Research for Video Games

1. Research
Leah Ellis

2. Final Fantasy IV
The colour scheme of the game is quite dark, which gives a better view of the dungeon
type settings, and allows the player sprites to be bright to allow the player to view it
simply. This also leads through to the selection bar which, as shown above, is a bright
combination of blue and white, contrasting with the dark of the rest of the screen. This
highlights the fact it is more vital for the player to see and also gives them a clear view
without it blending in.
This game has a very pixelated
image which, at the time, was the
norm for games as in 1991 it was
only very simple designs that could
be produced and viewed through
the technology available. Looking
back at it now, it gives a feel of
nostalgia for many and gives the
impression of an older, more basic
play through. (1)

3. The player sprites in this game are all
quite bright. This can be shown that
they are the “good guys” that are
there to defeat the evilness of the
ones they are battling against. This
could also be so that the player can
see their characters against the dark
backgrounds that are ever present in
the battle screens.
This is highly contrasted by the darkness of the
villains that you must fight in the game. This
would be using colour symbolism to their
advantage as it allows the player to easily view
who is “good” and who is “bad” at a glance so
that they do not get confused at all. This is
especially useful in a game where there are
some creatures that are used as helping you and
others that are there to fight against you.

4. The fonts used in this game are all very
simple pixel characters. This is a very
uniform font as it fits with the rest of the
game being made entirely out of singular
pixels on a small area.
It is also on a blue background, which allows
the white to stand out and be able to be
read by everyone. This also allows the
yellow of the selected name to be identified
easily and stand out even more.

5. https://youtu.be/sMpzODudeks
The music presented in this game is all quite
blocky that fits in with the aesthetic of the game as
a whole.
The boss music is quite a bit more intense than the
usual sound that you get just walking around. This
is important as it gets the player more motivated
and much more blood pumping, this helps
improve their performance and leaves them able
to defeat it. Where as the normal, calmer music of
the more general areas relaxes the player and lulls
them into a sense of security, where they can just
calmly get on with the game and not have to rush
or destroy anything.

6. All the playable characters are at one
side of the screen so you can see them
all banded together in a group. It puts
the box around the player that is
selected so that you can see who it is. It
also lines up with the highlighted name
at the bottom of the screen.
The enemy is at the opposite
side of the screen to show it is
the opposite of your character.
Highly contrasting the
brightness of your group.
It shows the name of
the enemy in this box.
This gives you a
constant view of who
it is and helps you to
recognise the
characters more later
in play through.
It shows you all your options here
as to what you can do with your
round. This helps you so that you
can choose which move you wish
to make and shows to you all the
options available.
It gives you the health
of all your characters
on this side as to let
you see who can be hit
and who you must
heal, which may take
an attack round.
It gives you the name of each of your
players. This helps players to know who
they have and what options each one
has to use during battle. It also highlights
the name of the character being used so
that you can see who’s options you are
using.
There is a hand
shaped curser to show
which option you are
selecting. This helps to
show to the player
what it is that they are
trying to do much
more simply, allowing
anyone to understand.

7. Pokémon Pearl
This game seems to flip between being extremely
pixilated when you are exploring around the world to
much higher quality less pixilated version during
menus and battles. This gives it a mix of approaches as
it allows it to be simple pixel view in the wide views
and then have a much more detailed look so you can
view the full effect of the Pokémon. This way to do it
makes the player have a dual-ended experience with
the pixel art of the general world and the close ups
that are in battle to give a much more immersive
appearance.
The map is blocky and lacks
curves on routes, this gives it
quite a nice highlight to the
pixel appearance that is used
throughout.

8. The playable characters and human NPCs all
have this effect of extremely blocky, small
detail when in the world and then get close ups
of extreme detail that makes it look much
different. This gives it the same effect as the
general world. There are male and female
characters that you can play as or meet in your
journey which shows that they are inclusive
and wish to use the whole spectrum of
possible designs to bulk up the world.
The Pokémon you meet throughout
the game are all presented the same
as the rest of the world in having
small, pixel sprites and their detailed
bigger ones to immerse the player
and make it more recognisable in with
the other games and TV shows.

9. The font in this game is all blocky and as if they only
had very limited pixels available for each character,
which is most likely how it was when developing seems
as it is designed for a Nintendo DS which has small
screens and a very pixilated nature. This fits in with the
rest of the previous games as well as they are all
primarily for very small, handheld consoles which have
limited area or pixels available. This helps with the
characteristics of the game as it presents the pixilated
view that many players will have become accustomed
to over time.

10. The game gives the
name, gender and
level of the Pokémon
in the battle in a box
with a little arrow to
let you know which
one it is describing.
This gives the player
an easier way to
recognise and learn to
identify the characters
along with any gender
differences presented
through character
design. These are on
white against a multi-
coloured background
to ensure that they
can be seen.
The game has a detailed, close up image of the
characters fighting on a circular ground plate so
that the player can see in detail how they look
and how their attacks are presented through
the animations that are done. These also stand
out against the gradients background.
There is a health bar
under each of the
fighters names which
shows the player how
close they are to
winning. They also give
the exact health of
your own player
underneath that as it
shows you when you
need switch out or
revive your character.
There is a screen that gives
you all the options available
in bright colours so that
they each stand out against
a generally grey
background.
The fight options are color-coded to help the
player notice and be able to understand which
is which type without having to read it too
much, so it is more innate to select after a
while, once you get experienced. These against
the grey background helps that they then do
not blend in.

11. Undertale
The game is a very naturally pixilated game
that uses that to create intricate worlds
with not always too much detail. This helps
it to be presented as an older game which
would always be blocky and not have many
pixels available to use, although it was
released in 2015, it takes advantage of that
original style and makes the game intricate
in ways other than that.
This makes it appealing to many players as
they will be able to appreciate the humour
of such a “simple” game and absorb the
story line more than the character design.

12. The characters during battle in this game are presented as black
and white versions of themselves which, against the black and
white screen they are on makes it fit in with the design and not
stand out too much, although it is also obvious that they are
presented as there is a mainly black area at the top of the screen
in the area that they reside.
In general, the characters are colourful and pixelated as
the rest of the game. This helps to show a little of their
personality and gives the player a character that they can
recognise and get to know while not making them stand
out too much against the backgrounds. This also helps to
differentiate each of them as they are very different
shapes, and often use a colour to identify what they
do/something important about them. For example, the 2
in primarily purple are the royals of the world.

13. The title text of the game has a simple, pixilated
font that is iconic of the game after it’s
popularity.
The general text that you see throughout the
game is a very simple pixel font that uses
minimal space and is used as it is easy to read
and helps the player to not struggle through it
at all.
As the game is full of comedy, there are, of
course, some puns made throughout the
game. Some of these jokes are very font based.
This is shown through 2 of the main characters,
the first of which is called Sans, and his brother
Papyrus. They use these for jokes as they are
both the names of existing fonts. This is shown
through how all of San’s speech is shown
written in comic sans and all of Papyrus’s
speech to be written in Papyrus.
This is a joke that not everyone would
understand, but those that know the different
font options will recognise them.

14. The battle screen has a very
dark colour scheme, mostly
just using black and white.
This gives the darkness of a
battle that can seriously
injure you. It also then
makes the important parts
stand out a lot more in
contrast.
In the battle all enemies are stripped
of colour so that they fit the colour
scheme a lot more.
There are the health
components during battle that
use bright colours like the red of
your heart that you move, so
that you can see it among the
white attacks, and the health
bar below in yellow so they the
player can be aware of these
things and make sure that they
pay attention.
Your different options are in
orange at the bottom of the
screen stick out among the
black background. This is so
that the player can see
where the options are and
are able to read them,
along with a small symbol
to help them identify what
each of the options mean.
In the main areas of the game there are various different areas.
These are presented in different colours over where it fits. For
example, in the Snowlands it is all whites and blues. This is so
that the colours shown help the players to identify with it and
use the colours to symbolise the area they are in.
There is the text box here,
that shows how the colours
of them, being black and
white, contrasts the
colourful area of the main
areas. This helps the players
to identify when one pops
up and so they can read it
clearly without it blending
in.

15. Chrono Trigger
The game has a very dark,
muted theme from what I can
see. It is also extremely
pixelated, which is expected
from a Super Nintendo
Entertainment System game
such as this from 1995.
They seem to have limited
brightness in this game,
through all I have seen by
researching it.

16. The sprites in this game seem to be
presented as very slightly brighter
colours than the landscapes that they
are seen in. Although, they are still
very muted colours. This would be
because it is much easier for the
players to identify where their
characters are in the area as it stops
them from blending in.

17. This font uses pixels to exaggerate all the curves and corners of it.
This is what makes it fit in so well with the rest of the graphics as
it unites them all tie together and allow the player to see how
they are paired together.
It is shown as white text on a grey background which makes it
stand out and fit into the dark theme of the game while still being
very visible. They appear to have a slight drop shadow as well of
black and then white, which seems to make it appear slightly
more 3D and more visible over the gradient.

18. There is a bar across the top is a
gradient of grey to black with the white
text on top to give the player options of
what they may do.
The white, hand shaped pointer helps the
player to know exactly what they have
selected at any point. This is a
recognisable symbol to use as many
different computer programmes use the
same type of symbol, with certain
changes to make it their own.
The muted background
does a good job of not
taking away from the view
of the battle in progress
here. This works as the
characters and selection
bar are both much brighter
and easier to focus on
here.
The character selected has a
box type shape around
them. This is done by only
putting the corner areas on
which allows the user to
view exactly what it is that
they needed to and is
simple. This is because it is
not bright and decorated, it
is simply a white space with
a small black background.

19. Research Analysis
• The researched products have quite a lot of common
features. One of which is to have the background/base
colours being quite muted in order to have the
playable aspects pop out at the player much more.
Another is that they mostly seem to have a white and
black theme when it comes to using something to
point out who is selected.
• I feel like I will use the selection methods in my own
work as I feel these are very universal and so will not
confuse any players. I also would like to use the very
impressive pixilated fonts in my own as these, I feel,
appear quite classic to the genre.

20. Interviews

21. Interview 1
• What components do you like to see from free-play games and why?
The ability to unlock things without using micro-transactions because they are usually
very expensive compared to many other things. And also free daily rewards which are
given at the start of the day which makes the user come back everyday for there
reward.
• In an RPG, what sort of characters would you like to be able to play as and why?
(For example, Mage, Rogue, Soldier.)
Rogue because I prefer using sneak as a way to proceed to the next person which
need to be killed. And also you usually get the better stuff when playing as a rogue
because You are more long range or sneaky character.
• Would you like to be able to connect to other players online and compare scores?
Yes as it is nice to see how good you are compared to many other players around the
world. In certain games you can compare how many kills you have had compared to
you friends and how much you have earned through out the game.

22. Interview 1
• Observation: This interviewee would like to not pay for
anything in the game and likes to be able to compare
themselves to others in the leader boards.
• What this says about my audience: This says that the
audience will not be completely happy to pay for
anything, although love to be able to compete against
friends.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My
product will appeal to this audience greatly. This is
because I do not intend to have any form of micro-
transactions, and would like an ability to connect to
other players in the form of a leader board.

23. Interview 2
• What components do you like to see from free-play games and
why?
I would like to see quite a lot of different components in these games
like a big story and good character development but this sadly, isn’t
usually the case.
• In an RPG, what sort of characters would you like to be able to play
as and why? (For example, Mage, Rogue, Soldier.)
I prefer soldier type characters as they often have a balanced play-style
and can be used in most situations effectively.
• Would you like to be able to connect to other players online and
compare scores?
I suppose so as, it would be interesting to see where my friends are at
and being able to tell if I am better than them but, I would rather use it
for co-op compared to just using it for leader boards.

24. Interview 2
• Observation: My observation is that this
person is a fan of big story and development
that is not presented in free-to-play games as
the one that I am suggesting. They also enjoy
co-op aspects, and balanced characters.
• What this says about my audience: This says
that my audience
• How will your product appeal to this
audience:

25. Bibliography

26. Bibliography
1. Sedgwick, F. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 28th Nov.)
2. Hickman, J. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 28th Nov.)
3. Sucker Punch Productions (2004) Sly Cooper 2: Band Of Thieves
4. Square, Tose, String Entertainment (1991) Final Fantasy IV
5. Game Freak (2006) Pokémon Pearl
6. Toby Foxx (2015) Undertale
7. Square Enix Holdings, Tose, Square (1995) Chrono Trigger