3. Research
Strengths:
- The research allowed me to look into and analyse different games that are similar to the
final idea I had, a big example is the Touhou games, since they are pretty fun games
within that genre that I tend to enjoy and play.
- I can gather ideas and inspiration for what I may want to do for my final product, such
as similar gameplay ideas, similar colour schemes, sound effects, music and character
designs.
- I also managed to get inspiration for the music, sound effects and colour-schemes I
wanted to use in my final product, by looking at pictures and watching different videos
of gameplay from these games I decided to try analyse.
- I also analysed and try to explain the games in as much detail as I could, as to find ideas
that I could potentially use for my final major project.
- I was also inspired by the animations of these games, and wanted to try my best to
make something similar. Like the way the characters, enemies and bullets move, I
wanted to try make something similar to that.
Weaknesses:
- I could have tried analysing the sound effects and colour schemes further, going into
more detail, explaining further the exact ideas I want to use.
- I could have also looked into analysing one more extra game, as help for my inspiration,
maybe another bullet hell game that is not Touhou.
4. Planning
Strengths:
- I was able to think of the ideas I wanted to use for my final product, like practicing my skills and
getting some thoughts into my head of what ideas I would like to use.
- The mood-board helped me with looking into the colour-schemes and similar art-styles I might
have wanted to use for my final product.
- The mind map is a good way to branch out your different ideas and options, to pick what you
would want to do for the final product.
- I was able to make a similar idea to the one I had planned, being a bullet hell game animation.
- I was also able to write down my ideas, as well as make rough mock-ups of the ideas I might use
for my final product.
- I was also able to experiment and practice with the ideas I wanted to do for my final major
project.
- I was ambitious in my ideas, but because I have played a lot of games, I already had an idea on
what I wanted to do, but I still wanted to research to help me finalise my exact ideas on what I
wanted my final major project to be, it also saved me time to have to keep checking on things and
learning how to do certain stuff.
- I had practiced doing video game animations with 3 different projects, so I went into this pretty
confident.
Weaknesses:
- I could have tried looking into more examples.
- Could have analysed the mock-ups I made further, by explaining certain things in more detail,
which could have helped think of final ideas for my final major project.
- Could have written more about the mood-board and pick out key details on what would help with
my inspiration.
5. Time Management
Strengths:
- Overall, I think I did manage my time well, as I was able to get my work done on time,
both the video game animation as well as the game cover for it.
- I did do it differently from my schedule, I was a bit unrealistic when preparing the
schedule, since I did spend a lot of time on character and art design, so I ended up
getting around to animation a lot later than I initially expected (also could not help that
there was sometimes when I ended up accidentally saving my work onto a mac rather
than my OneDrive, which sadly ended up wasting time I could have had working on my
project).
- I was confident about the media I was doing, which is why I was ambitious on my design
and animation skills, which I had got from my past projects (like the coca cola project,
personal project and interactive game project), which is why I had slight high
expectations from my initial schedule.
Weaknesses:
- I could have tried putting a bit more effort into my animation if I decided to put more
time into it.
- I would have also added in a more anime like art-style, for the dialogue cutscenes and
game cover, but I decided to not since I did not have enough time to do so.
- I also could have tried making it longer and introduce another character (who I sadly
ended up cutting to make it shorter).
- There was also a few times when I accidentally saved my work on a mac, which took
more time, so I should have tried saving it to my one drive and emailing it to myself.
- I could have also spent more time on it at home (especially during the 2 weeks Holiday).
6. Technical Qualities – comparing Touhou 7 and my animation.
Similarities:
- They have similar colour schemes, such as
being mostly dark and masculine colours.
- They are the similar game genre (being bullet
hell games).
- Both feature mostly female characters.
- There is the main character in the title screen,
being the centre of attention.
- The selection options are to the right side of
the screen.
- Similar sound effects.
- Similar animations, with the way the
characters and bullets move.
Differences:
- They are different games.
- Have different characters.
- Whilst having dark colours, Touhou 7 has a
contrast between bright and dark, whereas my
animation is mostly dark shades of purple.
- My game animation is pixelated, whilst
Touhou 7 is more cartoony.
7. Aesthetic Qualities
Does your work look good?
Overall, I think my final product did look good. I like the sprite work I did (even if I was inspired
by sprites of an existing game), it had the anime feel while being pixelated, which is the art-style
I was hoping to aim for.
Was it creative?
I thought it was somewhat creative, since bullet hell games are not really that big of a game
genre (outside of fairly popular series such as Touhou), and I did want to try make it as original
as I could.
What aspects of your game’s visuals do you like?
I like the dark and masculine colour scheme I went with, having dark backgrounds, added a nice
atmosphere and made it look like the game took place at night time.
What would you improve?
I would try to improve in a few aspects, one aspect being the length of the animation, it does
feel a bit short, another aspect I would improve is try animate the gameplay a bit better, such as
the bullets patterns and the character movements, and one final thing I would improve is maybe
adding some cool animation effects, such as when the character gets hit or dies.
How would you improve it?
I would try improve it by using a character I sadly ended up scrapping, I would also try make
sure I have enough time to get it all done in time, and try to animate the animation effects and
bullet patterns.
8. Audience Appeal
How have you appealed to your target audience?
I have tried appealing to my target audience by including things they will like, such
as fun bullet hell gameplay that can be challenging, as well as strong female
characters with the game having more masculine colour schemes. I also tried to
make it suitable for a younger audience, by not trying to offend or upset any
specific race, religion, social group or gender. I wanted to try making a game that
would appeal to those who like bullet hell games.
What specific bits of content would appeal to your target
audience?
I feel like the gameplay might get my target audience to play, since it would be fun
and fairly challenging making the player want to learn the game rather than it be
really easy. I also feel like the characters might appeal to my target audience, since
they are pretty strong. The strong female characters might appeal to the female
gender, since they are shown in positive light, and the male characters might like
the darker masculine colours and themes.
10. Feedback 1 – my friend Harrison
• What did you like about the product?
– “I liked the good uses of sound effects that fit with most touhou
related games and how you also included both the playing
losing a life and the enemy being defeated. the sprites on the
other hand look really REALLY good as well.”
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
- “Only thing that i would improve is maybe making the
animation more longer and possibly using more bullets but
i do understand that the making of the sprites took a very
long time to make or edit.”
11. Feedback 2 – my friend Sam
• What did you like about the product?
– “I like the music and sound effects in the background.
What makes the game interesting to me is the
dialogue, the colour, shapes and more.”
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
– “What could be improved is where the dialogue is you
could add the character's face so you know who's
talking.”
12. Feedback 3 - Chris
• What did you like about the product?
- “The art design was great and was animated very well.
The use of music and audio cues worked really well with
what was going on screen.”
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
- “It would have been nice to see more gameplay to get a
sense of more game mechanics. I appreciate you maybe
needed more time but just an overall longer look would
have been good.”
13. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
– I agree that I could have tried making the animation a bit longer,
especially the gameplay part, to help develop my skills as well as
the storyline and narrative, also the people watching would get
to see more on the game's plot as well as gameplay, and it helps
sell the game to them.
– I also agree that I should have tried showcasing more of my
game’s mechanics, because it is a demo, and I would like to
highlight the best features I would want the people watching to
see, as they would get a more general gist of the game.
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
– I do disagree that I should add more faces when talking, since it
might make it look too busy and not straight forward to focus on
what dialogue is being said.
15. Feedback 1 - Harrison
• What did you like about the product?
• “I think the use of colour that you chose for the background
really works with both the main character and the character
in the background, i also like how you made your own group
name and called it leongaming”
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
• “I personally don’t see anything bad about it other than i
don’t think steam games are sold like this. but i’m not 100%
sure on that myself but it looks great.”
16. Feedback 2 - Sam
• What did you like about the product?
• “I like the colour's, I think they really stand out. The dark purple
around the product and a white colour in the middle makes the
product interesting to look at. I like how you've added the age
range of your product, I like the company name and symbol, at the
top of your product.”
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
• “What could be improved is by adding a price tag and a bit of a
description talking about that product. (Perhaps a slogan).”
17. Feedback 3 - Chris
• What did you like about the product?
• “I love the layout. It's big and bold and shows the characters clearly.
The fading effect on the left character really helps contrast against
the other character. I could totally see this on the steam store.”
• What improvements could have been made to the product?
• “Possibly an image for the background could have helped add an
interesting aspect.”
18. Peer Feedback Summary
For the final animation, the improvements I would make it
longer, by having a longer gameplay section, and showing
off the game's mechanics, since I would like to show off how
the game would be to people who would like to play it. I
would also improve the animation quality because I do feel
some aspects where pretty rough in my final product.
For my game cover, not much I would improve outside of
adding a catchy slogan to be eye-catching to people who
may be interested, price tag so people can know how much
the game is and if they would be able to afford it.
19. Peer feedback summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
- I do agree that I could have tried adding a slogan, as it would help appeal to more people
who would want to play it, as well as a price tag for the cover, so people would know how
much they would need to pay for it.
- I also like the layout, with the big and bold images, I especially agree with Chris about the
contrast between the main character and the boss character (with how I made the boss
character fade into the background), as well as the colour schemes I went with, being dark
to fit the game's theme of having mostly darker colours.
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
- I do disagree that I should have used a background image, since I wanted it to look appealing
but simple at the same time, having a dark background to help each element stand out more,
and I feel like having a background image would make it look too busy for the person looking at
it. It could also look out of place since I wanted my game cover to have a similar style to my
final game animation.
Editor's Notes
What were the strengths of your research? How did your research help your product?
What were the weaknesses of your research? What could you have done better/improve? What effect would this have had on your product?
What were the strengths of your planning? How did your planning help your product?
What were the weaknesses of your planning? What could you have done better/improve? What effect would this have had on your product?
Did you manage your time well? Did you complete your project on time or would your products have improved with additional time?
What would you have done if you had more time to produce your work?
Compare your work to similar existing products and discuss the similarities and differences
Put your final piece(s) in the centre of a page alongside an existing product
Use text boxes and arrows
Does your work look good? Was it creative? What aspects of your game’s visuals do you like? What would you improve? How would you improve it?
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses
Put your final piece(s) in the centre of a page and analyse them
Use text boxes and arrows
How have you appealed to your target audience? What specific bits of content would appeal to your target audience.
Refer to your findings from your questionnaire.
Put your final piece(s) in the centre of a page and analyse them
Use text boxes and arrows
What changes would you make to your product based upon your peer feedback and why?