Assignment - Pre-Production and Planning for a Computer Game

Student name: Noel Pells

Qualification: BTEC Extended Diploma in Computer Games Design

Unit number and title: Unit 1: Pre-Production Techniques for the Creative Media Industries 

Introduction

Before you can begin developing a game, you need to make sure you have the correct resources e.g. personnel, the correct amount of money, the right amount of time to complete the game etc. Pre-production is important because if you rush into a project, you will most likely experience many hold-ups and bumbs along the way, making development very difficult. If you plan beforehand, you will be able to develop the game efficiently, and everyone working on the game will have a clear idea as to what they're doing. 

Finance

It's very important to find out roughly how much a game is going to cost before development starts. You need to make sure you have PC's with the correct specs and software, console dev kits (if you're designing a console game,) and you need to find out the cost of publishing. 

Software & Hardware

Software is stuff you need on your PC to be able to develop a game.

UDK (Unreal Development Kit)

The latest version of the Unreal Engine (Unreal Engine 4) is now free. So everyone can use it.

UE4 PC specs:

OS: Windows7/8 64 Bit

CPU: Quad Core AMD or Intel, 2.5GHz or higher

GPU: Direct X 11 compatible graphics card

Memory: 8 GB RAM

Unity

Unity is an extremely popular engine. Unity can be downloaded for free, but to access all the features a $75 per month subscription is required. You can also buy assets for your game from the asset store. 

Unity PC specs for development (taken from the unity website):

OS: Windows XP SP2+, 7 SP1+, 8, 10; Mac OS X 10.8+.

GPU: Graphics card with DX9 (shader model 2.0) capabilities. Anything made since 2004 should work.

Additional platform development requirements:

·         iOS: Mac computer running minimum OS X 10.9.4 version and Xcode 6.x.

·         Android: Android SDK and Java Development Kit (JDK).

·         Windows 8/8.1 Store Apps / Windows Phone 8/8.1: 64 bit Windows 8.1 Pro and Visual Studio 2013 Update 2+.

·         WebGL: Mac OS X 10.8+ or Windows 7 SP1+ (64-bit editor only)

Game Maker:

Game Maker can be downloaded for free, however it's features are quite limited. If you're going to be developing a big game with Game Maker, it would be better to buy a different version. A professional version is available for $149.99, and a master version is also available for $799. Game Maker is quite easy to run and most modern PC's should be able to run it. 

Maya

Maya is used for animation, and is very expensive. For a monthly subscription its £145, quarterly is £365 and annually is £1,160.

Maya PC specs (taken from the Maya website):

Software
Operating System	·         Microsoft® Windows® 7 (SP1) and Windows® 8.1 Professional operating system ·         Apple® Mac OS® X 10.9.5 and 10.10.x operating system ·         Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 6.5 WS operating system ·         CentOS 6.5 Linux operating system
Browser	Autodesk recommends the latest version of the following web browsers for access to online supplemental content: ·         Apple® Safari® web browser ·         Google Chrome™ web browser ·         Microsoft® Internet Explorer® web browser ·         Mozilla® Firefox® web browser

Hardware
CPU	64-bit Intel® or AMD® multi-core processor
Graphics Hardware	Refer to the recommended hardware wizard for a detailed list of recommended systems and graphics cards
RAM	4 GB of RAM (8GB recommended)
Disk Space	4 GB of free disk space for install
Pointing Device	Three-button mouse

For Shape Man I will not need to manage finances. I have a good PC that can run all the software that I need, and I am able to access the software I need.

Publishing

Games can be published via a variety of services, some of these are Steam Greenlight, ID@Xbox, PSN, IOS and Android. 

Steam Greenlight

To post games on Steam Greenlight, you have to pay a fee of £70.

ID@Xbox

The developer of the game “Sixty Second Shooter Prime” revealed the how much is cost to make the game.

• ·         Maintaining the Sixty Second Shooter URL: $19
• ·         Sending the second dev kit to Brett Douville: $63
• ·         Hardware (usb and video cables and the like): $72
• ·         Video capture device (for making trailer): $181
• ·         Localization (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese): $729
• ·         E&O (Error & Omissions) Insurance: $2,037
• ·         Foreign ratings boards (PEGI, USK): $2,042
• The total cost of the project was $5,143

Info from: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/136523-How-Much-Does-an-ID-Xbox-Game-Cost-to-Make-5-000

 PS4

A PS4 dev kit is about $2,500, but some developers have said that Sony give them out to developers for a free for a period of one year.

Funding

Funding is how you pay for your game. You can pay for the development of the game yourself (self-financing) but there are also different ways where other people can contribute.

Indie Funding

Indie funding is when a developer (or developers) pay for a game themselves and continue working their daily job and develop a game in their spare time. If their game is successful they can quit their job and develop games full time, however if the game is unsuccessful, they will continue to work their normal job while developing a new game.

There are different types of indie funding, and example is the Indie Fund. This helps developers with their financing/funding for the development of their game.

Crowd Funding
Crowd funding takes place on websites such as IndieGoGo, and allows people to post their ideas/start a campaign, and anyone that is interested can give money that goes towards to development of the product. Crowd funding is good for projects with a big budget, as millions of pounds can be donated.

Grants
A grant is a certain amount of money that a company gives you to help develop something. And example of a grant is the Unreal Dev Grant. The makers of the Unreal Engine give money to people who have innovative ideas for games/anything made in UE4.

Time Constraints 
When developing a game it is very important to keep track of your deadlines and manage you time wisely and efficiently.

Deadlines
A deadline is a date when the product you are developing needs to be completed or has reached a certain milestone. If you're developing smaller indie games, it's a good idea to set yourself strict deadlines and stick to them because it will help prepare you for the deadlines you may be issued when working in a proper development company. If deadlines aren't met the development of the game could go on for much longer or stop completely.

Availability of Equipment & Personnel 
When developing a game you need to make sure your schedule fits with everyone else's (if you're working in a team.) And if you're renting equipment you need to make sure you've finished with it before you have to return it. If you can't get the equipment back and need it to develop a certain part of the game, the development of the game is going to slow down. This may also interfere with deadlines.

Timescales for Clearances 
When the development for the game is done, if will need to be checked by other people (for example the ESRB.) So it can be given an age rating etc.

How Would I Manage My Time?
For the game I am creating with Wayne, "Shape Man," I am not really managing my time in a certain way, I am just doing a bit each lesson. However, if I was to manage my time in a more professional way I would do a little bit each day and set deadlines. For example, I would try to finish all the sprites and animations by this day, and finish putting in the sound effects by that day. Doing this would mean that I am organised and I wouldn't get mixed up with what I am doing. I would also probably have more free time because I would have a clear idea as to when I need to finish certain parts of the game. I will also not be borrowing any equipment as the whole project will be done using Game Maker. And of course it's not a proper game that is going to be published so timescales for clearances doesn't apply to this.

Personnel
There are many different types of roles in the video game industry. A development team needs these roles so the game can be developed faster and more efficiently.

Animator

Animators are the people that animate characters and objects. E.g. they give a character a walking animation.

Assistant Producer

Assistant producers make sure that the game is ready on time.

Audio Engineer

Audio Engineers create the games soundtrack, sound effects etc.

Creative Director

The Creative Director is responsible for how the game looks and feels as a whole.

External Producer

External Producers work externally from the main dev team and make sure that the delivery of the completed game is successful.

Game Designer

The Game Designer manages the way the game plays and its core mechanics/features.

Game Programmer

A Game Programmer types up the code that allows the game to function properly.

Game Artist

A Game Artist draws concept art and designs the look of the characters, world etc.

Lead Artist

A Lead Artist is responsible for the overall look of the game.

Lead Programmer

The Lead Programmer keeps the programming team in check and is responsible for all the games code.

Level Editor

Level Editors design the levels and are responsible for the placement of buildings and scenery etc.

Marketing Executive

A Marketing Executive promotes the game and raises peoples awareness of it.

Marketing Manager

A Marketing Manager also promotes the game and tries to make more people aware of it (use of ads etc.)

Product Manager

Product Managers create marketing campaigns which make more people aware of the game and could potentially boost sales.

Project Manager/Producer

A Project Manager/Producer makes sure that the game is successfully delivered. 

Public Relations Officer

Is in charge of a companies image and reputation.

QA Tester

A QA Tester tests the game and find bugs/glitches. They also make sure the game is as playable as possible and is fit to be released to the public.

Technical Artists

Technical Artists work between the artists and the programmers.

Personnel for Waynes game (Shape Man)

I am making shape man on my own, so there won't really be specific roles assigned for the project. 

Equipment and Facilities

The equipment and facilities needed to make a game depends on the games budget and how big the game is going to be. A small team making a 2D indie game will have a smaller team, and will probably use less demanding software like Game Maker. This means that they wont need to spend as much money on PC's and software.

Big teams making triple A games will need powerful PC's to be able to run animation and rendering software, and things like motion capture/voice recording equipment will be needed also.

To make Shape Man I will only be using Game Maker, which I have access to pretty much all the time. I can access it at school and on my PC at home.

Materials

Materials are things used to make the game, some examples of materials are:

Concept art: Lots of different drawings/ideas that are drawn. The best ones are put into the game.

Assets: Assets are things used in the game world. Assets can be created by the developers themselves or bought from places like the Unity store.

Audio: For big games, original sound effects are usually used. However, there are websites such as Freesound.org that have free sounds for people to use. 

Materials made by other people must be used under creative commons, and credit must be given to the creator in the game.

For Shape Man I will be creating my own assets using Game Maker. I could also use software like Photoshop and MS Paint if I wanted to. For the audio I will probably use sounds from freesound.org or any site that is similar.

Contributors

People outside the development team may be needed. A good example of a contributor would be an actor, and a game that uses actors is Call of Duty. The most recent COD game included the well known actor Kevin Spacey, who played the part of Jonathan Irons.

Codes of Practice 

When a game is finished, it needs to be checked by external companies to make sure it is fit to be sold. An example of a well known company is PEGI (Pan European Game Information.) PEGI give video games age ratings and put labels on the packaging which let people know what is included in the game. E.g. fear, violence etc.

Research Exercise - Stimulus, Ideas and Legal & Ethical Consideration

Stimulus

What is a Brief?
A brief is like a set of rules, or guidelines that you need to follow when completing a task for a client.

Client Brief
A brief that a client gives to you.

Own Brief
A brief that you set for yourself. E.g. for a game you are developing.

Market Research
Research about how well certain games sell, popularity among certain age groups etc.

Ideas Generation

Brainstorming
Brainstorming is when you come up with ideas without using the internet or any other sources, you just use your brain.


Mood board
A mood board is a board with lots of images put together. The images are things related to the mood of the game you are developing, and they can be used to give inspiration to the concept artist.

Thumbnail Sketching
Thumbnail sketches are small images that concept artists draw when they are trying to come up with ideas.

Concept Drawings
Concept drawings are ideas that the concept artist draws. Things like characters, scenery, weapons and backgrounds are drawn.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

What is a copyright law?
A copyright law gives a creator of something the rights to what they have created. If anyone else tries to use it there will be consequences.

Libel
Libel is information that can damage someones reputation. Libel is often in print, writing and pictures etc. The libel law stops people from saying things like "Our game is better than there game" and other things that are classed as defamation.

How are female characters represented in games?
The way that female characters are portrayed in video games often causes controversy. Lots of video games over-sexualize women and show them as objects.

Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property (also known as IP) is a creation that owned by it's creators by law. The creation is protected by copyright.

Computer Game Graphics

Print Media
Print media is stuff like posters and packaging. Having eye catching/effective print media for a game is important because more people will become interested in the game. 

A good example of eye catching print media is the GTA V box art. The bright colours and cartoon style are visually appealing and eye catching, and some of the images used are quite exciting such as the helicopter in the top left.

In Game Graphics

There are different types of in game graphics. Some are photo-realistic and use detailed texture images and models, others may be cartoony or use 2D pixel style sprites.

An example of a game that uses photo-realistic graphics and highly detailed textures and models is GTA V.



An example of a game that uses pixel style graphics and 2D sprites is Terraria. This game also uses background graphics. 



Something that some games also have is a HUD (head-up display.) A head-up display in shooter games shows how much ammo you have, your weapons and health etc. HUD's are also being used in things such as modern cars. Below is a screenshot from COD: Modern Warfare 2. As you can see in the bottom left, top left and bottom right, information such as ammo is displayed.



Concept Art
Concept art is drawn before the main development of a game starts. These types of drawings are basically ideas and the artist will play around with different styles and colours until the draw something that is good enough to go into the game.

Below are some examples of concept art from Fallout 3. The things shown are weapons and the Pip Boy (something your character wears on his wrist that allows him/her to check stats etc.)

Graphics Specification

Graphics specification is a list of things you need to consider when designing graphics/a game for a client. This is also known as a brief.

Client Needs - You need to make sure you are following the brief the client has given you, and you need to include what they have asked for.

Audience - The image or game needs to be appropriate for it's intended audience. For example if you're making a game for children you need to make sure there isn't any violence etc.

Thumbnail Sketching - Thumbnail sketching is when you draw lots of different designs of the same thing on the same page, so you can find one that you like. It's basically just putting all of your ideas on to paper and choosing the best one.


Visual Style
Visual style is the way a game looks. Below are some examples of different visual styles in video games. 

An example of a photo-realistic game is GTA V.
 

GTA V is a good example of a photo-realistic game because the game is based on real life locations and the characters are based on real life actors. 

An example of a cel-shaded game is Borderlands.

Despite being quite a gory and violet game, the Borderlands games all have a very silly cartoony/comic book look, which adds to the games humor and makes the franchise very unique, because there’s humor mixed with bloody violence.

Composition

There are different types of image composition, one of them being the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is when an artist or photographer splits an image into a grid of 9 squares (3x3.) Important parts of the image that the artist wants the viewer to focus on are placed on or near the points where the lines meet up. Leading lines are also used that lead the viewers eyes to the main focus of the image.

Here is an example of an image that uses the rule of thirds. As you can see the building on the right is on top of 2 points. The wires and the ladder connected to the building are leading lines. There are also some leading lines on the floor but not many.

Typography
Typography is the technique of arranging letters and words to make then visually appealing. Typography involves changing things like font size, font colour and the gaps between words etc.

An example of typography. Words have been put together to make the shape of a revolver. Some of the words relate to certain parts of the gun, for example the handle uses the word "hand" and the chamber uses words such as "shoot" and "bang."

Technical Considerations
When developing a game or creating files, you need to remember all the technical stuff. With files you need to make sure you use the correct format, and you need to make sure the size of the file isn't too big (you can use compression to lower file size.) You also need to make sure you give each image/asset the correct filename, and the important assets need to be stored somewhere safe so they won't be lost. With a game you need to make sure it is optimized correctly, because if it isn't it won't run well on certain systems and could potentially be unplayable.

Video Game Concept Art

What is Concept Art?
Concept art is essentially an idea. It's what a video game artist draws before the main development of the game begins. It's a chance for the artist to play around with ideas and make lots of changes to make sure the characters, weapons etc can be as good as possible. Concept art isn't just drawn for video games, and it's used with film making, architecture and fashion etc. 

Examples of Concept Art
I have chosen concept art examples from the game "Fallout 3" because in my opinion, it's spectacular. Fallout 3 is set in the year 2277 and takes place in a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. The game has a retro-futuristic style.



In this image, we can see some retro-future elements. It's difficult to make out, but the destroyed car on the left has quite an odd shape. On the left there is some kind of sign but it's designed almost like a giant mace. There are also some buildings/signs in the background that have odd shapes. On the floor in-front of the four men, there is a suit of power armour (something you can use in the game.) It has more of a childish toy robot look than a serious look. One of the things with Fallout is that it doesn't take itself too seriously.



I have a feeling this image was drawn after the previous one, because it has the very grey and dull look that most of the areas in Fallout 3 have. As you can see the artist has taken real life D.C. and turned it into a post-apocalyptic version. To do this he went to D.C. and actually took pictures, so he could get the correct scale and look. The in game view is just as grand as what is shown in this concept art (even though the graphics are fairly dated.)

The in-game view from the D.C. monument. (The game is quite old so textures and details don't really render in properly)

This image shows Rivet City (the giant boat on the right.) My guess is that the artist was playing with different colours and tones. This image has a warmer, more pleasant orange look than the previous D.C. image.

For the concept art exercise I drew an AK-47, specifically the one from Counter Strike: GO.

Assignment - Digital Graphics For Computer Games

Student Name: Noel Pells

Qualification: BTEC Level 3 Games Design

Unit Number and Title: Unit 78 – Digital Graphics for Computer Games

Start Date: 29/09/2015 (Group B)

Assignment Introduction

As preparation for this assignment, I researched the different elements of computer game graphics, which were things like artistic style, raster and vector images, compression etc. In this assignment I am going to compare a 2D game with a 3D game, my 2D game being Terraria, and my 3D game being Minecraft.

What is Terraria?

Terraria is a 2D sandbox game where each world is procedurally generated (randomly generated). The player has to explore, gather resources, craft, build, and defeat enemies and bosses.

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is a 3D sandbox game that also has procedurally generated worlds. The game is open world and unlike Terraria the world has no end. The player has to explore, craft and build.

Artistic Style

Terraria is a 2D game with a pixel art style, that uses sprites similar to the 16-bit ones used on the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System.) The pixels used to make up the sprites are quite prominent, however the games backgrounds are made to look more realistic. They use smaller/less noticeable pixels and show big landscapes.

An example of a Terraria background.

Minecraft is 3D and the art style is quite similar to Terraria’s in some ways. The game also uses pixels however they are more prominent because the game is played from a first person perspective, and the blocks use less/bigger pixels in general. Minecraft looks more realistic than Terraria, and you can tell that the landscapes and animals have been based on realism, but obviously have been altered and made to look blocky. It’s like the developers literally took real life landscapes and turned them into blocks.

A cow, wolf, and the default player model "Steve."

A sword, diamond and a compass. As you can see Minecraft has
much bigger items and uses less/bigger pixels so they are very prominent.

Image/Graphic Types: Raster or Vector?
Both Minecraft and Terraria use what are known as raster graphics. Raster images (or graphics) (bmp, gif, tiff, jpeg) are images that are made up of pixels or point samples. Each pixel has a certain percentage of red, green and blue (the primary colours) which makes up the final colour. 
The image on the right is an example of a raster image. The original image is quite small and clear, but when we zoom in the picture becomes very pixelated, and each individual pixel is shown. 

Compression
The images in both games would have been compressed using lossless compression. Lossless compression reduces the size of the image file but keeps the image quality. If the images were compressed with lossy compression, the games would like a like a blurry mess.

Optimization
Since the world(s) in Minecraft is so huge, the game needs to be optimized efficiently so it doesn't use up loads of PC power. Minecraft worlds render in chunks, which are giant squares that render in as the player moves around (only what the player see's is rendered in.) Chunks are 16 blocks wide, 16 blocks long, and 256 blocks deep. In Minecraft you will sometimes stumble upon chunk errors where there is a giant hole in the floor that leads to nothing. This mainly happens on servers with bad connection.

A chuck error (the world hasn't rendered in correctly)

Terraria is optimized in a similar way, however you don't really see chunks load in like you can in Minecraft, and you rarely come across broken chunks. Terraria uses less PC power than Minecraft anyway and the worlds are much smaller, so loads of optimization isn't really needed as much.