Caleb Wilcox evaluates his final major production video game project. He believes he worked well throughout the production process, despite having to start over midway through. He summarizes that he felt his pre-proposal, proposal, research, problem solving, and production experiments were completed well and without issues. Some challenges included losing work and taking time to choose game designers to research. Overall, he believes he made good use of time across the production process.

1. FMP evaluation
Caleb Wilcox

2. FMP evaluation- introduction
• This here is the document for of which I will carry out my personal evaluation of
my Final major production video game, along with this I will also be getting a few
opinions of others who will view my game and give their opinion (so its not just
me being biast to my own work). Besides this I will also be looking at talking
about how I feel I worked throughout the many processes of which I went
through before coming to the time of starting my production i.e.
proposal/research planning ext. On a whole before I start looking at evaluating
my own work, I believe that I worked well with my production work and the
documents of which I have looked at creating to accompany it. My final
production piece in my eyes is one that I am happy with given the circumstances
of me having to start-over mid-way through my production time. Now I’ll get on
with my evaluation.

3. Pre-proposal and proposal
• On a whole in my opinion I believe that I worked well with looking at my pre-proposal and
proposal documents, although they are both different documents you would be more
expecting them to be the same document but that is clearly not the case as they are in fact
both the same documents. Out of the these two documents the first of which I came to looking
at was more the idea of the pre-proposal(before proposal). This document I found to be quite
an easy one to get filled out and to be honest I didn't’t find that it took me that long to get
done. Personally I found it to be very much like the proposal document but more of a practice
one that needed doing before I did the actual proposal document. The main idea for me with it
was looking at giving brief description/details of how and what I plan to create for my
production but not in that much detail as I didn’t want to make it too much like my proposal. In
the end I found it to be an easy document to get filled and and wasted no time in getting it
done.
• I found my proposal to be slightly the same as the previous pre-production but obviously it was
more of the official kind, I especially got the sense of this when I viewed the proposal
document. With this document I mainly found myself describing in more detail what my
production is and what I am basing it around, kind of like what I did in my pre-proposal but in
much more depth/detail.
• On a whole I believe that I worked well with my pre-proposal and proposal document and I
found myself to get all aspects completed without issues, the only thing that I found myself to
have a problem with was thinking of a name for my production but that was something that I
thought of further down the line, either way in the end it didn't’t cause me any issues.

4. Research
• In my opinion I believe that I worked well with my research work especially when taking into the
consideration the fact that this can be seen as one of the biggest documents of which I had to
complete with this before carrying out my production. The first stage of my research work for me
was looking into the background of the industry of which I chose to base my production around
and with me deciding on creating a video game for my production I ended up looking into the
background of video games/games consoles. In the end I made the decision to look at ‘Nintendo’
as this is a well known games console company that has seen to play/run many animation style
games in the past which was good for me as my game is actually based of the animation style.
This is something of which I spent quite a lot of time looking at but not so much that I fell behind.
Once I had finished looking at the background of animation games/games consoles background I
spent some time looking at existing products and the merchandise of which some of those
products are accompanied by this was a quick and easy process for me as I already had an idea of
what sort of existing products to look at and what sort of existing products would be good to look
at as they are accompanied with merchandise. In the end I made the decision to look at popular
games ‘Minecraft’ and ‘Super Mario’ , this was mainly down to the reason that they are both
games of which I have played in the past and ones of which I know quite a bit about.
• Once I had finished with this stage of my production I turned my attention to the second part of
my research which was more looking at the idea of existing game designers, this is something of
which I found took quite a lot time to get done, this I believe that was mainly down to the idea
that I didn't’t really have an idea of who to look at so naturally I spent quite a lot of time looking
at which designers to look at in the end I made the decision to look at ‘Markus Persson, Jens
Bergensten and Jeff Minter’. Although I haven't heard of these game designers/practitioners in
the past I made the decision to look at these because once looking at them I liked the work of
which they had looked to produced in the past.

5. Research
• Once I had looked at some already existing game designers/ game practitioners I
turned my attention to looking at my target audience, this is something of which I
didn't’t really spend that much time on looking at as I had I fact looked at creating a
separate draft/document that I talked about what my target audience was going to be
based around. In this document I briefly just looked at talking over who my primary
and secondary audience were based around which didn’t take much time to do, I will
be talking about my audience more in a separate slide. However despite this I can say
that I believe I worked well with finding my target audience and managed to get it
done in a well time frame of which I allowed myself.
• The final stage for me with my research in the up-come to my research was too look
at some production experiments which was more for my to get an idea of what I
would/could include in my final production piece. This on a whole I found this area of
my research something that I could easily look at doing as It was simply only a case of
looking at some tutorial videos via. YouTube.
• To conclude my evaluation of my research work for this brief I believe that I worked
well with my research and made good time of the time of which I had allowed myself
to get my research work successfully completed.

6. Problem solving
• When it came to looking at the problem solving aspect of my document work I believe
that I worked well with it, this was mainly down to the looking at potential problems
that I might run into/occur whilst I am looking at completing my production work. The
first potential issues of which I looked at are more seen to be practical issues, these
are much issues such as ‘Computer overheating and shutting off’. Such issues of these
would have caused me severe problems when it came to creating my production,
luckily however the only practical problem of which I actually ran into was ‘losing my
work’ which caused quite a few problems for me as I had to start over again. Once I
had looked at practical potential problems I looked at coming up with
solutions/alternates for those potential problems, this is something that I again found
to be easy to work with as I have looked at doing exactly this multiple times in the
past.
• After looking at potential practical problems I then turned my attention to looking at
the same sort of thing but more looking at the theoretical problem side of things
which more looked at ideas such as ‘unable to find required material/sources’. I found
it as easy as I did to find theoretical problems as I did with practical problems and I
found it to the same when I looked at finding potential problems for these theoretical
issues. On a whole I believe that I worked as good with the theoretical problems that I
did with the practical problems and it left me ready to move onto looking at
production experiments.

7. Production experiments
• When it came to looking at creating some production experiments (experiments of
what my production could potentially look like) I feel that I managed to get them
done in a good and quick amount of time, bearing in mind that with them being seen
more as production experiments there wasn’t much time to be spent on them. When
it comes to looking at production experiments for this particular brief I made the
experiments to be specific to one thing and that was looking at the particular design
and layout of my planned video game. I made the decision to do this because I
thought that with this being my FMP it’d be best to be more focused on the actual
design/layout rather then anything else for now as I wanted my game to appear to be
appealing as possible. In the end I looked at the lay-out of where each level was going
to go(and what it would look like) along with this I also made the decision to look at
the design of some background features that could possibly feature in my game, both
the times I did this I made sure that they where potential background designs from
different levels. I found myself to be quick about getting this done as I have created
many drafts/production experiments in the past as a result I had no doubt in my mind
that I wouldn’t get them done In time. Once I had got my experiments done I looked
at talking about them i.e. what the experiment was meant to be an example of ext.
along with this I also talked about what tools I used to make the experiments. On a
whole I believe that I have worked well with my production experiments making good
use of the time to come up with some examples of what some areas of my production
could potentially look like.

8. Planning and Production
• This was seen to be the final document of which I needed to complete before I could look at
making a start on my FMP production not only this but I also thought this to be one of the
important documents for me that I needed to get filled out as it looked a lot about finalizing all
the design for my video game ext. ext. The first stage for me with this document was more
looking at locations and the potential locations of which my game might feature at, in the end
with this I ended up looking at quite a few different locations for each separate level, I thought
this best to do as it gave me a greater variety of location to chose for with each level.
• Once I had finished looking at potential locations for the levels of my game I turned my
attention to looking at the initial idea of finance/facilities and personnel. These are two things
of which I found easy to get done in my planning stages as with the finance/facility page I was
mainly talking about the equipment of which I plan to use/need in my production and for me
that was easy as the only equipment/software of which I needed was access to a computer and
PhotoShop. I found this to be the same with my personnel as it was only me who worked on
creating my production work so their wasn’t really much I could say about who would be
creating the production piece.
• The next stage for me with my production and planning document was too look more at the
production aspect part of it. Impartially it saw me looking more at the idea of character designs,
color schemes and a more in-depth look at character designs. This is something of which I found
to enjoy to quite a lot, mainly because I was coming to the final stages of my planning
documents meaning I was coming up to starting my production work and that was something of
which I was also excited to be getting on with. I looked at doing the same sort of thing I did for
my character design as I had before but in a different document and this time in much more
exploration/detail.
• Overall I believe that I worked well with my final planning document ‘Planning and production’
making good use of the time of which I had given myself which to be honest wasn’t a lot, as I
was too excited to be getting on with production.

9. Time management
• When it comes to looking at my time management on a whole regarding my planning
documents and production I believe that I worked well with getting everything done
and in on time to the best that I could. When it comes to looking at my time
management with my planning documents I can safely say that I managed to stick to
my planned schedule each day and didn’t really run into much trouble with them. I
would say that I worked best with my Pre-proposal and proposal document, I feel this
to be mainly down to the fact that they were the shortest of the planning documents
and therefore the easiest and most effectively the quickest to get done. However
when it comes to looking at my time management for my production I find myself
thinking that I worked well with it and managed to stick to my time schedule at one
point but then I also feel that I didn’t manage to stick to my schedule and fell behind
with it. This is mainly down to me having lost my production work at the mid-way
point due to losing memory stick and as a result I had to look at starting over with my
game from knew. Due to this happening I found myself to be completely thrown of
course when it came to my production schedule not only this but it also meant that I
was late starting my evaluation which left me in a state of rush trying to get it
finished.

10. Colour schemes
• When it comes to looking at the colour schemes of which I used in my production I feel
that I made good use of a variety of colour schemes/combinations throughout the
different stages in my game. I made the decision to use different colour schemes in my
game because with their being 3 different levels I thought it would be best for the
theme/scene to be different on each level rather then it just being kept the same, not
only this but with the different levels meant to be giving representation of a different
part/area of the game each time I thought it'd be better for it to be a new area and
colour scheme rather then just a new area. For example the first level of my game is
more based around the idea of being in the countryside/open air so for this I made the
decision to use colours like light blue and light and dark shades of green. I chose these
colours because I thought they gave a better representation of happiness/freedom
which is what I was hoping people will get a sense of when playing the first level. On
they way down to the second level I made use of different shades of brown to give
representation of the several layers of earth that lay beneath us, along with this I also
included some silver to give representation of pieces of metal/shrapnel that lie in the
earth beneath us also. With the second level of my game I made use of darker/dull
colours such as a black background as with my second level being more based around
horror/fighting I thought it best to use colours that are dull/dark. I did however make
use of different shades of orange/red but that was to only create the lava you’ll find in
the second level. Overall I think that I have worked well with my production work when
it comes to looking at the colour schemes of which I chose and personally I wouldn’t see
it necessary to change them at anypoint.

11. Audience
• When it comes to looking at how I worked with looking at finding my target audience
I believe that on a whole I worked quite well with finding my primary and secondary
audience. This is something of which I also took quite a good amount of time to look
at getting done but that was simply more so that I had a much more focused audience
basis rather than it being all over the place. The first stage for me with looking at my
target audience was taking into account the idea of what people enjoy to play and on
what console more importantly I felt this to be more focused towards my primary
audience. Once I had looked at doing this I then moved onto looking at a particular
age range of which people normally play the games of which I have looked at, these
were both things of which I actually found quite enjoyable to look at and took my
time to do so but obviously not just taking up all my time. Once I had looked at
establishing my primary audience I then looked at repeating the process but aiming it
more towards my secondary audience which I found to be alright to work with getting
done. On a whole I feel that I worked well with getting my audience research and
overall I am surprised with myself as at first I thought it was going to be something I’d
struggle with finding the right resources for, but that didn't’t end up being the case
surprisingly.

12. Technique/tools used
• On a whole I feel that whilst working on my production work I didn't’t really get chance
to make use of that many different tools/techniques of which I had planned to do.
Again I am going to blame this mainly being down to the idea that throughout my time
on my production I lost my work mid-way and had to start over again. In the end with
my creation of my production work the only actual tools that I made consistent use of
were seen more to be the idea of the pencil tool and the paint bucket tool, I was seen
to make good use of the paint bucket tool when it came to needing to colour in large
areas of background for my game, this was especially the case when I looking at
creating the underground earth areas of my game. I made the decision to use the paint
bucket tools in these areas as I knew that it would be quicker to fill/colour in a large
area using the paint bucket tool instead of the paintbrush tool. The only really
important other major tool of which I looked at using during the creation of my video
game was the idea of the pencil tool. I made use of this tool to look at creating all the
general asset areas/background features and any other necessary areas, I made the
decision to use the pencil tool as I thought it easier to get those little details in as this
tool is in fact a much more focused one. On a whole I feel that I worked okay when it
comes to looking at the tools of which I chose to use, although on a whole I feel that I
could have done much better and used a wider variety of tools.

13. Production schedule
on a whole I believed that I worked well when it comes to looking how I managed to stick
to my production schedule. I have already looked at how I managed my time/production
schedule when it comes to looking at my planning documents in one of the above slides, so
I wont really bother about talking about it much. When I looked at getting my planning
documents done I managed to keep myself being quick and effective about getting them
done and didn’t find myself falling behind with anything. However when it comes to
looking at my actual production i cant say that i stook to my scheduele and i cant say that i
didnt. When i comes to looking with my production at first i found myself to be getting
along quite nicely with the creation of my production up-until the half way point. At the
half way point of my production everything appeareard to start going wrong for me and i
found myself completly thrown of my production scheduele, this is mainly down to me
losing my memory stick and as a result having to go all the way back up to the start again.
But despite this once i started getting back on with my production again from the start, i
found myself to slowly be getting back on track with my scheduele again. On a whole i
believe that I have worked well with my production scheduele up-until the point that i lost
everything and had to go back to the start again. Despitre this however i did manage to get
back on track with my production scheduele in the end it just took a while thats all.

14. Peer Evaluation
• With me now completing my production what would you say is your favourite aspect?
• My favourite aspect/thing about your game for me is the general layout of it especially
looking more at the way the different levels are positioned on top/below each other, kind
of reminds me of a classic Mario game.
• After viewing/playing my game what do you think I need to look at
changing/improving?
• Based on after viewing your video game I think that it looks good and is enjoyable to
play. However if I had to say what you should look at changing/improving then I
would have to say you should look at spending some more time on the second level of
your game. It looks good don’t get me wrong I just believe that you could look at
adding more to it.
• What kind of people/audience do you think my game will appear most appealing
towards? And why?
• The people who are most likely to play/view your game in my opinion would be seen
as younger people/possibly children as in my view it looks a bit like a classic Mario
game and they are the people that you would see playing a game like that.

15. Peer Evaluation
• With me now completing my production what would you say is your favourite
aspect?
• My favourite aspect of your production is the idea of the lift and elevator shaft
that you created to help transfer your character from level to level. I believe that
its an efficient and creative idea of which I haven’t seen done before.
• After viewing/playing my game what do you think I need to look at
changing/improving?
• After viewing your FMP production video game I believe that it looks good I but
with my question asking me what you could improve I believe that in the future at
some point you should look at adding in some more details to the underground
earth areas of your game to make it looked more detailed.
• What kind of people/audience do you think my game will appear most appealing
towards? And why?
• After playing your video game I have come to the opinion that your game is
clearly more based towards the younger audience range this is as it reminds me of
a game I would of played when I was younger.

16. Peer feedback
• Based on the feedback of which you have received;
• What improvements/changes would you make to your production work?
• Based on the feedback of which I have received about my video game production, I feel that if I
was given the time to go back and look at making some changes/improvements to my production
work then I would look at the idea of making changes to the second level of my game and
underground earth areas. This is mainly because these are the improvements of which have been
suggested to act on by the people who have reviewed/looked at my work. Not only this but it is
also down to the fact that I feel I could work on improving my underground earth area which is
mainly down to the idea that I think I could look at adding in some more details to it, to simply
help build up layers/detail which will simply help to make my game look better. I would like to say
that I am planning on looking at making changes to the second level of my game but considering
that this is the evaluation and I really don’t have much time left I doubt that I will find time to
make any other necessary changes.
• What are you happy with keeping the same/not changing?
• Despite what people have said about the changes/improvements that I should look at changing /
making improvements too, there is actually quite a lot that I would look at keeping the same and
not really changing at all. One of the main things of which I would never look at making different
/changing and that is the idea of the first level of my game. I feel this to be the case because I am
generally happy with the look and design of, especially by the way how it looks like the
countryside/gives the representation of the countryside.