Unit 1 Pre-Production

pre-production is used in things like film, television, advertising, game development, internet, radio and the press. preproduction is highly used in these areas mentioned and all used the same main activities like the cost and time used and available.

in production for games you have to look at the money the cost you are given a set amount of money in each area of the production this is given in sections the designers will be given a fairly large amount of money to do one section and they will be given a set date for the review called the deadline once this deadline is meet the investors and contributors look into what they are putting their money into in each area they decide if the given products are up to their scratch and then continue to the next step like maybe they would ask for the scripts and story made then the concept art to be made.in each of the areas they require the personal to do the job so this takes time to gather the people to work on the project and then start their own job in the project so this time for both gathering and the creation is set by the investors and the contributors, the contributors could very from people investing in the project of the voice actors and other fetchers used in games development like sound and as I have said the voice them selves.

  

finance-the finance is judged by the idea and creativity of the draft and how much and how big the game may be , finance is the money used in the product.A good financial plan when in pre-production is very important as it could be a problem in the development of your project.In order to make this somewhat easier, you should plan out and think of what your funds will be needed for.for example of the funding in total for the biggest game of 2014 GTAV was £170 million but this game made a profit of £1 billion in the first 3 days . you should think out what your money will be needed to pay for in the project for example software, the pay for designers and artists etc.

 the personal use of funds would involve the pay and insurance on the personal .

the finance may effect the time available for making a game you could be given a set amount of money and a short period of time to work with it to get a game out fast.

time constraints-this is the dead line for the first drafts and the final drafts of the product this can also involve the management of time over the project. you should think out what your money will be needed to pay for in the project for example software, the pay for designers and artists etc. this is very important and can involve an array of things that will have a big part in the development of your project. It is also not specific to the development of games. Time can include things like; deadlines, scheduling  and milestones. these can be to insure the game or other project is going at a steady pace and not falling behind.

personnel-personnel is the amount of the people in the team/involved in the full production and are payed for their ideas for the final product.The video game industry requires many different hired personnel to make up a game design team. within the pre production stages of a game design aswell The size of the team can be something to take into consideration.Stability between each working member of the design team such as art designers, programmers and lead designers will all have to manage their time for production stages in the pre production stages. Some roles in the personal would be lead designer , programmers, 3D modelers, animators , ect.  

facilities-the facilities are the soft wear and equipment you have to make the game and also the area you have this effects your work rate and also speed.Within the pre production stages of designing a video game, the company or team need to check they have the correct software and equipment before furthering into production stages. a company was designing a 3D game that would have realistic visuals and top end graphics, then the company needs to ensure they have the availability to a 3D engine, 3D modelling programme and 3D animation software.

materials-The materials are for what I believe to be the ideas and the materials used for the concept art before the modeling and creation of the game. in a pre  production stage there is a clear difference between physical and digital content. When designing a game the physical components can be anything such as archive material, objects which can be realistically replicated within the game for example actors, existing objects such as drink cans and guns.

contributors-contributors can verity to being the people paying for the product to the people actually designing making and testing it during the creation and after. sections of personnel such as directors, artist and programmers.Having specific mini teams within a whole team helps personnel and external contributors such as specialists, distinguish jobs and deadlines in the pre production stages.

locations-the location can be in a big area like the building EA has for their studio to a place as small as a basement the location depends on the amount of people on the project.the location of where the media product will be set, such as production studios, offices and sets. This will differ depending on the kind of media product. For a film production there will be many locations and filming rights on outdoor sets  would have have to be considered. Also editing studios, visual art and sets would all have to be accounted for.

  codes of practice and regulation-these are the rules , code and regulations you have to work around the whole time while making a game or any milt media product , the rules can involve copyright , if your found for copying another developers content this can lead to a straight out fine losing you money and valuable time in production a example of this is 'flappy bird' in this game they good took down for the pipes on their game linking to the pipes on Mario ,this game was taken off the market and bought back at a later date. this also involves a health and safety check being required and to be insured for any accidents  with equipment or the other people working on the set.

PEGI or pen European game information  is a video game content rating system for customers , so when they are looking to get a new game a rating is there for age to inform that children may not be able to play the game or it may be mature.TIGA (The Independent Game Developers Association) is an organisation which promotes game creation within the UK and promotes the industry through the power they have at the British parliament. Also there are things called trade unions that you can play a weekly or monthly subscription to, to have people on your side if you are not payed or are miss treated in a job.

The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. they apply the Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. their work includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.

information on the development on a personal game.

the main pre production in a personal game is all done by you this will not require the contracts and finance and such needed in the mainstream production where they need to contract each person involved in the creation where in the personal develop meant this isn't really needed unless your using someone's appearance a example of a once personal game was a mod for arma 2 called dayz this game was later too on by a bigger company and the mainstream methods were used ill look more in to how it was later developed as a full game when I am on mainstream development 

the image above is of dayz when it was still in its mod format before this was made by dean hall and later he was contacted and this mod was made into its own stand alone game

mainstream development

in main stream development you need contracts for who is involved and you would find it easier to join a trade union for insurance details and to make life easier in general but with mainstream development you don't have the freedom of personal development you have to maker the contracts and the additional details with the people how's material you are using

'dayz after making it as a full standalone game it sold 1million copies with in four weeks of being released on steam early access.'

'dayz after making it as a full standalone game it sold 1million copies with in four weeks of being released on steam early access.' taken from http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dayz-sells-1m-dean-hall-says-so-much-for-the-death-of-pc-gaming/1100-6417116/

http://www.pegi.info/ 'used for what  pegi means '

http://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA.aspx asa information found here.

Computer Game Genres

 

Genre	Genre description	Genre example
FPS	Fps is a first person shooter game in this you play as a character seeing through their eyes, all you can normally see from this view is their weapon and hands. This genre is normally fast pace and is highly played and popular, Highly played worldwide.	An example of a fps is cod call of duty, in call of duty you play as one person in a squad of people using a variety of weapons and you have a fairly large amount of enemy’s to kill before you complete a mission. Cod uses the id tech 3 engine.
RTS	A rts is a real time strategy game in this type of game you play as a general or a war leader as such and command a large force from a Arial view and move them to tactical passions to attack the opponent .	supreme commander 2 is a rts where you play as a command unit and you have to build your base and also your force to defeat your enemy you can build artillery which I personally like to do to demolish the foe from a range or build land units air or naval to attacking the forces can depend on map or how much room you have to build.
MMO	Mmo is a massive multiplayer online game this is a game where you can have hundreds of players on your screen at once and also have a massive open world with multiple locations	World of Warcraft is a mmo where you select a class and play it in a player vs environment situation when making your player you have a large choice in the race and the class of your player then after you have chosen at a certain level you have the choice of an advanced class for the player.
MMORPG	A mmo rpg is basically a mmo but with a role play element where you act as your character and make decision.	.An example of a mmorpg for me is swtor (star wars the old republic), in swtor you get the option to create a certain character out of 4 classes in each faction in this you get 2 extra classes in the prim class you chose which can make you more diverse to the other players and also give you a advantage in combat in pvp these characters can be used to rp ,pvp or  pve in the game making fun and quite entertaining
SANDBOX RPG	A sand box rpg is is a game where you create a situation and can create a new player and give them or it movement.	Gmod is an example of a sandbox rpg where you can have models of character and give them a position and give them life you can also create a new object putting multiple together and create a transport. Also in this game you have your own player which you can rp with and create with also to use the creations.
Survival horror	A survival horror is basically you have to survive a horror environment.	Slender is a good example of a survival horror in this game you play as from my opinion an overweight female looking for notes attached to trees and walls and other objects losing your breath every 3 seconds after finding the first note you start to get chased by a figure known by Germans as them wood cutter now known as the slender man because of his figure as he gets close your screen becomes static and a high pitch sounds starts to play , even when you complete this game slender gets you, giving you a fright this game has led to its own sequel of slender games.
MMOFPS	A mmofps is a mix between a mmo and a fps this is a good combination of shooting and with large groups .	An example of a mmofps is destiny in this game you are partly 3rd person but mostly 1st in this way your first person in combat and 3rd when you are back at the tower, in combat you can end up in 3rd person but only if you use some special ability’s, the combat is very good in this game and you are really pulled in by most of the story the end in my opinion and some others could be improved, destiny uses the in house engine.
STELTH GAME	A stealth game is a game where you are required to avoid the enemy and not be caught or seen.	Thief is a series of stealth video games in which the player takes the role of Garrett, a master thief in a fantasy/steampunk world resembling a cross between the Late Middle Ages and the Victorian era, with more advanced technologies interspersed
ROUGUE RPG	A rouge game is a game where if you die the game resets and you start from the beginning with nothing as you started like that.	Rogue legacy is a game where you play as a member of a rouge family recreating they home castle by finding gold and gems in a evil castle and when they enter they must die to get the money and leave where you become another member with different features like maybe being colour blind or only seeing in 3d or 2d.
MMORTS	A mmorts is a massive multiplayer real time strategy where you guild and upgrade your base over real time hours and days to attract other players.	Battle nations is a mmorts where you wait in real time for things to build and to upgrade so you can fight others and do missions to fight a large enough ai force that is a tiny bit weaker or a lot  stronger than your force .
Adventure game	An adventure game can sometimes just be you exploring as a character or you could be fighting ai’s in an open world environment.	Overlord is an action adventure game where you play as a overlord over your minions the reds, browns, blues and greens. In this game you explore towns and the areas around them you also fight multiple enemy’s and such.

Games in society

excess playing time

Obsessive gaming can result in high levels but also can effect your social reality, you can become detached from the real world . excessive playing is where you continue to play a game none stop.

this can lead to some people not eating and or drinking and dieing of a heart attack or starvation.

 

 

social isolation

 social isolation is where you disconnect your self from the out side world and stay alone in a room and be alone the only contact to the out side world you have if talking through text and game chat. Social isolation can effect your brain to fear the out doors and not want to be part of normal life and you will not want to meet people.

 

social cost

Gameing can cost your time and money , but it can in some cases make you isolated and become scared of the real world it. Can effect your mental efficacy and your brain may start to just store information on games and that is all this can effect your social life and your learning abailty.

separation from reality

Some gamers become separated from reality this is where you start to believe that canes are true and real and you are not compleatly well sane , this can lead to your maybe thinking that killing some one is fine or that you can fly because you can in a game , or in a more common area you just do to see the real world and you stay away from in the game is the world to you.

 

 

education Benefits

 With all the information given about gaming it can be really good for you , gaming a a virtual world where anything can be simulated so your brain takes the information in like it is really happening , so some games help you because you brain takes the information and stores it, for example if your playing a game about shooting your brain can take in the information and store it , it takes in how you hold it and load and fire it . (I used this example because I have done that  my dad is ex-military and some of the time I'm a better shoot then him and I took to shooting like it was my second nature) 

 

thinking and strategy skill

Like I said in the education benifits games can also effect your think and strategy skills for one , I play strategy games a lot and it keeps my mind sharp and I have to work with multiple units to take a situation and win this also effects how I think my mind will be on one topic then with switch and also my reactions are much faster. 

Future impact

the future impact of gaming is most likely going to be virtual reality , we will be going in to a digital environment as a avatar and experience what they experience, this will be most likely be used to speed learn things and get through school and used for training for jobs creating a digital simulation of what they want you to do and you see how it works out in the sim and them judge your results to see what happens , things like what i have described get to your brain and access your memory and get stuck in like you have really done it in real life.

impact of mainstream development

 

Game development is constantly requiring more advanced hardware, an example of this is the iPhone gyroscope. The gyroscope allows the user to turn their body and the game to react and show from different angles as if you where inside the game and physically looking round. Game development is progressing rapidly as we are now getting 3D equipment in our homes for playing games on and using things this to make the game more immersive to the play to give the feel of actually being there.

Psychological factors.

use of sound, high score listings, competitive games ,peer pressure, fun, educational value ,expectations, leveling

quotes

http://mcgee93.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/impact-on-mainstream-application.html - edited to fit purpose.

Gaming Journal.

Star Wars the old republic (SWTOR) 

SWTOR is a massive multiplier online game (mmo) based around the time of the old republic about 3,500 years before the attack of the clones and the events of the star wars movies ,in this time the republic and the empire are basically in a cold war fighting in the shadows after the treaty of Coruscant set up by the sith empire after the sacking of Coruscant. You can play as multiple classes like bounty hunter , sith worrier , jedi knight and republic trooper these are only 4 of the 8 classes, each class has a spin off class a 'advanced class' for example the imperial agent has the sniper class a full dps unit for damage dealing and the operative where you can build it to be dps or a healing class, each classes story is different and some link to others to give it a bit more depth. SWTOR runs on the hero engine and was developed by BioWare,

it was published by both Lucas arts and electronic arts, it is now a free to play /subscriber game both free to play and subs are treated well for their area in the community.

My personal opinion

I personally play this game quite alot i treat it like most mmos as a pve game but with this one i also liked the pvp and i started rp on this game and found it interesting and fun especially when i hit max level with my main players. For a massive game the developers try their best in my opinion to keep the community happy they may have had to add micro transactions but this dose not ruin the game for me this micro transaction system is only really used to get new gear (this gear has no stats and needs to be modded to have stats so its basically looks to stay with you) and used to get items to go in your player hole ,guild ship or guild stronghold. I have played this game since late beta and have enjoyed it from the very beginning and am still enjoying it the developers are trying to improve a game that to me is amazing and can only get better the pvp has player pvp or starfighter pvp which is amazing especially the starfighter one because it is so big and i haven't seen a mmo implement this to a game before now except maybe swtor's predecessor star wars galaxy's, over all this game is amazing and runs smoothly its a game i don't see myself leaving for good . 

blow is a video of one of the newest things in swtor giving you a look on what it is by a view.

 Elder Scrolls Online (ESO)

 StarDrive.

Stardrive is a single player strategy game based around you choosing a race to play name them chose their history ,culture and habits and then go on to use them to take over the galaxy by the means of trust or destruction (my preferred choice). in this game you research how to build new ships and buildings and you tax your people ,with the taxing you choose the amount of tax by percentage this effects your peoples research and building capability  if your tax is low it increases their research and building but if you do something like 100% tax they can only provide money and start to rebel against you this can lead to the loss of your worlds and a game over (learnt this the hard way), with the research you have trees you go through that increase different areas like there is a branch where you can increase your food capability and you can have all the research options by the end and use the research to make the other factions fear you or trust you . i mentioned the food branch last but that might not be needed because you can make your people able to eat industrial this can make things faster because you focus one thing but it effect build rate too and can lead to your destruction if not balanced.

personal opinion

With stardrive i found it fun but mostly a game i play when i have no internet or i have family over taking all the internet up at points it is a bit jumpy and the frames drop fast but it has its good points its fun in the creation ,you have your choice in that the ships and planets do and you can bombard planets or rain troops on them , i was mostly won over by the bombarding i love making fleets of capital bombers and watching then burn through planet its very enjoyable but not one of my personal top 10 games. 

Overlord.

Overlord , in this game you play as a dead worrier who died killing the last overlord ,after his body is found by the minions (gremlin like creatures) they revive him as their new overlord to take his revenge on those who left him for dead, this new overlords name is never spoken and he is only addressed by 'Overlord' or 'Master'. The minions are all controlled by the Overlord and there are multiple minions who are colored by what they are able to do for example the 'greens' are the assassin and stealth attackers who are immune to poison and love then smell and looks of lush green jungles. 

Game play

the Game play of Overlord is based around using your minions to fight for you or upgrade your gear and make you more deadly and to mix in your Owen power to kill your enemy's. You are able to place your minions in a flag to make it easier to take down your targets. The game centers around simultaneously controlling  the overlord and a army of minions to traverse the 3D game world and defeat some hero's who killed the old Overlord.

personal opinion

when i was playing overlord i had the sense of control over my minions and what i could do with them it was very enjoyable and was a laugh , the humor in the game was funny to me even in the second play through this game if one of my favorites gives you good story its interesting ,funny and makes you feel powerful but its sequel ill talk about soon i believe let it down this will be explained in that's review, all i can really say for this game is i loved it ill play it till i know all the lines and am able to forge the armor in real life (just if i could).