What Particular pre-production requirements will you need for Wayne's Maze game?
Software - The software I'll be using for my game will be Gamemaker, to develop the game, and Adobe Photoshop to create any objects I might need, such as playable characters, walls and collectables, amongst others.
Gamemaker is a 2D game development program, in which I can create rooms (levels) for a game, and add monsters, characters and any other object I wish, which I can create in the program, or import from Photoshop.
Photoshop is a digital design program, largely used amongst professional companies, which allows me to design walls, backgrounds and characters to a very high quality.
Both of these programs cost a lot of money for a license, but I have free access to these programs in college, and will create my game in college.
As part of the planning of my game, I created a Game Plan, which shows what my game will look like when it is being played. I used Microsoft Paint to complete these plans, as it is easy to use, and I can create the game plan quickly.
Time - As this is the first game I have created, I can only make an educated guess as to how long it will take to create a maze game using Gamemaker. I estimate the process of planning, designing and development of my maze game to take approximately 2-3 weeks.
Finance - If I were to create the game at home, I would need a budget, because I would need to buy the programs I would use. To buy the full version of Gamemaker, it would cost around £500. I would also need Adobe Photoshop, which I can buy for £350. I would also require a PC which is capable of running these programs, which can cost upwards of £1000 to buy a suitable spec PC, such as a high end processor and graphics card, and a large hard drive to store the software and files created for the design and development for the game.
To create this game at home, I would require a budget of around £1700-£2000.
Because college already has these programs, and I have access to them, I will be using them in college, and therefore will not require a budget, as there would be no spending on the project.
An example of a game that blew it's budget is the 1999 Dreamcast game Shenmue, which spent $70million in development. In order to make a profit on Shenmue, the game would have had to be "purchased twice by every Dreamcast owner". The development of the game exceeded it's budget so much, a profit could not be made on the game.[1]
Team - I am the sole contributor to this maze game, and will be completing the planning, designing and development, including the graphics and coding myself. As a result of working by myself, the game will take longer to create, as I will be responsible for more work.
If I was creating this game outside of college, as a personal project, and I had a budget that could stretch far enough to cover it, I would hire artists to design the background, or the characters of the game, improving the quality of the graphics. I could even hire a musician who could record sounds using instruments, which I could use in the game.
Resources - Any resources I may need include the software and hardware, listed above. Research material, which can be found on the internet, or books and magazines, available in the college library.
My game will also have sound, which I can create, by recording my voice, or a musical instrument, or by taking from Copyright free websites, which have sounds which can be used, without violating copyright infringement laws.
Contributor - As I am creating this game as part of college, I am the sole contributor for my maze game. However, If I was creating this game outside of college, and I had a budget I could spend, I could hire famous people to voice, or I could design my character to look like a famous person, which would improve my sales and eventually profits as it might increase target audience to include actor's fan base.
Copyright - If I use anything in my game, from objects to sound, I need to ensure I do not violate any copyright laws, by copying any characters that already exist, or stealing any existing copyright protected sound. Free Sound or Audio Blocks have sounds which can be used, without breaking any copyright laws.
I have to be careful that if I use other characters as inspiration for my characters, that they do not look too similar, as I could potentially be sued by the owner of the character for copyrighting their work.
EA took Zynga to court in 2012 for copyright infringement, after Zynga's 'TheVille' was an "unmistakable copy[2]" of EA's 'SimCity' game. EA argued that they were not satisfied Zynga changed enough detail for TheVille to be a game of it's own design. The case was settled when Zynga sued EA for trying to "stop employees from switching companies[3]", violating 2011 employee solicitation.
Rules and Regulations - Before I can sell my game in Europe, I have to ensure my game has an age rating. To do this, I need to send my game to PEGI (Pan European Game Information), who will play my game, and give it an advisory age rating.
This age rating will be dependent on the content of my game. If it contains occasional bad language, it is likely to receive an age rating of at least 12+, meaning only people over this age may purchase it. If it contains violence or graphic content, it will receive an age rating of 18. Other criteria is used when testing a game for an advisory age rating, listed in the image below:
My maze game will not have any bad language, or have references to drugs or violence, therefore, after looking at the official PEGI website, I think my game would have a advisory age rating of 3 and above.
If I were to advertise my game on television, on the radio, or in the newspaper, I would need my advertisement to be analysed by ASA (Advertisement Standards Authority), who will deem my advert fit for public release if it does not contain content that is offensive or harmful, and is appropriate for the media.
If my advert were to receive a complaint about the content in the advert, it would be removed from the media, and analysed again, to ensure the content is suitable, and not offensive.
Prior to this assignment being set, I researched about pre-production, which is available on my blog. This research was used throughout the assignment.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenmue#Sales (Tue 7 Oct | 16:00)
[2] http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-08/06/ea-vs-zynga (Mon 6 Oct | 13:00)
[3] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/us-electronicarts-zynga-lawsuit-idUSBRE91E0YG20130215 (Mon 6 Oct | 13:00)
Gamemaker is a 2D game development program, in which I can create rooms (levels) for a game, and add monsters, characters and any other object I wish, which I can create in the program, or import from Photoshop.
Photoshop is a digital design program, largely used amongst professional companies, which allows me to design walls, backgrounds and characters to a very high quality.
Both of these programs cost a lot of money for a license, but I have free access to these programs in college, and will create my game in college.
As part of the planning of my game, I created a Game Plan, which shows what my game will look like when it is being played. I used Microsoft Paint to complete these plans, as it is easy to use, and I can create the game plan quickly.
Time - As this is the first game I have created, I can only make an educated guess as to how long it will take to create a maze game using Gamemaker. I estimate the process of planning, designing and development of my maze game to take approximately 2-3 weeks.
Finance - If I were to create the game at home, I would need a budget, because I would need to buy the programs I would use. To buy the full version of Gamemaker, it would cost around £500. I would also need Adobe Photoshop, which I can buy for £350. I would also require a PC which is capable of running these programs, which can cost upwards of £1000 to buy a suitable spec PC, such as a high end processor and graphics card, and a large hard drive to store the software and files created for the design and development for the game.
To create this game at home, I would require a budget of around £1700-£2000.
Because college already has these programs, and I have access to them, I will be using them in college, and therefore will not require a budget, as there would be no spending on the project.
An example of a game that blew it's budget is the 1999 Dreamcast game Shenmue, which spent $70million in development. In order to make a profit on Shenmue, the game would have had to be "purchased twice by every Dreamcast owner". The development of the game exceeded it's budget so much, a profit could not be made on the game.[1]
Team - I am the sole contributor to this maze game, and will be completing the planning, designing and development, including the graphics and coding myself. As a result of working by myself, the game will take longer to create, as I will be responsible for more work.
If I was creating this game outside of college, as a personal project, and I had a budget that could stretch far enough to cover it, I would hire artists to design the background, or the characters of the game, improving the quality of the graphics. I could even hire a musician who could record sounds using instruments, which I could use in the game.
Resources - Any resources I may need include the software and hardware, listed above. Research material, which can be found on the internet, or books and magazines, available in the college library.
My game will also have sound, which I can create, by recording my voice, or a musical instrument, or by taking from Copyright free websites, which have sounds which can be used, without violating copyright infringement laws.
Contributor - As I am creating this game as part of college, I am the sole contributor for my maze game. However, If I was creating this game outside of college, and I had a budget I could spend, I could hire famous people to voice, or I could design my character to look like a famous person, which would improve my sales and eventually profits as it might increase target audience to include actor's fan base.
Copyright - If I use anything in my game, from objects to sound, I need to ensure I do not violate any copyright laws, by copying any characters that already exist, or stealing any existing copyright protected sound. Free Sound or Audio Blocks have sounds which can be used, without breaking any copyright laws.
I have to be careful that if I use other characters as inspiration for my characters, that they do not look too similar, as I could potentially be sued by the owner of the character for copyrighting their work.
EA took Zynga to court in 2012 for copyright infringement, after Zynga's 'TheVille' was an "unmistakable copy[2]" of EA's 'SimCity' game. EA argued that they were not satisfied Zynga changed enough detail for TheVille to be a game of it's own design. The case was settled when Zynga sued EA for trying to "stop employees from switching companies[3]", violating 2011 employee solicitation.
Rules and Regulations - Before I can sell my game in Europe, I have to ensure my game has an age rating. To do this, I need to send my game to PEGI (Pan European Game Information), who will play my game, and give it an advisory age rating.
This age rating will be dependent on the content of my game. If it contains occasional bad language, it is likely to receive an age rating of at least 12+, meaning only people over this age may purchase it. If it contains violence or graphic content, it will receive an age rating of 18. Other criteria is used when testing a game for an advisory age rating, listed in the image below:
My maze game will not have any bad language, or have references to drugs or violence, therefore, after looking at the official PEGI website, I think my game would have a advisory age rating of 3 and above.
If I were to advertise my game on television, on the radio, or in the newspaper, I would need my advertisement to be analysed by ASA (Advertisement Standards Authority), who will deem my advert fit for public release if it does not contain content that is offensive or harmful, and is appropriate for the media.
If my advert were to receive a complaint about the content in the advert, it would be removed from the media, and analysed again, to ensure the content is suitable, and not offensive.
Bibliography
Prior to this assignment being set, I researched about pre-production, which is available on my blog. This research was used throughout the assignment.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenmue#Sales (Tue 7 Oct | 16:00)
[2] http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-08/06/ea-vs-zynga (Mon 6 Oct | 13:00)
[3] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/us-electronicarts-zynga-lawsuit-idUSBRE91E0YG20130215 (Mon 6 Oct | 13:00)
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