Our group tried as many different primary and secondary research methods that we were familiar and comfortable with, and used them to collect data fro our first game as a team, “Phantom Fiesta”. Many of these worked well, however some didn't work as efficiently and ended up wasting time we could’ve spent doing other, more productive things.
-One of the methods we used was playing games first hand, and taking notes on the gameplay, mechanics, style, and audience marketing. Despite it being very helpful in showing us what designs and mechanics worked together in existing games, we found it to be unhelpful when trying to establish where there was a gap in the market. All this method did was show what was successful in the already blooming market, and not what was being demanded.
-Another method we used was printed surveys, handed out to the parents and siblings of children in our demographic. We printed 30 copies, and we found this to be a drawback as we were very limited on how much information we could collect and missed an opportunity for more accurate results. On the other hand, this was very successful as not only did it gather helpful and appropriate research, but it also spread the word of an upcoming game which caters to a niche market. These surveys also helped us get research directly from our market rather than getting a widespread of irrelevant information.
-As a team, we also tried online surveys where we used the same survey questions as our paper surveys, but distributed them digitally rather than handing out physical copies. This was very helpful as people were more willing to fill out an online survey as they take less time and effort than physical surveys, also we got a more widespread mix of answers as this survey was available to many more different groups of people online, meaning we got more opinions on if our game was suitable or not. However, many of our results were ruined as people called “trolls” online took our survey and abused it, giving non-serious answers and wasting time we could’ve spent developing our game, instead sifting through the responses for the real results.
-Finally, we looked at websites such as Wikipedia and the Google Play store. However, we knew we could not rely fully on these results as many websites can be easily manipulated and the sources changed, making them unreliable and difficult to reference later. Despite this, there was a lot of very useful, reliable websites and tutorials on many different topics.
Next time I get given a task such as this one, I would prefer to try different methods of resource, such as magazines like Wired, books, YouTube tutorials, forums/polls, and maybe even documentaries on the subject as there are many different ways to learn and many different opinions. To gain the best knowledge, I must learn how to use a multitude of these to get the most varied and accurate research.
Constraints I had to work with:
I came across many different obstacles throughout this term and had to overcome them quickly as I was working within a deadline. Many of these limited the way we wanted to conduct research, which made us think of new ways of collecting information. A few of these were resources, accessibility, and time constraints. We struggled with different resources due to the lack of available internet in all of our classrooms, however we could combat this buy connecting to the college wifi, creating a hotspot and working from mobile devices, or pre downloading things to do in that class. This wasn’t ideal, but it did work when the situation wouldn’t change throughout the term. We also struggled with accessibility, meaning that there were certain forms of research we wanted to do such as focus groups, but couldn't do due to us not having the proper forms, or time to complete the research before our presentation deadline. This was a problem, but we quickly replaced it with a different form of analysis which was just as, if not more helpful than our original plan. This was a shame however as we took so long to buy in the resources and print relevant questionnaires but it never got used, however I believe that we plan to use this idea of research in a later project in some different schools. Finally, I personally struggled with time constraints due to my own error of never having to work to such a strict deadline before. I combatted this by taking a lot of time out at home and continuing my process there where I could be most creative and productive. I also found that it is most efficient to do non-wifi reliant tasks on my bus journey to and from college, utilising my time as I found that my scheduling wouldn't work due to sickness and family events.
How did my research develop my ideas?
I found that my research changed many of the ideas that I came up with to make them more age appropriate and suitable for our demographic, but I found that my findings changed my art style and design choices the most for this task. Mostly, the study of the Scooby Doo franchise helped me with this as it helped me find what clothing, colour choices, and personality traits were appropriate and understandable by our target market as I had no foreknowledge of how to make this game child friendly. This research also helped me keep the art style and character development points age-appropriate, yet still relevant to the genre of dark fantasy and horror. Looking at Google Play store reviews also helped me adapt the way I wrote my story concept and the way my characters were drawn due to parents preferring it that games had a pure and educational core message, but not minding particularly which genre or theme its portrayed through, meaning that if we made our game have a positive message like healthy eating, we could be more liberal on the design aspects of the overall finished product.
Practical Work and Personal Growth:-
What techniques did we decide to use as a group to communicate with our audience?
With the choice of design, we settled on a chibi, childish, and rounded art style to convey the creepy-cute, childish horror themes. We wanted to go for a creepy vibe, without it becoming too scary to cater to our young demographic. We chose a mix of bright, eye-catching colours and the darker, creepier colours with the carnival inspired background to keep the game within the gothic genre yet keeping it safe for the age range. We chose colours we believed to be unisex for the majority of our background colours and main character designs. We used colours like violet and yellow to highlight our backgrounds as they blended in well and had no masculine or feminine ties, fitting our audience well.
When it comes to the items and gems we used as collectables, the ideas of gems is very easily monetised as an idea from a young age. The connotation of twinkling gems is widely known as currency and fortune, easily understood by a younger demographic. The idea of cut gems instead of coins shows that the value is much higher than usual. The multi-coloured gems match each level and each NPC, making the mechanic of our game obvious from the beginning.
As a team, we decided to have a very simple scoring system because it would be easy to be understand and it would also be a simple way to show level progression as the amount of points needed to progress would be visible in the corner. For every gem collected, +2 points, for every item dropped its -1, and if the player loses 3 items, the game is over. We kept the mechanic simple to make it easily understood and not complicated to make our game easily replayable and enjoyable. The complexity is still challenging for 7-11, but understandable.
How effectively did our app appeal to our audience?
As a team, we feel like our game has catered very well to our demographic as our main character is androgynous and very young, dressed in a gender neutral yellow raincoat. I think that this design choice was good as it very literally shows our audience of both genders aged 7-11. We made sure our game wasn't too scary by giving the player a cute ghostly companion to accompany them through the different levels. He has rounded features and a kind way of speaking to the player, showing that he is friendly.
What challenges did you come across and how did you overcome them?
Personally, I found many aspects of this difficult as I had not encountered many of the programs we were told we had to use, such as illustrator and flash. I overcame this by drawing my art on paper, scanning it in and tracing it in illustrator as I couldn’t do any detailed original art without a drawing tablet. This was also made easier when I invested in an IPad Pro, meaning that I could draw in my preferred way, meaning that I could produce the assets faster and with less stress. I also struggled with understanding how to use Flash properly as I am alienated with the software, I am overcoming this currently by watching tutorials on how to code and animate in Flash effectively, meaning that the program doesn't feel as alien.
As a team, we struggled we all struggled with Flash and making our big idea fit with the simple actions we knew how to do. This meant that we had to compromise and cut down our story as our original plan was too complex.
What skills have I developed during this project?
I feel like I have learnt so much about digital art in the terms of original work as before this course I had only ever either traced, or worked traditionally on paper. I have learnt how to translate a scanned piece of art into illustrator, and how to make working assets for a flash end screen animation. I have also learnt a simple understanding of Adobe Flash, much so that I can code a button and a bouncing ball animation using motion tweens. I have learnt the basics of photoshop and I am now able to create my own professional looking logo.
I also feel like I have personally improved the way I work in a team due to how we have begun to organise ourselves now that we know each others strengths and weaknesses. This means that we can now work effectively as a team, compared to us being very awkward in the first few weeks of knowing each other.
Furthermore, I feel like I have learnt how to meet deadlines effectively and follow a schedule I have created at the start of the project. I also have learnt how to work efficiently rather than being a perfectionist about everything I create.
What area do I need to develop further over the upcoming projects?
I need to develop my digital production skills much further so that they are the same level as my artwork, meaning that my games will be of a higher quality as my games at the moment have a high art skill yet a low production skill as I am still learning how to use gamemaker and construct effectively. I am also prioritising how to write scripts quickly and how to make them captivating as I feel my scripts at the moment take too long and are very flat.
