The document summarizes the research Oliver Keppie has done on existing products that are relevant to the game he is developing. He looked at Cuphead, Mortal Kombat, Double King, and Silly Symphonies. Some common features he found across these products include side-on camera angles, realistic lighting, looping animations, and music playing an important role. Aspects he plans to include in his own work are the art and animation styles, color palettes, concept from Mortal Kombat, soundtrack, and using color theory and character-specific backgrounds.

1. Research
Oliver Keppie

2. Existing Product (Cuphead)
This product uses the 1930s art style I am looking to use in my game. One thing I will look into a lot from this game is
how the cut scenes in this game are done because they use mostly still images with moving backgrounds and effects.
They also have the same camera angle all of the time at a side on view when the characters walk across screen,
although most of them are looking towards the screen. The effects added in post to the cut scenes from Cuphead
have an old film grain effect to them. I think I will use this effect in my product as it will add to the authenticity of the
game. Because the cut scenes in Cuphead are mainly still images with small movement I am going to create still
images which may have some sort of main feature which will be separately animated or looped doing an action. The
lighting in the Cut Scene is made to look realistic as some shadows can be seen in the background, although there is
none on the actual animated parts of the cut scenes. The scenes have been painted separately to the actual
movement on the screen which I will try and mimic with a watercolor effect added to the background I create. The
costumes that will be used in the cut scene will have to be the same as what the fighter use in the game which will
be things such as suits, just shorts or just overalls. The locations in the cut scene will correspond to the map which
has been selected to fight in. The font will probably be an old times looking font in white with a black bar at the top
and bottom of the cut scene. I think it will attract an audience as the art style is abstract and rarely seen in video
games. I also think that their will be a group of people out there who this game will really suit as they will be fans of
1930s cartoons and the aesthetics, but will also like video games and hopefully fighting ones. This could help me in
my product as it is very similar to the game I am making. In fact it’s the only game that I can find which is quite big
and has this art style, apart from bendy and the ink machine but that’s not as big and isn't on all platforms. It can
help me with my animation style also as I think it helps act as a visual aid to exactly what I want to create.

3. Existing Product (Mortal Kombat)
This game is similar to the style of my actual gameplay
section of my animation. The game is quite dark whereas I
would like mine to be more happy meaning I would have all
of the maps well lit and not dark and dingy like they are in
Mortal Kombat. The camera angle used during the fight is
always sideways on which I am also planning to do. The
camera does move around sometimes to show finishing
moves or x-ray moves. The only post production elements on
the screen that aren't the gameplay are the health bar and
power bars. I will be using these in my game except they will
be more similar to the old-school health bars rom the older
Mortal Kombat games. The scenes are a large range of
places although they all look very fantasy whereas mine will
incorporate land marks and well known spots so the player
can tell whereabouts in the world they are fighting. I also
want my backgrounds to look less realistic. The colors used
are also very realistic whereas mine will be block colors with
more shading in the backgrounds. It makes the audience
want to buy it as it is well known for its local multiplayer and
its very violent features. The main selling point of this game
is probably the violence used as the fighters use finishing
moves etc. From this came I can learn to add some violent
features but not too much as I want it to be able to be played
by a younger audience as well. I have chosen to look into this
game mainly as mine will be a side on fighter game just like
this one.

4. Existing Product (Double King)
Double King is an animation by the artist and animator Felix Colgrave. The art style is very abstract and so is the
animation style. He mainly uses side on angles which links it with the other styles I have gathered. The lighting he uses
is usually quite realistic and the backgrounds are usually quite plain. This will look good as my loading and menu
screens style as I don’t want their backgrounds to be too big or it will be too much to look at when the player is doing
things such as selecting a character or game mode etc. The colors he uses are similar to the ones used in the 1930s
style of animation except I think they are a little more muted and faded. One thing about this product is that there is a
lot more detail and shading in the overall aesthetics than in the 1930s style. Which could be a nice contrast from the
plain and simple colors and level of detail, or it could be confusing so I will test this style as an experiment. The fonts
used in this product are all hand drawn which I will try and mimic. I think the main reason the audience keep coming
back for his animations is because nobody else has a style anything like Felix’s. The audience buy his merchandise
because the like the aesthetics of the movies he creates, which then gets transferred over to things from t-shirts, to
bed sheets. I have looked at this product instead of a few of his others because it is one of the ones that shows off his
animation style and looks the best, with a big range of fast and slow page moments resulting in a lot to look at when I
am trying to get a grip of his style. I have learnt a few big things from this film and one of the main ones is to create
lots of different layers for each body part which can be simply used to create good looking animation effects and is
really one of the main traits I will need to use, to show I have drawn inspiration from his style. Another thing which
could help me in my product is off an interview of his I watched where he said he creates the first part of the
animation first and does whatever naturally follows. This will help me get his style a bit better.

5. Existing Product
The screen angles of this vary but there are a lot of side on
shots which fits the pattern of the previous products. The use
of lighting just looks natural. The backgrounds stick to the
same style of a more detailed and watercolor style. The colors
of the main features of the animation still look the same as
many of the others although in the one I watched their was a
little shading on some of the characters. The fonts and all of
the text seen in the episodes are shown as separate images
before and after the episode itself. It will always be a still
image with music over the top and just the title screen or
name of the episode on it. One thing I noticed with the
animation is that there is a lot of looping cycles of animation
which go in time with the music. It makes the audience come
back because of the witty and quirky characters in the
episodes which mainly consist of humanized objects or
animals. It also makes people enjoy watching it because of the
music which plays a big roll in the episodes, as almost all of
the movement of the characters and surroundings go in time
with the music. I have chosen to look at this product because
the style is exactly what I am looking to use for my product so
it is best to look straight from the original source. I have learnt
that I will have to create looping animations with static
backgrounds and I will have to try and make the music a big
part of the game. I will have to create the music before I make
the game animations because I will try to make some of the
animations in time with the music.

6. Research Analysis
What common features do the researched products have?
The products I have looked at have some similarity's, such as Cuphead and Silly Symphonies have the
same art style and color scheme. Whereas Double King has more of its own style with it. All of my
products use lighting in the same way which is just supposed to look realistic and for all the animations
at least, they use the same slightly faded color tones. In all of the products the music and sound effects
play a big part. None of the products I have looked at have speech which is understandable except for
mortal combat, so I think for my game I am going to create sound effects to act as speech. Some other
common feature which recur a lot in all of the animations are the fact that the animations use
shortcuts. Some of the ways shortcuts are used are things such as making a looping animation, making a
still image with small moving parts and also making simple small movements look more grand with
effects and moving backgrounds. Some things which were slightly different were the styles of how the
animation looks. For example Cuphead used a lot of still frames to show its cut scenes whereas Double
King used layers and moved them frame by frame. These two could be used together to make an
effective looking scene but without much movement, this could save time and allow me to put more
work into the aesthetics but the animation will still look smooth. The Mortal Kombat game doesn’t have
much in common with the animations I chose, but I think it will look good in the style and it is also my
genre of game. Cuphead slightly relates in the fact that it is a fighting game and it can be played in a
local co-op mode which Mortal Kombat can. Some technical features which are in both are the uses of
color theory. For example in Cuphead the bosses are usually more sinister colors such as black or sickly
greens, whereas the good guys have more vibrant colors. This can be seen in Mortal Kombat where the
villainous characters have more darker tones such as dark reds and greens etc. Another thing which is
seen in both games is the use of backgrounds which are related to a specific character. This helps build a
story in the game and allows the player to understand more about the characters and build a bigger
connection with them.

7. Research Analysis
What aspects of the research will you include within your own
production work?
In my own product the main thing I will be using from existing products is
the art and animation styles. This means I will also include the color
styles, meaning the muted tones and the overall pallet which is used
more predominantly in these existing products. I will also use the overall
concept of Mortal Kombat as guidance for how I want to create my game.
One good thing from my research which I think will take a while to create
and to make it sound good will be the soundtrack for each section of the
game. I would like to make a good jazz soundtrack which will finish the
game and add the tone which I am looking for. It works really well in
Cuphead as it helps build up tension before and builds up speed of
gameplay and intensity during the fight. I will also try to use some of the
color theory for my game and try to make some characters look more
friendly or evil, or try and create any type of mood. I will also create
backgrounds which go with the characters from different country's
around the world.

8. Audience Research

9. Secondary Audience research (Age)
• Observation: Most games are played by teenagers and young adults.
• What this says about my audience: My audience will be people around the age of
11-20 but to be more specific I will be aiming for 17-19 year olds. It also could
mean that I have to make some elements of my game a little toned down as I want
it to appeal to larger audience and children who may be under 14 will have to ask
their parents to buy the game for them. This is because they wont have a steady
income or may not be old enough to purchase the game from a shop or online.
This could result in a loss of sales if the game is too mature as the parents may not
buy it for their children.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will try to make it mature enough
to attract older teenagers and some adults but overall I think the game will end up
being rated around a 16. this good because it will then be able to appeal a few
years above and a few below which is pretty much all the teens. To make it appeal
more to adults it will have the 1930s cartoon style which could attract fans of the
style. It will attract a younger audience because the style looks fun and playful and
it is a game you can play locally with your friends. It may also appeal to them as
they like the fighting aspect of the game. It will also appeal to a lot of gamers who
enjoy learning how to play a game, and learning combos etc. There are a lot of
older gamers around the ages of 25-40 who will enjoy the strategizing element of
thinking about how you are going to tackle your next opponent, and which
characters and combos are the best. I also think that the large amount of
characters will attract a large range of players. If a viewer likes the look of one or to
characters it will probably make them check out the game in further detail.

10. Secondary Audience research (Gender)
• Observation: Most of the players who play 1 on 1 fighter type games are
male. The ratio of male to female gamers is 3:1.
• What this says about my audience: My audience will most likely be male
dominated. This means hat I will have to add certain features which will
appeal to males more. It will still have females interested which I can still
appeal to by adding female characters and more feminine locations and
props etc.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will create a large and
diverse amount of characters and locations which will appeal to both men
and women. In a small survey on Gamer FAQs, most people said they kept
coming back to Mortal Kombat because they like to see the changes made
to their favorited characters and they like to play competitively with them.
Another reason people keep coming back if sometimes for the DLCs. Many
comments on the survey said that they came back for certain characters
which were newly added to the game later after release. I will add a risk
and reward system so that players who enjoy collecting items will have a
good time gambling after matches to collect the best items. According to
studies, most female gamers enjoy strategy games which only very slightly
falls under the category of my game. It said that female gamers enjoy
playing games that they can come back to when bored and I think my
game could do that as it is a fun multiplayer game with a large variety of
gameplay options.

11. Secondary Audience research (Other Factors)
• Observation: Most people who play games earn around $67,000-$76,000
per year (which is around £51000-£58000) or their parents do. Most
people who play fighter games plan on a console.
• What this says about my audience: My audience will have enough money
to buy the games and the systems that it runs on. This also means that if I
add in game purchases such as loot boxes or other gambling elements,
people will be able to buy them. It also means my audience will be playing
with a controller which means I can add more complex movements and
actions as there are more buttons than on a tablet or mobile.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: To make it appeal to my
audience I will add the feature where if a match is won you get to roll a
crate which has the loot of different rarities in it. I will include in game
purchases for these boxes so players can buy them if they want a chance
of getting better loot for a certain character or game mode etc. I will also
have a small tutorial at the beginning for Xbox players which is what I will
be using as an example of a console. This will mean that I will hit the
target audience perfectly if console players see these advertisements. I
could advertise on the Xbox and PS4 homepage meaning more console
players in specific would see it. I will also try to add gameplay elements
which allow the player to learn combinations with the controller to deal
greater amounts of damage against opponents.

12. Secondary Audience research (Location)
• Observation: The main country's that people who game live are the
USA, China, the UK, Japan, France and Germany.
• What this says about my audience: My audience will be from three
far points around the globe mainly. This means that I will know to
make maps and characters which can be more aimed towards
certain country’s. it also says that my audience will speak a range of
languages which means I will have to add a feature which allows a
language to be picked.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I can add certain
characters which are from a specific location such as Japan which
may help appeal more to players from that country. I will also do
the same with maps and in game collectable items. This may also
interest players form other country’s as they may like that country's
culture or just how the looks of their character or map is designed. I
can also add subtitles in English at the bottom of the cut scene as
English is probably a language which most of these country’s will
know a little of. I think that I could create some dialogue for some
characters who don’t speak English in the language of the country
that they are from, which may bring a bit more of a diverse
audience to the game.

13. Secondary Audience research (Social Status)
• Observation: Most of the people who play games are in university's
and will be on around £33,000 a year.
• What this says about my audience: That they will have some spare
money to spend on games but might not want to spend it all on one
big thing. This also means that merchandise may not be the best
seller. It also tells us that they will have quite a lot of spare time so
will be able to play the game a lot.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: If they don’t have
lots of money to spend on a big game I would probably set the price
around £30 instead of the usual £55 for a new game. But I would
add in game purchases because if they have a lot of time to play
they will get hooked on the game and maybe buy smaller in game
purchases, which over time could build up profit. Also if they have a
lot of time on their hands they will want to play a game which has a
lot of gameplay to go through. I could make several game modes
such as online, story and arcade etc. It would also be good to
maybe have a violence on and off switch which some games such as
Call of Duty have. This would mean I can make it appeal to an older
audience whilst giving parents the option to turn off violence and
buy it for their kids.

14. Subject Research (Color Theory)
• A color pallet is one of the first things that you look at in a game. It
gives you the first impressions of what the characters will be like
and also what you think about each scene and background. From
the colors of a game menu you can tell if its going to be a dark
game or a happy game. A color scheme also has to look realistic to
make the gaming experience as immersive as possible. Warmer
tones such as yellows and oranges set a mood of comfort as well as
aggression. Whereas cold and cooler tones set the mood for an
uncaring or sanitary tone. Games can use color to show off how a
character is feeling and how they are going to act during the game
and how they use their powers for example. Also as seen in all of
the 1930s cartoons and in Cuphead. The background colors are a lot
more muted than the moving objects in the foreground. This is to
show importance and allow the players to know which part of the
screen to focus on whilst playing. For example in a game called
super hot, the only objects that you need to see and use are red
whereas everything else is white.

15. Practical Research

16. Practical Research (Character Design 1930)

17. Practical Research (Music)

18. Practical Research (Animation)

19. Practical Research (Character Design Felix)

20. Practical Research (Game Animation)

21. Bibliography

22. Bibliography
1. Your, Name. (2018) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on
DATE)
2. Interviewees, Name. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on
DATE)