Unit 1: pre-production and
planning for the creative media industries
Tutor: James Tedder
Student: Robin Carreras-Gough
Requirements of Game Development
Types
of production: The type of
production is thinking about what product you are creating. In my case a video
game for game maker on pc.
Finance: There are three main different
types of finance to consider the first is publishing finance and how your game
will be paid for. The second is material finance, how much will the tools and
space you need to develop will cost and finally Work finance, paying your and
other developers wages.
Publish
finance: It’s important to know how your game development will be paid for.
Full time Developers will either have to look to a publisher to fund and
publish for them or look at getting community to back the game.
Getting a
publishing house to fund you may be great for financial security however these companies
have been known to value profit of a quality product. Meaning you have lesson control
over your product
Take ubisoft
a massive gaming giant. Being backed by them can be a blessing and a curse. The
bigger the corporation get the more it relies on its name to sell titles.
Material
finance: The developer must look at how much equipment and space to produce
will cost. Buying cheap equipment may lead to a subpar game however buying to
unnecessary equipment may cause a financial failures in the company.
Work
finance: Whether developing independently or in a company for any full time
developer you need a salary. This salary will come from your budget. This means
the salary can't be too much however must be sustainable to live on while the
game is still being made.
I’m my
case the game will be created with software i bought for 8 pounds and I’m in
full time education so a salary is not relevant. This also means my budget will
be small and the game will take longer to make as there is only one developer
Time
constraints: Funding for games
will eventually run out meaning the developers will have a time limit till the
game needs to be released. The game will also have to keep players interests
and game that taking too long to come out may have a smaller fan base on
release meaningless copies sold. A game which takes too long to be made may be
outdated on release as the game will be developed for current hardware if a
game is released 6 years later the game may be outdated.
In the case of Dukenukem the game took fifth
teen years to come out this meant the developers where constantly trying to
update the games engine it also meant fans lost interest and the game was uninspiring
as it fell behind the latest technology.
How long a game takes to release may also
change how a developer feels about their product. The longer one works on project
may change how passion they feels towards their game. Whether this is more or
less depends on the individual.
My
time constraints are quite small and however taking too long to release or
create will mean my game will be outdated
Personal: It is important to be in a personally
stable life and work environment if a developer's life is not stable it may
take time away from his development. It’s also important to make sure a
developer get time and space away from development if too much time is spent in
front of the screen a developer many start to loathe their work and their for
the project.
Animators are
responsible for the portrayal of movement and behaviour within a game, making
best use of the game engine’s technology, within the platform’s limitations.
Game Designers Devise what
a game consists of and how it plays, defining all the core
elements Communicating this to the rest of the development team who create
the art assets and computer code
Artist Create the
visual elements of a game, such as characters, scenery, objects, vehicles,
surface textures, clothing. Creating concept art and storyboards which help
communicate the proposed visual elements during pre-production
Audio Engineers Create the soundtrack for a game, including
music, sound effects, character voices, spoken instructions and ambient effects
Level Designers Define and create interactive architecture for a
segment of a game, including the landscape, buildings and objects
Programmers Design and write the computer code that runs and
controls a game
Managers normally are not focused building the game but focus
the management of the people making it. Managers have to be strong
personalities which keep the creators and marketing unified and functional
Not every person who works in the
games industry is set to these specific roles and guidelines many will work independently
this could be in the form of their own little company. These creators will
often cross roles as they are able to be skilled ant multiple areas. This these
smalls studio will have to allocate their own roles and pay for them self.
People may also freelance being played by a company to produce and items of set
of assets. Not payed a salary but for their piece of work.
Independents who start or do work for themselves may get
recognised by big companies and payed to join or asked to help on another
project.
Companies may Hotseat recognised creative by giving room to
work or brainstorm while to forcing the standard office / work job.
These more Independent jobs so might find more for filling
however are a lot less
My
family life is stable and i have spare time to work but need to make sure it
doesn't interfere with my school work.
Facilities: Facilities are important to look at
where the game will be made and whether the developers have a studio to use and
come together in. This may help creation as the developers can more easily
interact. However this will cost money and may short the time which the
development budget will last. A place of development can also increase
productivity as developers will be more focused with the task at hand. Finally
a place of development must be accessible to the workforce and easy to travel
to this will also a social place of interaction which can help the morale of
the development team.
https://www.google.co.uk/about/company/facts/culture/
I will
be creating the game at school and my home computers which i will not have to
pay to access however both environments are easy to get distracted in.
Materials: Materials for game development are
key. Materials considers anything from hard ware to assets. Some assets can be
taken from other for free. Take a sprite form google images for instance. However
some creator will want you to reference them in your work. It’s a good way to
save money however it’s important to remember some work maybe copyrighted. They
are also lots of free alternatives to different forms of software. Eg WinRAR a
file opening software has a free equivalent called extract frog.
http://download.cnet.com/Free-RAR-Extract-Frog/3000-2250_4-10804840.html
Materials used must be to a certain standard
as this will show in the final product. When it comes to hardware it's worth
considering whether the hardware is need and whether it help development or if
it just adds complications.
It's
important to look at how hard ware will affect how a product is sold and how
accessible to others it is. It’s also important to think about how this
hardware will run on other people's computer and how big or small this will
make your target market. Materials may also be limited such as development kits
for consoles this means you will have to talk to other and convince them that
the giving of these materials is in their best interests.
I have
already purchased the materials i need and i will create all assets myself.
I
already have licences publish on the android store as this came with my
purchase of the humble bundle
You
man also need certain license to distribute products on certain markets e.g.
(android app store) This mean you have to way up how many platforms the product
will be sold on and whether the cash return for a certain market is worthwhile.
Contributors: All games need contributors these
contributors are anyone that has helped or been a part of making the game.
Their names will be put into the credits for a game. This is to recognize their
work and effort towards the development of the title. Being and contributor can
range anywhere from having programed code to voice acting or research. Listing
contributors can help generate business for employees as say a company like the
sound design in a game they could look for the sound engineer and ask him to
work on their title
Codes
of practice: The Codes of
practice in game development ranges from the ethical to the abiding of laws.
When making a game it's important not break laws like copyright , health and
safety , public liability and completion insurance its. However it's
important to look at the ethics of game creation like worker treatment and pay
and cost and pricing of the game. The game should also not be falsely
advertised or seem to have promise things the game does not have. It’s also important to think about dlc
and bug whether you continue to support and update the game after release is a
morale decision so developers many choose to give free content after a games release
to thank the customer for buying it. However most companies cannot afford to
pay their staff nothing so they will create pay for content after the game.
This can be liked buy the consumers however too much payed for content can make
the players feel like they are being milked for cash. Pre-planned or pre order bonuses
can make players excited for the game, however if done wrong players may feel
key aspects of the game are being cut away to create more profit.
Take this link for instance. A
link to the new Total war game. This video has received a shocking amount of dislike
because the company announced they will be selling one of the core factions in
the Warhammer universe as a pre order bonus. This means they are cutting
content from the game to sell. They have the right to do it but other may
consider this unethical.
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