The document discusses the creation of an advergame by a student. It covers the research, planning, production, and evaluation stages. In the research stage, the student conducted interviews to determine what features players wanted in a zombie/shooting game. Based on the feedback, options for selecting characters and multiplayer were included. However, gender selection was not feasible within the time constraints. During planning, mood boards and character/game ideas were developed to help with design decisions. Production faced time management challenges as features were forgotten or needed reworking. More effective planning and reflection on plans could have helped. Overall, the game appealed to its target 16-25 male audience but could have been improved with more development time for additional features.

1. Evaluation
By Libby Whitehorn

2. Research
Whilst researching for my project, it gave me inspiration for what I wanted to
include in my game. I wanted to make sure my work was relevant to my target
audience and included features that game players would enjoy. I conducted a
interview with males ages between 16-21 and they gave me feedback on what
features to include in my game. Both candidates said they preferred to chose the
gender of the character they play. I didn’t include this in my game, but as a
alternative I included the option of playing either the zombie or the survivor. This
included the option to change character and explore different parts of the game,
but it didn’t reach the criteria of different genders. This was due to not having
enough time to add these features. If I had more time, this is one feature I would
develop. This is a weakness due to trying to plan my time more effectively,
creating a more sufficient advergame. However, the strength is giving my
audience a option of which character to play, even if it wasn’t a gender selective
decisions. This widens the story line and gives the audience more to play with. As
you can see in my interviews, i also asked about a reward system being put in
place and if they wanted me to include a multi player option. Another feature I've
included in my game is the option to chose your characters. As i conducted the
interviews there was a high interest in selecting the character you wanted to play.
This is why i chose for my audience to pick between being a zombie and a
civilian. This will give the game more of a story line which will make people want
to try out both characters. This will help expand there knowledge on the game and
will appeal better to my target audience. Also i conducted research into other
similar games to the one i was creating to see what features they included. A lot
of the shooting/fighting genres contained multiplayer options. This is also what
persuaded me to incorporate it in my game.

3. Planning
Through out planning for my animation, i gathered inspiration and conducted
a few ideas together which i then had to select from for my game. I created a
colourful mood board which consisted of different art styles and colours so
when it came to planning my colour scheme it as relevant to the art style. I
also included some pixel characters so i got a feel of what the characters look
like and what there walk cycle is like. This lead for me to think of 3 ideas of
what game i could create. These ideas consisted of: A Car Game, A Shooting
game and a Adventure Game. The mood board helped me decide on what
colour scheme to go for. I wanted the tone of my game to be mysterious but
realistic in aspects. This is so the audience can empathise with the
characters, giving the game an emotional tole. Whilst planning i felt like
thinking of three different genre games would help me conduct what target
audience i wanted to appeal to and what style to create the game like. Whilst
planning i felt like i did this part very well. This is because i was thorough with
my planning and research. This made it easy to think of good ideas. This
made me think about the majority of details that i needed to include within my
animation for examples: gaming features. However, when it came to
producing my animation i did keep forgetting to reflect back onto my plans. If i
did this i feel like my time would of been managed a lot better. Also, this
would of kept me in a better structure whilst producing my work. This would
of kept me on track instead of me thinking about what to produce for my
game. This is where i had a few issues in producing. Whilst making my game
i kept forgetting to add features in which were vital to my producing and target
audience. This caused me to get disorientated and made me over complicate
what i needed to do. Again, this became very time consuming and made my

4. Time Management
Through out the production of my advergame, my weaknesses were: time management. With time
management, i struggled to plan out my time effectively. This was because i started off creating the
characters and then i began animating it to the scenery i had created. This began to become confusing
due to forgetting to add simple features, such as: the health bar. This meant i had to go back over the
animation and edit the clips. This also required me to build more effective features and change the
colour scheme a little, making me use different tools that i hadn't used before. One issue which
postponed time was the colour selecting. This was due to everything blending into the background,
making the main characters and features not stand out as much as i wanted. However, i tried to edit it to
make the objects colours more obvious and effective but this did postpone time with production, causing
lack of time on other features. I feel like this did effect the rest of my production due to spending more
time on things i should of thought of in the planning process. Even though this delayed my time
management, i still managed to create the products i wanted to. My Advergame would of definitely
improved if i had more time on creating it. If i had longer i would of spent more time on each feature i
wanted to include and develop them with a lot of detail. This would of made my game more effective and
unique. If i had more time with my production i would of improved my characters walk cycle and improve
the details in the feature/add more features. The walk cycle, if it was effective, would make my game
more realistic and not child like. If i included more feature it would appeal to my target audiences more,
making the game more appealing and effective. The feature i would of included is having more then two
players to chose from. Whilst conducting my interviews, the audience said they would prefer to pick the
gender of the character. Even though this wasn't included, i did add a selected character option in my
game. If i managed my time better, i would of been able to include this which would of approved the
appeal of the game.

5. Technical Qualities
The name ‘Lollipop Chainsaw’ links with the characteristics of the main character.
Stereotypically the main character is your typical blonde, cheerleading type. She acts
and sounds rather squeaky but surprisingly she's a zombie hunter. They have included
her to be playful, even in the way she attacks the zombies. This is shown in her main
attacking moves being cheerleading dance moves, this adds to the humour they are
wanting to portray. The Terrain in this game varies from abandoned school buildings to
the streets. The thing they have in common is the area has been sectioned off due to the
zombie apocalypse. This helps reflect the violence and narrative of the game. They also
have destructive acts in the setting, this again adds to the violence of the game. The
colours used in the game do contrast. This is due to the zombies and the setting being
dull toned and dark, where as the main character is bright and vibrant. This contrast
helps display who the good players are compared to the enemy. The lighting again
varies with the colours. This is due to the enemy being in a dull and dark light, where as
the main character is vibrant and obvious. The colours differ, the pinks and purples from
the main character gives off connotations of playfulness and love, where as the dark,
dingy colours for the zombies gives connotations of death and unpleasantness. This
game is rather gruesome which makes the game a 18+. Through out this game you can
collect resources which boost your ability to fight. This game appeals to its target
audience by including features in which they enjoy. For example, you have the option to
collect resources in this game which gives your character a boost in power. This makes
everyone feel like they are achieving something by playing the game which is important.
This is so they feel as if they are progressing. These are some features i have included
in my game. This is because i wanted to create the same effect this game did through
out. I felt like including these features was a good idea due to it linking in with what my
Whilst creating my animation, i included a few technical qualities. The game i will be discussing compared to mine is ‘Lollipop chain
The image inserted is a screenshot of my animation that i created. The Dark
Purples used connotes mystery and it gives a tone of apocalyptic aspects. This is
what i was wanting to achieve. With using different purples, it made this connotation
stand out more. This gives more mystery and detail in the overall design. I’ve
included the black colours to reflect the tone I'm wanting. This is to show a scary
and dark mood. I’ve included lights in the building to show life still exists in the
zombie apocalypse. Again this shows hope and warmth which makes the audience
interested to see what happens. Some features I've included in my game is
multiplayer options and character selection. This gives the audience the freedom to
chose what story line they want to follow which helps expand there knowledge on
the game. I feel like these features are vital with the genre game i have selected to
animate. This is because having a multiplayer option brings more competition to the
game. The genre being a shooting game brings a more competitive streak which
leads to this option being important in these games. This is so they can play other
people around the world and feel like they are progressing within the game. Both
this game and lollipop chainsaw contains these features, making it a great way to
attract our target audiences. I’ve also included stereotypical enemies to help reflect
how general and simple the zombie is to destroy. I tried to link this with the
similarities of lollipop chainsaws main character. This is because audiences seem to
prefer a main character who is stereotypical due to understanding them without
having to play the game. However, i feel like i could improve my game by adding
more features. For example: lollipopchainsaw has lollipops to power up the main
character, where as i haven't included this. I feel like this would of been a good

6. Aesthetic Qualities
Whilst Creating my animation i had many aspects to consider. One aspect was how the game
will look and what features to include so it is aesthetically pleasing. I feel like i could of improved
my aesthetics on my game by making the characters and scenery blend more. This is something
i would of improved if i used my time more effectively. I feel lie i created the characters well, but i
do feel like i could of linked them together better. I could of done this by making the art style
similar instead of swaying and making one petite and the other more chunky by adding more
pixels in the drawing. This will improve in the feature more, due to understand how to shape
characters more effectively and understanding walk cycles better. I felt like i made the scenery
really well and effective. However, even though the colours give the best tone, i did find it difficult
to select the rest of the colour scheme. This was because i used a lot of dark colours such as:
blacks and purples which made it hard to use other colours whilst sticking to a scary and
suspense like tone/mood. In the future, i feel like planning this better would be good. The colours
used were aesthetically pleasing which creates a good sense of excitement in my game.
Another feature i could improve on is my health bars and equipment used to attack. The health
bar could of been more detailed and informative. This would of given the game more of a
informative vibe which will appeal to my target audience. However, going basic did help
symbolise how simple the game is to play. In the future, i will develop these features to create a
more effective tool. Also, i could of edited the gun more effectively. The gun was detailed but i
should of developed the design into smaller scaling and designed a lop sided weapon. This
would of made the weapon clearer in my game. Next time i will try and be more time effective so
i don't have this issue.

7. The Dark Purples used connotes
mystery and it gives a tone of
apocalyptic aspects. This is what i was
wanting to achieve. With using different
purples, it made this connotation stand
out more. This gives more mystery and
detail in the overall design.
The good guy is wearing green to
show a clear indication of
civilisation and hope. The colour
green also connotes life which
expresses the story line of the
game. This shows that there is
hope with being a survivor.
I’ve included the black colours to
reflect the tone I'm wanting. This
is to show a scary and dark
mood. I’ve included lights in the
building to show life still exists in
the zombie apocalypse. Again
this shows hope and warmth
which makes the audience
interested to see what happens.

8. Audience Appeal
Whilst planning and researching this project i concluded that my target audience would be 16-25 year
old males. This is because i feel like the genre of my game appeals to this audience more. This is
because it is a violent game but also contains puzzles and informative aspects. These features both
make the game suitable for the younger audience but mature for the older side of the scale. This makes
the game very versatile but due to this age group being the most likely to play violent games. i felt like it
would be relevant to appeal to them. This is because from an industry perspective it brings more money
into the company. The features I've included which my target audience approve of is the multiplayer
option and the freedom to pick the character they play. From conducting interviews on males between
the ages of 16-25 they all said they would prefer these two features to be included. This was because
they can play against other players and have the freedom to look into the game in more depth. They can
do this by playing more then one character and developing there gaming skills further. By giving my
audience these options, they feel like they achieve more by competing world wide and by creating there
characters assists unique to what they feel works best. Another feature that i think worked well for my
target audience is the colour scheme. I feel like the colours are dark and rather uni sex which expresses
that the game isn't gender playing related. This means my target audience wont find the game girlie. If
the game was girlie, this would put a lot of males off the game. This is because males prefer
masculine,powerful and rewarding games. However, would i need to improve on is including more
feature in my animation. For example: i should of included a resources button where you can locate
other assets and weapons. This would mean there is more of a story line which would of made the game
more interesting. On reflection i feel like i could of included a lot more features to make my game appeal
to my target audience more. Next time, i will plan my time more effectively so that my game will be
effective for my target audience. This will help make my work more structured.