Video game evaluation

Video Game Evaluation
Robbie Hickman

Comparison to Original Intentions
• As evidenced within my own planning documentation, my original intentions were to create a military third/first
person side scrolling shooter video game utilizing 3D graphics on Adobe Photoshop. I was initially hoping to create
an in-game setting that would be highly vivid, bearing a close resemblance to those that can be seen in recent Call
of Duty campaign missions i.e. there is a high amount of detail put into almost every aspect of the environment
including buildings, windows, vehicles etc. I wanted to show the damage inflicted by war on the in-game
environment e.g. through creation of pixelated flames or scorch marks on the sides of buildings. I had also
intended to feature three different perspectives of the in-game battlefield I was about to put together. These
perspectives consisted of:
• A side view of the in-game battlefield with the screen panning to the left.
• A side view of the in-game battlefield with the screen panning to the right (opposite the first perspective).
• An aerial view of the battlefield with the screen panning backwards.
• These three perspectives would represent the persona of a U.S. Marine, with the first two being ground soldiers
firing on the battlefield from either side, and the last perspective being a thermal imaging TV operator from an
AC-130 Gunship directing fire onto the ground from above. My overall game concept for Evac Sights (the title of
my game) somewhat reflected the intentions I had during the planning process for the game. First of all, I
managed to construct an environment which strongly appeared to be ravaged by war and had a slightly menacing
look to it. Taking my time, I was able to add specific details to aspects of the environment e.g. buildings and
houses to make them look slightly realistic. I also provided cracks and scorch marks using pixels to create an
impression of heavy damage everywhere in-game. I was able to add a pixelated tank, a pixelated chopper and
multiple pixelated soldiers and civilians to my game to ensure that the game ties to the military shooter genre.

• However, I had to make some alterations to my video game ideas. I had originally intended to feature
the three aforementioned perspectives of my video game in three different Photoshop creations, but
due to the amount of time I spent on the creation of the ‘first perspective’, it became obvious that the
amount of work required to be complete would be great if I was to create three different versions of my
in-game environment. Therefore, I altered my ideas by sticking only to the creation of my in-game
environment, the movements of the enemy soldiers and vehicles, and the impression of the player
reacting quickly to the aspects of the game. The amount of detail I put into my environment was vital for
ensuring that my original intentions were indeed followed in some way. I was hoping to create a
detailed and vivid environment for the player character to interact with and I was able to fulfil this.
Other changes I made included the incorporation of pixelated arm movements and facial expressions for
the several civilians that appear within the game; I wanted to create an impression of panicked reactions
by civilians in response to the player character; in this way, the game interfaces with the player as
certain elements respond to his/her actions.
The position of the weapon highlights the position of the
player. The environment I created is quite detailed, with
cracks in buildings shown and the outlines of doors and
windows evident. The presence of a pixelated helicopter
on the right hand side of the screen ensures that my
game ties to the military shooter genre even further.

The screenshot shows off the aspects of this in-game level. Abandoned
vehicles sitting everywhere on the ground does well to imply a strong
sense of destruction for the game. This also highlights the severity of
the conflict i.e. its impact on civilians.
The screenshot to the right is a representation of my video game and
the sole perspective I was able to create on Photoshop. As shown
within the image, I have created a sense of destruction; this is evident
by the presence of flames leaping from a house and a massive hole in
the building’s façade at the ground floor. This implies the level of
damage inflicted on a civilian location by enemy forces.

Fitness for Purpose
• The Brief stated that the class was required to ‘create a new video game of your choice to be aimed at 16-
19 year olds’. The game was meant to contain elements of any genre of our choice and should have been
aimed at a platform e.g. consoles, mobile phones or PC. The class was also required to undertake audience
and existing video game research to obtain a bigger picture of not only the type of game we could make,
but also of the aspects of video games in general e.g. what can you interact with. The Brief also stated that
‘an understanding of research techniques and their uses’ should be displayed.
• I was able to complete my project in accordance with the requirements of the brief. My video game ‘Evac
Sights’ can be defined as an entirely different video game compared to existing titles, primarily because it
incorporates elements of the first/third person shooter genre e.g. the killing of enemies via use of a hand-
held weapon with the side-scrolling video game genre which is either very uncommon in video games, or
does not even exist in other titles as of yet. The game was meant to be aimed at 16-19 year olds. Evac
Sights adheres to the brief because, according to my audience research, it is aimed at people aged 17 or
18. These age groups are in between the ones stated in the brief (16-19 years of age), therefore I have
done well to follow this section of the brief. My video game is aimed at a specific gaming platform (next-
gen consoles e.g. PS4 and Xbox One) and it also features multiple elements of games in particular which
were required by the brief to be completed. Such elements included animations, characters, enemies,
pick-ups, box-art, logo etc. I was able to follow this section of the brief, bearing in mind that I had created
a successful animation containing enemy characters, scoreboard, weapon etc.
• The only elements I failed to complete were a game over screen, loading screen and box art for my video
game (although I was able to create a logo which could have been featured on the box art). Regarding this
section, I might not have followed the brief completely because I didn’t create all the in-game elements I
was told to. However, some of the required elements weren’t even present in my video game concept e.g.
pickups. I managed to follow the brief even further by carrying out primary audience research to find out
who my target audience would be, and I found out more about the characteristics of video games of a
similar genre to my own e.g. shooters like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Battlefield: Bad Company.

Technical Qualities
• My video game ‘Evac Sights’ could be considered as technically proficient, mainly because I had utilized
the skills I had developed not only through the creation of pixelated soldiers and firearms on Adobe
Photoshop CS6, but also through certain areas of coursework from the previous year, especially those
involving the creation of magazine covers, double page spreads and contents pages. I have had a great
deal of experience on Photoshop, therefore I have developed an understanding of various techniques to
utilize when it came to the creation of elements from my video game e.g. buildings. In previous projects
on the program e.g. magazines, I have included considerably large amounts of detail to make them look
quite professional and I applied that to the current video game project. I think my work has benefited
from the experience I have had on Photoshop previously. The overall result is that certain aspects of the
in-game environment for Evac Sights stand out and look fairly detailed i.e. buildings are not just
rectangles coloured in but feature shades of black, as well as black lines to create the impression of
cracked, damaged walls.
• My work shows that I was able to accomplish my original intentions and create a detailed environment
with pixelated soldiers and artillery vehicles e.g. tanks. Some of the graphics within my main animation
for my video game reflect professional conventions. Certain areas include the presence of flames on the
sides of buildings in-game, which were created using the colours orange. yellow and red and drawn so
that they looked as if they were curling upwards (just like actual flames would in reality). The use of
pixelated images like these could be considered a strength for my video game. The images of pixelated
flames not only add to the menacing nature of Evac Sights, but also provide a greater sense of variety
within the in-game environment.

Technical Qualities
• The pixelated image of an assault rifle (which can be seen throughout the GIF) looks quite professional i.e. it takes a
similar appearance to an actual gun and includes certain features e.g. the iron sights as well as the corners of the
barrel. The way I animated the assault rifle can be considered professional as well; I was able to create an impression of
the player character altering his/her position of the weapon they were holding in-game so as to get their shots on
target and fire on enemies. Other animations within the game e.g. a civilian gaping in shock and raising his arms upon
seeing the player seemingly pointing a gun in their direction reflect professional standards. The main strengths of my
game are the overall appearance of the flames, tank(s) and helicopters as well as the players weapon. They all look
very convincing and professional, therefore they could attract a lot of fans. There are some weaknesses, however. The
overall process of creating the in-game environment and animating was very time-consuming; this meant that I could
not animate every single tiny aspect of my game. For example, the pixelated soldiers and civilians do not appear to
have a ‘walk cycle’ as they either retreat or advance on the map i.e. their legs aren’t visibly moving and it almost seems
as if the enemies are gliding rather than walking/running. The reason why this happened was because no plan really
existed for the incorporation of legs for every single enemy and civilian. That would take too much time and would also
be very difficult.
• The areas I should really improve on are the number of tanks and choppers that appear throughout the animation.
Both of these only appear once. They look professional and stand out, therefore it would be a good idea to show them
more often so that people who play the game can get the chance to identify with them and maybe even marvel at how
good they look in-game. Other than that, all other aspects of Evac Sights seem fine and look technically proficient, also
bearing in mind that I provided the impression of a night sky and muddy earth using two large rectangles and
enhancing them with overlays (so as to make them look darker/lighter).
The pixelated image of the in-game assault rifle is a good example of how technically proficient
my work is. The corners of the barrel are obvious and the iron sights of the weapon is the most
recognizable feature. This screenshot also shows off the presence of flames, a tank and a
helicopter with emphasis on its spinning chopper blades, as well as the sight of an enemy
soldier (to the right of the image).

Aesthetic Qualities
• My overall video game looks visually appealing. I was able to utilize pixel graphics to create
buildings, burning houses, tanks and enemy soldiers. I had initially started off creating
pixelated images of a tank, a helicopter, and an animation of two soldiers moving from one
side of the screen to the other. After drawing everything that would appear in-game,
including the outlines of buildings, partly destroyed houses, and a concrete barrier facing the
buildings (which the player character would be positioned behind), I enhanced the aspects of
my in-game environment by using effects like colour correction and shadow overlays to
create the impression of a specific time of day (which was night). I also used pixels to create
the appearance of dark scorch marks on the facades of buildings (so as to give the impression
of flames that have recently burned out).
• The images of pixelated flames, as well as pixelated explosions and enemy soldiers add to the
overall professional look of the game. These qualities put together do well to provide a
menacing feel and also add to the presence of chaos and destruction within Evac Sights, just
as I had previously intended to convey in my initial planning. The use of pixelated flames and
pixelated black marks on buildings are aspects of my game’s visuals that I think stand out. I
like them because they provide more to the game itself rather than just images of buildings
(which, without the additional pixels will have looked like seemingly undamaged structures)
and create a foreboding atmosphere which is found in many war-driven games in recent
times. In my opinion, it was a good idea to present a strong sense of destruction and the
pixelated images of flames tie in with the presence of enemy soldiers and artillery also in-
game. This is another reason why I think they look outstanding.

Aesthetic Qualities
• If I had the chance to improve, I would alter the in-game environment even further so that it
takes on an appearance that clearly has more detail i.e. more buildings in the background to
provide a bigger impression of a city rather than just a simple row of houses on fire/badly
damaged. In this way, I would be improving the immensity of the environment depicted
within the game and therefore, the sheer scale of the destructive conflict shown within Evac
Sights. I could accomplish improving Evac Sights in this manner by simply using more pixels.
Because I would be making something that resembles the city skyline i.e. buildings and city
lights further away on the horizon using black and yellow coloured pixels, I would only really
need to create silhouettes of buildings by drawing rectangles and using the paint bucket to
colour them black.
As shown, the in-game environment is fairly detailed. The outlines of buildings,
the colours of the walls and even the frames of windows are clearly visible as I
created them with pixels.
Using pixels, I also constructed the remains of a short stone wall and featured
all the details that would appear e.g. coloured differently in some places as the
stone wears away. It is also very easy to spot the outlines of all the brick layers
as well as to differentiate between the top of the wall and the side of the wall.
The in-game weapon I created looks highly detailed, with all the corners, edges
and ridges on the barrel standing out. It is easy to notice the shape of the
weapon as well as where the trigger handle might be (the trigger handle is not
visible.

Generating Ideas• Developing the ideas for Evac Sights was relatively straightforward; I took on inspiration from existing titles which had a similar storyline
and contained gameplay that could be considered similar in terms of pace and style. I have not only played many games that had a
narrative involving a mainland invasion by a foreign country, I actually favour games of this manner e.g. the Call of Duty series which
focuses on conflicts on a massive scale in some of its installments such as the Modern Warfare series. I am quite creative when it comes to
thinking up a concept for a certain work, therefore coming up with a basis for an adrenaline evoking video game wasn’t a problem. Because
the military shooter genre of video games is my preferred genre, I was able to generate lots of ideas for a game of this type.
• I produced a considerably fair amount of ideas for my video game. One of my first ideas was to create a first-person shooter that would
allow for the player character to navigate the battlefield, or simply remain in a specific position as a sniper, picking off enemies one by one.
It became obvious that some of my ideas would be too difficult to pull off in the end using pixels on Photoshop. I had intended to create a
game including lots of detail within its graphics and I was able to accomplish this whilst also been able to stick with the genre I had decided
to follow. I did not get stuck for ideas at any point and I was quite confident with the one I had planned to use based on the results of my
audience research; a side-scrolling game which also incorporated elements of the military shooter video game genre. I was able to develop
my ideas further by incorporating civilians into the game, as well as ideas for three different perspectives of the battlefield for three
different players. This made Evac Sights seem a lot bigger than it would if I had only stuck with the concept of a player fighting enemies on
a battlefield without any elements to either avoid or interact with further.
• The generation of ideas is always a crucial part of the pre-production process, no matter what is being made in the media. It is a good idea
to plan ahead and to make changes if anything goes awry. It was important for me to come up with ideas for my video game because I was
able to create a picture of what my overall game would look like and decide whether or not I wanted to emulate it, or if it was actually
possible to make it without too much complications arising during the production process. Creating ideas also proved vital for ensuring I
was prepared, especially before going to work in a manner that I was fairly unfamiliar with. Although I had developed skills in Photoshop, I
had only had little experience with the creation of pixels, let alone animating them. Planning ahead also provided me with a wide range of
options regarding what I could possibly make for a video game.
Proposal: I placed a great amount of detail into my proposal document; this
document explains the ideas I came up with as well as the fact that it appeals
to males and the Achiever Psychographic because my game will provide a sense
of accomplishment and is action-based. I have also detailed the games I took
inspiration from e.g. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield 4.

Generating Ideas
• The key strengths of my idea generation were the amount of time I was provided with to come up with a concept for a video
game, the options I had (as shown in the Brief), my own level of creativity and the confidence I had when it came to decision-
making. Because of the amount of time I had, I was able to come up with a variety of ideas and consider which one I really
wanted to follow in my production. There was plenty of time to go back and alter any ideas I thought wouldn’t work, as well as
to generate any further ideas for my game. The options I was provided with ensured that I could choose from a wide range of
video game genres to develop, therefore if I couldn’t make a shooter game due to the fact that it would be too difficult, I could
always choose a different genre. Because I am quite creative, I didn’t encounter any problems when it came to deciding which
idea was the best one to use and I wasn’t concerned with the fact that my video game would suffer due to poor preparation
because I was confident when it came to developing my ideas for a video game concept.
• There weren’t many weaknesses with my idea generation. The only problems that did arise were the fact that I couldn’t create
certain things because they were too difficult, as well as the fact that I had to change my ideas due to the manner of my results
from the primary audience research I undertook. This might have hindered my progress slightly as I had assumed my original
idea was the one I would attempt to emulate, only for me to suddenly be required to alter them because if I couldn’t satisfy the
needs of my audience, my video game would not get a lot of attention and would therefore suffer. I could have developed
certain areas of my idea generation by attempting to expand and thinking of multiple concepts rather than just one i.e. a
conflict with players controlling soldiers . It would have been beneficial to do this as I may have wanted to change the concept
completely and create something a bit more easier. Also, if the concept I had didn’t work at all, I could have just chosen one of
my alternate ideas to emulate instead. It is always a good idea to have multiple ideas and I didn’t consider this during my idea
generation.
This is the logo/box-art image for ‘Evac Sights’. The idea for the game was the only
one I really came up with for the project. The logo represents the war-based concept
I came up with for a video game and also connotes the dark atmosphere I wanted to
provide through use of the colours red and black.
The logo references the game ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’, which is also a game
featuring elements of the military shooter genre, through use of an image within the
crosshairs of the logo. Modern Warfare 2 came as an inspiration for my game.

Time Management
• I was able to manage my time fairly well as a result of accurate planning before the
process of making my product on Photoshop. Because I had confidence as well as a big
picture of what I was going to create, I was able to finish my video game before the
deadline put in place without rushing it whatsoever. Within the time provided, I was
able to create one of the three perspectives I had planned previously (the first one
where the screen pans to the left) and include lots of detail in regard to the appearance
of the structures of the buildings as well as other aspects of the environment depicted
within the game. My overall product looked professional and I was able to finish it in
time; this shows that I was able to manage the time I had really well.
• However, if I had additional time, I would have been able to create other aspects for
Evac Sights including a main menu, a loading screen and a game over screen (which
were requirements of the brief). With more time, I would have been able to get these
assets finished, therefore improving the overall quality of my video game project. Also, I
might have been able to create an impression of all three perspectives for Evac Sights
(including the one from the in-game gunship) and provide detail on all of the
perspectives each of the players could take on whilst playing Evac Sights (it is also a co-
op game). With more time to produce my work, I could have highlighted and depicted
the co-op nature of my game and show off the additional qualities my game really had.
This screenshot for my game highlights the level of time and effort I put into the
creation of the video game and its side-scrolling, war-driven nature. Nothing
appears to be rushed in any way and there are a great deal of in-game assets shown,
such as enemy soldiers, civilians and vehicles (chopper and tank).

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