P4

1. FMP Evaluation
Tamzin Twose

2. Production Process Evaluation

3. Research
• A strength of my research is that by researching existing products I was able to
see what elements of gameplay to add into my game and draw inspiration.
This helped save me time when planning my game as I knew what elements I
wanted to include and what kind of style to create my game in, to suit my
audience.
• A weakness of my research is that by looking at existing products, it made me
want to add in more detail to the gameplay, this meant that I had more to plan
and create than I had time for.
• I struggled to find three existing products that would help me with my
research. This meant I wasted time searching for the third, when I could have
been moving on to planning and production.
• If I’d had more time, I would have carried out more extensive research. For
example, I would have played the actual games rather than just looking at
pictures and watching videos.
• I would have also looked at existing app logos as this was something I didn’t
get chance to research. This would have meant I could have created a better
logo, rather than just quickly making one. However, by using assets from my
game, I feel my logo accurately represents the game.

4. Planning
• The strengths of planning my project was that it meant when I came to produce the game
designs in Photoshop I knew exactly what I wanted to create and this helped me save time.
• In my initial plans I created a mind map of my ideas, this helped me to keep track of all of the
elements that I wanted to include in my gameplay and by creating mood boards, I could
visualise the style that I wanted to create and see how to make it appeal to my target
audience. This was also very helpful to refer back to when producing my game.
• In my pre-production I planned out my game layout and this was very helpful because when
it came to production, I had an idea of what scale my drawings needed to be and where
things needed to be placed within the game.
• The weakness of my planning was that I struggled to find template images on the internet to
use for my designs, this slowed me down and meant the planning took me a lot longer. In
some cases I had to draw my images completely from scratch, which I found very difficult to
do, so this meant that I couldn’t add as much detail in to my game as I would have liked.
• Another weakness is that it’s difficult to create this type of game by planning first. In some
ways it would have been better to just draw the assets straight away in Photoshop as I
already knew what types of images I wanted to create. It was very difficult to find images on
the internet that I could use for referencing and templates, in the correct poses.
• Also I had planned to create a star for the character to collect, but when it came to
production I realised that it wasn’t possible to create a star shape in such a small pixel space
with a 1 pixel pencil tool. This meant that I had to rethink my idea and instead created a coin
for the character to collect.
• If I had more time I would have spent more time looking at different sources for reference
images. For example, I would have gone to the LRC to see if there was suitable book to
reference from.

5. Time Management
• I feel that my time management went fairly well in the beginning. I already had most of the
template images sourced from my planning and research so I had already finished the game
background by the end of day 1.
• When it came to drawing the elements of gameplay, I found that I had planned to create
things in the wrong order. I had planned to create my enemy character on day 4 and this was
actually created on day 6. It took me a lot longer than I had planned to create the main
character animation and to draw the main asset. I had also forgotten to plan to source
sounds, but thankfully because I was already ahead with my project, I found I still had time to
do this.
• Also, when it came to adding the video and sounds in to Adobe Premiere Pro, I had a few
technical difficulties with sounds stopping working and then the file would not export. This
meant that when it came to producing my logo, I had to rush it, so it’s not as detailed as I
would have liked.
• I did manage to create my project in time. However I do feel that with additional time I could
have added so much more. I wanted to create more than one level of gameplay and also add
in a way for the monkey to replenish it’s health by collecting bananas that were placed in the
world.
I also wanted to create an opening screen with a character selection and have a choice of a
male and female character. This would have made my game appeal to both my primary and
secondary genders.

6. Technical Qualities
Both games have a main character, with items to collect and at the top of the screen they show how
much health the character has. The existing product shows the level, which I didn’t add into my game,
however, my game clearly shows the progress of the items collected.
Looking at the life and coin count text, I feel like these should have been smaller. They take up quite a
large space at the top of the screen, compared to the existing game on the right, but it wasn’t possible to
draw them any smaller in such a small resolution using a 1 pixel pencil tool.
Looking at the colour scheme of my
game, I feel that by creating a
background of trees, this has made
the game quite dark compared to
the existing product. Also some of
the colours, like the trees are
brighter and more fun in the
existing product.
The scale of my graphics is a lot simpler compared to the existing product. This
is because my game was created in a very small resolution using a 1 pixel
pencil tool. This meant that my game doesn’t have as much detail and is in a
pixelated graphic style as opposed to the existing product which is in higher
resolution with 3D graphics.
This meant that I could only create a linear movement style, whereas the
existing product with more room for detail was able to create movement up
and down as well as across the floor of the game.

7. Technical Qualities
I tried to create an illusion of depth to the background by drawing lighter, bigger trees in the front
and darker thinner trees in the background.
The existing product has also created a depth of background, but theirs has faded silhouetted trees in
the background and a rocky mountains in different sizes to give the same effect. The use of blurring
the background also gives a greater sense of perspective in the existing product, which I wasn’t able
to achieve merely by using different colour shades.
My main character has a very simple movement animation. I created this by drawing two different
posed monkey’s in separate layers in Photoshop. On each new frame I switched between the two
poses to create a sense of movement, although this is very effective, it is a very time consuming
process. Especially if you have multiple elements in your game that need to move each frame.
The existing product has a much greater range of movement and a lot more detail to the animation
process.

8. Technical Qualities
Both games have a background that scrolls. In Donkey Kong Country the background moves with the character
throughout the level until the player reaches the edge. In my game, I kept the background static until the character
reached the edge, then I moved all of the individual layers back to the left edge of the screen to give the illusion that
the character was moving. I then realised I had a small amount of the background still off screen, to the right, so I
had to make the background scroll with the character. This was a very time consuming process and it cost me a lot of
production time which I could have spent making the logo look better.
Donkey Kong has a simple upbeat drum
beat background track, whereas I’ve used a
jungle themed music track. Both games
have sound effects for the collection of the
items and when enemies are defeated,
which are timed well. I achieved this in my
game by selecting the right frame of my
animation in Premiere Pro and inserting the
corresponding sound effect to start on that
frame.
The tempo of Donkey Kong is much faster than my game. I think this
is also linked to the moving background because it gives the
impression that the character is moving faster. This is also in part
because they have created a lot more range of animation for their
characters, whereas my game merely has two animation sprites. In
order for the movement to look realistic I had to ensure that the
feet lined up in each frame. This made the movement of my
character very slow. To counter this and speed it up, I increased the
tempo of the frames to 0.4 seconds, which I thought might be too
fast, when in fact I could have increased the tempo a bit more.
Donkey Kong Country
Existing Product
In Donkey Kong, for the
collectible items they have
animated the banana so that
it moves and adds to the
counter. This is different to my
game because I simply faded
out the collectible coin by
changing the opacity over two
frames until the coin was
completely faded out.

9. Aesthetic Qualities
Considering the
resolution size the game
was created in is very
small, I feel I did a fairly
good job creating the
game. I had to draw a lot
more free hand than I
had planned and I feel I
very happy with how it
turned out and I think I
succeeded in creating a
game that will appeal to
my target audience.
If I created the game again, I
would probably create a
different background. I am fairly
happy with the background
trees, but they are a bit dark.
I created them in solid darker
colours because I wanted them
to blend into the background
and not be a focal point. I also
created them in this style, to
create an illusion of depth.
If I could have created the game
in a higher resolution, I would
have been able to add more
detail in, allowing me to create
a tree line and sky in the
background and still keep
everything to scale.
When creating the foreground
trees I made them brighter and
outlined them to make them
stand out and I feel this worked
really well.
The main character and gorilla are my favourite parts of the game that
I drew. I feel that the monkey, with a bit more time, could have been
drawn slightly better as the legs aren’t quite right, but I feel he has
character.
The gorilla was very hard to draw and I think this is why I like him the
most, because he took a lot of effort. I had to reference pictures of
gorillas to get the posture and body shape right, and feel that he looks
great. I’m especially pleased with his walk animation.
The text is very simple and was drawn
by hand, but I feel this ties in very well
with the game and it would look out of
place to use a higher definition font.

10. Aesthetic Qualities
The graphics style could
have used more
shading for all of the
different assets,
however the style I
chose is partly due to
the fact that with such
a small resolution,
there wasn’t much
room to add in shading,
without creating larger
items, which would
have been very difficult
to keep to scale.
I feel the music is upbeat and appealing and fits in well with my jungle
themed game. The coin sound effect could have been a little quieter, but
this was due to technical difficulties when exporting my video in Premiere
Pro, so I ran out of time to correct the volume.
The tempo of the game
could have been faster.
The monkey moves
very slow across the
screen, but this is in
part because of the
limited time to draw
animation sprites.
I feel the movement animation for the monkey and
gorilla could have had more sprites, to increase the
range of movement, however, with the timescale I
had, I feel the animation works really well with the
few sprites that I drew.
I feel the game is
creative; there’s
items for the
character to collect
in order to move
onto the next level,
giving the player a
purpose and a sense
of achievement
when they collect
them all. There’s
falling coconuts to
avoid which will
make the character
lose health and a
gorilla to defeat in
order to reach the
final coin.

11. Technical & Aesthetic Qualities
For the logo text, I used the
text tool and changed the
font to Agent Orange. The
existing product also uses a
clear fun font so that the
title stands out and is easy
to read and they’re both in
fun appealing colours,
which link to the colour
scheme of the game. I used
the colour picker tool to
make the font the same as
the monkey’s t-shirt.
The existing logo has made
the text stand out by using a
drop shadow, which I didn’t
use in my logo.
The main difference that is clear to see between my logo and the existing
product logo on the right, is that my logo is very dark, whereas the existing
logo is bright and simple. This is because I copied and inserted the
background of the game for the backdrop, which is quite dark, whereas
the existing logo has a white background with two coconut trees faded
out.
Both logo’s have the similarity that they have the main character in the logo, so that it is clear that there is
a monkey main character. Both characters are in a friendly pose, with a friendly expression, which will
appeal to children.
The existing logo has a version of the main character drawn specifically for the logo, whereas I used the
same monkey from my gameplay by copying the monkey into the logo document by dragging and dropping
it to copy it.

12. Audience
Appeal
I feel that the graphics style I
used will appeal to my
primary age range of 5-14
years because I is simple and
easy to look a.
I used a bright cartoon style
so that the game is fun and
appealing, however the
colours might have been
better if there were more
primary colours as children
respond better to those
colours.
The blue colour used for the
t-shirt and game text panels
is perfect for this age range
because it connotes
calmness but is also a
stimulating colour and is
very good for the
imagination and creativity.
My game will appeal to my primary psychographic group, emulators, because I have
added in coins to collect and in order to move onto the next level you have to collect
them all. This gives the player a sense of achievement. Also the element of danger of
losing, will make the player feel successful when they reach the end of the level
without the character dying.
It will also appeal to my secondary psychographic group, belongers, because I have
created an adorable, likable character which will cause a topic of conversation.
My game will appeal to
the working class and
middle class social
statuses because it is a
fun, easy to play game
with attractive graphics
which are appealing to
look at. Perfect to
escape into after a log
challenging day.
It will be offered at an
affordable price so as
to not exclude any
particular social status.
To ensure that my game was not seen as scary to my primary age range, I made sure
that the gorilla, although he is an enemy, is not aggressive in any way to cause children
to find him scary and yet, I managed to still keep his posture and expression true to that
of a gorilla, which I think makes him look realistic and his posture and walk connotes
dominance and strength.

13. Audience Appeal
My game will appeal to my primary gender, males, because there is an element of action and danger. The monkey
has to avoid coconuts and there is a gorilla to pass in order to reach the coins and the end of the level. Also, I used a
blue t-shirt and colour scheme which connotes masculinity and confidence.
For my secondary gender, females, it would appeal to them because it has cute animals in the game which are
gender neutral and there aren’t any aggressive animations and although the blue colour scheme is seen as
masculine, it is also a non-aggressive, calming colour. If I’d had more time I would have also create a character in a
feminine coloured t-shirt like pink or purple or with a lighter fur, so that it would appeal more to females.
I feel the game will
also appeal to my
secondary age range
of 15-25 years
because the
pixelated graphics
style can be seen as
retro and will create
nostalgia to this age
range and although
the play style may be
a bit basic and easy,
it could be seen as a
nice simple game to
escape in to.
I feel the background
music track and
sound effects will
appeal to my
audience because
they are upbeat, fun
and easy to listen to
and tie in well with
this style of game.
The tempo of the
music, although
upbeat, it is actually
quite relaxing to
listen to and the style
connotes happiness.

14. Peer
Feedback

15. Feedback 1
• What did you like about the product?
– I like the detail in the illustrations and the way you have achieved the animation style of the
movement of the characters. The multiple assets moving during the sequence also keeps the
audience engaged and the syncing of the audio works perfectly and suits the genre well.
– The concept of the game is clear and the character archetypes are obviously communicated
and that has been well achieved through the visual style and colours used.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– The overall pacing of the game is quite slow and for the target age range and it may
disengage them, however the levels are quite short which does allow for this to be
slower paced.
– Changing facial expressions on the monkeys face would have been a nice additional
feature so the audience could connect more with the character as the brand is based
heavily on the monkey and a link should be strong between them.

16. Feedback 2
• What did you like about the product?
– Clever use of colours and theme. The sound effects really remind me
of classic games. The music ties in with the general theme of the
game.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– You could maybe make the item he throws more clear, maybe use a
bright colour and maybe make the game quicker so that it flows better.

17. Feedback 3
• What did you like about the product?
– I love the little monkey, he’s so cute. The game reminds me of
Donkey Kong. The gorilla is really cool too.
– I love how you made the monkey flash when he got hit by the
coconut and lost a life.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– You could add in more detail to the game, like define and shade
things more, especially the coin and coconut.
– You could also add in more levels or make the level longer and
add different enemies too.

18. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
– I agree with the fact that the video ended up being a little slow. It was
extremely difficult to make the monkey move faster with only two movement
sprites. Also I wanted the viewer to be able to appreciate the video, so I
slowed down the frames slightly, but I think I slowed it down a little too much.
– I agree that the game would be great with more levels added, especially
longer ones with more enemies to defeat or avoid.
– I also agree that the monkey would have benefited more with additional
expressions. For example, he could have had a different expression when he
was hit by the coconut, to show he had been hurt or was upset.
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
– Although, I agree with the suggestion to add more detail, I also disagree with
this, too, because it just wasn’t possible to achieve more shading and
definition in such a small resolution without making the characters and assets
bigger, which would cause them to be over scaled.
– I also disagree with using a bright colour for the thrown object because it was
supposed to be a coconut or rock that the monkey has picked up in the world,
so therefore the use of a bright colour would be unrealistic.

19. Peer Feedback Summary
• Based on my peer feedback, if I were to make this game again or had
additional time to work on it, I would love to make the levels longer and
add in additional levels, that way I could introduce more enemies and
dangers to avoid. The addition of larger worlds, especially with more
vertical space, would allow me to create platforms for the character to
jump on. By also adding in more movement sprites, I could then increase
the range of motion and make the movement faster and also speed up the
video a little more.
• I feel the addition of more expressions was a great suggestion, that way
the characters would have more likability. I also think in addition to that,
more characteristic animations would be good, for example, the gorilla
could beat his chest, or the little monkey could occasionally turn to look
towards the player.
• If I were to make this kind of game again I would create it in a slightly
higher resolution. I find 120x80pixels too restricting; with a slightly higher
resolution I would be able to add more detail to all of the game elements
and it would increase the scope to add in a wider range of animation.