LO4 Off the Rails Final Presentation

On Wednesday 13th April, we (me, Matt, Kayna, Sammie) pitched our Off the Rails presentation to Dave from Sumo Digital. This is the presentation:

Our feedback was really positive and we didn't actually receive any criticism. Dave from Sumo Digital said that our presentation was "brilliant", "organised" and that he could envisage "Off the Rails" being a real, addictive smartphone game. He also said that our presentation was really well presented by all of us.

Parts of the presentation that I performed:
-About the game
-Graphics (app icon)
-Rail Coins
-Legal and ethical issues (first 3 bullet points)

LO4 Analysis of Current Market Trends

In the app market at the moment, the games most similar to ours which are popular are Temple Run 2 (the mine cart sections), Rail Rush and Subway Surfers. This is because they are all of the endless arcade / high score genre and are based around rails.

Screenshots of the games:

As you can see from the screenshots, the games are similar to the concept for our game, Off the Rails, so we would be competing closely with them in the app market. Although our game is similar, we believe it has its own unique features which distinguish it from these other games, such as:

• only being able to switch tracks at given opportunities
• its 2D, top-down graphics
• playing as an actual train rather than a human
• Rail Coins. 

Therefore, we hope that people will like our game for its unique features and choose Off the Rails over its competitors in the app market.

LO4 Visual Representations of Characters/Levels/Gameplay

LO4 Production Schedule for the Game

LO4 Budgeting for a new Game

LO4 Imaginary Entity

Graham, aged 14, is all about gaming. It's a fun way for him to pass his time when he's bored at home and it's subconsciously become a part of his everyday life. Gaming has become one of his main hobbies alongside the rest of his social activities.

Whether he's gaming alone, or with his friends it has become an easy way for Graham to relax and enjoy himself. Graham and his friends play on video games together most days after school; it's become a good form of social interaction for them all. When he's not gaming he is talking to his friends about his most recent gaming experience.

Although Graham focuses a lot on gaming, he's able to pull himself away and focus on his everyday tasks. But when he’s not able to game, Graham keeps up to date with the gaming world through his weekly subscription to a gaming magazine which he spends his nights reading.

LO4 Pitch Checklist

Include in pitch:

-Treatment or proposal for the final game (fine detail in a document). - Kayna

The Brief

We have been asked to develop an original game idea and illustrate planning for a new game that we will pitch to professionals within the gaming industry.

Concept Idea

Our final game idea is a never ending mobile game that challenges the player to avoid obstacles. The aim is to stay on the train tracks for as long as possible without dying; otherwise the game will be over.

Target Audience

The target audience for our game will consist of males and females between the ages of 10-20. We are aiming "Off The Rails" at people of both ethnicities and any subculture that belong to the social demographics B-E.

Key Milestones

Planning - 14/03/16(Identify target audience etc.)

Creation- 28/03/16
(create assets, identify gameplay etc.)

Finalise the presentation- 04/04/16

Pitch the presentation-   14/04/16

Equipment/Resources

Computer - to create all the pre-production documents & design visuals.

Word/Blogger- to type and store documents and material on.PowerPoint- to create pre-production documents on.
Photoshop- to design visuals and platforms.
Internet access- to save files and send them to the rest of the team.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Copyright– This enables original material such as pictures, music, literature and videos to be protected. It prevents others from using your material without the necessary permissions. It is important to gain permissions so we don't run into any legal implications within the development of our game. we will have to be careful not to infringe the copyright of games like Subway Surfers and Rail Rush.

Rating- This identifies the most suitable age for players of our game. It is based off the content of the game. The app would be rated age 3+ on iOS and Android. It wouldn’t be rated by PEGI since it is a free app and not a major console game. We plan to only include very mild violent content such as when the train crashes. Other than this, "Off The Rails" will be suitable for younger players.

Contingencies

Our work gets deleted. - Make sure everything is backed up.A member of the group isn't here. - Make sure we all have access to copies of all the work.Somebody pitches a similar idea. - Research ways to make our game more original.

-Competent production schedule for the final game. - Kayna

-Gameplay with associated visuals / Examples of levels, visuals and layouts- Matt

Company logo

Gameplay

Textures

Character

App icon

End of presentation

-Target audience - mood board, description, imaginary entity. - Kayna, Alex, Josh, Sammie

We aim to create a game that a wide range of people will enjoy. Therefore, the target audience for our game will consist of males and females between the ages of 10-20. We are aiming "Off The Rails" at people of both ethnicities and any subculture that belong to the social demographics B-E. Our target audience will generally be interested in gaming - but not to the highest extent. Gaming will just be a casual and small hobby for when they’re bored.

-Relevant legal and/or ethical issues - PEGI rating, copyright, music etc. - Alex

The app would be rated age 3+ on iOS and Android. It wouldn’t be rated by PEGI since it is a free app and not a major console game. 

In terms of original content, we will have to be careful not to infringe the copyright of games like Subway Surfers and Rail Rush. However, we think that the game contains enough originality to be different and separate to these games, for example the 8-bit art style and the unique power-ups and switching-tracks ability.

Ideally, the music for or game would be originally composed but this may not be possible. If it isn’t, we will have to find royalty-free / Creative Commons music that would be a suitable game soundtrack.

Ethically, since the game is rated age 3+, we will have to make sure that there isn’t any offensive content in the game. This means that there will be no violence, sexual content or bad language - we just want the game to be fun for all ages. The cartoony graphics should make the game look fun for the younger audience while also letting the parents know that it is inoffensive and fine for their kids. 

-Platform details and requirements - justification for selection. - Alex

On iOS:

Category: Games

Size: 74.5 MB

Rating: Rated 3+

Family Sharing: No

Compatibility: Requires iOS 6 or later. Compatible with iPhone (4 or later), iPad (2 or later), and iPod touch (4th generation or later).

Languages: English

On Android:

Size: 40.5 MB

In-app purchases: £0.99 - £19.99 for pieces of railroad - buy things in shop, continue playing.

The game will be available on Android phones and tablets. Android version 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher will be required. Recommended 1GHz processor required.

We have selected these platforms because they are easily accessible for many people - almost everybody within our target age range of 10-25 has a smartphone available to them. Also, our game isn’t too high-powered so it will work on a range of smartphones and tablets, not just the top-of-the-range ones. Finally, the simple touch controls for Off the Rails are best suited to handheld touch-screen devices such as phones and tablets.

-Plot synopsis and characters. - Alex and Kayna

Synopsis:

-The game starts with a train pulling out of a station.

-The brakes of the train fail (puff of smoke) so it begins to slowly speed up as you continue.

-There are five tracks shown on the screen, and when there is an opportunity to switch tracks, you must choose the right pathway by thinking quickly or you will crash into an obstacle. These could be barriers, workmen, slower trains or parked carriages.

-The longer you stay on the rails without crashing, the higher your score gets. The train also continually gets faster as you play, making it harder.

-The game ends when you collide with an obstacle.

-Rail Coins are earned as you go along the tracks. These can be used to revive when you die, or can be used to upgrade your train to make it better.

Upgrades:

-Stronger exterior, more crashes.

-More coins on the track.

-Make the railroad easier for a certain amount of time.

Characters:

-The train is the only main character in the game, which you must steer onto the right track.

-The colours of it can be changed and it can be upgraded using Rail Coins.

-Financial breakdown of development costs. - Sammie, Josh

LO4 Gantt Chart

LO4 Production Plan

LO4 Team Roles and Responsibilities

A) Treatment or proposal  for the final game. - Kayna

B) Competent production schedule for the final game. - Kayna

C) Gameplay with associated visuals. - Matt

D) Target audience – Moodboard, description, imaginary entity. - Kayna, Alex, Josh, Sammie

E) Relevant legal and/or ethical issues – PEGI rating, Copyright, Music etc.- Alex

F) Platform details and requirements – Justification for selection. - Alex

G) Examples of levels – Visuals and layouts. - Matt

H) Plot synopsis and characters. - Alex, Kayne

I) Financial breakdown of development costs - Sammie, Josh

LO4 Early Video Game Pitch: Off The Rails

LO4 Game Idea "Off the Rails"

The game is an app, and has an 8-bit retro style. A train sets out from a station and the camera goes to a top-down view, so we can see three or four tracks. The train's brakes blow off immediately, and as the train speeds up the player must dodge obstacles by switching tracks, such as workmen, barriers, slower trains and parked carriages. There would be power-ups, such as temporary invincibility, to aid the player. The longer you stay on the rails, the higher your score. The game ends if you collide with an obstacle. Red lights with sound effects and level crossings as you play to increase enjoyment and entertainment.

-The best possible hardware for the game is the mobile platform, as it would work best as a pull-out-of-your-pocket game which can be played for short periods. The simplistic controls would also work best on a touch screen.

-The target audience for the game Off the Rails would be primarily males of the age 10-20 who enjoy playing addictive, time-killing games when they have a moment to spare.

-The genre of the game is endless arcade.

-3 games that Off the Rails might compete with for market share are:

Temple Run

Subway Surfers

Rail Rush

These games are all similar in the way that they are related to rails in some way and they are all addictive high-score games.

LO4 New Game Concept Ideas

Endless arcade game:
"Off the Rails".
The game is an app, and has an 8-bit retro style. A train sets out from a station and the camera goes to a top-down view, so we can see three or four tracks. The train's brakes blow off immediately, and as the train speeds up the player must dodge obstacles by switching tracks, such as workmen, barriers, slower trains and parked carriages. There would be power-ups, such as temporary invincibility, to aid the player. The longer you stay on the rails, the higher your score. The game ends if you collide with an obstacle. Red lights with sound effects and level crossings as you play to increase enjoyment and entertainment.

Survival:
"Haunted House".

Haunted house. Game could be an app or a download on PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, Nintendo eShop... cheap. On-rails combat game - there are ghostly entities on each floor of the house and when you defeat all on one floor, you move upstairs. As you progress up floors, there is a larger amount of enemies and different types. They also have slightly more health on each floor. There are a range of different tools to use to get rid of different types of enemy. Score is in terms of floors survived and points gained.

Side-scrolling shoot-em-up:
"Ship Shoot".
This game is an app once again, and the player is in a speedboat on the left side of the screen. The player must move the speedboat up and down, as well as forwards and backwards to an extent. The speedboat will have guns at the front and on either side. The main character is a man in shades and a white suit. Coming towards the player will be different types of boat;
-battleships with more powerful guns but slow movement
-other speedboats, driven by men in black suits and shades, who come quickly down the sides. Side guns would be used to tackle these.
-submarines could be seen under the water. Must move out of their path before they shoot a large missile straight upwards.
-viking ships come along the side fairly slowly, the cannons must be shot to render them useless.
Old-school graphical style and especially sound effects for shooting.
Controls: up-down-left-right D-pad faintly on screen to the left to begin with.
                Diagram of three gun positions on right; tap them to fire that gun on your boat.
Pace increases the longer you survive, as does your score. Power-ups could float on the water occasionally to improve your guns.

LO4 Early Game Ideas

Addictive high-score app for all ages. Cartoon-like graphics.

-"Off the Rails". Possible title.
-Involving a train. Maybe has no brakes, player has to switch it between tracks to avoid obstacles as it speeds up. Eventually you will go "off the rails". You must last for as long as you can.

-Red lights along the way - can't stop as you don't have any brakes.
-Could be stopped by collisions with other trains or buildings, running out of fuel - you could pick it up along the way.

LO3 Game Review

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D Review


The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is a 3D, open world, action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. It is a remastered version of the original N64 game, with improved graphics and controls, and it was released on February 13, 2015. The target audience is just about anyone who is looking for some challenging entertainment and a good storyline. Its price, brand new at the time of release, was £35.

The general plot in the game is that a pesky child, who goes by the name of “Skull Kid”, has stolen a mask with great evil power. Skull Kid causes a lot of mischief with the mask, before eventually setting the moon on its way to crushing the Earth after a period of 3 days. Link, the hero, must use his wits and a spot of time travel to undo the many wrongdoings that Skull Kid put on the land, and eventually stop the moon from crushing the Earth. The game operates entirely within this period of 3 days of impending doom, so Link must continually travel back in time to the start of the 3 days, overcoming challenges that Skull Kid leaves for him and defeating the enemies that plague the land of Termina, until he defeats Skull Kid himself and solves the problem. Think Groundhog Day in video game form.

Link is the main protagonist in Majora's Mask 3D. As the hero in a non-gritty game relevant to all ages, he is someone who tries to do good in all situations and usually his goal is to prevent disaster. As happens in all Zelda games, Link finds himself in a bad situation at the beginning - in Majora’s Mask 3D's case, this situation is his horse, Epona, being taken from him by the Skull Kid, who uses the powers of Majora's Mask to do so. He then tells Link that Epona has been "disposed of", which gives us those feelings of support for Link that are necessary to make us actually want to play the game. Something that adds intrigue to Link is his lack of words - he rarely has conversations with anyone, and when he does, his responses are always given by "......". This mystery about Link makes us want to learn more about him. 

In terms of strength, Link isn't the brawniest fellow, especially as the younger Link is present in Majora's Mask 3D - it takes place earlier on in the Zelda timeline. This means that he often has to overcome obstacles and challenges by using his (your) brain, rather than muscles. Adding to the puzzle element of the game is the introduction of masks, which Link can wear to give him certain characteristics. For example, the Goron mask allows him to curl into a ball and roll at high speed, move heavy things and break rocks, while the Deku mask allows him to jump high and glide through the air. These masks add another level to the game, making it unique and keeping it interesting. Your mask collection builds up as you progress through the game, gain allies and defeat enemies.


Another element of the game that I really enjoyed was playing the ocarina, which Link received in the game's prequel, Ocarina of Time. You play the songs using the X, Y, A and B buttons, each one resembling a note, and each song does a certain thing. For example, the Song of Time takes Link back to the start of the three days - you play it when the moon is about to crush the land. Another key song in the game is the Song of Soaring, which can be played to warp Link to certain towns and locations in the game, saving precious time. The ocarina is an imaginative concept which, when coupled with the masks, makes the game original and really entertaining.
One small qualm I had with the touch screen controls was the difficulty in changing masks - you have to tap your current mask to open a menu, swap the mask you want to use with your current mask, and close the menu again. It felt a little fiddly and I thought it could have been done more easily, but this is only a minor flaw in an otherwise smooth and fluid control system.
The music in the game is another important part of the experience. As always in Zelda games, it's beautifully crafted and is often performed by a full orchestra. There are a range of instrumentals to go along with the section of the game you are in, each one evoking different feelings, and they really add an extra dimension to the game.

The controls for Majora's Mask 3D are optimised for the 3DS, as the only platform the game is available on. They feel smooth, responsive and make the game a pleasure to play, even when you're just wandering around landscapes. Complementing the controls is the non-linear structure of the game, as you are free to explore and discover more about the land of Termina as you please. One Circle Pad on the 3DS is used for movement, while the other is used to control the camera. In addition, when aiming a weapon such as a bow and arrow, you can tilt the 3DS itself. These controls immerse you in the game world and feel very intuitive and natural, not to mention the 3D effect unique to the 3DS which literally adds another dimension to Majora's Mask 3D.

The challenge in the game is that you have a time limit to save the world. Of course, you can time travel back to the beginning, but you still have to do a certain amount in the three days before you go back to actually progress - many things are reset to how they were when you travel back. Since the game is open-world, there are a variety of locations and biomes to engage us, and the freedom we are  given to figure out what to do next feels liberating and fun. The simple yet rewarding “hack-and-slash” style of combat is key to the game's success, as well as the unique masks mechanic. 

Gameplay is always evolving throughout Majora's Mask 3D, in the way that there are always multiple side-quests to be done which are given to you from people you meet in the different towns. While you don't have to do these, you can get some handy items and benefits if you do - for example, if you save enough money in the bank, you are given a larger wallet, which means you can carry more rupees with you before it gets full. The benefits you get from side-quests in turn aid your main objective, which is always changing as you progress in the game. All of these things make for a storyline that is never dull, there is never nothing to do, and it keeps you entertained for hours. 

In terms of things that could be made better about the game, it's hard to have any real complaints. I've already mentioned the slightly fiddly method of changing masks using the touch screen, so the only other thing I would mention is that the time travel aspect can be frustrating at times. This is because, with any Zelda game, you want to explore the landscapes as you traverse them and view all the details to get the full experience - when you're working against the clock, it can be more difficult to take it slow and really enjoy the environments. It can also be frustrating due to the fact that certain things are put back to how they were three days ago when you travel back - for example, if you didn't quite finish a dungeon when you had to travel back, you would have to start the dungeon all over again. This can be tedious, and so to solve both of these problems, I would increase the time limit so that we can take the game at a more leisurely pace and really enjoy it for what it is. Don't think that this is a major problem though - it's just something that happens every now and again during the game, but it certainly doesn't take much away from the overall experience.

To summarise, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is another solid entry in the series that just never lets us down. In comparison to other titles in the franchise, it is certainly more dark and unusual, with the time-travel mechanic, the crushing moon and eerie antics of Skull Kid. However, it combines action and adventure with puzzle, a trademark of the Zelda series, and Nintendo pulls it off just as well as it ever has. The improved controls and graphics, plus a 3D sheen, make this N64 classic into as good as a new game - it's definitely another one for Zelda and Nintendo fans to pick up as soon as possible.

LO2 Starter Task

The review of Forza 5 uses second person address (you can, you will etc.)

As a reader, this makes us feel more involved with the review and the game. It might affect our decision to buy more positively or more negatively than if it was written in first- or third-person.
It speaks to us as if we are going to be playing the game, which makes us think about whether we really want to buy it more.

The Verdict - "As a result Forza 5 is a very hard game for a petrolhead like myself not to love."

This review would persuade me to buy this game if I had the right hardware because the review uses very positive language and a lot of hyperbole to describe the game. It puts it in a very positive light, for example "Forza 5 is just looking to turn us on before we even turn a key".

LO2 Comparing Reviews

Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 - Review Comparison

Reviews used:

Official Xbox Magazine review by Chris Schilling

YouTube video review by Rare Bishop - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGMrYJVBYO4

Genre

Both the magazine review and the video review agree that the game has an arcade / party genre, as it has a classic arcade style, but it is also best played in a group. Official Xbox Magazine says “this is a game designed for the same kind of party environments in which Wii proved such a hit” while the video review describes it as “even more fun if you have friends or family members to play it with.” The reviews don’t differ too much at this stage as they both agree on the genre.

Target Audience

I think that both reviews also agree on target audience, which would be people of all ages. Xbox Magazine says that “anyone can flail around and have fun”, implying that the game is enjoyable for all ages, and the fact that the video review says “even more fun if you have friends or family to play it with” implies that any group of friends or a family, which probably includes people of different ages, can have fun on Fruit Ninja Kinect 2. Again, there isn’t much difference in the reviews at this stage.

Narrative

At the point of explaining the narrative, the reviews begin to differ. I thought that Rare Bishop’s video review went into a fair bit more detail than the Xbox Magazine. For example, the video review states states that there are a number of challenges to complete, and “what these challenges do is rank you up, so you get belts, so you’ll go from yellow to brown belts, stuff like that.” The video review also states that “there are four different festivals for you to go through, one of them is dodging ninja stars, one of them you need to hit a certain amount of targets, another one is the spotlight…”. These comments let give us a good idea of what the game is like and what you can do in it. The video review also helps in the way that you can see the game in action as you listen to the review. 

In comparison, the magazine goes into less detail. It gives you a good idea of the modes that are available and what you can do in them, but doesn’t expand on that. Whilst the video review explains what you can unlock and actually names the new modes as “festivals”, the magazine lacks this information so we don’t get an idea of what happens as we progress in the game.

Characters

Characters seemed to be a bit of a grey area for both reviews. Although they both lacked information, the video review was again a little bit better. There was not a single mention of characters in the Xbox Magazine review, leaving readers with only the obvious idea that you play as the fruit ninja. The video review did improve on this, saying “it [the game] can introduce new characters, and you can unlock these by levelling up.” This is not much of an improvement however, and so both reviews fail to mention the sort of characters you can unlock, how many there are, what they are called or what they do. The only thing we know for certain after both reviews is that the main character is the fruit ninja, who you play as.

Gameplay

There is not much to the gameplay in this game, as it is an arcade game and all based on the simple principle that you must use your arms to slice fruit, and get high scores. Therefore, the magazines say similar things on this front - Official Xbox Magazine states that “it replaces the neat finger-swiping controls of the original with full-body input, but you only really need your arms.” Rare Bishop’s video review echoes this with “it gets you up and active and gets you moving a little bit, even if it’s just your upper body.” While there are different modes and ranks you can unlock and achieve, it is all based on the principle of slicing fruit using your arms.

Platform

Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 is only available on Xbox One coupled with Kinect 2.0. No differences between the reviews here.

Personal recommendation of the reviewer

This is another section in which the two reviews are different in some ways. Both of the reviews do agree that the game is best played in a group, with Xbox Magazine saying it is a game “built as a piece of bright, breezy family entertainment” and the video review saying “it’s a ton of fun to play… even more if you have friends or family members”. 

However, the two opinions start to differ here. The video review says “I feel like fifteen bucks is a little bit too steep, especially for a game you can get for free on your phone or tablet.” The Xbox Magazine review contains no mention of value for money, which could be due to bias towards Xbox. Since the reviewer, Chris Schilling, is being paid to write the review, he might try to sell you the game more than a possibly more honest YouTube reviewer, who isn’t being paid. 

A similar case is when the YouTube review says “if you’re playing alone, I can feel it getting old really fast.” This is quite a critical comment which there is no sign of in the Xbox Magazine, perhaps again due to the reason mentioned earlier. The Xbox Magazine made no real critical comments throughout.

Overall, I think the video review was more detailed in places and was a little more critical than the Xbox Magazine. Chris Schilling gave the game 7/10, and while Rare Bishop didn’t give a specific score, I feel like it would have been more around the 6/10 mark.

LO1 Feedback and Feedforward Sheet