BTEC Extended Diploma in Computer Games Design

BTEC Extended Diploma in Computer Games Design

Liam Roche                                                                                                                                       Unit 1: Pre-Production Techniques for the Creative Media Industries

     Pre-Production and Planning for a Computer Game 

The pre-production elements which you have to consider before actually making something consists of a few different areas, you have the type of production, finance, personnel, facilities, materials, time constraints, contributors, and codes of practice.

Type of Production

Types of production is extremely simple, it's basically the foundation of the idea that you've came up with, is it a film, television programme, a short video, radio show, an audio clip, website, computer game etc.  You can't have an idea without knowing what it's going to be, in my case my type of production is a computer game, therefore this is my foundation, which will carry me to the end, so my finished project is going to be a video game.

Finance

Because I'm creating an Indie game I have to consider multiple factors,  the hardware, software, and publishing. Lets start with Hardware and the most obvious item in this category is a computer, in order to design a game and then create it, I'm going to need a good powerful computer which can handle a lot of hassle, a computer that cost around £100 and is second hand, probably wont do the trick, whereas if you had a £2000 top of the range computer, I'm positive that'd handle it, however you don't need to go over the top, the computer that I'm using to design my game is a Lenovo C260 which cost roughly £500 at the time. For the peripherals you'll have the obvious mouse and keyboard, you might have a headset to listen to some music whilst creating this game, however these are really the only peripherals you need, and you don't need to buy a £60 to make a better game, a simple £20 would do the trick as it is only used to typing, the mouse isn't a big deal either. SDK (Software Development Kits) are usually free, as people want you to use their development and not rival companies etc. However in some cases this is NOT true, there is a program called Gamemaker Studios which is what I use to create my games, this application has one downside, you don't get a free SDK for the following - Apple, Android or Windows, you have to pay, and it's not like £30, its $299.99 which is £196.44, for each of them, however Gamemaker has given these SDK names and these are referred to as "Modules" which also let you export the game to one of the platforms listed above, depending on which Modules you own. 

Now lets move onto Software, now most software is free with add-on's which you can purchase that gives you more benefits within the program, Gamemaker is one of these programs and I mentioned this earlier, the software itself is free if you buy the normal studio version, it does have a Professional version (which I own) and then it was a Master version which has all of the benefits and add-on's, as I also stated you need to purchase the better versions or buy the modules separately. Unity is also another software which you can use, it is the same as Gamemaker in the perspective that it has add-on's which are overpriced, but the software itself a lot more complicated than Gamemaker, one of the main reasons is because Gamemaker is a program that focuses more on 2D based game that follow pixel art, or very simplistic art styles such as non-photorealism, whereas Unity focuses more on 3D games and photo-realistic art or exaggerated art which can also be linked to the anime art style, this is not to say you cannot make a 2D game on Unity because you can, its just the software itself is a lot more advanced than Gamemaker and would be able to make a better 3D game. Before I drop software, lets have a quick look at animation programs which can assist 3D games greatly and are needed for more advanced games such as the game "Until Dawn" lets talk about Maya,  Maya is an advanced 3D sculpture animation software possibly used by professionals, the software itself has a nice free trial, however after that you'll be spending £97 a month to use the software, I will not be using this, therefore i'll be sticking to my nice and easy 2D games which don't require all this fancy animation.

Now lets talk about Publishing, now my opinion on this is that it is 'stupidly overpriced' apparently publishing a game on the Xbox One costs $5000 "Total Cost of Publishing One Indie Game.

Last week Sixty Second Shooter developer Jamie Fristrom released the total cost for publishing on the Xbox One at $5,143. That figure may be daunting to some, but it's also close to the absolute minimum to publish on a console." if you didn't know, that is £3369.03. However you can publish a game on Android for $25 which is a lovely amount because I can afford that (£16.38), Steam costs $100 which I too can afford.

Personnel

So in game development there are multiple roles, thanks to this link, it has each role and explains them thoroughly in detail.

http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/games/job_roles

Well, the team consists of me, a one man army, I say army because I'm the level editor, lead artist, game programmer, game designer, creative director, audio engineer, and animator. My skills consist of creating spontaneous ideas on the spot, or can come up with incredible games surrounding a particular object or theme. I have very little experience when it comes to creating a game, I've only made a few platformers in Gamemaker, however the more I try the more experience I'll get so I'll level up faster and eventually become an expert games designer. Because I have no social life I'll have all the time I need to create the game, however I'll need to dedicate various amount of time to each factor of the game, so perhaps one hour on audio a day, and two hours on animating etc. Fortunately because this is a personal project I do not have others working with me, therefore I do not have to pay for employees.

Equipment & Facilities

I briefly mentioned my equipment earlier on, but I'll tell you again anyway, in slightly more detail. The software that I use is Gamemaker and I have the Professional version with the Android Module. The hardware that I use is the Lenovo C260. The peripherals that I own are the keyboard and mouse that came with the Lenovo, and Razer headphones to listen to music which helps me come up with ideas, in total it roughly cost me £560 in total. Now the facility where I do my work costs me nothing because its all done from my bedroom.

Materials

Before you do a professional animation, you'd probably have to do a storyboard before hand to give you a rough outline of the whole animation from start to finish, if your game also has a deep story and a meaning behind it, you'll have to have a good script, which means trial and error, the first script will suck, but you'll make so many improvements to make it meaningful that it'll add emotion into the lifeless game. Fortunately my game is super simple and doesn't need big animations or a script, because the game idea itself is so stupid that it defies the laws of logic, you're supposed to play my game for the enjoyment, nothing more. However my game does have some very simplistic concept art that I'm in the process of creating, although I cannot show you a picture I can give you a rough idea of what it'll look like when its finished, it is a trolley full of potato's going down a hill, collecting even more potato's, whilst an old lady is chasing the trolley. The art that I am using is all made by me, because this'll be my first ever proper game that I've actually tried to make by myself, therefore I want everything to be done by me, however on the other hand the music that I'm using is NOT made by me, I found the tune originally on youtube, the following link will show you my games main theme song, or at least the current theme that I have in mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRXOnbuJVM. My graphics are going to be low quality because I'm making my game for the Android and iOS, however I will also make a PC version, the game will be 8 bit and use pixel art.

Time Constraints

Before I even started designing my game, after coming up with my foundation idea, I instantly realized that this could get quite messy and I may end up rushing things that I need to spend more time on, so what I did was pick 4 days to work, and 3 days to rest, the days that I work on my game are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, the reason why I chose these days are because I want to have a break in-between, however I only work 3-4 hours on each of these days, this is my timetable as listed below

Monday - 1 Hour Animation, 1 Hour Editing / Creating levels, 2 Hours Audio

Tuesday - 2 Hours on Art, 1 Hour on Creating levels

Thursday - 2 1/2 Hours Audio, 1 1/2 Hours Editing Sprites

Saturday - 3 Hours Programming, 1 Hour on Art

Because I have this list that I have to follow I never get confused on what I'm supposed to be doing and when I'm supposed to be doing it, this makes life a lot easier for me, and on the days that I don't add to my game, I usually come up with a few ideas when doing something else, which I always make sure to take note of because they might become apart of my game.

Contributors

Although this doesn't apply to my game I feel the need to talk about it anyway. Contributors can basically mean anyone as long as they contribute to your game, so if you were making a 3D photo-realistic dating simulator or whatever, you might hire professional voice actors to play the part of the nerdy girl, however this doesn't just apply to professional voice actors, perhaps your female on this dating simulator has a very shy voice, and you don't have the money to pay for a professional, but you might have a female friend with a naturally quiet voice and she might play the role perfectly, if you managed to get her to help, she would be a contributor to your game. Your main character of this dating simulator game might be a singer in a boy band, obviously you're not going to get Harry Styles out of One Direction to help you out, but you might know a group of friends who you believe are incredibly talented, and although they might not have a knack for voice acting, you could get them to play the boy band because of their singing talent, and then just tell them to act natural when saying the script in other scenes of the game that doesn't require them to sing, they might not be good at acting but these would also be classed as contributors to your game. For an example I mentioned a game called "Until Dawn" earlier on, basically they use real actors to voice their characters, and the characters look just like the voice actors because its a photo-realistic game and the game designers want the game to seem even more real, so they had the characters designed after the voice actors, these actors / voice actors are contributors to the game "Until Dawn".

Codes of Practice

My game has no health and safety issues because there are no strobe effects which could affect people with Epilepsy, although if you have an extreme fear of trolleys and potato's then you probably shouldn't play the game. I will end up copy righting my ingenious game, because I don't want people stealing it, however I don't mind people taking inspiration from it and perhaps making their own game, that'd be pretty cool to know that I inspired someone. The game itself will be rated 4+, however I'm not entirely sure that a 4 year old could actually play the game on their own until the very end and actually complete it, because the levels gradually get harder and harder, so although my game will be rated 4+ I'd probably recommend being at least 7+ to play it, although I guess you can start it at the age of 4 and then 3 years later go back to it and finish the game off. My game will NOT give children bad vibes such as making them potential murderers like GTA could, (although I personally disagree with this people are entitled to their own opinions therefore I feel obligated to add it in), because my games target audience is aimed at children it will not promote violence in any way or form, and if they still become a murderer, then that was their destiny which they couldn't escape. I personally do not think that I will insure my game because I do not see it becoming massive as it will be my first ever serious game, however if it does magically kick off somehow then I may end up insuring it just for safety purposes. 

To summaries this up beautifully the type of production, is my video game, that is the foundation of my idea. My finance is my set-up and the software that I use to create my games, which cost me roughly £560 not including snack breaks. I have already went into detail about my time constraints and the schedule that I follow each week to get the job done. The personnel is me on my own for this specific game because it is a personal project that I'm working on, however for games in the future I do have a group of friends, and we go by the name of Four Foxes Studio, which consists of me, Sam, Regan, and Charlie. The facility where I do my work is my house and to be more specific my bedroom, the reason why I do my work from my bedroom is because the sort of games I make are Indie Games, meaning that I do not need a professional work space, I can make it from the comfort of my own bedroom. I've told you about the materials that I'm using and creating such as my concept art and the audio that I'm using. I've told you that contributors are people who have someway contributed to the game, perhaps by voicing a certain character, however this doesn't apply to my game because it is not too advanced and has a very simplistic form. I have also told you about my games Codes of Practice. 

Game Brief

Game Brief

Idea: Potatoe Dash 

Potatoe Points are the currency of the game, the potatoes are worth the same amount of points as the level your on, if you're on level 7, the potatoes will be worth 7 points each. Potatoe Points are used to upgrade your Trolley, the upgrades you can get are style, and boosts, which will assist you later on in the game. After completing the game there will be an endless Arcade Mode that you can play, and the following Boost Upgrades are as listed below- 
Speed * * * * *
Speed influences how fast you can move, and how fast you can outrun the evil JANETTE'S, the levels are also timed, so the faster you can move the faster you can complete the level that you're playing.- Stability * * * * *
In the levels you collect what are called potatoes, the potatoes are the currency of the game, and how you upgrade your trolley, as-well as customizing your trolley to make it look cooler.- 
Jump * * * * *
Jump will come in use later on in the game when the evil JANETTE's start to appear and you have to jump over them, however as a trolley technically cannot jump it's more flying for a few seconds because it defies the laws of gravity, and the trolley isn't an ordinary trolley. Also there will be obstacles later on that you have to jump over, HOWEVER depending on your jump level you may only be able to jump twice during that level, especially if that level is a hard one and requires you to think whether you should jump or save it for later on in that level.- 
Rocket * * * * *
BOOST BOOST BOOST! THE ROCKET is an awesome feature on this trolley, man is this spec'd out or WHAT! The Rocket will be super handy whenever a slope/ramp appears to get to the other side of the ridge and a normal jump wouldn't make it, so you'd use the rocket, go "NYOOM" up the ramp, and jump in midair because the trolley is a law defying trolley and make it to the other side safely!- 
Spud Gun * * * * *
Are those evil JANETTE's getting in your way and you don't feel like wasting a jump on them? Fear no more, the spud gun can clear your path, just tap the "Spud" icon, and it will shoot a potatoe at the evil JANETTE making her go "poof" into nothing, however this does deduct a potatoe from your currency every time you use it, so use it wisely! Unless you have like a million potatoes then blast away.

Upgrades have Tiers.- Below Average Trolley Tier (One Star) - Average Trolley Tier (Two Star)- Better Trolley Tier (Three Star)- How Is This Possible Trolley Tier (Four Star)- Holy Trolley Tier (Five Star)The tiers are shown as stars, which are grey when they've not been purchased, but upon purchase they become a rainbow color.

Sprites

Player - Trolley 
Enemies - JANETTE - if she get's you, you basically die, and have to start the level from the beginning again.
Terrain - Grass - Mud - Stone - Rock - Clouds - Sun - Moon
Obstacles - Rock - Tower - 
Currency/Collectible - Potatoes to go into the trolley, the holy potatoe that finishes the level.

Sounds

The Games main tune/song - Song: The X-Files Theme in a Major Key

Death Sound - Not Decided Yet

JANETTE Death Sound - Not Decided Yet

Rocket - Not Decided Yet

Spud Gun - Not Decided Yet

The amount of levels that the game has, has not been decided yet, however I'm planning on roughly doing 1 - 10 being easy levels, 11- 20 being medium levels, and 21 - 30 being hard, and making level 31 the hardest level there is including the boss JANETTE, however there is also an endless Arcade Mode which you can play until you die, collecting infinite amounts of potatoes.

My Target Audience is anyone above the age of 6, and gender doesn't matter, you can be male or female to enjoy Potatoe Dash.

What are computer game graphics?

Computer game graphics are the elements that make up the game.

There are different types of computer game graphics such as:- 

• Print media graphics (posters, game packaging etc...) 
• In-game graphics (Head-up Displays, sprites, backgrounds, images etc...)
• Concept art graphics

Print media graphics:

This is basically the packaging of the game including merchandise

such as posters. They are used to promote games and to do this, they

have to use eye catching colours and art that doesn't give too much away

about the game but enough to give you a rough idea what the game is about. 

In-game graphics:

In video games, there is something called a HUD (Head Up Display) 

and this can display the following things:-

• Health / Armour
• Lives
• Time
• Weapons / Ammunition
• Capabilities
• Menus
• Game Progression
• Mini-map
• Speedometer
• Context-sensitive Information (Only shows when it's important)
• Crosshair / Cursor

Concept art:

Concept Artists do what their title says, for example; they will take an 

idea from a game for instance; a weapon, vehicle, character or even

the enemy and they will sketch it out and colour it so it looks good in

all angles that it has been drawn at. 

Graphics Specification:

• Visual Styles (Colour, art style etc.)
• Composition- arrangement of physical elements.
• Typography- The visuals of the words and letter.
• Technical considerations ( file formate, files size, optimisation, file naming conventions, asset management, intended output).

P2 Creating Concept Art Ideas For Computer Game Graphics

P2 Creating Concept Art Ideas For Computer Game Graphics

Concept Art

Concept art is a form of art used to convey an idea for use in films, video games, animation, and comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also known as visual development or concept design. Concept art is usually high detail art work of a certain game making the game look incredible, which would make people want to buy it, although concept art is usually never actually a scene from the game, it is completely new and is used only for this purpose of luring in customers.

Game History

Game History Assignment Notes

- Useful Website: http://www.museumofplay.org/icheg-game-history/timeline/
- Perhaps create short videos.
- Mainly do a big Power Point.
- Add the videos into the Power Point slide.
- Using the link that I have provided I will make references.
-  This is a timeline of the games over the generations. Although this timetable doesn't show it there are new consoles, these are called Next Generation Consoles because they're so advanced, these are the PS4 and the Xbox One.

1940 - In the year 1940 a man named Edward .U Condon designed a computer that plays a traditional game that goes by the name of "Nim" the objective of the game is not to pick up the final matchstick, apparently the computer will win at least 90% of the games.
1947 - In the year 1947 a man by the name of Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr, and his friend Estle Ray Mann filed a patent for a "cathode ray tube amusement device." Their game which uses this cathode ray tube is hooked up to an oscilloscope display, and the game challenges players to fire their gun at a target. 

BTEC Extended Diploma in Computer Games Design

                     Assessment 1: Researching Games

MMORPG

Description: MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game, and they are the most common type of MMOG. Some MMORPGs are designed as an online browser game in order to reduce costs. However some bigger games will also have a downloadable client, because some players may want to make the game full screen, or not have the search bar above the game, so they’d use the downloadable client so none of that nonsense would appear.

RuneScapes in-game Skill Menu

Example One: RuneScape is a fantasy MMORPG, and it was developed in 2001 by Andrew Gower and Paul Gower, and was then later published by Jagex Games Studio. Because RuneScape is an online game, it is required that you have internet, else you can’t play it. It is also a browser based game, but you can download RuneScapes personal client too. In RuneScape you create your character male or female, and give it a name, and it can be pretty much anything as long as it’s not already in use. In a sense RuneScape doesn’t really have a goal, although it does have skills, a lot of them as well, the max level for a certain skill is 99, with only one exception, after getting these skills maxed you get what is called a “Skillcape” which basically lets everyone know that you’ve accomplished 99 in that skill, although if you have two 99’s then your Skillcape will then have a trim to show others you have more than one 99. The game does have quests which you can complete to get something called the “Quest Cape” in a sense this is also a Skillcape however in order to get it you have to complete every single quest RuneScape has to offer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFpvIj5Km10 RuneScapes Historical Timeline.

Example Two: World of Warcraft is a fantasy MMORPG, and it was released in 2004/2005, it was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, it's platforms are Microsoft Windows and OS X. World of Warcraft is an online game and therefore requires an internet connection to play it, it is a client based game, and does not have a browser version. In World of Warcraft you have different servers which focus on different tasks, there are PvP (Player vs Player) servers, Role-playing servers, and normal servers, which focus on just leveling casually. Once you choose a server you want to play on you then go to create a character from a mixture of races, however you also have to pay attention to what faction that race is in, because you won't be able to talk to the other factions members as they're deemed the enemy, the two factions are the Alliance and the Horde, the Alliance are races such as Humans, Gnomes, Dwarfs, Night Elfs, Worgens, Draenei and Pandarens, the Horde races are Blood Elf, Goblin, Orc, Tauren, Undead, Troll, and also Pandarens, (Pandarens start off neutral but then have to choose a faction to join after their starting area). After choosing what race you want to be, you then have to choose a class, there are multiple classes which you can choose from and they all have different purposes and have different abilities, to narrow it down you have the Tanks which take all the damage while battling and deal average damage, you have the DPS (Damage Per Second, also known as Attackers) who deal quite a lot of damage, you can be a close up DPS or a ranged DPS such as a Hunter/Mage/Warlock/Shaman then you have the Healers which heal, these are Priests, Monks, Shamans, and Druids. World of Warcraft's highest level is 100, the level cap was raised after each new expansion was released, the upcoming expansion named "LEGION" is raising the level cap to 110, this will provide the players with new content to play, and offer a new variety of armor and weapons for all the classes. In World of Warcraft you can do quests which give you EXP which can level you up, however some people also do Dungeons, Dungeons are like permanent events that you can keep on doing over and over again, Dungeon groups are a team of 5, a tank, three attackers, and a healer, Dungeons give your character a lot of EXP per boss in that dungeon and after completing it you gain the completion EXP as well. Once you reach the max level you can do things that are known as Raids, Raids are kind of like dungeons, except they're extremely tough and extremely long, raid groups are usually 10 man, which makes the minions weaker, or 25 man, which gives you even more minions to kill and they're usually slightly stronger than they're in 10 man raids, however you can only do a certain raid once a week, you can't keep on doing the same raid over and over again, however you can do other raids, but once you've done them as well they become locked, which means you cannot enter that raid until the lock time expires, which is usually a week after completing that certain raid, however some raids automatically unlocked on a Wednesday, so if you completed a raid on Tuesday night, you might be able to do it again once the clock strikes 12:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlmwxLFDCk (2:15 to whenever, glimpse of WoW PvP)

MOBA/ARTS

Description: MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena and ARTS stands for Action Real-time Strategy. The main objective of the game is to destroy the enemies’ main base with the help of NPCs or bots that will spawn every so often, and go down a certain route depending where they have spawned. The character that you play will in most cases have a certain class and special powers that will give you an advantage over most of the enemies’ NPCs and perhaps enemy players depending on the class that they’re playing and what role their character has to fulfill.

The Blue Nexus

The Purple Nexus

Example One: League of Legends commonly referred to as “LoL” is a MOBA/ARTS game; it was developed by Riot games, and was published by Riot Games. In League of Legends the player takes the role of a “Summoner” who you cannot see, so most players assume that the Summoner is an entity which cannot be seen, and you control a “Champion” which have special powers and you fight against a team of enemy players, or perhaps if you’re not experienced enough to play against real people you can play against computer controlled champions. The goal of the game is to destroy the enemies’ base, also known as the “Nexus” a building that resides in the base protected by the turrets, also in order to get to that base you have to destroy two towers to get to the turrets. At the start of each game the champions start off at level 1, which is fairly weak, during the game the champion will gain gold and experience, however you’ll only get experience if you kill NPC’s an enemy champion, or even one of the towers, the gold allows you to buy equipment that’ll increase your power and make you a harder target, and once the experience has reached a certain goal your champion will level you up, each time you level up you can upgrade one of your special abilities, the max level in a game is 18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axI59iRR868 A clip of the enemy Nexus being destroyed.

Example Two: StarCraft is a Military Science Fiction RTS game, it was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998 for Windows. StarCraft has three races which all specialize in different things.The race Protoss use strong units and machinery and more advanced technology than the other races, such as energy shields and a warp ability, although these are expensive and take longer to produce. The race Terrans are more on an equal ground with the other two races, they have versatile units, and ballistic military weaponry. The race Zerg uses whats called organic units and structures, these are produced extremely fast and are cheap to produce, however they're a lot weaker than the other races. A maximum of 8 players can compete in the game modes.

FPS

Description: FPS stands for First Person Shooter, and is usually used in war games, these games consist of, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Halo, and Counterstrike. A First Person Shooter is characterized by an on-screen view looking through whichever characters eyes you’re playing as, you can only see what they can see, nothing more, nothing less.

Example One: Call of Duty is an FPS game. Call of Duty Ghosts was developed by Infinity Ward, and then published by Activision. The games engine is an IW6, and was first released in 2013. Call of Duty Ghosts has two modes, offline and online, and can be played on six different platforms, such as, Microsoft Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and the Xbox One. In the campaign you usually play as man called Logan Walker, but also play as some other characters such as Logan’s father, Elias Walker, an astronaut called Baker, and even a dog. When you play multiplayer (online) there are a few different game modes which you can choose from, such as, Search and Rescue, Search and Destroy, Gun Game, Cranked, FFA (Free For All), Team Deathmatch, and many more. When playing on line you can do what is called "PRESTIGE" you can prestige once you've reached the max level, afterwards you're returned to level 1, but have a new badge, you can prestige multiple times, or you don't have to prestige at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCGydpJXIOg (2:49 onward, first person view and what the player can see)

Example Two: Halo 4 is an FPS game. It was developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios in 2012, the platforms for this game are Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game has two modes, single player, and multiplayer. In single player the player plays as the Master Chief who has to fight the alien alliance known as the "Covenant" and the Forerunners warriors "Promethean's". On multiplayer you can customize your own character as you level up, the higher the level the cooler looking gear you unlock, you can choose what color your gear is, and what badge you use, some gear is unlocked via in-game challenges. There is a variety of maps that you can play on, all having completely unique and different terrain from the others. There is also variety of game types such as Capture the Flag, Extraction, Flood, Grifball and a few more, each game mode having a completely different objective, so if you get bored of one, you can play another because they're nothing alike, so you wont find the game repetitive and boring. 
 

Simulation

Description: A simulation game describes a very broad category of games; these are usually designed to simulate aspects of the real world or fictional world. There are many simulation games, such as Plane Simulator, Farming Simulator, Tractor Simulator and many more pointless ones.


Example One: Goat Simulator is a simulation game were you get to play as a goat. Goat Simulator was designed by Coffee Stain Studios and published in 2014. The engine that this game uses is the Unreal Engine 3. Goat Simulator has two modes, one offline and one online, making it a multiplayer game too, however multiplayer just shows you other goat players, so its exactly the same as single player just more destructive goats. Goat Simulators main platform is Microsoft Windows, but was then later released on iOS and Android Phones. The game doesn’t have a specific goal, but does have a few tasks that you can complete to get points for your score. Although if you’ve ever wanted to be a goat then this is the game for you, you run around making goat noises, doing awesome goat tricks and can destroy things with your very long and unrealistic goat tongue, playing this game will also open your eyes to see how dangerous goats really are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MGAWx1nm48 (3:37 to 4:03)

Example Two: Farming Simulator was developed by Giants Software and published by Focus Home Interactive. Farming Simulator is on multiple platforms, such as iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, and a few others. All of the locations are inspired and based on American and European environments. In the game players farm, breed animals, grow crops, and sell the assets. There is a career mode in which you take on the role of a farmer, the task is to improve your farm and your machinery. There are also missions in which you have to complete a certain task in a certain allotted amount of time. There is also a multiplayer mode, but this is only available on Windows, MAC OS, Xbox One and PS4.                                                                 

Survival Horror

Description: The purpose of a survival horror is to try and keep your character alive, whilst not having a heart attack. The survival aspect is running around, trying to avoid the monsters or whatever, and eventually escaping, preferably alive, the horror aspect is things such as unexpected jump scares, or perhaps a freaky looking monster that just scares the life out of you. You’ll also find that your character in most survival horrors cannot attack the monster, this is because they want you to feel powerless, as if you’re too weak and cannot protect yourself so you have to run.

Example One: Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a survival horror game, it was developed and published by a company called Frictional Games and it was released for platforms - Windows, MAC OS X, and Linux. The protagonist of the game is a man called Daniel who suffers from amnesia after drinking a potion. The game takes place in a massive castle called Brennenburg, which is owned by a man called Alexander who we can assume is the main bad guy in the game, however you also have to solve puzzles to progress in the game. You cannot attack, all you have is a lantern and tinderboxes, however if you don’t have enough oil the lantern will run out leaving you in darkness, which will start to drain your sanity. The goal of the game is to kill Alexander and get rid of the shadow, the shadow being the big ugly monster that chases you occasionally, which honestly, scared the living hell out of me when I played it. The shadow is also known as the “Guardian of the Orbs” and as Alexander and Daniel abused the Orbs powers that is what summoned the shadow, at the end of the game you don’t know if Daniel dies or not, because the shadow apparently would never of left and would of continued to pursue you until it got “judgement”, the game ends on a cliff-hanger and it’s a wild guess whether Daniel did actually die or not because you saw him fall, but you the player never finds out what happened to Daniel after that.

Example Two: Five Nights at Freddy's it was designed by Scott Cawthon and uses the Clickteam Fusion 2.5 engine, the game was released in 2014 for Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android. The game takes place in a restaurant called "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza". The protagonist is a security guard on night shift, you have to protect yourself from the animatronics by keeping an eye on them via the security cameras located around the restaurant. The objective of the game is to survive through the night, which is 00:00 to 06:00, which is roughly 8 and a half minutes in the real world. The player is sat in an office, and cannot be moved, the only way to survive the night is to keep an eye on the animatronics, and if one of them is outside of the office door you can shut it, however this requires energy, and once your energy hits 0%, you're a sitting duck just waiting to be caught, and once you're caught it's game over, and you have to start again. The game has 5 nights which you have to survive, however if you complete the 5th night, a bonus 6th is unlocked which you can also complete, however it is a lot harder than the other nights.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOztnsBPrAA (14:40 to 16:15)

                             Action

Description: An action game usually focuses more on physical challenges, this may be hand-eye coordination or even reaction times. The player usually controls the main character of that game, and they must navigate through levels or missions whilst fighting enemies with a variety of weapons and attacks, depending on what game it is they’re playing. After completing each level or mission the player will reach the next level or will unlock the next mission and will continue until they have completed all the possible levels or missions that the game has to offer.

Example One: Assassins Creed II is a single player action-adventure game, it was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, and was then published by Ubisoft, it uses the Anvil Engine which is

exclusive to Ubisoft, and it was released in 2009 and was released for PS3, Xbox 360, Windows, and MAC OS X. You play as the protagonist called Ezio Auditore Da Firenze who early on in the game acts like an assassin after his father and his two brothers were hung, although he doesn’t officially become an assassin until later on in the game. The main story in assassin’s creed II is to avenge your father and your brothers because they were killed on false evidence, meaning they had been set up by someone who has more power. This is what prompts Ezio to take up the blade, to eliminate the corrupted higher power. In the game you get Florins which is the currency used, with that money you can buy better armor and better weapons, although there are miscellaneous objects which you can do to get the legendary armor and weaponry within the game. The game is diverse in a sense that when you play it, you don’t actually have to do the missions, you can just run around killing guards and stealing Florins from the citizens. You can also dye your robe and cloak different colors too, so instead of having a dusk colored cloak and a plain white robe, you can have an ebony robe and a red cape, there are also special capes which grant different benefits, such as the guards not wanting to kill you in a certain area.

Example Two: GTA IV (Grand Theft Auto IV) is an action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North using the RAGE engine and published by Rockstar Games in 2008 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. GTA IV is set in a fictional place called Liberty City, however its inspired by New York City. The protagonist is a Russian war veteran called Niko Bellic as he tries to escape from his dreadful past, whilst he's being chased after by big shot loan sharks and mafias that are out to get him. The game is open world meaning the player can roam the three islands freely whenever they want, even after they have completed the games main story line. The game is played in third person, there is a multiplayer feature included in this game were up to 32 players can engage in co-operative or competitive game play with one another. 

Fighting

Description: This is a genre were the player is controlling a character, while engaging in close combat with an NPC or another player. The characters are usually fairly equal in power, and must execute combos, blocking, super attacks, and countering. These battles usually take place in an arena. Fighting Games usually have multiple characters that you can choose from, and they all specialize in different things, meaning the game technically speaking doesn’t have a main character as they’re all important figures.

Example One: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is based on the anime and manga Dragon Ball Z. The game was developed by Spike and was published by Namco Bandai in America, however it was published by Bandai everywhere else, the game itself can play on Xbox 360, and the PS3. The game has two modes, multiplayer and single-player, multiplayer mode is the same as playing it on single-player, however the character that you fight isn't an NPC it's a real person, who are usually a lot harder than the default "Hard" NPC difficulty, you can also play split-screen against a friend. Single-player has whats called "Arena" which is where you choose a certain NPC to fight and you'll have a bonus task on each arena mode, such as "get a 15+ combo" or "cause over 9000 points in damage to the area". The story has "multiple" campaigns, although they're known as a "Saga" and they all took place in the anime, such as the "Frieza Saga" in which you have to do a few missions in that saga to complete it and unlock new characters. In order to unlock characters you have to complete missions, some missions will unlock you a character, some wont, however there is a character that you have to basically unlock with what are called "Star Points" in order to get him because his saga is locked unless you buy it with the in-game challenge currency. In order to get Star Points you have to replay some missions on "HARD" difficulty and complete multiple objectives within that mission to unlock you Star Points, you can unlock one Star Point per challenge objective that you complete, so if you can perfect the missions challenges that's three Star Points per mission replay.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHcSz-TaMog (0:28 to 2:19)

Example Two: Dead or Alive 5 was developed by Team Ninja with the Yawaraka Engine and was then published by Koei Tecmo for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows in 2012. Dead or Alive 5 is set two years after the events that happened in Dead or Alive 4, Helena Douglas has taken it upon herself to rebuild DOATEC but she wants to use its advanced technology for peaceful means. Helena has disbanded DOATEC's Biotech team, afterwards she then declares she wants to hold the Dead or Alive Tournament 5, hosted by a man named Zack. The games story mode is presented in a hyperlink cinema style, to expand on the characters and the scene interactions. The games story line isn't in chronological order, each chapter follows different characters, and shows you the events that are occurring through their eyes. In the game there are two story lines one of them being the Dead or Alive Tournament 5 and the other one being the hunt for Kasumi's evil clone Alpha-152. The characters in each story line do interact with each other, so the stories do sometimes cross over, even if it is minor. The game also has a "Fighting" mode in which you can choose an arena, and what character you want to be and who you want to face and you get to choose what difficulty as well. There is an online feature too, which can host tournaments for 16 players, you can also practice online with other players.

Racing

Description: Racing game consist of the player going against an AI, unless they're playing online or split screen with a friend. Racing games are usually played in first or third person, the player usually plays in some sort of racing competition, racing games are also not limited just to the land, you can also have sea or air racing games.

Example One: Forza Horizon was developed by Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios, it was published by Microsoft Studios in 2012 for the Xbox 360. The aim of the game is to obtain wristbands, in order to obtain new wristbands you have to participate in races and preferably win them, which will also increase your popularity level within the single player mode aspect of the game, the game has around 300 cars that you can buy and use. The game has also introduced challenges, such as driving a Ford Mustang whilst racing a Bi-plane, however if you win you get to keep the car that you had to race in. In the game you race against AI, however there is an online mode where you can race other players to see who is the best.

Example Two: Cars (the game) was developed by Beenox, Helixe, Rainbow Studios, and Locomotive Games, the game was published by THQ and was released in 2006 for the following platforms, GBA, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii and MAC OS X. The game takes place in Radiator Springs which is a fictional place, the objective of the game is to compete in and win 50 races to assist Lightning McQueen win the Piston Cup. The game is an open world environment and has 10 playable characters that are all from the film, with the original voice actors. The game also has a few mini-games within. 

Sport

Description: Sport games simulate real sports, such as basketball, rugby and football. Most sport games have real teams and the teams real players within it, e.g. Football games contain Arsenal and Petr Cech. However not all sport games consist of the real teams and real players, they sometimes use fictional players and fictional teams.

Example One: FIFA 14 was developed by EA Canada using the Impact Engine, however for the new generation consoles it uses the Ignite Engine, the game was published by Electronic Arts in 2013 for the following platforms, Microsoft Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360, and then was later released for the Xbox One and PS4. FIFA 14 has an online and offline mode, in the offline mode you can do exhibition matches which allow you too choose what team you want to play as and go against, there is also career mode, which allows you to either play as a footballer, a manager or both, you get to choose your team, however you can't choose what team you want to go against, and at the end of the season some teams might try and buy you to join their club, you can either reject this offer or accept it. In the online mode you and another player would choose a team each and face each other, however there is also FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team) which is a team that you yourself have created, you can face other players online with your FUT.

Example Two: NBA 2K16 was developed by Visual Concepts and published in 2015 by 2K Sports for the following platforms, Microsoft Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. In the game players can either play as a real person, or create their very own character, the game simulates the National Basketball Association. The game has a few modes such as My Career, My Team, and then the standard games. In the game the player may play regular seasonal NBA games, Summer League games, some playoff games, and even a few more.

Sandbox

Definition: Sandbox is an open world game, the player can the roam the world that they're in freely with no limitations, however some Sandbox games do have missions or objectives that you can also complete.

Example: Minecraft was developed by Mojang which is a Swedish company, it was published in 2011 by Mojang, Microsoft Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment, it is on multiple platforms, but the most popular platforms that it is played on are PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. However after the games success the game was bought from Mojang by Microsoft. The game has two modes, Survival and Creative. Creative Mode gives you infinite resources and you cannot die, nor do you need to eat or sleep, Creative Mode is mainly used for people who want to build a massive kingdom or building and are too lazy to actually get the materials themselves so they use this mode. However Survival Mode has monsters in it, and you do need to eat and sleep to survive, you also have to get the resources to build yourself, you also have "lives" in Survival Mode, and once you die you have to restart from where you last saved the game. Every time you create a new world the world is randomly generated, meaning the layout of the world will be completely different from the other worlds that you have played on. The game is incredibly popular among the younger generation, because its easy to play and have fun on, the game also has a multiplayer aspect to it, so kids can play online with their friends, fight the monsters and build incredibly large buildings or cities together.

                                        Psychological Effects of Games

Negative Effects:

- Staring at a screen for hours on end can cause your eyes to deteriorate meaning you might end up with glasses.

- Sitting down for hours on end will eventually lead to back ache, and in a more serious case may lead to spinal problems, because sitting down puts more pressure on your spine than standing up.

- Video Games can lead to violent actions, funnily enough there isn't a lot of evidence to prove that is a true statement. ""The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior ... and decreases in ... empathy and sensitivity to aggression," said the study.However, even after more than 20 years of studies, the APA says there still isn't enough research into whether games cause actual criminal violence. To reach any conclusions about whether playing a first-person shooter will increase the likelihood that someone will shoot people in real life, there need to be more studies." Source:  http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/17/technology/video-game-violence/
- If you're a teenager and love to play games so much that you neglect your school work this will lead to getting bad grades, and could ultimately effect your future. "Academic achievement may be negatively related to over-all time spent playing video games. Studies have shown that the more time a kid spends playing video games, the poorer is his performance in school.  (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004). A study by Argosy University’s Minnesota School on Professional Psychology found that video game addicts argue a lot with their teachers, fight a lot with their friends, and score lower grades than others who play video games less often. Other studies show that many game players routinely skip their homework to play games, and many students admitted that their video game habits are often responsible for poor school grades." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Playing too many games may lead to social isolation because you will start neglecting the real world, and start living in the computer world, which will make your social skills deteriorate. "Too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated.  Also, he may spend less time in other activities such as doing homework, reading, sports, and interacting with the family and friends." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Excessive amounts of playing time will eventually start to effect your concentration span. "Although some studies suggest that playing video games enhances a child’s concentration, other studies, such as a 2012 paper published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture, have found that games can hurt and help children’s attention issues — improving the ability to concentrate in short bursts but damaging long-term concentration." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Younger children may sometimes get confused with what is reality and what is fantasy. In some cases the child may do something dangerous that he can do in the game, but obviously not in the real world, which could lead to serious injuries.
- In some cases excessive amounts of gaming can lead to health problems e.g. obesity. "Video games may also have bad effects on some children’s health, including obesity, video-induced seizures. and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendinitis, nerve compression, carpal tunnel syndrome." Source http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Whilst a child is playing an online he may be playing with a bunch of ruffians, this could lead your child to learning bad language and aggressive behavior.
- A serious addiction to video games may lead to minor depression and anxiety, this also affects their social standards, making it hard for them to socialize which gives them social phobias. "A study by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that the kids’ addiction to video games increases their depression and anxiety levels. Addicted kids also exhibit social phobias. Not surprisingly, kids addicted to video games see their school performance suffer." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games

Positive Effects
- Gamer's can recognize patterns and puzzles fast. "Games have internal logic in them, and the player figures it out by recognizing patterns." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Gaming can improve your thinking giving you fast judgement and the ability to make fast analysis and decisions. "Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the brain a real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers and surgeons, according to the study. Importantly, decisions made by action-packed video game players are no less accurate. According to Bavelier, “Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Gaming can improve peoples situational awareness. "Defense News reported that the Army include video games to train soldiers to improve their situational awareness in combat. Many strategy games also require the player to become mindful of sudden situational changes in the game and adapt accordingly. Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Playing games can improve your strategic skill, this is because some games require a strategy to complete a certain mission, so you have to think hard to come up with the best plan, this leads to improving your general strategic skill, you can then use this in the future.
- Most games nowadays do have a social aspect in them, for example World of Warcraft, in World of Warcraft you can talk via keyboard or a mic, you can also add friends on it, and create a Guild in which people can join, and a Guild is like your own little community. Although most gamer's are referred to as loners, they're actually the minority in the gaming community.
- Look at it this way, at least your child is playing their drag racing game where its totally harmless, however there are some people in the real world drag racing on the streets which are dangerous and could lead to some serious injuries. Another thing is drugs are replaced by games for gamer's, so gaming a lot is stopping them from doing drugs and illegal things.
- Playing games can also increase your child's determination to do something, in a game they wont give up until they get this legendary sword of whatever, this will come in handy when they're grown ups because they'll have incredible determination.
- Gaming believe it or not can actually improve some peoples concentration especially when it comes to reading.
- Gaming can improve your memory capabilities. "Playing first person shooter games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield series enables the player to effectively judge what information should be stored in his working memory and what can be discarded considering the task at hand, according to a study published in the Psychological Research." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Playing games can improve your reasoning and your judgement. This will benefit you when you're older and are debating whether to buy something or go ahead with a certain plan with you your business or game.

Psychological  Effects

When people play games excessively for hours on end with no breaks or anything, it can damage them mentally, whether they actually notice this or not. One of the main psychological effects is the sound, this is because sound is extremely important in a video game, it may mean that a bad guy is around the corner, or an enemy is attacking you, or perhaps you found a secret treasure or got a grand reward. If the player memorizes these sounds almost perfectly, in some cases when the player hears a similar sound in the real world he might freak out because he might truly believe there is a monster chasing him or that somebody is trying to kill and he needs to get out of there, or the player may react strangely when he hears a sound that's almost identical to the sound that he hears when he finds a hidden treasure in the game. "The use of sound in video games does a lot to immerse the player in the game-play. Sounds within the game are used to re-enforce the players positive and negative thoughts about their performance in the game. According to technopedia, “game designers strive to create a complete environment using audio and visuals”. They state that sounds are embedded into the game to “match the motion” of the surrounding weather conditions and moving clouds. Using sounds like this makes the player become more immersed as the sounds and visuals work together to make the game seem as realistic as possible. When we look at how the use of sounds in games over time from simple beeps in early games to provide the player with auditory feedback to today’s soundtracks and totally immersive sound you can see how much effort has gone into using sound to make players become more immersed in the gameplay. Sounds provide a better experience for the gamer and is used to enhance the emotional experience during gameplay. Mark Grimshaw from the University of Bolton states that games use music “to function as a reward mechanism in game design and possibly allowing for reinforcement learning” in his article on “Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments”. These studies show that the use of sound is used to make the player think both positively and negatively during gameplay depending on their experience. The audio then allows players to learn what they have done well and not so well in a game." Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/

Task 3 and 4                              Potatoe Dash

The art style is non-photo realistic and cartoon like, extremely simple designs making it child friendly, the background which is the sun and the blue sky stay still and don't move, the trolley on the other hand does move and the camera follows it, showing you more of the terrain as you progress further on that level collecting Potatoes. The reason why I have chosen such a simplistic design is because it'll be a lot cheaper to make, and I didn't want to over complicate a child's game, I wanted them to understand what was happening and how to play the game, so I chose rather simple colors and an extremely simple controlling mechanism to move the trolley, touch an arrow and that's the way the trolley will move, down will brake the trolley, and up with jump once you've unlocked it. The idea of the game is super simple, all you have to do is go over the potatoes which will pick them up, and get to the end of the level to grab the holy potatoe which will then unlock the next level for you. Although later on there will be small obstacles standing in your way, however I believe a child would be able to surpass them easily making them feel more superior than they actually are, is there an evil JANETTE in your way? Just jump over her, or if you like jump on her and watch her go "Splat!"

Game Story for "Potatoe Dash"
One day Frederick "Potato" Skausor, commonly referred to as the "Potato Maniac" was on his way to his favorite shop, "Potatoes R' US" to buy a whole new batch of Potatoes so he could make his favorite food, Potatoe on Toast. On the way out of "Potatoes R' US" his trolley of potatoes was about to be hit by a car, so Frederick valiantly saved them by pushing the trolley out of harms way, unfortunately putting himself in danger, the car tried to brake... But it was too late, Frederick was lying on the floor of the car park, his lifeless eyes staring at the trolley of potatoes that he had saved. But he had not been forsaken by the Lord of Potatoes, he had been reborn, his soul was transferred into the trolley he had saved. In his new found body, Frederick had a mission, to venture the world, whether it be the mountains or the ferocious seas, or even the entire galaxy, Frederick was out to collect every single potatoe he could find... He wanted the title "Lord of Potatoes" it gave meaning to his new life... "Frederick the Lord of Potatoes" sounded so rad that he set off right away! But soon after the government caught word of the Trolley "stealing" potatoes, so they had to take initiative... They got JANETTE, the old lady from next door who absolutely hated Frederick because he'd always come round in the night and steal her potatoes, and cloned her... creating EVIL JANETTE's, which endeavored to stop and destroy Frederick. Can you help Frederick become the Lord of Potatoes? Will you put a stop to the EVIL JANETTE'S?