Monday, 30 January 2012
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Art Styles Research
This research document will mainly look into the research to different art styles, what has been used well in previous games before it, what styles suit the platform due to its limitations and the theme of Facebook games and why the art styles are popularly used games and other media such as films and animation.
Art Styles:
4 main types of art I'll be looking at as these seem to be the more consistent in games on all platforms and work better for the audiences its reaching. The art styles to be looked at are:
Realistic style basically means getting all features such as characters, environments and props look as close to how they do in the real-world as possible. Characters look like real humans and can give the player a more immersive experience as they can associate with the style more as it's "close to home". Realism works when the game is meant to look like a real-life experience or a story which needs to be in more depth. Sometimes the art style doesn't work as some of the aspects of a game are obviously fictional and need to be exaggerated so sometimes, choosing this style is not the right road to take and can ruin a game.
Gran Turismo: Photo-Realistic Style used to make the game look authentic and give the player an experience as if he/she is driving the sports car in a real-life environment.
Cartoon:
Cartoon based art in games is used when there is some irregular component in the game play or graphics that isnt any where near realsitic. Cartoon works well when a game likes to over-exaggerate certain parts of the game such as environments or characters. A game which has used the cartoon style in a successful way is Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress 2 is still played excessively now and had incredible amount of media has been created from the game such as in-game machinima. When there's a message in the game and purposeful story line sometimes its better to steer away from this style as it can ruin the purpose its trying to get across.
Picture of all the characters from Team Fortress 2
Cel-Shaded:
A lot of games use the cel-shaded technique in the games as movement can be portrayed easier then that of realism. Cel Shaded is used a lot in Japan for the manga art style as its simple, quick and does the purpose its meant to. Popular games which have used the technique are the Street Fighter Series. From the sales you can see this is one of the best Beat-em up's going and the latest release has over-exaggerated moves and techniques which can only be shown using the method of style used. With cel-shaded though, it can really limit a game and ruin a game so if done, you have to use it through the whole game and do it a good standard because a player can tell when its not finished.
Representing the Street Fighter Series, some of the characters involved.
Pixel Based:
Pixel Based game were some of the first created as they were simple and had simple rules to follow. Most of the games of the Pixel Generation are popular today and still played. Most currently made games which use the Pixel Art technique in their games are either on PC or handheld console. A well known franchise of game on the handheld console is Pokemon. Pokemon uses pixel art for navigation on the mini-map and because its so simple to understand but also attractive and working, a good use of the technique. You could also say Minecraft is based on the Pixel technique just in the 3D sense (this also shows that it has inspired the future generation of games).
Future Generation Games are still getting inspired by the technique.
Art Styles:
4 main types of art I'll be looking at as these seem to be the more consistent in games on all platforms and work better for the audiences its reaching. The art styles to be looked at are:
- Realism Based
- Cartoon / CGI
- Cel-Shaded (Manga etc)
- Pixel Art
Realistic style basically means getting all features such as characters, environments and props look as close to how they do in the real-world as possible. Characters look like real humans and can give the player a more immersive experience as they can associate with the style more as it's "close to home". Realism works when the game is meant to look like a real-life experience or a story which needs to be in more depth. Sometimes the art style doesn't work as some of the aspects of a game are obviously fictional and need to be exaggerated so sometimes, choosing this style is not the right road to take and can ruin a game.
Gran Turismo: Photo-Realistic Style used to make the game look authentic and give the player an experience as if he/she is driving the sports car in a real-life environment.
Cartoon:
Cartoon based art in games is used when there is some irregular component in the game play or graphics that isnt any where near realsitic. Cartoon works well when a game likes to over-exaggerate certain parts of the game such as environments or characters. A game which has used the cartoon style in a successful way is Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress 2 is still played excessively now and had incredible amount of media has been created from the game such as in-game machinima. When there's a message in the game and purposeful story line sometimes its better to steer away from this style as it can ruin the purpose its trying to get across.
Picture of all the characters from Team Fortress 2
Cel-Shaded:
A lot of games use the cel-shaded technique in the games as movement can be portrayed easier then that of realism. Cel Shaded is used a lot in Japan for the manga art style as its simple, quick and does the purpose its meant to. Popular games which have used the technique are the Street Fighter Series. From the sales you can see this is one of the best Beat-em up's going and the latest release has over-exaggerated moves and techniques which can only be shown using the method of style used. With cel-shaded though, it can really limit a game and ruin a game so if done, you have to use it through the whole game and do it a good standard because a player can tell when its not finished.
Representing the Street Fighter Series, some of the characters involved.
Pixel Based:
Pixel Based game were some of the first created as they were simple and had simple rules to follow. Most of the games of the Pixel Generation are popular today and still played. Most currently made games which use the Pixel Art technique in their games are either on PC or handheld console. A well known franchise of game on the handheld console is Pokemon. Pokemon uses pixel art for navigation on the mini-map and because its so simple to understand but also attractive and working, a good use of the technique. You could also say Minecraft is based on the Pixel technique just in the 3D sense (this also shows that it has inspired the future generation of games).
Future Generation Games are still getting inspired by the technique.
Genres and Compatibility with Gaming Platform:
Looking into genres of games now and seeing whether they would work for the game i'm creating on Facebook. Compiling the research by looking at what you normally see on these types of platform, why some genres work and why some don't and could I make an obscure genre become more popular.
Genres:
Shooter: 3/10 - 1/10 - 2/10 - 2/10 - 3/10 = (Average) 2.2/10
Horror/Thriller: 5/10 - 3/10 - 3/10 - 0/10 - 0/10 = (Average) 2.2/10
Fantasy: 5/10 - 6/10 - 5/10 - 7/10 - 7/10 = (Average) 6/10
Strategy: 9/10 - 8/10 - 7/10 - 8/10 - 10/10 = (Average) 8.4/10
Fighting: 7/10 - 3/10 - 2/10 - 6/10 - 1/10 = (Average) 3.8/10
RPG: 3/10 - 4/10 - 5/10 - 3/10 - 6/10 = (Average) 4.2/10
Sci-Fi: 5/10 - 5/10 - 5/10 - 6/10 - 6/10 = (Average) 5.4/10
Sports: 6/10 - 2/10 - 4/10 - 4/10 - 3/10 = (Average) 3.8/10
Puzzle: 9/10 - 9/10 - 7/10 - 8/10 - 9/10 = (Average) 8.4/10
Simulation: 7/10 - 8/10 - 6/10 - 2/10 - 6/10 = (Average) 5.8/10
Action Adventure: 4/10 - 2/10 - 7/10 - 4/10 - 1/10 = (Average) 3.6/10
Driving/Racing: 6/10 - 4/10 - 4/10 - 5/10 - 3/10 = (Average) 4.4/10
Trivia: 10/10 - 10/10 - 10/10 - 7/10 - 8/10 = (Average) 9/10
Music: 5/10 - 4/10 - 6/10 - 5/10 - 5/10 = (Average) 5/10
Here are some views from friends through primary research and what they rated the gaming genre on Facebook. Rating it based on the compatibility of the genre on the platform and f they would expect it to see it on Facebook.
I also did some more primary research by asking the same people what genres they think they would like to see done or made better and done in an innovative way and what genre/theme has bee over used and done too much.
3 of the 5 I asked said they would like to see a strategy game made and done in a different way to how other simple strategy games are made. One would like to see more in-depth trivia based games made instead of being more broad and general knowledge based. The final said that they would like to see how an action adventure be attempted and how it would come out on the Facebook platform.
When it came to what games they would like to done less and are over done it mainly came to again, general knowledge and personality based trivia games, simulations such as Farmville and Sports game such as poker and snooker as they get requests and see the games more often on Facebook.
Shooter: 3/10 - 1/10 - 2/10 - 2/10 - 3/10 = (Average) 2.2/10
Horror/Thriller: 5/10 - 3/10 - 3/10 - 0/10 - 0/10 = (Average) 2.2/10
Fantasy: 5/10 - 6/10 - 5/10 - 7/10 - 7/10 = (Average) 6/10
Strategy: 9/10 - 8/10 - 7/10 - 8/10 - 10/10 = (Average) 8.4/10
Fighting: 7/10 - 3/10 - 2/10 - 6/10 - 1/10 = (Average) 3.8/10
RPG: 3/10 - 4/10 - 5/10 - 3/10 - 6/10 = (Average) 4.2/10
Sci-Fi: 5/10 - 5/10 - 5/10 - 6/10 - 6/10 = (Average) 5.4/10
Sports: 6/10 - 2/10 - 4/10 - 4/10 - 3/10 = (Average) 3.8/10
Puzzle: 9/10 - 9/10 - 7/10 - 8/10 - 9/10 = (Average) 8.4/10
Simulation: 7/10 - 8/10 - 6/10 - 2/10 - 6/10 = (Average) 5.8/10
Action Adventure: 4/10 - 2/10 - 7/10 - 4/10 - 1/10 = (Average) 3.6/10
Driving/Racing: 6/10 - 4/10 - 4/10 - 5/10 - 3/10 = (Average) 4.4/10
Trivia: 10/10 - 10/10 - 10/10 - 7/10 - 8/10 = (Average) 9/10
Music: 5/10 - 4/10 - 6/10 - 5/10 - 5/10 = (Average) 5/10
Here are some views from friends through primary research and what they rated the gaming genre on Facebook. Rating it based on the compatibility of the genre on the platform and f they would expect it to see it on Facebook.
I also did some more primary research by asking the same people what genres they think they would like to see done or made better and done in an innovative way and what genre/theme has bee over used and done too much.
3 of the 5 I asked said they would like to see a strategy game made and done in a different way to how other simple strategy games are made. One would like to see more in-depth trivia based games made instead of being more broad and general knowledge based. The final said that they would like to see how an action adventure be attempted and how it would come out on the Facebook platform.
When it came to what games they would like to done less and are over done it mainly came to again, general knowledge and personality based trivia games, simulations such as Farmville and Sports game such as poker and snooker as they get requests and see the games more often on Facebook.
Functions of Facebook Research
Research looking into the functions of facebook, why its so popular, is there any functions that could be utilized differently and in a better way, how I could utilize the current functions and why games use facebook
Facebook:
A simple Social Networking Site compared to some of the others such as Twitter and MyYearBook but it is still one of the top most used social sites there is. While Twitter has a lot of celebrities on there and a lot of major companies and MyYearBook has all these functions which are usable such as liking a person for their looks, giving them ratings and playing small challenges to find out who liked your profile, Facebook really doesn't have as much as them. Games still use the platform though and it is the most used social networking site of its size to have games as a main feature.
Why it's so popular?
I think the reason why the general public use it is because of its simplicity. Creating statuses, commenting on statuses, commenting on photos and videos made, posting on each others walls and liking what other people say, is one reason for the incredible popularity of the site.Aiming at the teenage and young adult demographic more then the older age groups. The teenage demographic even though having been stereo-typed as being quite silly and don't approach things the way they should, they do like to feel safe and on Facebook there are a lot of safety based settings which you can change to make the it feel better for a person. Changing who can view your profile, your pictures, who can comment on your wall and such really gives a user the sense of control and safety when visiting the site.
Facebook Functions:
The overall main function of facebook is for socialization and interacting with friends in a way you would do with others in other in the Real-World. What functions make this possible though. Here are some of what I think work well for both the social aspect and in games.
Creating/ Commenting/ Liking Posts:
Creating posts on facebook, commenting on posts on facebook and simply liking them on facebook is one of the major reasons facebook is such a good social networking site. A user can here interact with people like they would normally by talking to other people, getting involved in conversations and liking what other people do. In the social aspect, this is one of the best features because a user can basically do what they would do in normal conversations with people.
Notifications:
Notifications are incredibly useful for the users. Notified when anyone comments on your wall, post, photo or video helps you know when your being talked to. Helps you in playing games as you get notifications when someone sends you requests to join them and when certain occurrences are happening in your game. Overall notification are helpful to both aspects as they tell you when something has happened in the features you have used or sing on Facebook.
Functions I could use: Really wanting to push the boundaries, I want to see if there is any functions I could use on Facebook which games don't use or function I could use differently.
Groups: Facebook has the facility of creating and joining groups on facebook. Here you can talk about a specific genre of things or post things you don't want anyone else to see apart from a select number of people who have joined. Also giving the option to make it a closed group where only people with invites can join. I think maybe in some form using this in a social facebook game could be pretty unique. The player can join server with just the members of the group and do missions with group member, get notified about what group members are doing, depending on the game, get put into a squad of sorts and work with each other to complete the game.
A simple Social Networking Site compared to some of the others such as Twitter and MyYearBook but it is still one of the top most used social sites there is. While Twitter has a lot of celebrities on there and a lot of major companies and MyYearBook has all these functions which are usable such as liking a person for their looks, giving them ratings and playing small challenges to find out who liked your profile, Facebook really doesn't have as much as them. Games still use the platform though and it is the most used social networking site of its size to have games as a main feature.
Why it's so popular?
I think the reason why the general public use it is because of its simplicity. Creating statuses, commenting on statuses, commenting on photos and videos made, posting on each others walls and liking what other people say, is one reason for the incredible popularity of the site.Aiming at the teenage and young adult demographic more then the older age groups. The teenage demographic even though having been stereo-typed as being quite silly and don't approach things the way they should, they do like to feel safe and on Facebook there are a lot of safety based settings which you can change to make the it feel better for a person. Changing who can view your profile, your pictures, who can comment on your wall and such really gives a user the sense of control and safety when visiting the site.
Facebook Functions:
The overall main function of facebook is for socialization and interacting with friends in a way you would do with others in other in the Real-World. What functions make this possible though. Here are some of what I think work well for both the social aspect and in games.
Creating/ Commenting/ Liking Posts:
Creating posts on facebook, commenting on posts on facebook and simply liking them on facebook is one of the major reasons facebook is such a good social networking site. A user can here interact with people like they would normally by talking to other people, getting involved in conversations and liking what other people do. In the social aspect, this is one of the best features because a user can basically do what they would do in normal conversations with people.
Notifications:
Notifications are incredibly useful for the users. Notified when anyone comments on your wall, post, photo or video helps you know when your being talked to. Helps you in playing games as you get notifications when someone sends you requests to join them and when certain occurrences are happening in your game. Overall notification are helpful to both aspects as they tell you when something has happened in the features you have used or sing on Facebook.
Functions I could use: Really wanting to push the boundaries, I want to see if there is any functions I could use on Facebook which games don't use or function I could use differently.
Groups: Facebook has the facility of creating and joining groups on facebook. Here you can talk about a specific genre of things or post things you don't want anyone else to see apart from a select number of people who have joined. Also giving the option to make it a closed group where only people with invites can join. I think maybe in some form using this in a social facebook game could be pretty unique. The player can join server with just the members of the group and do missions with group member, get notified about what group members are doing, depending on the game, get put into a squad of sorts and work with each other to complete the game.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Gaming Audience and Genders Research
This document looks into different gaming audiences, what general age groups fit into each of them, the genders that you normally see when thinking about the audiences, how I could hopefully make a game that works for all the ages and for that reason, what game themes will work.
There are 3 Stereotypical Types of Gamer:
Hardcore Gamer: A player of games who have an in-depth amount of knowledge about games and the industry. Playing games and buying games generally that have a major label developer which have created them. Also the biggest critiques of games and can notice the small glitches and negatives of a game quite easily and quickly. Really look at game play mainly out of the aspects that are reviewed in games (graphics,game play,sound, story, characters). They do take all into account but appreciate game play over anything. Generally playing a varied amount of genres but won't touch certain genres, due to distaste for it. For hardcore gamers, having an online social aspect such as Xbox Live Parties and Game Chat on Playstation 3, his is also important as they like to communicate with each other and talk about what they're playing. Playing audience of ages from about 15 to 30, stereo-typically speaking they are male but there is a percentage amount of female who still are hardcore. Game themes which are a common through this demographic type are generally all of them, but the genres that came up more were Shooters/ Sports, RPGs & MMOs by percentage.
Traditional Gamer: A traditional gamer even though having an interest in games and the industry itself, it is generally only a casual one and doesn't really take time out of their way to research games as in-depth as hardcore gamer. Instead of mixing genres and being a fan of a variety, they generally stick to series and follow series more then games in a genre. (Call of Duty fans). They have a more rounded view of games and want to see all the components compliment each other but in some sense, they do appreciate how the game looks then how the game plays and if its fair. A reason for this is competition. Players in this demographic are more likely to be competitive and like to be the best out of their friends on games. Stat Tracking is a common used aspect in games for players such as this as they can then compare themselves to their friends playing the game. Having a social aspect is again important for this audience, they like to discuss whats going on in the game and battle each other through communication. The gaming audience on average for this is probably from 12-40. Larger demographic due to how the younger audience love competition and challenging each other and older as people in the older age group, don't like to play variety and can enjoy the game in a more pleasurable way as they have other jobs to do so such as having a job and having a family. here isn't any pacific game theme these types of players play but the more obscure themes gain more percentage such as Fighting games.
Social Gamer: A social gamer as you can tell from the name, plays the games to play with friends and generally plays for the sole aspect of it being a game where they can communicate with their friends and do things that link to that. The games that they are play are not normally action based and are normally created for the reason in to develop something. Social games are normally played on the PC as that is what they're used for. In the sense of games, they generally have no interest in the industry when it comes to developers and what they're going to be developing next. Generally playing the games for the case of getting rid of boredom, sharing and talking with friends or in some cases where they can be serious, progressing the game and trying to get to the highest level or status available. Gaming Audience on average is much larger from about 9/10-45. The reason for the more percentage of the younger generation to be playing it is because of associating with friends and playing games with each other such as Moshy Monsters and games as simple as Farmville. The older average in the demographic because of the simplicity behind the games and rules being simple to understand and pick up quickly.
There are 3 Stereotypical Types of Gamer:
Hardcore Gamer: A player of games who have an in-depth amount of knowledge about games and the industry. Playing games and buying games generally that have a major label developer which have created them. Also the biggest critiques of games and can notice the small glitches and negatives of a game quite easily and quickly. Really look at game play mainly out of the aspects that are reviewed in games (graphics,game play,sound, story, characters). They do take all into account but appreciate game play over anything. Generally playing a varied amount of genres but won't touch certain genres, due to distaste for it. For hardcore gamers, having an online social aspect such as Xbox Live Parties and Game Chat on Playstation 3, his is also important as they like to communicate with each other and talk about what they're playing. Playing audience of ages from about 15 to 30, stereo-typically speaking they are male but there is a percentage amount of female who still are hardcore. Game themes which are a common through this demographic type are generally all of them, but the genres that came up more were Shooters/ Sports, RPGs & MMOs by percentage.
Traditional Gamer: A traditional gamer even though having an interest in games and the industry itself, it is generally only a casual one and doesn't really take time out of their way to research games as in-depth as hardcore gamer. Instead of mixing genres and being a fan of a variety, they generally stick to series and follow series more then games in a genre. (Call of Duty fans). They have a more rounded view of games and want to see all the components compliment each other but in some sense, they do appreciate how the game looks then how the game plays and if its fair. A reason for this is competition. Players in this demographic are more likely to be competitive and like to be the best out of their friends on games. Stat Tracking is a common used aspect in games for players such as this as they can then compare themselves to their friends playing the game. Having a social aspect is again important for this audience, they like to discuss whats going on in the game and battle each other through communication. The gaming audience on average for this is probably from 12-40. Larger demographic due to how the younger audience love competition and challenging each other and older as people in the older age group, don't like to play variety and can enjoy the game in a more pleasurable way as they have other jobs to do so such as having a job and having a family. here isn't any pacific game theme these types of players play but the more obscure themes gain more percentage such as Fighting games.
Social Gamer: A social gamer as you can tell from the name, plays the games to play with friends and generally plays for the sole aspect of it being a game where they can communicate with their friends and do things that link to that. The games that they are play are not normally action based and are normally created for the reason in to develop something. Social games are normally played on the PC as that is what they're used for. In the sense of games, they generally have no interest in the industry when it comes to developers and what they're going to be developing next. Generally playing the games for the case of getting rid of boredom, sharing and talking with friends or in some cases where they can be serious, progressing the game and trying to get to the highest level or status available. Gaming Audience on average is much larger from about 9/10-45. The reason for the more percentage of the younger generation to be playing it is because of associating with friends and playing games with each other such as Moshy Monsters and games as simple as Farmville. The older average in the demographic because of the simplicity behind the games and rules being simple to understand and pick up quickly.
Trading Card Game Research
The research will look in to a trading card game and certain components of them. Mainly, certain functions of them and why they work in that platform, any cross over mechanics I could bring over, anything else that the company has done with the card game that's not related with cards.
Pokemon
Overview:
Pokemon is a very big franchise created in 1996 by Game Freak. First a game (which is still an ongoing series) on the Nintendo Game Platforms. After the game was developed, a trading card game and anime series were created in Japan and published then around the world. Became incredibly popular among the younger demographic and some in the teenage demographic. The trading card game is very wide and is still popular today along with other trading card games such as Yu-Gi-Oh. With having nearly 600 pokemon to get, collect, battle and trade together with your friends. The pokemon trading card game is either played for collecting the numerous amounts of cards there is or for battling your friends using the battle method made for the game.
Certain Components:
Battle System:
The battle system uses numerous components in making the battle system work. It combines luck, chance, strategy and your collection of cards together. With these elements you fight each other with your pokemon, taking advantages of weaknesses, resisting strengths, evolving and changing the pokemon, attacking with the moves given to the characters which sometimes have other factors affecting them such as luck and strategically placing them in order to attack efficiently. The system is really utilized well as all these components are put together coherently and work well along side each other.
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Trading Card Game Example. This particular card shows the mixture of components. (Luck)
Grouping by Types:
Even though not a thing i'll be using, I like how they group the cards through types in the game.In pokemon, each monster has a type such as fire or water which they follow in their types. Each type in the game has types they can defeat and types that they can resist. The types make the styles differentiate and look of the creatures making them all individual and good looking. The attacks and battle system differentiate because of this and makes the battle system, always changing and different every time you fight against another player.
Pokemon
Pokemon is a very big franchise created in 1996 by Game Freak. First a game (which is still an ongoing series) on the Nintendo Game Platforms. After the game was developed, a trading card game and anime series were created in Japan and published then around the world. Became incredibly popular among the younger demographic and some in the teenage demographic. The trading card game is very wide and is still popular today along with other trading card games such as Yu-Gi-Oh. With having nearly 600 pokemon to get, collect, battle and trade together with your friends. The pokemon trading card game is either played for collecting the numerous amounts of cards there is or for battling your friends using the battle method made for the game.
Certain Components:
Battle System:
The battle system uses numerous components in making the battle system work. It combines luck, chance, strategy and your collection of cards together. With these elements you fight each other with your pokemon, taking advantages of weaknesses, resisting strengths, evolving and changing the pokemon, attacking with the moves given to the characters which sometimes have other factors affecting them such as luck and strategically placing them in order to attack efficiently. The system is really utilized well as all these components are put together coherently and work well along side each other.
.jpg)
Trading Card Game Example. This particular card shows the mixture of components. (Luck)
Grouping by Types:
Even though not a thing i'll be using, I like how they group the cards through types in the game.In pokemon, each monster has a type such as fire or water which they follow in their types. Each type in the game has types they can defeat and types that they can resist. The types make the styles differentiate and look of the creatures making them all individual and good looking. The attacks and battle system differentiate because of this and makes the battle system, always changing and different every time you fight against another player.
Board Games Research
These documents will be researching in to how board games work, what mechanics and rules of them I could develop into my own game idea. I'll look into board games. One is a genre of game i'm looking into creating and developing for my own idea and the other being one of the most popular board games on the market and has sold increasingly well over the years.
Monopoly
Overview:
Monopoly is basically a game of possession, control and money. By going around the board, you have to try and own as many places as you can. Making sure you keep your money in check and keeping it at a steady supply so you can pay for bills, finances, investments and if you do, getting out of jail. A player must try and eliminate the other players by making it so they have don't have any money left in their account and has nothing left to play with. The best way to do this is try and get the better cards playing the game, owning the most properties, building upon the right buildings and generally guiding your enemy players towards these places and making them lose their money and eventually having none
Certain Components:
Rewards and Penalties:
A player during the game can both reap awards and earn punishments. Most of these awards and punishments are related to money or going to jail. These really help the game flow of the game as enemy players can taker advantage of a disposition you are in or you can take advantage of them using a reward you have earned. Using these while in the midst of the game can help you gain control over the board and hopefully, earning you the win to the game.
View of the Monopoly Board Game showing all the game components.
Progressive Building:
When buying the certain landmarks in the game such as "Mayfair" and build upon them making them cost more if landing on them. By putting green houses or red hotels, when an enemy player lands on of these, depending on the amount of buildings and such as been put on them, they have to give the player's whose it is, a certain fee for doing so. By spacing out your time and placing them in certain places, you can eventually win the game by guiding and making players spend increasingly amount of money on your locations. Progressive Building utilized in a way for players to win the games
Monopoly
Monopoly is basically a game of possession, control and money. By going around the board, you have to try and own as many places as you can. Making sure you keep your money in check and keeping it at a steady supply so you can pay for bills, finances, investments and if you do, getting out of jail. A player must try and eliminate the other players by making it so they have don't have any money left in their account and has nothing left to play with. The best way to do this is try and get the better cards playing the game, owning the most properties, building upon the right buildings and generally guiding your enemy players towards these places and making them lose their money and eventually having none
Certain Components:
Rewards and Penalties:
A player during the game can both reap awards and earn punishments. Most of these awards and punishments are related to money or going to jail. These really help the game flow of the game as enemy players can taker advantage of a disposition you are in or you can take advantage of them using a reward you have earned. Using these while in the midst of the game can help you gain control over the board and hopefully, earning you the win to the game.
View of the Monopoly Board Game showing all the game components.
Progressive Building:
When buying the certain landmarks in the game such as "Mayfair" and build upon them making them cost more if landing on them. By putting green houses or red hotels, when an enemy player lands on of these, depending on the amount of buildings and such as been put on them, they have to give the player's whose it is, a certain fee for doing so. By spacing out your time and placing them in certain places, you can eventually win the game by guiding and making players spend increasingly amount of money on your locations. Progressive Building utilized in a way for players to win the games
Board Games Research
These documents will be researching in to how board games work, what mechanics and rules of them I could develop into my own game idea. I'll look into board games. One is a genre of game i'm looking into creating and developing for my own idea and the other being one of the most popular board games on the market and has sold increasingly well over the years.
Cards Example for the game
Cluedo
Overview:
The board game Cluedo is a murder-mystery based deduction based game. Through the game your meant to deduce who killed Dr.Black, what weapon he was killed with and what room in his mansion it was in. Every player playing the game gets dealt a set of cards which each of these components on while 3 are randomly decided and put in a pack in the middle of the game which is the answer to the case your playing. Through the set of the cards you get dealt with, you can deduce and conclude that they aren't the 3 cards that are the answer to the game. Players then go around the board game to each room in the mansion and from there, a player will make a logical guess to who it could of been and with what weapon in that room and ask another player if they have one of the cards mentioned so you can then (and only you) can cross this component off as being in the case's answer. After doing this numerous times, you have to try and be first to guess the answer right, and he/she is the winner.
Certain Components:
The Way of Deduction:
The way Cluedo is set out so each player playing the game has other components that you don't have and the way you solve or finish the game is by asking the other players when your in a room, and asking them if they have the component that you don't have and which you can then bring into your own game play to figure out who did the crime in the end. The social aspect of the game really as even though your generally enemies and working against each other, you still have to use each other to defeat each other in the game making it a very fun and sociable game to be involved in. How they restrict this by making user the player can only ask other players if they have the cards that you think i might be by being in the room that you want to ask, is the room that you think he character was murdered in.
Cards Example for the gameInteractive Version:
A future release of the game was made interactive and had a DVD with it. The DVD made the game interactive and while still playing the board game, a player has the ability of being able to do extras stuff on the game by using the interactive features on the game. The interactive version of the game also made pre-created cases in which the players would go through a story that has been made and figure out the case by going through the normal deduction methods, going around the board and asking other players, but a player could also use small cut-scenes in certain parts of the game to give you hints about the culprits and rooms.
Monday, 23 January 2012
Facebook & Social Games: Games that did it wrong.....
Facebook Game: Vampire Wars
Creators: Zynga
Platform: Facebook
This game is one of the least popular games on the Facebook Platform and there are numerous reasons why that is so. Eventhough one of the earlier games on the Facebook platform that Zynga made and was like a build up to the more popular games to come such as Farmville, Frontierville and Cityville, you can tell that it is like a prototype. Reasons why:
Overly-Complicated: The game play and style is to overly complicated and you can get lost in what you need to do. The content seems to be cluttered and a bit everywhere. It gives the player of feeling lost and a player would have to play the game for long time to actually understand the mechanics and concept of the game.
UI Interface: The user interface though suiting the theme of the game and has a very gothis victorian style to it making it seem very dark and dreary, the content is a mess and just seems to have been placed anywhere they can as long as they can fit it in. No organisation to fit the style really brings the content that is actually good in the game.
Lack of Demographic: The look of the game and the audience it seems to really be targetting at one very secluded demographic audience. As with a social game, you want as many people as you can to play the game and interact with each other, the audience is really conentrated and lacks any space to brand out and bring in a new set of people.
Social Game: Phantasy Star Univererse Online
Creators: Sonic Team/ Sega
Platform: Xbox 360
The reason I included this game into my research for badly done social games on the market today is because of how they included online social gaming. Originally a single player game, they dedided to be elaborative and try to bring online socialisation and multiplayer into the genre of Narratively linear based RPGs. The actual concept and idea wasnt bad, but how they developed from the beginning concept, there seems to have been some bad decisions made and wrong pathways taken. These are:
Gaining Money: As this is the first time trying to make an RPG of its kind have an online compatibility, you would think the creators would research more into how other social based games have been created and how they gained extra money on top of the game. Apart form buying the game, the creators thought it would be a good idea to make it so you payed for the online part of the game. As an Xbox 360 game which most users already for to play on the Xbox Live, hardly any of the players are going to actually pay for an online part to the game when they have already bought the game and bought xbox live, having to spend more money is something the audience would gtenerally oppose to unless a real big fan of the game (which no'one will be so early into the game release)
Platform Extras: The Xbox 360 has always been a good quite good when it came to accessories to help players ion their games. Accessories such as headsets and attachable keyboards which helps communication in game and out of game. As this is a social game, you expect a way to socialise. They decided to use the typical type messages way of communication , whch is far enough as its simple and works, but when they didnt use attachable keyboard and didn't use it so players could type faster and easier when messaging people in the roaming world and out of the roaming world. Again they really didnt research into the demographic audience of the "traditional" gamers and how they generally can't be bothered typing for a long time, for short messages.
To conlude, in both games mentioned, I tihnk there's factors I want to stray away from on both games and keep to some more traditional methods, while if I can, developing them further to an extent where Facebook games and actually buying content for the games on the platform becomes more reasonable.
Creators: Zynga
Platform: Facebook
This game is one of the least popular games on the Facebook Platform and there are numerous reasons why that is so. Eventhough one of the earlier games on the Facebook platform that Zynga made and was like a build up to the more popular games to come such as Farmville, Frontierville and Cityville, you can tell that it is like a prototype. Reasons why:
Overly-Complicated: The game play and style is to overly complicated and you can get lost in what you need to do. The content seems to be cluttered and a bit everywhere. It gives the player of feeling lost and a player would have to play the game for long time to actually understand the mechanics and concept of the game.
UI Interface: The user interface though suiting the theme of the game and has a very gothis victorian style to it making it seem very dark and dreary, the content is a mess and just seems to have been placed anywhere they can as long as they can fit it in. No organisation to fit the style really brings the content that is actually good in the game.
Lack of Demographic: The look of the game and the audience it seems to really be targetting at one very secluded demographic audience. As with a social game, you want as many people as you can to play the game and interact with each other, the audience is really conentrated and lacks any space to brand out and bring in a new set of people.
Social Game: Phantasy Star Univererse Online
Creators: Sonic Team/ Sega
Platform: Xbox 360
The reason I included this game into my research for badly done social games on the market today is because of how they included online social gaming. Originally a single player game, they dedided to be elaborative and try to bring online socialisation and multiplayer into the genre of Narratively linear based RPGs. The actual concept and idea wasnt bad, but how they developed from the beginning concept, there seems to have been some bad decisions made and wrong pathways taken. These are:
Gaining Money: As this is the first time trying to make an RPG of its kind have an online compatibility, you would think the creators would research more into how other social based games have been created and how they gained extra money on top of the game. Apart form buying the game, the creators thought it would be a good idea to make it so you payed for the online part of the game. As an Xbox 360 game which most users already for to play on the Xbox Live, hardly any of the players are going to actually pay for an online part to the game when they have already bought the game and bought xbox live, having to spend more money is something the audience would gtenerally oppose to unless a real big fan of the game (which no'one will be so early into the game release)
Platform Extras: The Xbox 360 has always been a good quite good when it came to accessories to help players ion their games. Accessories such as headsets and attachable keyboards which helps communication in game and out of game. As this is a social game, you expect a way to socialise. They decided to use the typical type messages way of communication , whch is far enough as its simple and works, but when they didnt use attachable keyboard and didn't use it so players could type faster and easier when messaging people in the roaming world and out of the roaming world. Again they really didnt research into the demographic audience of the "traditional" gamers and how they generally can't be bothered typing for a long time, for short messages.
To conlude, in both games mentioned, I tihnk there's factors I want to stray away from on both games and keep to some more traditional methods, while if I can, developing them further to an extent where Facebook games and actually buying content for the games on the platform becomes more reasonable.
Social Games - World of Warcraft
Creators: Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: PC
Overview: World of Warcraft, essentially known as one of the best games in the Fantasy Gaming Market today. Released in 2001 its got a massive reputation as being the most popular MMORPG with the most subscribers compared to other MMOs.
Being the most subscribed MMO there is on the web, there has to be a lot of graphical and game content to keep the lead on this. It really does live up to that as the world a player is in is incredibly big and from an explorative aspect, it has a lot of content to go find in the world and discover new aspects. With a fast game play style to the game, where you press pacific buttons to certain actions such as defend, attack and cast, they can create these actions multiple times on the battlefield, either against enemies of the game or other game-players. A lot of social aspects become available to a player such as trading, talking to each other in game messaging, making sure you'll probably gain allies and friends in the game to either verse or help you in your game progress.
Interesting Game Components:
-Expanding on the Game: Blizzard are always making more content for the game and new quests with content that already exists. Making the game very replayable and making a player keep playing the game without getting bored of doing the same stuff over and over again. Making the player want to keep playing the content that gets released, giving Bizzare Entertainment more money each time they do so. Good way of keeping the game going while money goes into the Creator's pocket.
-Social Grouping on Game-Play: How Bizarre actually made the social aspect of the game a more interesting and "basically" core component of the game as it was essential to have if you wanted to do some of the quests. Even though most of the quests and tasks are possible on your own and can be easily done, some are designed for you to co-operatively work with other players with different stats and specialities to face more complicated tasks and tests set out for you to do.
-Virtual Sales: Online Trading via NPCs and shops you find around the world are the most popular way of getting items that help you through the game so, as most companies would, they take advantage of this fact and make it so a player has the ability of buying online items to use in games with real money which will have more of an effect then items found through the game. As this game is also a game you must buy an membership to play on it, they also use this to get money and downloadable content to kepp the game lively having replayability.
Platform: PC
Overview: World of Warcraft, essentially known as one of the best games in the Fantasy Gaming Market today. Released in 2001 its got a massive reputation as being the most popular MMORPG with the most subscribers compared to other MMOs.
Being the most subscribed MMO there is on the web, there has to be a lot of graphical and game content to keep the lead on this. It really does live up to that as the world a player is in is incredibly big and from an explorative aspect, it has a lot of content to go find in the world and discover new aspects. With a fast game play style to the game, where you press pacific buttons to certain actions such as defend, attack and cast, they can create these actions multiple times on the battlefield, either against enemies of the game or other game-players. A lot of social aspects become available to a player such as trading, talking to each other in game messaging, making sure you'll probably gain allies and friends in the game to either verse or help you in your game progress.
Interesting Game Components:
-Expanding on the Game: Blizzard are always making more content for the game and new quests with content that already exists. Making the game very replayable and making a player keep playing the game without getting bored of doing the same stuff over and over again. Making the player want to keep playing the content that gets released, giving Bizzare Entertainment more money each time they do so. Good way of keeping the game going while money goes into the Creator's pocket.
-Social Grouping on Game-Play: How Bizarre actually made the social aspect of the game a more interesting and "basically" core component of the game as it was essential to have if you wanted to do some of the quests. Even though most of the quests and tasks are possible on your own and can be easily done, some are designed for you to co-operatively work with other players with different stats and specialities to face more complicated tasks and tests set out for you to do.
-Virtual Sales: Online Trading via NPCs and shops you find around the world are the most popular way of getting items that help you through the game so, as most companies would, they take advantage of this fact and make it so a player has the ability of buying online items to use in games with real money which will have more of an effect then items found through the game. As this game is also a game you must buy an membership to play on it, they also use this to get money and downloadable content to kepp the game lively having replayability.
Social Games - RuneScape
Creators: JAGEX Game Studios
Platform: PC
Game Objectives:
Runescape is an online MMORPG for people set in the fantasy realm. More in the Medieval type graphics and looks good on screen. Being classed as best free online MMO on the internet now, it's got 156 Million Registered Accounts to show its popularity. The area of the game is quite massive and there are lot of areas you can visit, such as cities, countrysides, villages etc. As there is so much to look around in, there are lof ot people you can meet and lot of enemies you can battle with. The people are both PCs and NPCs who you can interact with. Trading, battling and messaging others is an important factor and is one of the games biggest selling points, but also one of the worst, as people have really over-used it and took advantage of it.
A player can follow storyline of their choosing and take mostly any quest/battle that they want. They can find weapons and other content through the environment which in some way or another, will help them with their quests and battles.
A picture to display the environment a player goes through when playing the game.
Interesting Components:
-Social Interaction: As with most popular MMORPGs on the web today, there is a massive roaming world for a player to explore and discover. Generally because its free 2 play, the graphics of the game are nothing impressive and they're best looked at from a far view, but the social aspects of the genre, don't lack anything. You can message, trade and battle with other players through the game giving it a big boost as you have a lot to do with both playable and non-playable characters in the end.
-Quests and Individual Tasks: A player has tasks in the game which they can complete though the game. A player has restrictions through the game to follow if you want to do certain quests in the game. Combat Skill, Overall Level, Money Amount are normally taken into account and to go through quests, these normally have to be a certain amount. Part is good as it gives restrictions and paths to follow but not to the extent where you are to follow only one path and have one outcome at the end
-MMORPG;Gaining Money: Being the best free online MMORPG on the web today, the way they gain actual real money has to be similar to the way other Free2Play Games have done so. You can go to the Traders through the game and buy content with real money which will have a lot more effect on the game then content you can find roaming or buying with ther games currency. So in that way, it is incredibly similar to Facebook Games.
Platform: PC
Game Objectives:
Runescape is an online MMORPG for people set in the fantasy realm. More in the Medieval type graphics and looks good on screen. Being classed as best free online MMO on the internet now, it's got 156 Million Registered Accounts to show its popularity. The area of the game is quite massive and there are lot of areas you can visit, such as cities, countrysides, villages etc. As there is so much to look around in, there are lof ot people you can meet and lot of enemies you can battle with. The people are both PCs and NPCs who you can interact with. Trading, battling and messaging others is an important factor and is one of the games biggest selling points, but also one of the worst, as people have really over-used it and took advantage of it.
A player can follow storyline of their choosing and take mostly any quest/battle that they want. They can find weapons and other content through the environment which in some way or another, will help them with their quests and battles.
Interesting Components:
-Social Interaction: As with most popular MMORPGs on the web today, there is a massive roaming world for a player to explore and discover. Generally because its free 2 play, the graphics of the game are nothing impressive and they're best looked at from a far view, but the social aspects of the genre, don't lack anything. You can message, trade and battle with other players through the game giving it a big boost as you have a lot to do with both playable and non-playable characters in the end.
-Quests and Individual Tasks: A player has tasks in the game which they can complete though the game. A player has restrictions through the game to follow if you want to do certain quests in the game. Combat Skill, Overall Level, Money Amount are normally taken into account and to go through quests, these normally have to be a certain amount. Part is good as it gives restrictions and paths to follow but not to the extent where you are to follow only one path and have one outcome at the end
-MMORPG;Gaining Money: Being the best free online MMORPG on the web today, the way they gain actual real money has to be similar to the way other Free2Play Games have done so. You can go to the Traders through the game and buy content with real money which will have a lot more effect on the game then content you can find roaming or buying with ther games currency. So in that way, it is incredibly similar to Facebook Games.
Friday, 20 January 2012
Social Games - Sims 3 (On PC and Console)
Creators: EA
Platform(s): PC/ Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/ Phone Networks
Game Objectives: The game is a life simulation game where the player can create a character or numerous amount of characters and is then meant to look after them ,make sure they progress well through the game and that they complete certain objectives. Creating how the character looks from face structure, hair and eye color, muscular tone, height and weight and the clothes the avatar wears really gives a lot for the player to play with before even starting the game. Player can also adjust the personality of the player, personality traits that the player can adjust to and work with in game and ambitions through life which they will want to succeed in and work at.
Through the game, the avatar will use what you have utilized him/her with. You will control this avatar (or avatars if you have more then one) and basically control their lives and make sure they get their necessities such as food , drink, health and friendships. While doing this, your meant to earn money by getting a job, could be something related to what the avatar wants or not in their aspirations. Also, getting a home and making that a better place and to the standards that you want it to be at. Basically trying to make your "sim" have a good life, providing the necessities, earning money, social interaction, bringing up a home and a family (if wanted). Basically the lives, that a real person would live and want.
Interesting Game Concepts and Mechanics:
CAC (Create a Character): The Character Creation System in this game is probably the best in the game industry. he intricate amount of detail you can use to your advantage is amazing. The game makes it likely that any other player playing the game will probably not have a sim that's the exact same as yours which always gives it that unique feel. Even though some things seem a bit excessive such as nose length and width, the reasoning behind it isn't and works well as the game does need a lot of difference between characters to differentiate.
Bringing to Life: The game is meant to be incredibly realistic and you are meant to feel as if the character is real and is living a life similar to how you live your life normally. Obviously depending on the sim, a player can develop that character in any way or form that they want. Making them have a job working in the media, in the arts, in the music industry, in the science industry, teaching and so forth is p to you and you can change the progress of the game to the way you want it to be. To make it more realistic, other factors such as being able to have sex with someone and create a child is in the game, being killed in an accidental house fire, these games make it incredibly social.
"Money being brought in": EA sold the game at the equivalent of 40 pounds across the world. Making very good sales (best PC game sales in the EA company). To make more money they started to release it on other platforms such as the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 where, not selling as well but still selling enough.
The most similar thing it has done to Facebook Games is the fact there's an online store where you can buy content and use it in game to make your personal environment look better and suit he taste you want it to be in. New content is put in every month, including new areas which a player can visit and new objects for the player to use and customize their home with. Making EA sell well on the game overall.
Platform(s): PC/ Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/ Phone Networks
Game Objectives: The game is a life simulation game where the player can create a character or numerous amount of characters and is then meant to look after them ,make sure they progress well through the game and that they complete certain objectives. Creating how the character looks from face structure, hair and eye color, muscular tone, height and weight and the clothes the avatar wears really gives a lot for the player to play with before even starting the game. Player can also adjust the personality of the player, personality traits that the player can adjust to and work with in game and ambitions through life which they will want to succeed in and work at.
Through the game, the avatar will use what you have utilized him/her with. You will control this avatar (or avatars if you have more then one) and basically control their lives and make sure they get their necessities such as food , drink, health and friendships. While doing this, your meant to earn money by getting a job, could be something related to what the avatar wants or not in their aspirations. Also, getting a home and making that a better place and to the standards that you want it to be at. Basically trying to make your "sim" have a good life, providing the necessities, earning money, social interaction, bringing up a home and a family (if wanted). Basically the lives, that a real person would live and want.
Interesting Game Concepts and Mechanics:
CAC (Create a Character): The Character Creation System in this game is probably the best in the game industry. he intricate amount of detail you can use to your advantage is amazing. The game makes it likely that any other player playing the game will probably not have a sim that's the exact same as yours which always gives it that unique feel. Even though some things seem a bit excessive such as nose length and width, the reasoning behind it isn't and works well as the game does need a lot of difference between characters to differentiate.
Bringing to Life: The game is meant to be incredibly realistic and you are meant to feel as if the character is real and is living a life similar to how you live your life normally. Obviously depending on the sim, a player can develop that character in any way or form that they want. Making them have a job working in the media, in the arts, in the music industry, in the science industry, teaching and so forth is p to you and you can change the progress of the game to the way you want it to be. To make it more realistic, other factors such as being able to have sex with someone and create a child is in the game, being killed in an accidental house fire, these games make it incredibly social.
"Money being brought in": EA sold the game at the equivalent of 40 pounds across the world. Making very good sales (best PC game sales in the EA company). To make more money they started to release it on other platforms such as the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 where, not selling as well but still selling enough.
The most similar thing it has done to Facebook Games is the fact there's an online store where you can buy content and use it in game to make your personal environment look better and suit he taste you want it to be in. New content is put in every month, including new areas which a player can visit and new objects for the player to use and customize their home with. Making EA sell well on the game overall.
Mafia Wars 2 - Research Doc 3
Creators: Zynga
Platform: Facebook
Objectives: The objectives of Mafia Wars 2 is to create an area which you control and make it the strongest of crews in the surrounding area. By creating buildings such as casinos, banks and weapon shops, you utilize all the objects you can use to do so. The player can also go into other player's domains and gain exp by doing certain objectives. Basically building up a small area of land that is the players and running a mafia type business.
The game can be quite violent as there is some violent such as being able to shoot, stab and whack other avatars in the game but its not to a degree where it would cause worry.
Interface of Mafia Wars 2. Pretty simple and more like Sims Social in the way that it looks but when it comes to the actual Game Play, its more similar to Farmville in the way you have to look after things and work them up.
Use of Facebook:
Friendships: As with most there games on Facebook, there is a way to utilize the friendship system on Facebook. I think that they've used it a lot better though then other games due to what you can do on the game. This gives the player the same access such as adding them as a neighbor which gives you the chance to visit heir area and see how they're hiring. But you can also hire them as people to work in your shops and buildings which helps you upgrade hem and make them better money facilities. You can also add them to your crew which makes you stronger in stats and again helps the overall progression of your land.
Gifts: Being able to send gifts to each other is something I've said about every facebook game I've looked into and this is just a social thing. Sending free gifts and buy-able gifts which have more value makes the game more interesting and helps you and other players level up and create their own mafia area.
Interactivity: You can generally see who is playing the game all over the world by going into the Fight Arena where you fight other avatars, and by doing so you get rewards.These avatars normally have a random generated person who has played this game meaning you can see who else is playing and how they are progressing through the game overall.
Just to show the interactivity part. Shows how random avatars are said to be randomly generated players of the game.
Free 2 Play Concept:
Again like Sims Social and Farmville, there are 2 different types of currency to use in the game, one which you earn through the game and one you get b sing real money to buy a certain amount. The 2 ypes of currency being:
Cash - Earn through the game to buy ordinary content
Gold - Got by buying with real money and gets more exclusive content
There are always deals throughout the year where certain deals will occur when money will be less to get if you pay a certain amount or exclusive content is cheaper then it should be.
Platform: Facebook
Objectives: The objectives of Mafia Wars 2 is to create an area which you control and make it the strongest of crews in the surrounding area. By creating buildings such as casinos, banks and weapon shops, you utilize all the objects you can use to do so. The player can also go into other player's domains and gain exp by doing certain objectives. Basically building up a small area of land that is the players and running a mafia type business.
The game can be quite violent as there is some violent such as being able to shoot, stab and whack other avatars in the game but its not to a degree where it would cause worry.
Use of Facebook:
Friendships: As with most there games on Facebook, there is a way to utilize the friendship system on Facebook. I think that they've used it a lot better though then other games due to what you can do on the game. This gives the player the same access such as adding them as a neighbor which gives you the chance to visit heir area and see how they're hiring. But you can also hire them as people to work in your shops and buildings which helps you upgrade hem and make them better money facilities. You can also add them to your crew which makes you stronger in stats and again helps the overall progression of your land.
Gifts: Being able to send gifts to each other is something I've said about every facebook game I've looked into and this is just a social thing. Sending free gifts and buy-able gifts which have more value makes the game more interesting and helps you and other players level up and create their own mafia area.
Interactivity: You can generally see who is playing the game all over the world by going into the Fight Arena where you fight other avatars, and by doing so you get rewards.These avatars normally have a random generated person who has played this game meaning you can see who else is playing and how they are progressing through the game overall.
Just to show the interactivity part. Shows how random avatars are said to be randomly generated players of the game.
Free 2 Play Concept:
Again like Sims Social and Farmville, there are 2 different types of currency to use in the game, one which you earn through the game and one you get b sing real money to buy a certain amount. The 2 ypes of currency being:
Cash - Earn through the game to buy ordinary content
Gold - Got by buying with real money and gets more exclusive content
There are always deals throughout the year where certain deals will occur when money will be less to get if you pay a certain amount or exclusive content is cheaper then it should be.
Monday, 16 January 2012
The Sims Social Research Doc2
Creator: EA Games
Platform: Facebook
Objectives: The objective as in most of the Sims Series, is to live as an animated avatar which you can customise yourself from looks, to personality and to goals. Obviously as it is on a platform which is hard to have a memory extensive game on it, they had to make a much more simplified version so it can run on the platform with hardly any lag but still look fun and easy to understand and get your head around. They simplified the graphics of the game up to a simple cel-shaded cartoon style, in-depth character customization on all the different categories you can normally customize. As always in Sim Games you run your life similar to how humans would and complete tasks as simple as going to the toilet to make sure your avatar lives healthily and happily.
As mentioned, they've basically made a cel-shaded cartoon version of the game, simplifying the graphics so it doesnt take as much memory. Giving into Facebook though and having the "neighbours" deal all over again which seems to be in every Social Game on the facebook platform.
Use of Facebook
EA have basically used Facebook and its available functions most other companies have used the functions on facebook in their games. The functions utilized are:
Platform: Facebook
Objectives: The objective as in most of the Sims Series, is to live as an animated avatar which you can customise yourself from looks, to personality and to goals. Obviously as it is on a platform which is hard to have a memory extensive game on it, they had to make a much more simplified version so it can run on the platform with hardly any lag but still look fun and easy to understand and get your head around. They simplified the graphics of the game up to a simple cel-shaded cartoon style, in-depth character customization on all the different categories you can normally customize. As always in Sim Games you run your life similar to how humans would and complete tasks as simple as going to the toilet to make sure your avatar lives healthily and happily.
As mentioned, they've basically made a cel-shaded cartoon version of the game, simplifying the graphics so it doesnt take as much memory. Giving into Facebook though and having the "neighbours" deal all over again which seems to be in every Social Game on the facebook platform.
Use of Facebook
EA have basically used Facebook and its available functions most other companies have used the functions on facebook in their games. The functions utilized are:
- Messaging
- Facebook Friendships
- Special Dates
Gifts: Through the game, he player is given the ability to give gifts to other players that are playing the game through the world. This will help the recipient in certain ways such as game play, developing character or editing the amount of space in the virtual environment that they get in the game. You will also get notifications on when certain dates occur on the calender which are important, such as birthdays.
Adding "Neighbors": As like most of the games on the Facebook Platform they have an ability to add another person playing the game, friend or not and add them as a neighbor, this gives the player the availability of visiting hat "neighbor" in game and seeing how they are playing he game and how well they are overall doing compared to you.
Use of AI and Friendships: There are both characters (avatars) created by the game and the avatars you interact with that are created by friends in the game. A player can interact with both meaning that other facebook friendships aren't important and not essential in the game mechanics. Having the facebook friends mean you have more availability into the game and have access to more of the games content and actions.
Timer: A certain which you need to set to do most of the objectives in the game can only by used a numerous amount of times before it runs out. This stat is energy and while some objectives don't require you to use this, most do. The activity will normally take 1 energy from you and when you run out of the max you can, you have to wait via a timer to gain one. Every 5 minutes you gain a new one, making the player wait in the game.
Showing how the gift system works in the game. You can actually send free gifts which don't cost the player anything but are basically useless o the player that user that gets them. You can also spend the money that is in the game to get other players present which have more value to them
Free 2 Play Concept:
Like Farmville, Sims Social has two types of currency to use. One is earned in game and found throughout a player's progress through the game while one type of currency is got by actually buying an amount through real money.
These are:
Simoleons: Earned through progression in game
Social Points: Earned through progression in game
SimCash: SimCash is earned by buying an amount through real currency.
By getting SimCash, you can get certain exclusive content which is only bought through this in game currency and is lot more useful in the game and helps the progression of the game a lot faster. For example items such as energy recuperation based items, can only be bought with money so you don't have to wait while the timer goes down.
Adding "Neighbors": As like most of the games on the Facebook Platform they have an ability to add another person playing the game, friend or not and add them as a neighbor, this gives the player the availability of visiting hat "neighbor" in game and seeing how they are playing he game and how well they are overall doing compared to you.
Use of AI and Friendships: There are both characters (avatars) created by the game and the avatars you interact with that are created by friends in the game. A player can interact with both meaning that other facebook friendships aren't important and not essential in the game mechanics. Having the facebook friends mean you have more availability into the game and have access to more of the games content and actions.
Timer: A certain which you need to set to do most of the objectives in the game can only by used a numerous amount of times before it runs out. This stat is energy and while some objectives don't require you to use this, most do. The activity will normally take 1 energy from you and when you run out of the max you can, you have to wait via a timer to gain one. Every 5 minutes you gain a new one, making the player wait in the game.
Showing how the gift system works in the game. You can actually send free gifts which don't cost the player anything but are basically useless o the player that user that gets them. You can also spend the money that is in the game to get other players present which have more value to them
Free 2 Play Concept:
Like Farmville, Sims Social has two types of currency to use. One is earned in game and found throughout a player's progress through the game while one type of currency is got by actually buying an amount through real money.
These are:
Simoleons: Earned through progression in game
Social Points: Earned through progression in game
SimCash: SimCash is earned by buying an amount through real currency.
By getting SimCash, you can get certain exclusive content which is only bought through this in game currency and is lot more useful in the game and helps the progression of the game a lot faster. For example items such as energy recuperation based items, can only be bought with money so you don't have to wait while the timer goes down.
Farmville Research Doc1
Creators: Zynga
Platform: Facebook
Objectives: Develop (as a player) your own farm using the methods that are used in today’s farming methods. Ploughing the soil on your land and then buying fruit, vegetables, trees and flowers which a player will have to look after over a certain amount of time and make sure they are well kept and don’t wither etc. Player does this by coming back on the game regularly and maintaining the farm. Then harvesting your produce, the player sells it to the game markets and get money back after selling them. In the meanwhile, the player racks up their achievements and different stats that they can earn, giving the player other objectives to complete. Really aiming at an audience of 10+.
- Different tools available to the players. Such as plough which ploughs the ground so you can grow upon it
- A basic colour scheme working to the target audience and objective of the game. Shows also how you are developing through the game.
Use of Facebook: Utilises some of the main aspects Facebook is famous for and is used as the main social networking site. Aspects such as (these are the main ones):
· Important Date Reminders
· Notifications
· Social Messaging
· “Like” Ability
Facebook being a social networking site (and the most popular), important factor is to utilise some of the features that is available to the audience. The main social aspects that Zynga used to develop Farmville are:
· Gifts – There is an ability in the game to send gifts to your fellow Farmville players which will help them develop their farm and how they cultivate it. There doesn’t need to be a special occasion for this to happen but you are reminded when a date is important such as birthdays and anniversaries. Player gets option go send gifts to the player on these dates.
· Neighbours – You can add a fellow player of the game as a neighbour which means you can see how they are progressing and see how they are developing their farm as often as you want, also helping them with anything such as keeping the different fruit and veg watered, ploughing into the soil and making new stuff grow etc. You can visit other players’ farms in the game anyway but this method makes it easier.
· Stats – Each player has a level, ribbon count, masteries to earn, medals to earn and collections (including achievements) to find and earn.
· Stat Tracking – You can see any other players’ development in the game and how they are doing in the game and compare it to your own. This shows you what level they are, any recent achievements they have earned and how they’re progression is.
This is where a player sends and retrieves gifts to use in the farms.
Adding a neighbour on the game is easy. You don’t have to be friends with the player; you can search for anonymous people and add them as a neighbour
Free 2 Play Concept
In Farmville there are 2 different versions of currency to use which buys you different content. These are:
· Farm Coins – Coins in game which you earn through game
· Farm Cash – Coins which you get using real currency, buys exclusive content
By doing this, Zynga have made it possible to play the game and makes the game playable but making it restricted so you can only complete the game to an extent and do a restricted amount of objectives making a player want to do more but can’t without actually spending their own money.
There are also Zynga Cards which are very similar to Microsoft Point in the way that they are sold in stores and by buying these; you can get exclusive content and collectables.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Descriptive TimeScale
Timescale
(DL = Deadline)/ All points will either be done individually or brought together
Facebook Games that have done well: (DL) 16/01/2012
· Farmville
· Sims Social
· Mafia Wars
Social Games: (DL) 16/12/2012-23/01/2012
· Sims (on PC and console)
· Runescape
· World of Warcraft
· Moshy Monsters
Audience and Genders: (DL) 23/01/2012
· Gender Similarities and what is consistent through age groups. –linked-
· What Facebook Audience would expect… -linked-
· What Gamer Audience would expect… -linked-
· Average Pricing and Art Style. –linked-
Board Games: (DL) 23/01/2012
· How board games have brought people together socially. -linked-
· What type of board games sells well and why? -linked-
Trading Card Games: (DL) 23/01/2012-30/01/2012
· How trading card games sell and what they sell -linked-
· Integration onto different mediums (web, console) -linked-
· Big selling trading card games (Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh) -linked-
· Why people want to buy more -linked-
Facebook and Social Integration: (DL) 23/01/2012-30/01/2012
· What features of Facebook could are usable -linked-
· What uses could be explored and used functionally -linked-
· How Facebook is changing for the better and worse for games. -linked-
· Real Life Social Events and World-to-World Knowledge
Genres in Games (DL) 30/01/2012
· Different genres in games
· Compatibility with Platform
· Potential on the Platform
· Individuality
Genres in Games (DL) 30/01/2012
· Different genres in games
· Compatibility with Platform
· Potential on the Platform
· Individuality
Art Style: (DL) 30/01/2012
· Popular Art Styles through the Target Audience linked-
· What genres fit what audience -linked-
Start of Assignment 3
From here I'll be creating research documentation based on the brief of creating a facebook, social game....
These are only ideas which could be used and I might not do them as not necessary or improve or do different ones depending on my future thinking
Research Ideas on Day 1 of Project
These are only ideas which could be used and I might not do them as not necessary or improve or do different ones depending on my future thinking
Research Ideas on Day 1 of Project
- Facebook games currently published, how they have brought innovation to the Facebook Apps, how money has been made, social adaptation and what in high percentage of all companies done with their game to make them popular. (Sims Social, Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc(future developments also)).
- Social Games on higher platforms. Looking at the web and games which have created an effective social environment (Runescape, World of Warcraft, Sims, Forsaken World, iSketch, XBL Games, PSN Games)
- Facebook and the uses of games and apps. How games are doing on the platform, certain facebook decisions which have impacted the game, what limits does a developer have on the platform, What does Facebook have individually which can be used
- Board Games. Social Inclusion and how it brings people together. Why people buy it and for what reasons. (Monopoly, Uno, Cluedo etc)
- Trading Cards Games: Why people buy extra content. How do audiences adapt and what are the audiences. What medium do the developers use to sell the content and how they bring it together in the end. If brought onto another medium such as the web or bigger consoles, how have the developers done so.... (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Top Trumps (maybe, concept is different), Scrolls (future creations from minecraft developer))
- Audience: Research into what both sexes appreciate and what is consistent in both (Art Style link), What the Facebook Games Audience would expect, how could we bring in new gamers into the platform, What people would buy in the games and what type of items would be expected, What aspects or originality and innovation could be brought together.
- Social Integration: Facebook Social Adpations and how I could bring the certain features of Facebook such as Birthdays, Anniversaries and Holiday Evenets such as Christmas as an element and adaptation. How I could bring real life social events to the game and how they would affect the player. World to World Knowledge.
- Popular Aspects of Facebook. What people use facebook for. What aspects of what faceboo is used for which havent been looked into and could be brought out a lot more (notes and personality quizzes), and overall uses on the web for players.
- Art Style: Popular art styles in the audiences now and why. Manga Art Style, Contemporary, 3D Style, Cartoon Styled, Adult Cartoon Styled, Real-life etc
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