U1 Lesson 06

Tasukete!

[task-ke-te]

Japanese Word of the Week (12)

Dareka tasukete!

Aims:Students will understand styles of market and production research. They will use both to focus upon character design for their game.

Objectives:All students will identify 2 forms of primary/secondary researchMost students will identify 2 forms of primary/secondary research and explain their functionSome students will identify 3 forms of primary/secondary research, explain and use their functions for assignment purposes

Aims & Objectives

Research and Pre-Production

22 February 2010

Unit 1 Research Techniques for Media IndustriesUnit 2 Pre-Production for Media Industries

Research Techniques

1 Understand the purposes of research in the media industries2 Be able to apply a range of research methods and techniques3 Be able to present results of research.

Pre-Production Techniques

1 Understand requirements for production2 Be able to obtain resources for production3 Be able to apply production logistics.

The Story So Far… Assignment 5.1… What Happened?

A Brief History of Your First Major Games Assignment

Example: Final Fantasy VII

Research Techniques

I asked some questions and got some answers

Did you do the same?

2%

15%

10%

15%

17%

12%

10%

7%

5%

2%5%

StoryModern Warfare 2FFVIIMario Kart DSOblivionNHL '09Gears of WarAssassin's Creed 2CivilizationWorld of WarcraftFlowerParappa the RapperMy Sims Wii

02468

1012

No AnswerNoYes

Research Techniques

Research TechniquesI explained how research works in terms of getting solid facts with which to form arguments.

“Primary research is research that I would conduct myself by using things like

questionnaires, interviews and surveys.”

“All game developers use primary research, some is conducted

themselves whilst they often commission market research companies to do the job for them.”

“I found it really hard to get people to respond to my surveys, the

questionnaires were much more successful!”

http://uk.psx.ign.com/articles/150/150494p1.html

http://www.youtube.com/

Research Techniques

Activity

For a couple of minutes, please discuss with the person sat next to you, how you did in this first assignment. You should talk about:

• Strengths• Weaknesses• Learning experiences

Computer Game DesignEarly Level

Photoshop rendered environment

Carefully presented dialogue boxes

Character design typical of graphical availability of era

Combat Example

Turn-based combat style

Antagonistic character design detail

Effects

Computer Game DesignScreenshots are vital to understanding gameplay, ludological elements, use of graphics etc

Playable area(Systemic / Compound)

Dialogue(Systemic)

Key items (Compound)

“As the crow flies” top down design

(behavioural / compound)

Computer Game Design

Cid’s House

Entrance / Exit

Key items

NPC

Static objects

Playable character

Motion path

Computer Game Design

Activity

How effective do you think that the following is? Discuss with the person sitting next to you:

• Screenshots• Character Design• Level / Area Maps

Pre-production Techniques“Nomura recalled the creation of the game's plot, which was originally written by Hironobu Sakaguchi, now of Mistwalker. Nomura, who claims to still have a copy of the plot, noted how "completely different" it is from the final version. "I think he wanted to do something like a detective story? There was a character called Hot Blooded Detective Joe.“”

Final Fantasy VII SquareSoft SLPS-00700~2 01/31/97 JP

Final Fantasy VII SCEA SLUS-94163~5 09/03/97 US

Final Fantasy VII (Rerelease) SCEA SLUS-94163~5 09/20/97 US

Final Fantasy VII International SquareSoft SLPS-01057~60 10/02/97 JP

Final Fantasy VII SCEE SCES-00867/10867/20867 11/17/97 EU

Final Fantasy VII (Platinum) SCEE SCES-00867/10867/20867 1998 EU

Final Fantasy VII (Greatest Hits) SCEA SLUS-94163~5GH 03/27/00 US

Final Fantasy VII International (PSOne Books) SquareSoft SLPS-91440~3 12/20/01 JP

Final Fantasy VII International (Ultimate Hits) Square Enix SLPM-87380~3 07/20/06 JP

Developer interview & release schedule

Pre-production Techniques

Here I’m explaining the relationship between the publisher, designer and developer in terms of how the game is made.

Note how the job of the publisher is instigation. This is because they control the finances.

So Now What?We need to look at Research Techniques, Computer Games Design and Pre-production Techniques all over again for our game!

• Focus groups – prove your research!• Budget reports – how much will it cost?• Compliance – are you operating within the law?• Workflow diagrams – for your game proposal• Treatments – what to write to get it made!

Focus Groups

Set 10 questions about your game.• Get 3 – 7 friends into a room, in front of a camera (you can do this on a Mac)• Film the entire Q & A session• Take notes and comment on or evaluate notation

Budgeting

You need to assess how you will cost your game. This is vital for your pitch!

Tip: Go over the Recruitment Drive assignment to assess the types of employees you need for the project. What are their salaries? You have loads of research already, don’t you?

Next Week!

We’ll cover compliance – including law and qualification. Then we’ll explore workflow diagrams; why are they so important? Finally, and in your game design lessons this week and next, we’ll be writing effective treatments.

Let’s get this game made!

Overview – What Have We Learned?

• A recap of the previous assignment• Types of research• The key research elements for game design

Have we met our outcomes?