2. Pre-production
• What are you making?
For this project, I will be making a video game along with some promotional material, mainly a poster, app logo etc. in a free mobile game style. The game I
will be making will centre around the playable character exploring a apartment and interacting/befriending the benign monsters within. Customisable
features may also be present in giftable items/outfits for the monster tenants in order to raise a friendship level as well as customise the playable
characters appearance and their available apartment. The player can earn in game currency by either waiting the days duration like most
replenishable mobile currency games, buying the currency from the store or completing certain goals/achievements. Therefore, for my pre-production, I
will be looking at character colour schemes and designs, screenshot layouts and my verdict on each area.
• Why?
I want to make these specific products for multiple reasons. I would like to create a product that this audience could enjoy whilst still keeping the
gothic/creepy style I've enjoyed creating assets for over the course of the college year. I also wanted to enhance my skills further in these specific areas as I
not only enjoyed but also seemed to do well in these areas after reviewing the marked work after the product and all written work was finished.
Furthermore, I also wanted to look more closely at the mobile area of game development, in particular, how a game can be made to be played over a long
period of time/not meant to be completed, by adding more mobile game associated features in my game, such as in game currency that refreshes after a
real world period of time, as well as unlockable features that can be purchased in order to find more areas/features in the game.
• Who is it for?
My game will be targeted at females aimed somewhere in the pre-teen to teen age range, mainly due to the game being accessible on mobile devices,
which many people part of this audience demographic have and usually play games on as well as some of the imagery seen could be associated more with
this audience, such as the store gameplay mechanic as well as customisable aspects of the game as well as more implicit features, such as the playable
character being canonically female as well as (presumably) the majority of the interactable characters seen in the apartments will be female or give off a
more feminine personality or appearance.
• Where will it appear/on what?
The audience will mainly see my game on an App Store/mobile store format, due to it being a free mobile app meant for a younger audience, as well as the
poster I have planned appearing as a promo piece on the app store "Stories" usually associated with popular games as well as appearing as an adverts on
different websites in order to better promote the product to the small percentile of the audience who do not own an iPhone product.
Reflection:
3. Pre-production: Sound Effect List
Sound Effects
Door Opening/Closing:
https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/411791
/
Walking:
https://freesound.org/people/JohnsonBrandEditing/sou
nds/244310/
Money Sound (when currency is earned/collected?):
https://freesound.org/people/stereostereo/sounds/1245
23/
Clicking/Selection sounds (for when features on the
menu screen/character type selection are selected):
https://freesound.org/people/Bertrof/sounds/131658/
Sliding sound (for when the menu is open):
https://freesound.org/people/SwagMuffinPlus/sounds/1
76146/
I plan to take this
sound effects from
various royalty free
sound effect
websites. If these
types of sounds
aren’t available, I will
either not include
the effects or try and
record my own in my
own time.
4. Pre-production: Music List
Music List
Sally Face Empty Hallways OST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE0eyn5eoqE&t=3s
(For walking around the hallways/apartments)
(Menu/Pause screen music)
e.g. Sally Face The Calm OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui07A4fEwG4
(Shop music)
e.g. The main music from Tiny Bird Garden
Sally Face Rockin (Radio Tune) OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1eanzfzs8E
8. Pre-production: Style Sheets Explanation (PC
Characters)
Regarding my style choices for my playable character(s), I decided to look at different styles and
colours in my planning in order to display what these characters would look like in the choice
screen. The characters in question though, I plan to look very similar so to spend less time on
those and be able to spend more time on NPC's and backgrounds. These characters will also be
dressed very similarly, wearing for example, jeans and a T-shirt for simplicity. In terms of the
colour scheme choices available, I have chosen to use the second choice for the fire character so
to not contrast too strongly with the other characters and to also make features like the hair
stand out more e.g. The hair will be red whilst the skin is pink. The sea characters scheme will
most likely be the third one as, very much like the fire character, it helps to make features like the
hair and outfit more distinct. Finally, the slime characters scheme will be the first one as it will
help to create the link between the same characters in the game (the slime character seen in my
storyboard/planning) and like the rest of the PC character, make certain parts of the character like
the outfit more distinct by utilizing complementary colours.
9. Pre-production: Style Sheets
Non-Playable Character Colour Designs:
(Appearance Design Ideas have not been included as concept sketches appear in my
Initial Plans)
Fire Character: Slime Character: Vampire Characters 1:
Vampire Character 2: Werewolf Character: Ghost Character:
May not appear in final product
12. Pre-production: Screenshot Layout 1 = Apartment
Gameplay 1
Apartment Name
For this apartment example, I have taken a screenshot from the game Sally Face for me to reflect back on
this image and identify it as the apartment concept/navigation system I'd like to use as well as the other
elements I have placed helping me better visualise what my own gameplay elements need to include,
such as the menu screen, money counter etc., as this will appear through almost half of the gameplay
Apartment name and
arrow help to make
navigation easier
Character helps to identify
background scales when
designing environments
Menu will navigate to
selections such as the
Store, Achievements etc.
Money counter to display
current balance and to
show the player if they are
able to buy an item for
themselves or an NPC
13. Pre-production: Screenshot Layout 2 = Apartment
Gameplay 2
Character Name
For this apartment example, I have taken a screenshot from the game Sally Face for me to reflect back on
this image and identify it as the apartment concept/character interaction system I'd like to use as well as
the other elements I have placed helping me better visualise what my own gameplay elements need to
include, such as the character dialogue system, how the player would access more character information
etc., as this will appear through the other half of the gameplay.
"More Info"
Where the player can see more of the
character information and learn more
about their interests, dislikes so to
better tailor their gifts to that character.
Menu will navigate to
selections such as the
Store, Achievements etc.
Character name and arrow
help to make navigation
and identification easier
I plan for each characters
apartment (aside for the
PC's) to have a colour
scheme similar to the
character(s) inhabiting it
14. Pre-production: Screenshot Layout 2 = Shop Menu
(Would be landscape like the
rest of the game but could only
find a portrait version of the
shop style I want)
For this game store example, I have
taken a screenshot from an Animal
Crossing mobile game as it displays
many features that I want to replicate
in my own game, such as the
purchasable items/furniture/clothes
options, the offers to buy game
currency etc. Which is here to also
help me better visualise what I want
the game store to look like as this will
appear at least once during gameplay,
which will demonstrate how the
gifting mechanics work in the game.Players will be able to buy
currency using money from a tab
at the bottom of the store
screen
Items will be displayed along
with the prices below
Tabs at the top of the page will
separate object from outfits, PC
apartment wallpaper etc.
15. Pre-production: Style Sheets (Promo Poster)
This scheme uses a triad
colour style and not only
relates to some of the
character colour choices
from the game, as well as
giving a less horror feel to
the game as it hasn't
incorporated colours like
black, red etc.
This scheme also uses a triad
colour style but features more of
the primary colours, possibly
helping to link the game to a
younger audience as well as still
conveying a gothic style due to
the darker colours, however,
may not provide a clear enough
link to the game or target the
game to the wrong audience
16. Pre-production: Style Sheets (Promo Poster)
This scheme uses a
compound colour style.
Unlike the previous
scheme incorporating
these colours, this
scheme shows more
variety in the colour green
and also keeps the
scheme more consistent.
This scheme also uses a
compound style but alternates
by displaying more purple
shades and making the green
less vibrant, giving it a more
gothic or monstrous feel, but
may deter the audience in
terms of the dilapidated colour
scheme not fully conveying the
type of gameplay.
17. Pre-production: Style Sheets (Promo Poster)
This font does look plain
and easy to read but also
deas seem to present a
playful and almost
friendly atmosphere,
which may help to put my
product in a more
audience oriented light
This font does look
morerelated to the gothic
genre I want to present
throughout my game but may
make the game slightly
misconstrued as horror as well
as not nessesarily appealing to
my chosen target audience
This font does look similar to
the first font choice, but differs
in terms of rigidity of the text,
possibly making it easier too
read and leaving the game as
more androgenous to the
audience as it seems to reveal
nothing about the game and
doesn't seem to lean too
strongly towards one theme or
audience.
18. Pre-production: Promo Poster Style Sheet Explanation
As well as looking into different character designs and colour schemes, I also decided to look at
my promo poster asset ideas so I could better plan out how my poster will look and how it could
appeal to the target audience. When looking back on these style sheets in particular, I wanted to
make sure that the poster would be able to establish a realistic link with the product and be able
to explain what the game is without displaying any key information. Looking at my colour scheme
choices, I think I will use the scheme below as it is simple, contains bright colours to demonstrate
that the game isn't horror orientated and is directed towards slightly younger audiences (in this
case, preteens) and can also be linked to some of the colour schemes used in other characters in
the game, such as the slime characters. The main font I will use will most likely be the 'Gula' font
as it is easy to read, doesn't hint at more horror related imagery like the 'Double Feature' font
and also, due to the way the text is stylised, it also seems to covey a more positive atmosphere,
rather than the 'Bloomer' font, which appears to be more static and plain.
19. Pre-production: Promo Poster Layout 1
Game
Title/Logo
Silhouettes of main
characters either
behind or below title
A building/creepy house
image behind text
This is meant to represent the
apartment the monsters take
residence in as well as help to
convey the gothic themes that
will appear throughout the game
This is meant to create the link
to the app as well as make the
icon more recognizable on the
app store when seen by the
target audienceSo to make the characters more
recognizable during gameplay
and to display their importance
throughout the game
Monochrome/gradient style
background using light and dark
versions of the colours, in order
to show the type of beings that
will appear in the game, but also
show how non-threatening they
are
20. Pre-production: Promo Poster Layout 2
Game
Title/Logo
This is meant to create the link
to the app as well as make the
icon more recognizable on the
app store when seen by the
target audience
Large skull
symbol/silhouette
behind the text
This is meant to create the link
to the app as well as make the
icon more recognizable on the
app store when seen by the
target audience
Monochrome/gradient style
background using light and dark
versions of the colours, in order
to show the type of beings that
will appear in the game, but also
show how non-threatening they
are
21. Pre-production: Promo Poster Layout Explanation
Aside from the style sheets, I also wanted to make sure that the layout of the poster looked
correct, appealing to my audience without revealing too much about the game as well as making
sure the game wasn't accidentally advertised as a horror game. Looking back on these two design
layouts, I have decided to use the first layout as it is more specific and contains more assets,
giving more context to the game whereas the second layout is very bleak and some design
choices such as the skull silhouette could possibly be misinterpreted as a horror reference as well
as having not real connection to the game or appeal to the audience. The first layout however,
does seem to have better references towards the game as well as not really conveying many
horror conventions, such as the house in the background made to represent the apartment
where the game will take place and the silhouettes hinting at the monsters the player will meet.
Additionally, this layout will also provide better placement for the logo and fill up the poster more
in terms of the amount of assets it contains , rather than having a small game logo and one asset
to fill up all the dead space on the poster.
23. Contingency Planning
Potential Issue Solution
Computer crashes/progress is lost/changing computer
rooms causes certain save files to be lost
Save written files to the Cloud and save all work onto
a memory stick
If work is lost, use extra time to replace lost work.
It takes longer than expected to complete certain
areas of production in the lessons of that week.
Come in on free days/periods or complete work over
the weekend to make sure everything is up to speed
and completed
Reoccurring IT issues Contact IT support/technicians
Transferring Photoshop files from a Mac to a PC causes
technical problems
Ask for help from teacher if unsure or make sure file
size has been compressed before opening on PC
24. Health and Safety
Potential Issue How will the issue be
avoided?
Drinks are spilt on the computer
- Risk = Low if drinks are contained properly and kept
away from the computers
Don't bring drinks into the classroom
Person trips over a bag/computer wire
- Risk = Low if bags are kept in a safe place and out of
the way
Don't leave bags/wires out where someone can
trip
Eye/Back strain
- Risk = Medium (Time in front of computers can
sometimes be extensive)
Remember to take breaks if physical problems
arise
25. Production Schedule
Week Tasks
Week 1 • Design all the assets needed for the game, such as
characters (+ animation frames), backgrounds and
screen displays
• Begin animation process if all assets are complete.
Week 2 • Finish asset design
• Begin/Continue animation process as well as
reviewing certain scenes after animation to
eliminate bugs/glitches.
Week 3 • Finish all animation and final checks for glitches
• Begin production on game logo and poster
• If poster is finished early, look at adding more
animation or continue reviewing current
animation
Week 4 • Finish all products within this timeframe
• Last checks before uploading to my blog
Editor's Notes
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
