Research

Research for video game
FMP project

Existing Products-Skyrim
This game interests me because of the creation aspect of it and the free roam throughout that you can do. The genre of
this vast open world is medieval in origin it basis off a lot of old architect structure using thatch roofs and old chain
armour but to get that audience attracted fictional fantasy magic has been added on top. The game works by working
towards leveling up and exploring to defeat vast amounts of foes this gives the game purpose allowing the audience to
play as they feel a sense of achievement and that is something that I will be including in my game, the goal to defeating
this extreme hard bosses in the game. The outfits in this game include armor because it relies heavily on battle, mine will
rely less on this leading my characters clothing to be that of a rogues because I tend too focus more on my environment
and story aspect. Sound effects are there to make the virtual characters, stories, and worlds we are playing come alive.
The game Skyrim utilises some great sounds most of which were made solely for the purpose of some of these actions in
this game. This means when an action happens in my game such as a fire bolt I will have to generate my own sounds, for
example a whoosh. The soundtrack is unique and created originally for this series which is a key aspect I would like to
replicate, if I have enough time but creating a soundtrack can be a hard task so I think some practice in my experimental
week will make it better for me. The game itself looks like it is set in medieval times and it is very fantasy like with all its
different races. All in all I like the look of this game and have drawn much from this because it is a great selling game.
Skyrim runs so smoothly with its programming and general gameplay. The coding behind the game seems very intricate
but that is due to the fact of the scale of the game. Skyrim is an open world which has countless hours of adventuring for
you too do exploring and interacting with, you can go defeat dungeons, monsters and learn new skills, do quests for
many different npc’s, build a home and a wife or just simply do the story but with skyrim the possibilities are endless
which I will not have time for in my game. The game skyrim is an action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda
Game Studios. The game's main story revolves around the player character's quest to defeat Alduin the World-Eater, a
dragon who is prophesied to destroy the world. This gives the audience a goal and a motive to get to the end of the
game, something which my game will need.

Existing Products-Baldur's Gate
Baldur's gate focuses mainly on the medieval fantasy going as far to design a whole world on this concept.
Though I like this idea I want to include a few sub-genres in my game but I will have it set in its own world which
I make. A lot of video games already include medieval as a style so I need to do different with a genre, with this I
have chosen to focus mainly on steampunk and magic. Steampunk Aesthetic relies heavily upon Victorian
design, it follows that much of Victorian design. Steampunk overlies a veneer of fantasy, whimsy, or imagination
onto the wood, bricks, and cast iron of the Victorian, the more ornate the building the better, so I will be looking
at Victorian builds for referencing. Magic is something that I can create any way I want but the best plan for me
would be to stick too simple and just choose elemental magic because my game would just get too complicated
for the audience and most people don’t like this, they prefer simplicity such as fire and water elements.
I chose this game to look at for its visual aspects, I really want to place most of my time into making a detailed
background/terrain and less on the animation but still include some in because I feel like the graphical aspect is
where my strength's are most suitable. I like the visual looks of this game though even that it is all cubes and
blocks it has so much detail included in it and I believe I can replicate some of this design and place it in my own
work, a background is a key aspect to gaming and can determine the scene and setting so I will focus on my
background first and then add more layers on to it once finished. This games colour scheme doesn’t suit the
style that I am planning on however it includes some other similar aspects so If I made similar architecture but
in brighter colours I think this would work nicely for my game.
The story of Baldur's gate is too play as 8 moveable characters in a party and explore a vast fantasy realm similar
to that of skyrim where you can do many different activities. Having this many characters in my opinion is too
drastic and hard too keep track of which is why I believe a party size of 3 is more than enough for my game. The
3 different players will all be able to interact making the gameplay generally better for the audience.

Existing product-Final Fantasy VI
Set in a fantasy world with a technology equivalent to the second industrial revolution, the story of Final Fantasy VI
follows an expanding cast that includes fourteen permanent playable characters. The drama includes and extends past
depicting a rebellion against an evil military dictatorship, pursuit of a magical arms-race, use of chemical weapons in
warfare, depiction of violent, apocalyptic confrontations with Divinities, several personal redemption arcs, teenage
pregnancy, and the continuous renewal of hope and life itself. This story is not a type of sub-genre fantasy that I want
in my game however since the game is 2D based it is something I can use to help me because I am designing in a 2D
platform engine. The colour tone of the game is rather dark and this links to the mysteriousness of fantasy however I
feel using brighter colours would be a better option for me due too the larger female liking colours audience. The
game uses retro graphics and this shows of the classic style of gaming however much more people prefer the new 3D
style graphics I really like the retro style though so will incorporate this into my game somehow whilst utilising the
modern aspect of gaming. The bar at the bottom of the screen is a classic piece of gaming the bar usually shows text
of what characters are saying if they are not voice acted which I will be doing mine like this too make the game seem
more realistic even though it is set in the most fictional genre. Alongside the text it also shows all the statistic
information of your character such as health, stamina or shield/armour, this I will have to include in my game however
it will not be in the bar but it will definitely be there along the screen. The sub-genre of fantasy that this game uses is
mythical beasts, this will be completely designable to me because I can create the character in any shape or form that
I see fit, this makes the game feel more heart with me the designer. Apocalyptic is what this game includes and it
works but it isn't something that I want for my game because as a genre it is just to vague. Controller multiple
characters is what this and Baldur's gate as games seem to have in common but yet again this is not something I really
want to see popping up in my game, one character is enough because its relatable for the audience.

Existing Products-Feng Zhu Concept Art
Feng Zhu is one of the greatest concept art designers which is why I am looking at
his work and want to create some art just like this too show off my idea vastly well
before the creation of my game. Concept art is something I really want to do so
feng zhu seemed the best inspiration for this and my audience in my opinion will
love it.
This is a classic scene for fantasy as it
includes all the main aspects as it has
many different bright colours and
includes structures which you wouldn't
see in the real world. This is a similar
scene that I would like to create in my
game.
To do concept art I will first sketch the idea and then finalise it adding details and effects on
Photoshop making it visually appeal for my audience and once these are done I can then show
them and get feedback on them, which is suitable to see if anything needs change.
Vehicles are also a key element to include in a
game for travel especially since my world is open
I need some form of transportation and with
fantasy its best too stick to simple contexts but
add more shapes on and this I think will give me
the best vehicle look. I will plan my vehicle as a
car or a plane, since its fantasy I think the car
should hover and be an irregular shape and this
design will really wow the audience as the
irregular is something we look at more as a
species. This image uses references
to Asian and Steampunk
architect styles and it is a
fairly similar style to the
buildings that I will include
in my game. I don’t really
like the darkness of this or
mysteriousness but my art
can look similar too this.
Futuristic is the style that feng zhu follows and I am similar in that way as I will be
focusing on futuristic rather than retro this is mainly because I am planning on
setting my game in the future setting so this style suits me nicely.

Existing Products-HearthStone
Out of all the
Hearthstone is a online digital collectable card game, which is not my style but I am looking
at this game because the company that make this focus on fantasy in their games and their
games are some of my favorites, so I will be drawing ideas from them.
Hearthstone builds upon the existence of the Warcraft series by using the same elements,
characters, and relics. It was first released in March 2014. The game features cross-platform
play, allowing players on any supported device to compete with one another, restricted only
by geographical region account which is something that I would like for my game to tap into
every console accounts to further my audience rather than focusing on a small group.
The game is a turn-based card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of 30
cards along with a selected hero with a unique power. The Players use their limited mana
crystals to play certain abilities or summon their minions to attack the opponent, these are
all really useful too me because I can use these heroes for inspiration and make my own
heroes with certain characteristics, also I can use crystals in my game in some way maybe by
making crystal fantasy caves which I really like the idea of bring architecture and magic
together which is something I actually want.
These are all of the different types of sub-genres in fantasy some of these I will include in my game focusing on them to get a better
idea of an audience and too finalise on focusing on certain specifics instead of having a vague idea. These sub-genres will overlap
each other but it will be worth it drawing up the best of ideas from each.
Hearthstones heroes are modelled fantastically and show off the personalities in
their pictures. The bright colours allow them to pop and stand out and the way
that they are modelled is great. I will be gaining inspiration from these
characters and designing similar ones using the vast bright colours as they do
tend to appeal more to a female audience.

Existing Products evaluation
• What common features do the researched products have?
• All of these products are game based and mostly they all involve darker colours. One common feature which I can see throughout the different existing products
would have to be the simplicity in the games story and graphic as the consumer of the product really care about what it looks like because they know if it is good
or not depending on this. Something else which I have seen that would be a common feature would have to be the colour scheme which they have chosen
because the majority of them went with a dull colour scheme of black and white, the reason in which I think that they went with this colour scheme would have to
be that not everyone wants a game to stand out and the darkness just adds on mystery. Most of the games are 3D and this is because they are new and modern,
in the gaming world this is what everyone wants now so it is a challenge I am going to have to take on and face. I am going to have to make the game look 3D
whilst working in 2D because 3D as a project would just be well out of my reach and time zone. All of the products fantasy aspects are different yet they all overlap
and seem related in another way including different aspects like similar forestry.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your own production work?
• The existing products helped me to find out many things about products and what I want to make for my final project. From this I shall be taking forward the idea
of an fantasy game which will be more on the brighter side of colours but not be dark and this will have its own unique logo which I will have to spend time
designing I will use adventurous colours such as pink and green. Then I will like to create some great visual aspects to the game so I will go with an art style that is
similar to Baldur's gate because I like the amount of detail it involves. Once the game is finished and if I have time then I will create a game case and just follow
this simple one from the research because game cases are very similar I will include everything on the back similar. I may include when making my products a
brighter colour scheme because with the results which I have received from the survey not everyone likes their games to be darker because they visually like
looking at brighter colours. The font which I include will be pixelated like in final fantasy the classic retro fantasy game because it makes the game more relatable
to the rest of the project and it is far better looking for a gaming sense. From looking at these I have decided that other genres are definitely not even an option
now and this is the idea that I should really focus ion and stick with. The style of gameplay is something similar across all games that I want to carry into my video
game.

Production techniques
I have researched the best way to make video games and I found the gaming engine known as unity which I have watched videos on and would like to get to use too, so I am going to practice
using this by doing it in my production experiments. Brackeys YouTube channel is really useful and watching these is a big help for navigating unity, from watching these I now know some basics
which I can apply. I also researched up coding for some part of this as it is something I will be potentially dabbling with, coding wont be much of an issue because it is something that I have
worked with previously and if I get stuck there is a lot of help on the internet so I can just ask. Many games have been created in unity which are either 2D or 3D some of which I have actually
played myself and really like for example Spelunky. On the unity website you can actually take a tutorial class which will help you be able to create your own video game so I will probably use this
too help me. Other engines that I could use instead are unreal or blender.
Unity Gaming engine- Unity is the world's leading real-
time engine, it is used to create half of the world's games.
There flexible real-time tools offer incredible possibilities
for games. With unity you can download specific packs
already created for free and then import some different
architecture or landscapes in which helps out a lot and is
something that I could utilise greatly.
This is a piece of code that handles the health bar
in game and determines when certain actions
happen if your health bar goes up or down. I will
be using this for technical purposes for the
functionality of my game. Unity is one of the most in-demand tech skills and has one of the
highest forecasted growth rates, at over 39% over the next two years.
Unreal Gaming engine- Unreal Is developed by Epic Games. It was
developed for primarily for first-person shooters, it has however
been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including
stealth, fighting games, MMORPGs, and other RPGs. With its code
written in C++, the Unreal Engine features a high degree of
portability and is a tool used by many game developers today. The
most recent version is Unreal Engine 4. Because this was
developed primarily for first person I don’t think its something I
should invest my time in as I'm going down a different path.

The cost of my project is going to be absolutely free with everything about it and I will not require to spend any money which is perfect because this is something that I cant really do anyway,
everything in my project can still turn out well without the usage of money. I know this from looking at certain cost free games. Time is also something that is need not worried about as I am
schedule my entire project and following it.
Production techniques
Lens flare is an accomplishment that I believe I can achieve and would enjoy in
my game so I have looked it up. It is always good to have realism in a game
and I could use a lens flare like the suns reflection blinding a certain area of
the screen, usually the top left which is where the sun is most likely positioned
in games. Lens flare is okay sometimes, but only because it conveys extra
information that is otherwise really hard to show in a game, like when a light
source is really bright. This software is something that I will experiment with
and get better at with practice because this skill could come in handy with
numerous projects or concepts, such as getting rid of a lens flare one day if I
catch one.
This is a classic example of a
modern day game using lens
flare to make the game more
realistic for the audiences
eyes.

These research slides are certain
questions of a survey that I have
done and I believe that all of the
responses in these have helped me
carve out a decision for my final
project and I hope this is shown
well In my research.

Interview- Luke Simpson(17) conducted on 4th February
• What do video games mean to you?
• Games mean everything to me. it gives me something to escape from the real world which is a part of what the fantasy genre is all about.
• Do you like Fantasy as a genre, Why? What are the main aspects of fantasy that you enjoy?
• I do like the fantasy genre especially games like Skyrim. I like them because the world isn't real so the world doesn't matter and you also get to make
your own character which is my favourite aspect of any genre of game. For fantasy I really enjoy environmental and like the scenery in games that is detailed.
• Why are some people drawn to fantasy stories more than others?
• They are drawn into these stories because they can imagine what you want the places and characters to look like so their minds are more creative.
• Is there a benefit to playing/reading/watching Fantasy? Are the benefits the same or different for the age demographics who
do these tasks?
• Yes there are benefits about fantasy. For the younger audience it will be milder story with less violence and more light hearted generating easy content and
opening up their minds for creativity. This differs compared to the older audience for which it will be darker and a lot more violent but I don’t think that the older
generation will get much out of it.
Summary:
Luke is not actually in the age range of my video game intended audience but I wanted a wider range of responses so I asked varied demographics. Although he isn't of my age range he still
loves fantasy as its an escape mechanism that he uses so I should make my game seem more unrealistic so it will really feel like audiences are leaving the world because I would like to appeal
to a lot of ages. Environmentals and creativity seem to be Luke's most important aspects and I agree with this, I want to spend most of my time on these because they are important at
creating the imaginary world to escape too. Plus I believe that environments decide on every other aspect of your game such as the character. My game is for the younger viewers so
brightness is the best option to go with, some are older though so I would like to get the best of two worlds and focus mainly on brightness but sometimes I will actually merge contrasting
colours and this will visually please my audience, mixing up my game every so often as not bore the viewer.
Audience research Primary

Interview-Alexander Sullivan-cree(18) conducted on 4th
February
• Video game give me a sense of belonging. they allow me to escape reality when I most need it, of course I could read a book and do something more productive
but why would I do that.
• yes, fantasy games are my favourite, I enjoy games such as the final fantasy franchise, Kingdom Hearts, Monster Hunter: Worlds and Ni No Kuni. I love the story
aspect of the game however I only bought Monster Hunter: Worlds so I could customise my own personal cat companion.
• I believe some people are drawn to fantasy stories more than others because like I said earlier it allows them to escape reality and feel like they belong
somewhere. personally i just like the wacky and cool characters.
do these tasks?
• I don't think there are any benefits to playing, reading or watching fantasy. however if you look there's actually a few instances where too much fantasy has badly
affected people into committing murder and even suicide.
Summary:
Alexander is in my intended target range but I feel that females would be more suitable to the role of my audience. The information I obtained however was useful. Alex’s favourite genre of
gaming is fantasy and this is shown in his knowledge of the vast different games some of which I will have to take a look at for inspiration because I have never heard of some of them. Unlike
Luke Alex's favourite aspect is the character and customisation which isn't something that should be left out on a game, to do something about this I will have to do certain aspects for
specific characters, like give them designable costumes which will be the best of both worlds and will hopefully please my audience. Fantasy is a make believe place where I minds can escape
to but some people can find this all to real which is why I will need to make aspects of my video game shown as fiction so it doesn’t cause any harm or damage, which is a key point Alex has
brought up in his interview.

Interview- Rebecca Cunningham(18)
conducted on 6th February
• I really enjoy games and like to play them in my free time with my friends for something to do as a hobby. They give me a sense of joy that other parts of my life
can not.
• Yes fantasy is one of my favourite genres. I enjoy fantasy because they generate their own worlds unlike something boring such as an FPS game which is just
repetitive. My favourite aspect of fantasy would have to be the visuals as they cause a great means to escape.
• I don’t believe that many people are drawn to fantasy but those which are have really open minds and are really creative and artistic people at heart.
do these tasks?
• Yes, I believe that young people who engage their minds in fantasy will be more creative and learn in better ways leading the future generations to create
exceptional/better things and ideas, this is been shown throughout history already in are evolution as a species.
Summary:
Interviewing females was a key aspect of my research as they are my preferred audience so Rebecca was an excellent choice and all the information given was useful to me. She really enjoys
fantasy games like most females her age do, this is shown in my research. Fantasy games are their own reality and this is something that I want to replicate so all the people like Rebecca can
enjoy this. Visuals are important to me and they are what I want to focus on most in my project this is because I believe that everybody enjoys the visuals and something to look at even if its
for a short period of time. Rebecca believes that fantasy makes people smarter and I agree with this, because it opens up peoples minds and this is one of my reasons why I chose this as my
genre to do. kids is not who I want to create my game for but the brighter colours will still be involved.

Audience research Secondary
This table shows the motivation for playing
video games. My genre is fantasy which
more female gamers play for instead of male
however the stories are equally matched,
this means that I can make my game for
females specifically but I really like certain
aspects for my game which male gamers
appeal too. On the gaming by gender graph
it is shown that there is a significant gap
between genders in gaming though so to hit
a larger player base I will make it more
appealing to the male gender but also make
it fun for females as they are the players that
will more likely fully explore and play my
game to its full extent.
The biggest gamers age group range is that from 18-24 Years so this is
the target player base I will be aiming my game at. Gender wise more
males play suggesting I should open my game up to these as well.
These results show that 75% of the
audience prefer to have music and sound
FX. This means they like all the details such
as simple music and detailed sound effects
for example, a weapon sound. My game
will include many sounds because this
draws the audience in and adds extra
depth on to a game. Sounds make for a
better gaming experience and a soundtrack
will really help with this. I will create my
own music which I have experience in and I
will also make my own original sounds such
as footsteps, injury and weapons noises.
Female gamers also prefer
brighter colours.
Females favourite colour is purple so I
will incorporate this into my game and
include it as a colour in my landscapes.
The chart here indicates that the majority of people in the uk where my game
is being designed like to play on Xbox and pc which means I will vary my
cross platform play and target these two heavy hitters for my audiences sake.

https://www.gamedesigning.org/career/game-design-
portfolio/
Part of my project towards the end is going to be getting my work out their so I have done research on some steps I should take and I found this really useful post of specific tasks I can carry
out. The writer of this post is an actual useful and in my opinion a correct source so the information is good and will be useful to me for feedback so I shall follow the steps of this. This is a part
of my project which is very important and is the difference between getting a good and exceptionable grade so it is not something to be taken lightly, what I will do is continuously think and
research about this too be able to get my idea and their and create a project that is exceptionable in everyone's eyes.
This link is a website page which helps with the necessary steps to design a game portfolio. If I follow
this I should have a great format to show off my work its just getting it out there which I need to
solve.
Audience research Secondary

Overall summary
My research is very important for my project because I can now carry out some tasks because I have a clear path of how my FMP is going to go. The entire research
that has been done I have now learned that I will be making a sub-genre fantasy game including medieval, steampunk and magic realism because fantasy is not just
one genre and it would be boring without other ideas included. My game will be based largely for females aged 15-24 because this is the group that enjoys this the
most. It will include aspects for males but more females will seem to enjoy this. The main focus of my game will be Environmentals and architectural structures as well
as characters because this is something that I and my audience appear to like the most. I will be drawing art for concept ideas and then adding them into Photoshop
using tools that I have previously picked up from my last two years of the course, then after this I will use a gaming engine which I have been looking into and I like the
look of unity and the tutorials they have, also unreal. I will record and take note of my progress throughout the project on my website and showcase it by having
screenshots. I would like to showcase my progress to people to gather their opinion on how the work in progress is and ask how I would need to improve on the
feedback they have given.

Bibliography
Slide 14:Mishra, N. (2016). How can I submit a video game idea to developers?.Available:
https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-submit-a-video-game-idea-to-developers. Last accessed 28th January 2019.
Slide 10:Earnest. (.). The Demographics of Video Gaming. Available: https://www.earnest.com/blog/the-
demographics-of-video-gaming/. Last accessed 30th January 2019.
Slide 8:Brakeys (2016) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYbK_tjZ2OrIZFBvU6CCMiA
Skyrim Last accessed 4th February
Baldur's Gate Last accessed 4th February
Final Fantasy VI Last accessed 4th February
Feng Zhu Last accessed 4th February
Hearthstone Last accessed 4th February
Fantasy genre. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fantasy_genres. Last accessed 6th February 2019.
https://www.slideshare.net/chrisbailey33633344/video-games-
audience-research-survey
https://unity3d.com/learn

Research

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Research

Similar to Research (20)

More from jay birkin

More from jay birkin (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Research