Primary & Secondary Audience Research
Primary
For the primary research I have created a survey using Survey Monkey. The questionnaire's purpose is to define the audience tastes and opinions about certain aspects of the game I'm making.The results can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-H5CW668W/
Total number of respondent is 30 (the biggest I had answering one of my surveys so far)
Please click on the images in order to enlarge them.
These two questions are just average ones that appear in most of the surveys. They show me more or less what people were interested to hear about my game or at least wanted to fill up my survey.
I was right predicting that the game may appeal more to teenagers and young adults, as they appear to be the majority of the respondents. The gender to age connection is mixed, the oldest respondent is a male (my dad) and the second oldest is some woman.
From the Q1 I see that the main audience are women, which occupy 2/3 of total respondents. Many men also like the idea of the game, which I know from hearing the individual opinions of my brother's friends.
Q3 Responses Translation:
- "Some greater description of what had happened and what is the game's goal."
- [The person is just correcting my grammar as he/she thought the question is literally about the brief description, instead of rating the story idea]
- "A bit chaotic. It announces itself well, but I'd have to reread several times."
- "Instead of killing I would spare them and they could fill up the witch's army."
- "I think that unicorns as evil and aggressive creatures won't be any good. It's better to change them into other creatures which look less cute..."
- "Sounds cool, but agitates, if there would be both good and bad unicorns etc., then killing of these evil ones would be approached with ease."
Majority of people seem to like the idea for the story, even though I haven't revealed most of it, purely because the question is already very long and some people don't like to read. Only four people (3 females and one male) said they don't like the brief story. I think because of that lack of additional information, even in a form of external link, most of the people were unsure, but game the option 'yes, probably'.
Q4 is kind of a continuation of a Q3, as it asks how they feel about killing the unicorns that are evil. Majority (probably some evil individuals) answered that killing them is a 'good idea', a lot of others said they would prefer the 'spare' option to be done. In a free response someone said to spare them so they can help the witch later on.
---my choice---
I'll still keep with the story I thought of, but when coding I will try to implement two options of killing or sparing, in a similar manner than Undertale. That may take a bit more time but definitely will be a lot more interesting than just killing or just sparing.
Q5 Response Translation:
- "It's hard to tell"
Nearly everyone answered that the pixel art will suit the game, which is good, because I'm unable to create other forms of digital art.
---my choice---
I'll keep to doing pixel art.
Q6 Responses Translation:
- "I would add more skills"
- "I would merge this skill tree and let the player to choose what type of magic (and alongside it attacks) he/she prefers. Rock-paper-scissors appears to be not very complicated and little dependent of a character. Won't prove itself good(?)."
- "Maybe the choice of a bird would give additional bonuses :) You could choose it at the beginning of a game or buy another one. Eg., the longer time of 'scouting' or a ability of 'gathering items' or 'lock picking' instead of a character."
The three last questions were more gameplay-related than the previous ones that talked about the general ideas.
I'm not sure if everyone who answered is a gamer, but half of the respondents said that rock-paper-scissors like combat is good. Another option that was chosen the most (but not as much) is about having a lot of magic types that are weak or strong depending on a creature it is used against (which, basically is more advanced rock-paper-scissors combat). Equally a lot of people also wanted to see the unlockable skill trees.
Q7 allowed to choose as many choices as possible. Every choice was picked more or less the same number of times with an exception of predictable attack patterns and the respawning of enemies. The choices that had the greater advantage are side quests, NPCs and different kinds of items.
The last question regarded the purpose of having a bird sidekick. I myself was unsure on what to implement the bird to do, so having him won't be a disappointment. Two answers had have the equal amount of answers; distracting or attacking the enemies and picking up items that the witch cannot reach. In free options one person gave a slightly detailed option of sending him off to bring items if the player really needs them. Another respondent proposed the option of choosing or buying different birds that have different bonuses.
---my choice---
I think I will make the magic types not much different than the rock-paper-scissors, but instead I will use elements such as fire, air, water and earth. Additionally there will remain one neutral attack type that will be known from the beginning. The player will be allowed to shuffle through the types (that obviously were unlocked and able to use). I will try to implement some skill trees, maybe one at least.
I will make merchant and items (otherwise merchant is of no use), NPC interaction (that comes along the idea of merchant) and possibly side quests. I may also try making levelling up, but I may make it simplified, such as obtaining 5 points that can be added to any skill or new attack.
I still want to make enemy re-spawns, but seeing the responses I may give a spawn limit, so after a certain number of creatures killed/spared, no more will appear (or they will but passive is spared).
I won't make the option of choosing, buying or selling a bird, because in the story the bird is her sole companion, like a family to her and she understands what he says. I may try making it so it moves himself with commands but still can be manually controlled. He'll probably distract enemies, and if attacking then only small creatures. I like the ideas of fetching items (and interacting with few of them) and scouting for a limited time and distance.
Secondary
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
This game has very similar gaming mechanics and style that I want to achieve: it's an RPG platformer with combat and logic puzzles throughout. The game is also a combination of pixellated graphics with cell shaded characters and that works quite well. The main character is a half genie and her golour scheme shares some similarities with mine character. In this particular game she doesn't have her magic, but in others do, eg. changing into an elephant or a monkey.
"Embark on a brand new adventure with Shantae, the hair-whipping belly dancing genie. When she loses her magic, Shantae must team up with her nemesis, the nefarious pirate Risky Boots in order to save Sequin Land from an evil curse. As a pirate, Shantae gains new weapons to advance her quest, slay monsters, battle epic bosses…and hopefully get her magic back in the bargain!" (a quote from website http://store.steampowered.com/app/345820/)
Momodora: Reverie Underthe Moonlight
This game is also a story driven platformer with impact on combat. You play as a female protagonist and deal with the evil forces. It has very pretty graphics of which tiles only show light at the edges and under that is dark (something what I plan to do with my tilesets).
"Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight explores a cursed land in decline. Evil spreads, the dead rise, and corruption reigns. Hope is but a faded memory for all but one, a priestess named Kaho from the village of Lun. An audience with her majesty, the queen, would surely save the land--but time is short and each night darker than the last." (a quote from website http://store.steampowered.com/app/428550/?snr=1_5_9__300)
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Another combat platformer. In this one the main character does everything to know who he is and remember his past. His company is the fairy sword guardian and she helps with attacking enemies when you tell her to.
"As the mysterious warrior, Dust, your action-packed journey will take you from peaceful glades to snowy mountaintops and beyond. At your disposal is the mythical Blade of Ahrah, capable of turning its wielder into an unstoppable force of nature, and the blade's diminutive guardian, Fidget." (a quote from website http://store.steampowered.com/app/236090/?snr=1_5_9__300)
Aegis Defenders
It's an action RPG platformer game. It can be played in co-op as well as single player where you switch through both playable characters in order to help with progression. In this game you explore build and defend yourself from all sorts of enemies. It also has pretty pixellated graphics.
"In this world where control over lost technologies equals power, you play as Bart and his granddaughter Clu as they explore ancient ruins in search of the one thing that can save their village from an encroaching empire - an ancient weapon known as Aegis." (a quote from website http://www.aegisthegame.com/)
Trine
It's an adventure game with small puzzles. You switch through 3 characters in order to complete the game. All three have their own unique abilities, since each of them is of a different proffesion: wizard, knight and thief.
"Trine is set in a fantasy kingdom, which was once beautiful and prosperous, but has since fallen into ruin due to an undead army that attacked the kingdom. Trine starts with three adventurers [...] who simultaneously stumble upon an ancient artifact called the Trine. All three touch the Trine at the same time, which magically fuses all three souls into one body. They each maintain their individual voices & consciousnesses, but can only inhabit the single body one at a time. Luckily, they are able to transform into any one of the three characters at any time they choose." (a quote from website http://www.giantbomb.com/trine/3030-24739/)
"Ori's powers are supplemented by a series of upgrades, which are organised not so much in a skill tree as three distinct branches whose nodes are activated with experience points gained from collectable orbs and defeated enemies." (a quote from magazine, page 118)
"Severed may borrow Guacamelee's colour palette, but its narrative is far darker. The protagonist, Sasha, comes to and finds an arm missing and her parents murdered. Not a good day." (a quote from magazine, page 53)
"<<The original concept was of one long boss fight, but in the end we decided on several long boss fights,>> Thoa tells us. <<Each opponent is formidable, and you'll need to learn and master their attack patterns to beat them. A fight usually goes back and forth between two stages: long-range combat, where you need to weaken the opponent, and close-range combat, where the focus is on sword fighting only, [...]>>." (a quote from magazine, page 17)
"Your horse in the new Zelda looks to be incredibly important, not just as a means of transport, but also carrying items in saddlebags, carrying camping equipment and for helping with attacks." (a quote from magazine, page 30)
Last Guardian: The game has a creature companion called Triko (Toriko). He is a half bird, half cat and behaves mostly like a cat. There isn't much more to it that my mere interest of it being a companion to the main character just like my bird sidekick.
"Toriko is a combination of Tori (bird) and Neko (cat). Toriko is also the Japanese word for prisoner, giving more clues as to its background." (a quote from magazine, page 31)
"We have been introduced to the new boy king, witnessed the usurper to his thrown and met Roland, a new traveller from another world who doesn't belong in this magical reality. Essentially we have a hard reset on the Ni No Kuni universe and a new tale to tell." (a quote from the magazine, page 27)
"Fusing metroidvania-style exploration with brawling mechanics pinched from the likes of Valkyrie Profile, the game casts you as Ajna, a young girl on a globe-trotting journey in search of answered as to how she developed superpowers." (a quote from magazine, page 39)
Research Source Tables
|
|
Websites
|
|
1
|
Accessed on: 10/02/2016
Post Author: Arne
Topic Name: 32/64 Colour Generic Palette
|
|
2
|
Accessed on:
02/03/2016
Page/Topic
Name: The Hallow
|
|
3
|
Accessed on: 02/03/2016
Page Author: D-Pad Studio (probably)
Website’s Name: Owl Boy
|
|
4
|
Date:
08/05/2016
Page Name: Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse
|
|
5
|
Date: 08/05/16
Page Name: Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
|
|
6
|
Date
08/05/16
Page Name: Dust: An Elysian Tail
|
|
7
|
Address http://www.aegisthegame.com/
Date: 08/05/16
Website’s Name: Aegis Defenders
|
|
8
|
Date
08/05/16
Topic Name: Trine
|
|
|
Magazines and Journals
|
|
1
|
Games™
Issue no. 170 / 2016
Title: Ni
No Kunill: Revenant Kingdom
Page(s): 26-27
|
|
2
|
Games™
Issue no.
170 / 2016
Title:
SHOWCASE
Subtitle: Indivisible
Page(s):
38-39
|
|
3
|
Games™
Issue no. 169 / 2016
Title: 10
Things to Expect From The Legend of Zelda
Page(s): 30
|
|
4
|
Games™
Issue no.
169 / 2016
Title: The Making of the Last Guardian’s Triko
Page(s): 31
|
|
5
|
EDGE®
Issue no. #288 / Jan 2016
Title: Crown
Duels
Page(s): 16-17
|
|
6
|
EDGE®
Issue no.
#288 / Jan 2016
Title: Severed
Page(s):
52-53
|
|
7
|
EDGE®
Issue no. #279 / May 2015
Title: Ori
and the Blind Forest
Page(s): 118-119
|
Inspiration
My main inspiration is a part of Terraria: the Hallowed biome in the game, that looks pretty and innocent (with pinks, cyans and rainbows) but the enemies are very dangerous. In Terraria's Hallow the main threads during day are unicorns and pixies, that are similar to fairies but in Terraria a fairy can only be good (since it's practically a follower/lightsource).
More about The Hallow: Official Terraria Wiki's link
Another aspect of the Hallow is that it spreads on all lands (just like in game's Crimson and Corruption biomes) and may overtake literally the entire world if not stopped. But the players have an option of purifying it: first with cheap purification powder and if they can afford it, with powerful clentaminator.
The other inspiration I got from the game Owl Boy. But this time I was rather inspired by the game's artwork: extremely detailed pixellated graphics made out of limited amount of colours. The objects differ from background by having an outline around them. The game is also a platformer so studying the graphics may help me with the perspective on my game.
Some useful links:
http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/1946/how-can-a-gm-quickly-create-interesting-engaging-npcs
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7XV3CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=npc+roles+help&source=bl&ots=IplRu_iNid&sig=bwdp9DwoRdO-ANsOFhUb0uncrwk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiP8NKnnbHLAhWGVBQKHZ_iDGQQ6AEITzAI#v=onepage&q=npc%20roles%20help&f=false
Photo/Imagery References
Pinterest
I used Pinterest for the reference imagery found on internet since it's more efficient and I don't have to worry about carrying the pictures with me as well as saving sources. The imagery on my boards is easily accessible and it tells the place from which it was pinned from.
Board #1 - Unicorn Slayer References - That's just a collection of pictures from similar games, ideas or places I like, so I will have it a little bit easier when creating visual assets for my game. It contains visuals varying from pixel art to real life photos.
Board #2 - Tutorials - This board has tutorials and reference imagery in order to properly draw some parts, for example hair or feet. The difference between it and the first board is that it isn't for ideas of overall visuals but rather help with drawings or pixel art as well as tips for making colour palettes.
Own Photographs Taken
I have taken photographs on my own, quite some time ago where it was early autumn (I just wanted to be more prepared when it came to this unit, additionally autumn is a prettier season than winter). Unfortunately, I can't show them all here since its 466 of them and they occupy over 2 GB of space. I have them all in the folder on E drive as well as a portable hard drive.
The photographs are taken in Eccles, they show buildings and some parts of flora, mostly trees. It is to help me with some exterior visuals later on. I have taken them from different angles, even from platformer-like angle.
Examples:
Colour Palette
When I started making avatars and some HUD elements I used a colour palette taken from the internet website. Along the way I noticed that this palette isn't good, in terms that I can't mix colours that aren't in the same cluster. There was also not enough variations - overall the palette wasn't smart.By smart I mean that there are fewer colours but they can be easily joined and reused. Another thing is that colours were too bright for me (as you can see in bottommost pictures in Task 3).
That's the palette 'failure' I tried to make in week W/B Mon 01/02/2016. I was just cluttering colours thinking about making transitions (some shades and highlights repeat). At some point I just realised I got way too many colours. The reason I want to have fever colours is because they'll fit better together and are much easier to manage. That's another rule for making smart palettes.
When there is a pure black and white, I tried to not use true grey shades, but instead very low saturation purple/navy blue shades. Also the colours overall are warmer but still not bright, which I hope will fit with my artwork. I think I'll still change it if I'll need some other shades or if some shades won't work well enough.
^ Image comparison of previous and new Witch avatars ^
To make the graphics I will use Piskelapp, Pyxel Edit and Graphics Gale, all of them serving different purposes: Piskelapp for making icons or HUD/menu elements, Pyxel Edit for tilesets and maybe buildings, Graphics Gale for animations.
I did slightly alter some colours in my palette so they will all fit better together. That's (hopefully) my final attempt:
I did slightly alter some colours in my palette so they will all fit better together. That's (hopefully) my final attempt:
Sound Related
I will use either Audacity (which I used last year) or FL Studio (12) that was recommended by a friend.
These are the songs that I think will be good references to my melodies:
- Limahl - Never Ending Story opening soundtrack
- Erasure - Always
- Blind Guardian - You’re the Voice (radio edit)
- Koto - Laserdance (only some bits)
- Alphaville - Forever Young
- Depeche Mode - Never Let me Down Again; Just Can’t Get Enough; Policy of Truth; Shake the Disease; People are People; Question of Lust
Fonts
I have found a lot of fonts from the website DaFont [click the name] in the "Pixel, Bitmap" section. The ones I chosen are:
- 8fraktura_rc
- aardvark_cwm_type
- ae_systematic
- alagard
- alicia_marie
- blokus
- bm_neco
- bm_stamp
- celtic_bit
- crazy_creation
- dreamit
- gibberesque
- heinzheinrich
- kuchibue
- litterlover
- microtype
- mini_strzalki
- pixel_love
- pixel_pirate
- pixelpoiiz
- pixelrunes
- po_h_pixels
- primus_script
- sailor_stitch
- sd_auto_pilot
- superscript
- sweet_dreams
Coding Related
As help with coding, I will use the Game Maker All In-depth Guide written by Benjamin Anderson aka HeartBeast on youtube. I requested the book from the library, but they had problems finding and ordering it, so I bought a PDF version instead since it was on 10 dollar sale (around 7 pounds).
I will probably also refer to the instructional videos from youtubers: HeartBeast, Shaun Spalding or Making Games 101.