Category: Case Study

Final Case Study Revision!? – 18/03/22

From the mock exam in January, the question I feel I could have done better on was this one.

I need to discuss job roles better, along with contract types and how they work together collaboratively and the software // tools they may use. I am going to answer this question again based on Destiny 2. Destiny 2 has just launched an expansion and Bungie are currently underway bug fixing, focusing feedback and developing the new expansion due in a year named Lightfall.

The job roles Bungie will need to produce an advert for a Destiny 2 Lightfall trailer would be:

  • Animator: An animator will be using software such as the game engine (Let’s say Unity in this case) and their 3D modelling software (Maya/Blender). They will be wanting to create animations that can be used in-engine in order to capture footage and make a trailer. Normally this would be on a full-time basis as Animation is a fundamental in any game and is required throughout the whole project. The animator can have multiple levels of skill base such as a junior animator and senior animator where the junior animator will assist by potentially making pose to pose animation and the senior animator takes the time to perfect it.
  • VFX Artist: The animator may animate a scene where a character throws a grenade and needs an explosion to happen in the distance, so they will work with a VFX artist in order to create an explosion (using in-engine particle system) that the animator is needing, in order to produce the best result, the animator may also work with a concept artist to show the kind of effect he wants the explosion to have. VFX artists can often be freelanced but they will also need to be experienced in the software the company uses, a lot of game developers often recycle previously used effects in order to save money / cut back on costs.
  • Concept Artist: The concept artist will design the environments and playboards/storyboards for the trailer. They will converse with the technical director and lead designer as to how things should look and the story the storyboard should tell. Once the storyboard is complete, this could be passed to the animator who then starts work by animating the assets in the storyboard such as character movement and environmental animation.
  • 3D Modeler / Artist: The concept artist will begin to build worlds that will need to be made by a 3D modeler / artist using software such as Maya or Blender. The 3D modeler job role can be broken down into multiple categories such as character artist and environmental artists. It is important that the team communicates effectively as they will have a scale guide to ensure everything is in proportion and that the style of the world matches the style of the characters. The characters will also be rigged so that the animator can begin to animate the characters so that they can be used in engine.
  • Programmers: Programmers are the glue that hold the above roles together, they will need to program when the animations activate, from a run to a jump and back to a run, they’ll need to program the menu’s and the combat system that is used within the game, getting the particles to activate when the grenade lands and making sure it deals damage when it lands. They will work tightly with gameplay designers.
  • Gameplay designers: Gameplay designers will decide what happens in and around the world and how the different game elements react when the game is being played, they will be building a world and telling a story by using the core pillars of story telling, the location, the time, the level of conflict and the resolution / end game. They will also look into making a game successful beyond the core gameplay and storyline.

Destiny often do this by creating replayable activities in order to gain more rewards, heavily criticized for the grinding required by players, those same players will play the activities week in, week out in hopes of getting the reward they truly seek, the game itself falls under a first person shooter but has a sub-category of looter shooter. Containing multiple weapons and perks they can come with, players will always seek the perfect roll whether it is for PvP, PvE or the PvPvE game mode.

And the final job role would be a Video Editor:

If the video editor wants to capture in game footage they will need a tool to capture the gameplay, such as a screen recording tool or hardware tools such as a Elgato game capture card or DVR when capturing from console, they will also need to work with the game designers, animators, concept artists and programmers to help capture footage that might not be possible to capture straight from gameplay. Mainly, this extra footage is designed to build hype, showcase abilities and tell a story to keep the viewer entertained and most importantly to sell the product to the audience. Once they have all the footage they need, they will use a video compositing software tool such as Adobe Premiere Pro to composite their video, add any music and text so that the trailer can be released.

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World Building Revision – 11/03/22

Game: The Last of Us – Spinoff

World Building is the art of crafting a setting within a world space. A setting is comprised of a location, a time, a level of conflict and the end goal. Things that may be included when building a world can include stuff like an economy and a rule set the game can be played by, is it a linear style game where you have to get from point A to point B or is it a true open world game where you can do what you want, when you want and go anywhere you want.

When it comes to a game like The Last of Us, the game became an instant classic and was looked upon as a masterpiece, spanning across 2 generations of PlayStation consoles, the game had it all from the graphics to the gameplay, this game was just an amazing experience all round, so when it comes to a hypothetical sequel or spin off, what could they do to exceed the original game.

First of all, lets take the core mechanics of the game, the gunplay, the movement, the weapon crafting and the stealth mode. The movement in the Last of Us, takes a realistic approach, when you are wounded you stumble, when you sprint you have a strong burst of pace before slowing down, when you are crouched you move at half the speed, so this is something that I would want to keep, the weapon crafting was done in menu but every animation was the same when it came to crafting, whilst this is just an animation, I feel as if this could have been made more immersive by allowing the player to see the item being crafted and feeling rumbles within the haptics.

Stealth mode became a heavily criticized feature of the game as it was claimed to take away from the immersion and suspense of the game, with stealth mode, players were able to use an X-Ray vision to see enemies who were in a close proximity, whilst this more than likely was designed to aid those who possibly can’t hear lower frequencies such as foot steps or dialogue between enemies in the world, it made the game more tactical and did take away from the suspense. In a hypothetical spin off, I would like to have a toggle to allow the player freedom to choose, or have it based on elected difficulty.

Finally there is the gun play. The gun play and combat on The Last of Us admittedly isn’t fantastic and does feel like you need to have a high skill level to be able to succeed with a weapon, whilst this meant you were immersed more due to concentration, it did cause frustration in the faster paced sections of the game where you have 6 or 7 zombies chasing you. I would introduce a aim assist mechanic to the game that allowed players to lock on to an enemy and give them a little bit of help when it comes to aiming a fire arm.

When it comes to developing the world further, as this is a spin off, the setting could be set in a completely different country, it would be interesting to see another take on the events that happened in the world from the original The Last of Us and see it from a location like England or France where there are plenty of recognizable monuments and different architecture. This would also allow the objects in the world to change, in The Last of Us there are plenty of abandoned cars and American style neighborhoods, what if there was the infamous red double decker bus that had been abandoned and the architecture was based off a city like London or Newcastle where the building’s are seemingly more modern and have large shopping centers that could have been turned into emergency hospitals and what not.

So Location is definitely one of the first things I’d change, I wouldn’t want to change the time of the setting too much however it would be cool to see a futuristic The Last of Us style game, maybe following on from the events from the first one where enough time has passed to allow families to grow and rebuild a society, have plenty of safe zones where the player can trade with the locals and have defending missions where the player has to stave off bandits from robbing the safe zone. At this point, The Last of Us is no longer a survival game, its an open world survival game that allows the player to control how the world can impact their experience, as an example if you fail to stop the bandits from raiding the safe zone, the cost of goods goes up or you can’t trade for 2 in-game days.

In the original The Last of Us game, the aim of the game is to escort Ellie from point A to point B in hopes of finding a cure for the virus, the trials and tribulations the player comes across is having to get through buildings and structures without dying to zombies and to pass through the world avoiding gangs and toxic gasses, the aim of the game in a spin off would be survival until the city is stabilized again. For this I would take a mechanic from Just Cause. Just Cause is a game where you need to complete tasks in regions of the map to liberate the area and reclaim the land and stop propaganda. In this spin off, the player will follow a written story whilst accomplishing safety in the safe zones and building trust amongst communities, there will be things that don’t go well as we don’t want the game to become repetitive, but we want it to be successful beyond the core gameplay.

So just from writing about changing those aspects, I have gathered that the antagonist is more than likely a police officer of some kind who is trying to rebuild the world from the previous events. When it comes to creating immersion, the beginning of the game could describe or show a visual of the backstory of what happened in the original game and the events that lead up to now. It’s important to build an immersive world, especially for a game like this as it is a single player adventure that should be filled with emotion and immersive gameplay. You want players to be able to feel and hear everything within the world, but also for the story to play a major part that makes the player want to play the game.

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Feb Mock Reflection – 04/02/22

High Merit / Low Distinction

I feel like I have a good understanding of the topics that belong to certain questions and subjects in relation to the course and case study exam and I feel like I have a good understanding of how to talk about these topics and explaining the roles they play in relation to the question.

I need to work on job roles and how they interact with each other in the industry, I missed this point in the mock exam in January and I have missed them again in this particular exam. Furthermore I need to talk more in depth about the pressure points, reasons they may happen and explore them further.

I will be revising by creating mind maps, flash cards and reading over the content on my blog.

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Production Management Revision – 02/03/2022

Game: The Division 3.

Tom Clancy’s The Division was a game that launched to massive success, developed and published by Ubisoft, the game looked amazing at the time of release and is long overdue a sequel.

When it comes to managing a project of this scale, it will be helpful to have a project management tool and a project lead to manage the project. The project lead is typically the producer of the project. As I have explored before, a producers role is to make sure that all operations are running smoothly and that people have the resources they need to create the product.

A project management tool we could use could be something like Trello as an example, Trello allows you to invite users to the project and assign those users to tasks that you create, once that user is done, they can mark it as done and move that task to the next card for the next person. It allows for easy organization and project management.

In terms of documentation, we would need things like Game Design Documents, Asset Lists, Burndown Charts, Technical Aspects and Production Schedules. A Game Design Document outlines the project details and specifications of the project, from a brief description of the gameplay to the core mechanics of the game and the assets needed.

Technical Aspects will outline the specifications of the games design, such as the software used in the game, how many poly’s models should have, the art style and direction for the game, what kind of staff will be needed and the work they will be doing will all be part of a technical consideration overview.

An Asset List consists of the assets needed to create the game from 3D objects, concept art, character models, sounds in diegetic or non diegetic form. This can link into the burndown chart which shows the completion progress over the duration of the projects development cycle. Finally there is the Production Schedule. The Production Schedule outlines milestones that need to be hit and make sure that everyone is working towards the same goal.

Milestones will include things such as a pre-production deadline, an alpha build, a minimal viable product, a beta build, release of the final product and post production additions, such as patches for bug fixes and DLC.

Production management is important as it allows people to work towards the same goal and contribute and effectively collaborate on the same project. When projects are this big it makes sense to use the available tools in order to increase productivity and workflow in the workplace.

During production, there may come a point where the team is hit by pressure points and potential cash flow problems. Pressure points are caused by deadlines not being hit and in turn, may cause assets / features to be cut from the game, a deadline to be extended which may have a knock on effect on the final products release date and changing originally planned features. In some cases, should milestones not be hit, it can result in staff not getting paid until that particular milestone is complete.

Deadlines aren’t the only thing can cause pressure points however, there could be other cases, especially in todays day and age of staff being off sick, staff leaving the company or taking time off for maternity / paternity leave. In the event of any of these happening, realistically speaking you can only really plan for one of these things whereas the other two could happen at any point.

Some pressure points aren’t always bad however, as some may contribute towards the end product, as an example promoting the game at an event or working with a media specialist to create a trailer / advert for the game, yes staff will be missing from the studio but if this is planned correctly, you can prepare for it. Hiring temporary staff and planning for the events in advance would be a good solution to this problem.

If I was to put my own twist on The Division, I’d make it less complicated for casual players. The game features a weapon crafting system and armour perk mechanic that isn’t very accessible or user friendly. As an example, for an armour perk to be active you have to have 3 types of armour from the same manufacturer equipped, however the perks might not match your skill tree.

In a way this is good because it allows players to try and explore different things in the game such as builds and different skill sets. It also enables players to keep playing to get the gear that they want and to keep levelling their character up to be the best they can be. The issue with it is that it is not user friendly and players may lose interest, this is what happened to me after playing the game. After hours and hours, I could not get the gear I needed to match the skillset I wanted to use, even after I exhausted my other options of trying the other skill sets, there was a particular one I had the most fun with and my gear wouldn’t accommodate that.

When it comes to weapon crafting, it allows you to take a stat or a perk from a weapon and apply it to another weapon at the risk of dismantling and lowering another stat or removing a perk. This is fairly straight forward and understandable so I wouldn’t change this personally.

Another core mechanic of the game is the end-games raid functions. The Divisions raids are essentially waves of enemies coming at you who have the same if not higher gear score than you. The raids are very rewarding if you manage to beat them and thats the problem, a lot of people can’t beat them and this relates back to the armour situation mentioned before. Yes, it enables players to keep playing to try and level up their gear with the perks they want but if it becomes to much, players will turn away and find something else to play.

For this situation I’d take a leaf from Bungie’s book with Destiny 2. They have a reward system that refreshes weekly and enables players to level up to maximum level by completing activities. There activities are known as pinnacle activities and the rewards drop at a higher level than the gear you currently have. There is a catch, where there are 8 pieces of gear in total, 5 armour pieces and 3 weapons, you might not get the pinnacle piece of gear you are looking to level up, and that’s okay because you know that its achievable and at the end of that activity you will be rewarded with something that is higher that what you have. Furthermore, with it being refreshed weekly, it allows players to complete the activities in their own time, if they want to take a break they can and then come back next week or if they want to keep playing, then they can do that as well.

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Job Roles and Interaction – 11/02/22

Job Role: Producer

Contract Type: Full-Time

How would you get this job?

The producer in a way is a type of leader, so it would be useful to have experience showcasing leadership. You would probably need some kind of qualification or works experience to understand the ins and outs of the specific industry and how the companies workflow and mindset actually works. Sometimes you might be able to start at the studio and work your way up, as an example, a friend of mine who works at Mediatonic started as a play tester for them and now he is designing prototype levels and assets for numerous games because he was given the opportunity and had a qualification to show what he was capable of and what he could do within the workspace. This was good for Mediatonic because it meant they could hire for a position in house as someone in a different field was sufficient in a different role.

What would you do in that job?

The idea of having a producer is to make sure that everything in the project is running smoothly and to ensure that the wheels keep turning. The job role would need very good organizational skills and time management but above all else, you would also need leadership skills. Leadership is important as a producer because as previously mentioned, you will be responsible for keeping the wheels moving.

So if a 3D artist has finished a model for a character, that can then be passed on to an animator to then rig and create animations, then once those are done they can be sent to a programmer to put into the game engine, but these things don’t happen on a whim, there is someone in the background setting deadlines so that the other employees can complete tasks efficiently and begin working as soon as possible.

The idea is to get everyone working towards the same milestone so that the studio can get closer to release but also, so that people can get paid. Depending on the situation, the studio may be funded by a publisher and that publisher wont release funds unless milestones are hit and that what makes a producer crucial in these work spaces. Other situations may be based on products being released so that the studio can make money from those products, they will still follow the production pipeline as a standard practice when it comes to releasing products so again, this will take TIME to ensure the QUALITY is what is expected of them so when it comes to release, they can make MONEY.

Benefits and drawbacks of contract type?

The benefit of working full-time means you are always active and are consistently in the workplace overlooking everything and you are always working when others are working. Typically full-time contracts are salary based meaning your pay without OTE should be the same every month and that you are paid on the same date every month. This leads to a somewhat stressful life style as it is easier to manage money in terms of bills to pay and cash flow. Typically studios would run Monday to Friday and have weekends off, which is great. As an adult, having two days off work that are together is better than having the week broken up.

The drawback is that these can be long hours which means you have less time at home to spend with family and time away from the office. As a result of this, more studio’s offer flexitime to employees so that they are able to work their contracted hours but more at a time thats suitable for them. Some workplaces are even reducing the working week to just 4 days a week.

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Production Pipeline Exam Revision – 09/02/22

Game: Uncharted, The Lost Legacy

What are core phases of development?

Inception – Inception is the phase of development where initial ideas are being discussed and created, sometimes these ideas are based off market research so that the development team have a clear direction of what to create and how to make it stand out.

Pre-Production – Pre-Production is where all the planning takes places, during pre-production the team will take the idea and begin to come up with concepts for the initial idea, there will be a producer who makes documents such as a production schedule or a game design document so the team knows what milestones there are when they enter the production phase.

Production – Production is where most of the work takes place in terms of practicality. Concepts become a reality and the project is full steam ahead, there are often various milestones to hit in this phase such as having a minimal viable product, alpha test, beta test etc. The team will also look at marketing the game once it is in a viable state to be marketed. This could be done a number of ways such as events like E3, influencers / streamers and promotional material such as web ads, posters, tv ads.

Post-Production – Generally at this point the game is about to be released and developers begin to plan for the games after release such as patches for bug fixes, extending the games longevity with DLC, post-release marketing and customer engagement through social media.

Why is each phase important?

Each phase of development is crucial because it allows you to plan and execute effectively. Without proper planning, the company run the risk of attempting to create something with no clear direction and losing out on time and money.

How might different job roles contribute differently at different phases of the project?

A good example of how job roles contribute differently at different phases of the project could be that an artist has created a concept art to work off when it comes to creating the asset for the game, they may even pass the concept art on to someone who’s primary skill is 3D modelling and give them details on how that should be modelled and what the texture should look like on that model.

What is the role of a Producer across the project?

The producers role across the project is to ensure that everything is running smoothly and to time on the project so they will need good organizational skills and time management. As an example, the animator can’t animate with a 3D model so the producer will have it so that once the 2D artist has passed the concept art to the 3D artist and the 3D artist has done their work, that gets moved on to the animator. It’s all about ensuring a smooth workflow in order to meet milestones.

My skills on this particular project may be useful as a game designer or a producer, as someone who has played a lot of action-adventure games, I know what to expect when I go into playing one, this may not necessarily translate directly into the job but I know how the games work and what kind of design we would look at when it comes to a game like Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

Uncharted has always been a franchise that has been as close to realistic as possible, from the walking styles, the environments and combat to the discovery of landmarks and reactions to conflict, With Uncharted, every punch can be felt and every heartbeat in the stealthiest moments makes the player come to life and draws them in for the ultimate sense of concentration and that is the kind of grasp I would want to create on this project. I would achieve this by utilizing the technology that is available. The DualSense controller is a fantastic piece of kit that contains haptic feedbacks, an inbuilt speaker and best of all Adaptive Triggers.

Uncharted contains a lot of different weapons from assault rifles, pistols to melee weapons such as machete’s and knuckle dusters and as you’d expect, each individual weapon makes the character react differently and the player should feel that too. By the use of Adaptive Triggers and Haptic Feedback, I’d make it so each guns trigger had a different weight to it and the haptics would rumble as a single shot for semi automatic and continuous for full automatic, furthermore, if the weapon is suppressed, that haptic feedback isn’t as intense as the weapon without a suppressor.

Uncharted is a game that contains a lot of adventure but is still very linear in terms of the story, the design of the game though doesn’t make you feel constrained, they use big open area’s and complex puzzles to make the area seem bigger than what it actually is and a lot of thought has gone behind this, where do we place this piece of the puzzle and where is the lever to activate the puzzle, all of this is specifically designed to create a sense of space, larger than what it actually is.

As always, it wouldn’t be an Uncharted game without climbing to do, as with any other video game, these spots need to be made obvious so the player knows where to go and knows that they are able to interact with that particular object, every now and then if the player is lost, there will normally be a hint sound followed by a quick movement of the camera.

So above all else, I would use my knowledge of the game genre and technology available to allow me to slot into that role. A game designer isn’t necessarily a role that you can just walk into, so in order to obtain the role, I would submit my portfolio of games I have made / designed myself to the employer (in this case, Naughty Dog). My portfolio wouldn’t just include the games I’ve created but it would show how I’ve created them and techniques I have used to build immersion through game engines and technology and also showcase the worlds I have created.

As a game designer, when it comes to the production pipeline, we are normally involved throughout the whole pipeline, from inception all the way through to post production. During Inception, we will share ideas and see what’s achievable and what kind of designs we’re going for, is it going to be stylized? is it going to be realistic? What’s the setting of the game, is it futuristic, modern, set in the past, there will be loads of questions asked during the inception stage as we decide on an idea.

Going in to pre-production, the game designer will over-see all of the concepts being created to make sure that everything is on the same wavelength, like a concept artist might be working on a medieval knight but the game we are creating is a neo-futuristic open world game so you could find a way to incorporate that idea into the games setting and then provide feedback, its all about communication from this point forward.

Production is where the fun begins, you will be overseeing the projects design and watching it all unfold and working with everyone in the studio. Making sure the 3D models match the style of the game as you have envisioned it and that each animation for every model makes sense, the way they move when they’re idle and the way the characters walk. Making sure the level designer has done a block-out and making sure its playable to the point where you can fully navigate the area. Putting the story into the game and how the story is told throughout the games assets is a crucial part of being a game designer and the whole purpose is to make the player ask those questions of what happened here and whats going to happen later on.

What is the role of QA across the project?

QA, better known as Quality Assurance, exists across the project to ensure that every asset made is to a substantial standard and fits in with the design of the project, as well as making sure the gameplay feels nice and attempt to identify bugs.

What could the company do to increase the lifespan of the product?

The company could provide post-launch DLC as a starting foundation in terms of extending the longevity of the game, but without that, there is loads of content the developer can create for the game such as collectibles, side-quests and different characters to play as. This increases the replay ability of the game and makes it successful beyond the core gameplay itself. There is also no reason why a single player developer can try its hand at multiplayer content, as an example Naughty Dog done this with Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us.

Why is it important for the company to consider the lifespan of the product?

It is important for the company to consider the lifespan of the product because they need to figure out how long they can support the product for before they lose out on time to begin working on a new product. As they say in the industry, time is money and although time may be infinite, money runs out. Is this game going to be profitable a year after release, even with DLC releases and adding new features such as multiplayer, how can we expand on the multiplayer aspect such as Battle Pass’s.

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Case Study Full Reflection and Review – 04/02/22

Topics:

1.The production Pipeline – 9

2.Target Audience – 7

3.Market Research – 5

4.Monetisation Models – 9

5.Project Financing – 8

6.Immersion – 10

7.Sound – 10

8.What makes a game successful beyond core gameplay – 7

9.Pitching – 10

10.Game Genres and trends – 9

11.Pressure points and cashflow – 7

12.Product lifespan – 9

13.Job roles and Hierarchies – 9

14.World Building – 7

15.Production management (Agile and Scrum) – 8

16.Ethical issues – 8

17.Legal issues – 8

18.Regulatory bodies – 9

19.Employment Types – 9

Strengths and Weakness’s

Strength

  • Production pipeline
  • Monetisation models
  • Immersion
  • Sound
  • Pitching
  • Game Genre’s and Trends
  • Job Roles and Hierarchies
  • Regulatory Bodies
  • Employment Types
  • Regulatory Bodies
  • Employment Types

Neutral

  • Target Audience
  • Project Financing
  • What makes a game successful beyond core gameplay
  • Pressure Points and Cashflow
  • World Building
  • Production Management
  • Ethical Issues
  • Legal Issues
  • Market Research

Weakness

  • Market Research

The way I have ranked these topics are areas that I am super-strong in and can easily roll off the top of my head answers in relation to these topics. Neutral topics are topics I am comfortable with but wouldn’t hurt to look deeper into or revise for more. Weakness is the topics that I am struggling with and it just so happens today that when it came to market research I blanked for an answer, it was hard to define.

When it comes to ranking the topics out of 10, I am fairly confident in myself however that I have a wide variety of knowledge in most areas so I didn’t score myself too low. I try to use the PEE method when writing so I make a point and evidence it, then go for an explanation but I need to expand on this start to look at linking topics together and how each topic may affect one another.

I am going to look over the Neutral and Weakness topics by using standard revision practices and also look into mind maps for these topics as well. Mind maps are useful for revision as it allows you to break down the structure of a topic. I can then also look into linking each topic into other topics and how they can relate to one another.

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Production Pipeline Revision – 02/02/22

Inception – To come up with an idea and start brainstorming ideas in order to create a pitch and start planning.

Pre-Production – Project has been given the green light. It’s time to start planning, hiring and allocating staff.

Production – Creating Assets, Programming, Building prototypes, test plays.

Post Production – Marketing, Events, Patches / Post launch support,

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Target Audience and Market Research Part 1 – 19/01/22

I liked this revision strategy as it helps you break things down and organise efficiently, I also thing the art style that Miro uses is really cool and makes it easy to look at, where as if its a wall of text, sometimes you can just skim over some things because its a lot to read. I think this would help me collate information easier for other areas because like I said, it helps your break down certain subjects.

I don’t really have any other revision strategies in terms of this exam type, sometimes if it was a programming / maths exam, Kahoot was useful, flash cards and shared discussions could also be useful, but I think prefer the mind map strategy because of how it breaks down topics.

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