages

The expectations of the client may disinterest the employer if a heavy workload or something more complex is required of them, which could cause the client to leave in search of somebody else to accept the contract and its expectations.

• Teamwork - The ability to work in a team is a great help out in the field, as it enables you to work with others in a functional group rather than a problematic mess.

• Communication - A very important skill, communication means you're able to talk with companies, make deals, and be able to talk between group members to solve a task, or create multiple things without repeating already completed tasks.

• Problem Solving - Problem solving helps showcase your thinking, and the methods you use to get through different problems quickly as they arise throughout the project.

• Leadership - The ability to lead a team is very important. Disorganisation can be bought to a minimum with a competent leader, and also gives a singular person a full insight into every project currently in the works.

• Time Management - A lack of time management could very well be disastrous, because meeting deadlines is a very common thing in the enterprise world, whether it's for a project of some kind or a showcase, time management skills help you organise everything into a feasible work plan that you can complete on time.

• Decision Making - Choosing between two financially positive options is always difficult, but absence of this skill is bound to get you stuck at an impasse at some point during the development of the project you are working on.

• Lateral Thinking - Informally known as "thinking outside the box" lateral thinking is the ability to solve problems via a creative or unusual approach. This is a good thing, as it shows you can solve difficult problems with different methods of thinking.

Portfolio on Enterprise Skills

The Popplet has been inserted, but does not seem to show up.

You need to fix this, try inserting it again, if this fails add an image for now, but let me know.

Your family has seen it all. Your Great Grandfather fought in WW2. Your Grandfather and Father both had a hand in fighting WW3. The apocalypse has been and gone, and now you've grown up. But, your shelter has been compromised. Its basic life support and food creation is running out, leaving you and your family just over a year left. With your Grandfather too old to go out and fight, your Father decided to brave the horrors of the Underworld alone, to find salvation. The surface air is too toxic, and far more dangerous than the Underworld, so that is the only option. He's been missing for 6 and a half months now, leaving your family's months numbered. In a last ditch attempt to save everyone, you decide to volunteer to look for both, your father and a means to stay alive in the harsh reality of the Underworld. Navigating the tunnels, sewers, rooms and long forgotten places from before the Great War, it's all about survival in your quest to find the only things that can save yourself, your father and your entire family.

Game Name: Life Under Earth: A Tale of Survival

This is a good start, I like the idea a lot. You must include mood boards and mind maps explaining the ideas for game mechanics, art style, narrative and sound.

Enterprising Skill - Creative Thinking

I have created a unique story borrowing assets and ideas from existing games and creating my own environment, setting, time and story for my game. In this story I have created a problem and a reason for this game to exist as it does.

The Binding of Isaac - Rebirth

The Binding of Isaac - Rebirth, 2014, Nicalis, Year of release, creator' is a roguelike dungeon crawler that is inspired by the biblical story of The Binding of Isaac, but with a modern rendition. It follows Isaac, a young boy whose religious mother was told by a voice in the sky to sacrifice her son. Isaac escaped to the basement, and now has to fight through procedurally generated levels, taking on many types of monsters, multiple bosses, and eventually his mother. It was initially designed and created by Edmund McMillan and Florian Himsl and released for Windows in 2011, later ported to OS and Linux. My game utilises the top-down aspect of this game, as well as its real time combat mechanics, and is the main source of inspiration for my game. 

You need to be specific with what elements of this game has inspired your own, and why?

Fallout

I've also based my game off of the Fallout series. Fallout, 1997, Interplay Entertainment, Year of creation, creator' is a game that takes place many years in the future, after a nuclear holocaust. The survivors are struggling to live in the wasteland, but Fallout follows the player's story closely. Any decision the player makes can have any sort of effect on the people and the factions around them, and it all amounts to the player making decisions that can change the fate of the world around them. I took the ideas of a Third World War and a Nuclear Apocalypse from Fallout and implemented them into my game, but with a slight mythological twist. Another element is the mechanic of multiple endings, those being a good and a bad ending, affected by the choices made throughout the game by the player.

You need to be specific with what elements of this game has inspired your own, and why?

Pokemon

The next game I've based my own off of is the original Pokemon Series 1996-Present. The Series is something that I've always loved, and being able to do something inspired from it has always been a goal of mine. It has a camera angle and style I want in my game, with the real-time mechanics always something I've enjoyed using. Running around and battling monsters in a 2D world is very similar to the concept of Pokemon, but without the premise of finding and catching all these unique creatures.

You need to be specific with what elements of this game has inspired your own, and why?

The Legend of Zelda

The final game I've based mine off of is the Legend of Zelda series 1986-Present, namely the originals, following the idea of a 2D roguelike dungeon crawler with 8 bit graphics. Created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka its first game was released on February 21 1986. The game series is described as action-adventure, but has elements and mechanics that suggests it's a dungeon crawler. The top down view used in this game while exploring dungeons is an element I've decided to incorporate into my game, alongside the older graphics style.

You need to be specific with what elements of this game has inspired your own, and why?

Enterprising Skill - Primary/Secondary Research

I have researched other games in the industry for inspiration for my own, and have based, my own game off of. However, this research may not be entirely reliable, so I have conducted primary research of my own, by playing through these games and analysing their stories.

The results and their summaries shown below exist to help me in with the production and distribution of my game in the long run, and have been explained individually for why they exist and how they help.

As explained a few times now in class to everyone, this is not an acceptable way to submit your Q and A. This must be in a visual format with graphs and charts, and evaluation of each answer, including how the answers given and stats gathered will impact the game itself.

Life Under Earth: A Tale of Survival

Games Development Brief 29/09/16 V1.0

Project Summary

Life Under Earth: A Tale of Survival (LUE:ATS) is the title for the game that shall be created during the sixth form games development class. It is a roguelike dungeon crawler based off of hits like The Binding of Isaac and the Fallout series. Additionally, LUE:ATS wishes to use real time mechanics similar to that of shooters, based around the style and replay-ability of The Binding of Isaac.

Target Audience:

LUE:ATS' target audience is anybody over 13. It doesn't present much in the way of blood and gore (some may beg to differ) but the story behind it will take a dark turn once a certain point has been reached. Beyond that, it's really suited for anybody above that age, targeting apocalypse lovers, dungeon crawlers and platform lovers everywhere.

Perception/Tone/Guidelines:

1. Original, fun, interesting, entertaining.

2. Smooth, fast paced, real-time mechanics.

3. Take inspiration from other games i.e. art style and put a custom twist on it for the game.

4. The game should be simple and understandable.

5. Not impossible to play, should have multiple unique synergies for items.

Communication Strategy:

An advertisement for my game is currently being created, and will be uploaded to and broadcasted across popular video viewing sites such as YouTube and Twitch. Images and promotional art will be created and put up on many different websites that have yet to be selected.

Competitive Positioning:

I don't see much in the way of specific competition for my game, however the games industry is full of many different companies working to create a game that will blow up and become the next big game of the year. This means that marketing for my game will be challenging, due to the lack of popular company support, so I have derived my idea from games that have been popular over the years. Now, just because something has been created to match something that is popular, this doesn't mean it will gain as much popularity from the original game, if any, so I have placed my own  original twist on this creation, rather than making a carbon copy of successes and claiming it as my own.

Single-Minded Message: Original and entertaining game.

Enterprising Skill - Commercial Awareness.

In the paragraph on Competitive Positioning, I talk about the fact that I have utilised many different aspects from popular games already on the market, and then said that I did this because I believe that taking some popular mechanics from famous games already released and mixing them together could be a winning combo. However, I also say that this is not always the case, and so have decided to put my own twist on the game rather than having chunks of copied things from different games stuck together. The enterprising skill is present in the fact that I have spoken about popular games on the market, proving my knowledge of the general video game market and its consumers.

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Personality: Introverted, glum when being social, enjoys talking with friends online rather than in person

Hobbies: Playing video games, reading, watching YouTube, sleeping, secretly cooks

Evaluator: Kian Guppy

The popplet which Brandon has created is an extremely in depth plan to his game which is still a WIP, this shows the game has a promising future and I believe by the end of the course this game will be one of the most indepth and addicting games made. His story has an interesting background and shows that the game takes place in the future and features aspects of Greek Mythology. Brandon took his inspiration from:

Binding of Isaac - I can see from his popplet that he has used similar yet different power-ups and similar views

Fallout - From his popplet I can see the post-apocalyptic factor from some of the items such as toxic waste and laser weapons.

Undertale - From his popplet I can see he has taken the art style and comedy factor from this indie game

To Improve I would suggest Brandon includes images from his game inspirations so if a user doesn't know what this game is they can see the images, I would also add the questionnaire results.

This needs to be in red

Enterprising Skill - Teamwork.

The peer assessment has helped further my progress in this unit by giving me pointers on what I can add and/or improve within my blog, along with highlighting the better aspects of the work analysed, most likely as a reference for later use in this or any future units.

There are of course multiple items in-game, as shown on the Popplet above. These are the sprites for a few of those items.

Throughout Unit 7 I have used Commercial Awareness to aid my production for my game. I did this by researching similar games for inspiration and ideas for my own game. Through researching other games such as Fallout and The Binding of Isaac I was able to start a plot and design for my own product. This means I am able to create a game with a good structure and successful techniques used from previously analysed games.

Using observation I have been able to understand the production and distribution of products in the game industry. Because of this I have been extremely aided in the planning and production of my game, and its eventual distribution to the public. 

Teamwork was critical throughout Unit 7. It was through peer evaluation that this digital enterprising skill was used, and the feedback produced by it has been a big help to me with the structure of my blog and the surrounding pieces that make up my work on this unit.

My presentation skills can be clearly shown by the layout of my blog. I have tried my hardest to keep the blog format as clear and concise as possible, which makes it easier for anybody looking at my work to find hat they are looking for and/or be able to read it without a problem.

Communication was key in this unit, and I have utilised this skill in the telling of the story that creates the setting for my game. This means that people will be able to easily understand why the reasons behind my game exist and who the main player character is and what effect they have on this new world that encompasses them.

I have also used market research to aid my research into the gaming industry. I did this in the form of a questionnaire, which was a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative questions ranging from the platform preferences to what genre of game they prefer all the way over to whether or not they actually played video games on a daily basis. All of the questions in the questionnaire provided me with the knowledge to create a game that is aimed at a wider range of customers and should hopefully have some degree of success. 

I used time management to help me get allocated tasks set by a specific deadline. I did this by creating a document with a layout of all the tasks I had been assigned, and set them feasible dates by which I could have them completed. This helped me in a large way, allowing me to map out enough time to complete all the tasks and not miss any of the deadlines I was presented.

I have been using flexibility as well in unit 7. By operating with different programs like Popplet to create a brainstorm and Unity to fashion the early versions of the game. A variety of other types of software were used, for example surveymonkey to create a questionnaire and collect and analyse the results from actual customers so I can use the data in later stages of production.

Peer assessment by Torin Woodwards

Good - Can clearly state the point and evidence it correctly, can also see that punctuation and grammar is more or less spot on.

Improvement - I can not see much of an explanation in this, try to explain how you have done this in more detail then you have previously.

Copyright Infringement can be a  large problem in the game industry, because it's very likely that your own idea could be mistaken for a direct copy or ripoff of another game that already exists. This could be very bad for a company or production team, because if they receive a copyright strike it could severely damage their reputation in the industry. I don't believe I have to worry about copyright however, because the game has its own title and story, and even though the mechanics were inspired by and taken from other existing games, I think that the combination creates a unique blend I can safely call my own creation.

Enterprise Skill - Time Management

I used time management alongside the creation of a Gantt Chart in order to keep track of what work I need to do and complete, and how much time I have to do it. Initially everything was created in a certain order, starting with the games research. In doing so I was able to lay everything out in a clear and concise manner which allowed me to complete everything with a higher level of efficiency, due to the previous work completed aiding the creation of the next piece.