The document discusses research conducted on existing game products to inform the design of a new game. It summarizes screenshots from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a 2D fighting game, Pokémon FireRed, and South Park: The Stick of Truth. It notes common features like basic and easy to understand mechanics, use of dark and bright colors, and engaging combat systems. The research will influence the new game's combat style and color scheme to reflect an urban environment. Interviews with potential players found they enjoy character customization and unlocking achievements. The game will include these features to appeal to the target audience.

1. Research
Ethan Hunter

2. Existing Product
In this screenshot of the game Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas the main characters can be seen on
the side of a street. The main colour seen in this
image is definitely green due to the majority of the
characters wearing green clothes. The characters
seen in the screenshot are in a street gang and so
wear the colour green to represent their gang. This
allows the player to identify friendly characters
from their enemies. The playable character stands
out from the NPCs in this image as he is wearing white compared to the abundance of green
that the NPCs are wearing. The background consist of some dark greens and a lot of grey. This
gives the game a realistic feeling as the setting is compiled of colours we see everyday in towns
and cities. This screenshot was taken at night in the game as can be seen by the colour of the
sky. Due to this the main source of lighting is from street lamps scattered throughout the street.
This gives off a sinister atmosphere as people usually have negative connotations connected to
the dark including violence and crime.

3. Existing Product
This screenshot shows a game with an art style similar to
what I will be creating. It is a 2 dimensional game as well
which is what I am going to have to create. The game
portrays depth by placing characters above one another
with the characters all facing their sides to the player. This
gives the impression that they are fighting side by side. The
player is easily able to tell the friendly characters apart
from the enemy. Not much colour is seen this screenshot
with the majority of the screen just being black. The
characters have their own colours which make them stand
out from the background. The game appears very simple
to the player which allows them to easily play without
anything confusing them. The points where the player has
to interact with the game are easy to see by the text at the
bottom of the screen in white which clearly stands out
from the black background. The art style of this game is
similar to what I will be creating in my final product. The
characters in the game are incredibly basic and due to my
lack of skills in pixel art I will have to resort to creating very
basic characters.

4. Existing Product
The game Pokémon is a turn based RPG which is what I
am going to create. The Pokémon franchise is one of
the most successful in this genre. The colours seen in
this screenshot are extremely bright and use mainly
primary colours such as red and blue. This is because
the game is targeted towards children and so these
bright colours will intrigue them. The menu that is
presented to the player is extremely basic however it is
able to serve its purpose incredibly well. The layout is
incredibly basic and so allows the game to be picked up
by anyone. Because of this the Pokémon game franchise
doesn’t exclude any new players from taking up the
game as it is incredibly simple. This is something I am
going to transfer into my game as I want it to be easy to
understand whilst also having a lot of great gameplay
features.

5. Existing Product
The combat in the South Park games whilst
still being turn based at heart is most
definitely evolved. Instead of just picking an
attack to perform the player is able to press a
certain combination of buttons to increase
the damage that the attack inflicts. This gives
the game an extra level of immersion for the
player as they are able to feel as though it is
them that is causing the attacks to do the
damage instead of it all being down to luck.
These games also allow the player to pick a
certain class to master as the game
progresses. This adds to the experience for
the player as they are able to improve their
rankings in their class whilst also playing
through the main quest.

6. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
• Very basic and easy to understand. Dark colours contrasted by
bright primary colours. Easy to tell enemies apart from friendly
characters. Combat is simple whilst still engaging.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your on work?
• The basic combat style and the colour schemes are going to be
present in my work and will reflect the look of an urban
environment. The characters will bring the bright colours to the
game as they will be wearing very bright colours such as red and
green to contrast to the dark background.

7. Interviews

8. Interview 1
• Do you enjoy creating your own character in a game or prefer to play as a premade character
and why?
• I prefer to make my own character as it allows me to make the game much more personal
and help you to relate to the character.
• Do you prefer a set story or a game that gives the player the option to choose the outcome
of the game and why?
• I don’t mind either as they both give different experiences that I enjoy. The set story lets you
see what the developer was thinking and wanting you to see. Where as, having it change as
you progress gives the player slightly more able to act themselves and make it seem much
more as the player has their own touch.
• Do you enjoy unlocking achievements in games and why?
• I do, as it gives you a challenge an something to work towards instead of just the completion.
It gives the game a little bit more to do and lets you extend how long you spend in it, to let
you find out more within the game an all the little parts that you may not see otherwise.

9. Interview 1
Observation:
From this first interview I can see that the person I interviewed enjoyed to create their own
character and also enjoys unlocking achievements. However they didn’t have a set opinion on the
story as they would enjoy both options that I presented.
What this says about my audience:
This says that my audience enjoys an experience that they are able to sink a lot of hours into to
get the most out of the game.
How will your product appeal to this audience:
My product will include both achievements and character customisation so that it will appeal to
the core demographic.

10. Interview 2
• Do you enjoy creating your own character in a game or prefer to play as a premade character and why?
• I Like creating my own character because then you have more of connection to the character as you have
made them to your liking, also when making the character you can chose each individual part of the body,
and you can also change the clothes which your characters would wear.
• Do you prefer a set story or a game that gives the player the option to choose the outcome of the game
and why?
• I prefer a game which lets you chose the outcome of the game such as witcher 3 which gives you a vast
array of different endings depending on which selection you chose through out the game and you can go
back and change them if the outcome you got wasn’t the one which you wanted.
• Do you enjoy unlocking achievements in games and why?
• Yes because they show that you have put effort into unlocking them as they may have some which are
hard to unlock and only a few people have unlocked them in the world and also you can compare to other
people to see if they have unlocked them.

11. Interview 2
Observation:
From this second interview I can see that this person enjoys to create a character that they are
able to enjoy the game with as they opted to have a story where the player gets to decide how it
ends.
What this says about my audience:
This tells me that my audience wants to be able to play my game multiple times to get different
experiences each and every time.
How will your product appeal to this audience:
I will include the ability for the player to change certain outcomes in the game by making certain
decisions.

12. Bibliography

13. Bibliography
1. Ellis, L. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 28/11/17)
2. Sedgwick, F. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 28/11/17)
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
4. Final Fantasy
5. Pokémon: Fire Red
6. South Park: The Stick Of Truth