Concept Generation
I want my game to look and feel like an Overwatch style game.
I came up with 3 different ideas:
–A western-style game wth a futuristic spin on it
Moodboard showing the general look and feel of this idea
–A pirate-style game
Moodboard showing the general look and feel of this idea
–A standard futuristic FPS
In the western-style game, I love the character idea and the concept of a gun shooting piercing energy beams, but it overall resembles Bioshock Infinite a lot so this will not be my final game Idea. In the pirate-style game I really like the idea of a blade on a gun for easier close quarter encounters, but it is pretty niche; I don’t think many people would play my game if this was my final idea. Lastly, the futuristic FPS based in Babel; I love this idea overall. I think I will add the elements I liked from the past ideas to this one, and make it my final game.
My final game will be based in Babel, a super-city of the year 2065. Babel is the only habitable place on planet Earth after the rest of the world was wiped by famine and depleted resources, caused by extreme pollution. Since it’s the only “active” place on Earth, it gets its energy from the PowerGem – a small stone found in the middle of the map. This stone was stolen by the government, that is using it mostly to their advantage for nuclear weapons, and not providing electricity to the rest of the inhabitants of the city. Because of this, people are furious, fighting over a stone just for a pinch of energy. It is your job as a military soldier to take this stone and put it in the the right hands, providing energy for everyone.
(If close enough to the gem, you can absorb some of its energy to have the ability to shoot piercing energy beams from the Optical Maser (gun)).
Audience and Market Research
All the information I have for my game was gathered with primary / desk research, through a questionnaire. From my questionnaire, I now know that my target audience is aged between 16 and 18 years of age, so blood, gore and violence won’t be a major problem. Also, most people said that they play videogames for 10+ hours a week, so my map will have to have to have an engaging flow to maximise its possible playing hours before getting bored. Additionally, the target audience’s favourite game genres are Adventure and Multiplayer First Person Shooter games, so my game will be perfectly suited for my target audience.
From the research I made I can see that PC, Smartphones and PS4 are the main platforms used to develop games for in 2017. Although VR and Xbox are really close, I would plan on releasing my game for PC or Mobile.
This chart shows the percentage of video games sold by genre. As we can see, shooter games are the best selling
This list shows the top grossing games for PC in 2017 (three of which are FPS) 
Shooter games, specifically Arena based first person shooters (like Overwatch and Paladins) sell so well because these games are played in short burst round games that add elements of fun and tactics as well as a challenge. This accompanied by their quick and easy progression systems make these games so popular
According to a news article, first-person shooters specifically are highly addictive and sell well because they create an absorbing experience. Video games are essentially about decision-making, what might be a very simple decision if you have all the time in the world becomes much more attractive and complex when you have to do it split second. The more realistic the game becomes the easier it is to lose your own identity in it. It isn’t just the first-person experience that helps to create flow; it’s also the shooting. This deviation from our regular life, the visceral situations we don’t normally have make first-person shooters particularly compelling. It’s not that we necessarily want to be violent in real life; rather, it’s that we have pent-up emotions and impulses that need to be vented. If we look at it in terms of our evolution, most of us have office jobs. We’re in front of the computer all day. We don’t have to go out and fight a tiger or a bear to find our dinner. But it’s still hardwired in humans. We miss this adrenaline-generating decision-making.
Regarding Level design, to make a good multiplayer FPS level you have to consider:
-Terrain Options
One good way to provide players with interesting choices in a multiplayer FPS map is to give them a variety of terrain options to choose from. (Elements like walls, cover, high ground, and low ground are all examples of these terrain options.) A good multiplayer designer is always thinking of terrain options and trying to engineer them to provide as many good choices for the player as possible.
-Multiple Paths
In single player games, it is often beneficial to lead the player towards the best gameplay experience your game has to offer. Often, this leads to a linear level design (which is, in most cases, best suited to the experience you want to provide). In multiplayer a linear path is rarely beneficial. A good player is constantly varying his route through a level, sometimes to shake off pursuers or sometimes in order to go after desirable weapons or pickups. Either way, it is always advantageous for the player to have a number of paths to get to and from every major area in a multiplayer map. As a general rule, a good multiplayer design should strive to make sure all major areas have at least three ways in and/or out of them.
-Flow
A good multiplayer level designer is constantly thinking of how he wants the players to move globally through a multiplayer map. This level of understanding, called flow, affects everything from pickup placement in a deathmatch map to node placement in a node-capture map.
-Focal Points
Particularly important features of multiplayer maps. Not only do they divide up the players’ interest to many different points on the map, they also provide areas of visual interest. Every well designed map will contain a focal point at the most important point on the map (usually the center) as well as minor focus points in every major area.
-Cover
It’s important in multiplayer that your players not be able to shoot too far ahead of themselves most of the time. Large open spaces should usually be broken up with a lot of full cover. This also allows players to advance through areas without being vulnerable for too long.
Through my research, I have determined that my map will be inversely symmetrical. It will be small to medium scale since it will only support a death match game mode.
It will be made of different areas. The focal point will be the middle of the map, where the energy core can be found. Buildings with stairs and interiors, hills and power generators will be implemented to add cover and terrain options/verticality. There will also always be at least 3 paths to choose from from any point in the map (rule of 3).
Every map should strive to have one major focal point that the whole map is based around. The focal points must serve to add visual interest and to drive players towards a goal; this goal is the energy core, a gem that paired with a weapon, will give the gun the ability to shoot energy beams.
Risk assessment
When developing a videogame there are many possible risks that can effect its popularity and overall income. An example could be trademarked/ copyrighted objects or landmarks that if implemented into a game without consent, may result in a hefty fine. Since I will be making my gun and map completely from scratch (including textures), I will not have any problems with copyright. Other risks could include, not enough planning leading to shortage in people working on the game or lack of funds. A really important risk is not doing enough research beforehand. Developing a game “blind”, not knowing the current and future trends of players can result in the game not selling at all. This is why I generated more than one idea, gathered some research through a questionnaire, and chose the best idea that fit my target audience.
Technical Restraints
Technical restraints when developing a video game means: do I have the technical ability to make my game, or is my idea so crazy that even a big developer company would find it difficult.
In my opinion, the only technical restraint I have at the moment is not enough coding and programming knowledge to implement 3D modeled assets into a game, as well as advanced knowledge of Autodesk Maya, to model numerous tiny animated details on my gun.; but I will learn this as I go as part of this course.
Another technical restraint can be polygon count as well as texture size. If a model has an immense amount of polys, it will take much more time to load (it will need more constant processing) than a model that is low poly with high poly UVs attached to it. The same goes for a high quality texture. If an object in a level can only be seen from really far away, there is no point in making a 8k texture for fine details, it would be more effective to make a mid-to-low quality texture for this object, and focus on others that are much closer to the player for high quality textures.
Legal and Ethical Issues
The main legal and ethical issue when developing a video game is Copyright. Copyright is having the legal right by law for the creator to have free use and distribution of their original work without others claiming the creators work as their own. As I said above, I will be making my gun and map completely from scratch (including textures), and I will conduct intensive research to make sure that my idea is original and creative. This because I will not have any problems with copyright claims.
Giacomo Verri 