Sunday, 6 November 2016

Learning Proposal Part 1

Posting the version 1 of my learning proposal. Can anyone think of ways of improving it or areas I could explore?

Over the next few weeks i'm going to be doing mostly this research and a bit of asset creation when I decide to have a break.

How effective can being an individual
developer be?



                                                                       
This project will be used to explore the methods used to create video games as an individual developer and explore the benefits or pitfalls that can occur in this style of development. Ideally these methods will be used to create a full game within the next year.

I believe this project will be useful to see how the limits of being an Individual developer can impact the methods used in asset creation, design work and project management. It will also explore what is currently happening in an evolving industry where smaller developers are becoming common again and analyse why this is happening. Also, it will examine what decisions popular Indie games use to make their games stand out in the currently over-saturated marketplace.

The game itself will encompass a large use of 3D, mostly in areas that I believe I am weakest at and be used to improve my design and programming knowledge. It will incorporate knowledge I gain from the research, past experiences I’ve had working within a small company which fell into a lot of pitfalls and failed to create a game. Finally, I’ll use the experiences of the producers in the company I’m currently working for and what pitfalls they have had during the production of their first game as a startup company.



Aims and Objectives
  • To explore methods of project management used for laying down a game project.
    • To create a good schedule for the creation of the game.
    • To gain an understanding in how to plan effectively.
    • To understand and explain methods of planning and the advantages or disadvantages of each.
  • Investigate the current state of the indie marketplace.
    • Analyse why indie development has resurged in recent years.
    • Explore the advantages and pitfalls involved with being an indie developer.
    • Use the knowledge gained to aid in game creation and avoid pitfalls.
  • Analyse methods of gameplay and level design.
    • To create a functional game with good fundamental design.
    • To learn how to create fun and interesting levels.
    • Explore examples of key design aspects that distinguish characters in a game.
    • Explore how additional elements can improve a player’s perception of a game.
  • Investigate how art style can influence a game.
    • Investigate how successful indie games use art style and why they choose it.
    • Analyse old games and see if the use of art style can be related to current trends.
    • Use the knowledge found to influence how I go about creating an effective art style for my own game.

The final outcome of the project is to have a functioning game demo with some variety in level and gameplay design. Ideally this would be a minimum of;
·        A level in 2 gameplay styles
·        Fully functional gameplay in both styles
·        Basic character customisation

·        A small variety of enemies

No comments:

Post a Comment