Closing Scene Storyboards

Much like the opening sequence I created these stroyboards as a basic guid as to how the opening sequence of my game will be. I used these to gain a visual knowledge of how the cinematic/opening sequence will be carried out. These were extreemly helpful as up until this point I only had a writed knowledge of how the scene will go so to be able to visualise it with images helped me gain a bettwer understanding of this section in the game. By creating storyboards will save money in the long run as it will help avoid errors in the creation stage, considering someone would be being payed for their time it is better to gain a wider understanding through prep work before hand. It also gives us a chance to ensure it appeals to our target audience on a visual level again before the creation stage.

Opening scene Storyboards

I created these stroyboards as a basic guid as to how the opening sequence of my game will be. I used these to gain a visual knowledge of how the cinematic/opening sequence will be carried out. These were extreemly helpful as up until this point I only had a writed knowledge of how the scene will go so to be able to visualise it with images helped me gain a bettwer understanding of this section in the game. By creating storyboards will save money in the long run as it will help avoid errors in the creation stage, considering someone would be being payed for their time it is better to gain a wider understanding through prep work before hand. It also gives us a chance to ensure it appeals to our target audience on a visual level again before the creation stage.

Treatment for Rogue Spy

Treatment by Karl Turner on Scribd

This is my treatment for my video game. Within this document there is a list of resources needed to I needed when creating the story. I used it to show every resource I used including the the hardwear and software etc. This was helpful as it ensured I had all the nessissary resources I needed to created the game. This was cost effective as it meant all prep work was done and ready meaning everyone could do their job with everything they needed. Again meaning the target audience get the high quality game they are after.

Character Profile

This is my main protagonist called Morty-Kai or MK for short, he is a white male, 6ft3 he will mave a deep voice with a posh british accent. He was told by his peers at work that his parents were dead which he will still think untill the end of the game. He is a spy, as you can see he is dressed in light combat gear enabling him to be manoverable yet protected. He is always optomistic always carrying hope that he will one day get the truth out. Throught the game he will grow as a person by increasing his exclusive skill set which including shooting, dectective skills, surviving by finding resources and living without leaving a trace. He will have his light combat outfit on always alongside a handgun with limited ammo, later in the game he will get more weaponary and expand his inventory.

Character Sketches

These are my 3 character Ideas: MK is the protagonist, Jude is the gardian and Atrox (Character in the middle) id the Antagonist.

Game Planning

Here is my first rough copy of the plot to the game Rogue Spy

Audience Research ~ Game Ideas

Below is a questionnaire I game my target audience alongside three photocopies of my brainstorms of different games.

After reading through the three brain storms, on your first opinion what game idea seems the best and why?





Which game appeals to you most as an action adventure game and why?





Which game do you feel would be the most fun to play and why?





Out of the three games, pick your favourite one. Do you feel as a game it would be successful and why?





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Questionnaire finished, Thank you for your participation and time.

Game Ideas

These are my game ideas in the form of a mind map, the mind maps were very effective for me as it allowed me to quickly jot down all of my ideas, it was a fun and colourful way to prepare yet allowed me to stay focused easily. I thought that mind maps as a whole are easy and fun yet allowing you to manage your time easily.

Market Research Analysis

Overtime I have gathered much research of many different variety's including: Research into existing Products, Competitor analysis and Secondary research. As part of my research into existing products I looked into 5 games and what makes them successful. All 5 of the games are aimed at teenagers, and considering they are some of the hottest games on the market they must be doing something right. Both COD, Assassins Creed and GTA are very violent games however they portray it in different ways: COD is a FPS game meaning the player feels fully submersed in the game and as if it is them shooting others where as GTA and Assassins Creed are most commonly TPS however GTA does now offer a FPS cameral angle. The fact GTA and Assassins Creed is most commonly played in TPS it offers the gamer a different experience and helps them feel submersed in the game as the actions that they are in control of on the screen maybe be very far from what they imagine in real life so being in control of someone else carrying out them actions will help them relate to the game more. Both are extremely successful and both appeal to their target audiences. One way these games appeal to their target audience is representation of the characters; both GTA and COD are very male dominant games in the sense that most if not all the main protagonists are a stereotypical Alfa male character meaning they are strong confident and skilled, this helps them appeal to their target audience as it maybe someone the player relates to or aspires to be like. Assassins Creed and Mirrors edge are more appropriate as they are dressed for the occasions they are at for example Ezio from Assassins Creed has a long coat on and hardly any skin showing meaning he is suited for his role as a assassin making the game more appealing to the target audience as it is more realistic. I conducted market research into existing products, I purposely selected games with the same target audience so I could fully understand their current options and created a game based on the gaps currently in the market, for example I would not look at games marketed at 5-12 year olds as my findings would not be relevant to the game I'm going to create therefore it would be a waste of time. My market research was very reliable as it came directly from me, when carrying out my own research I can make sure I am non-bias by playing all the games in the same conditions for the same length of time, this means my conscience is settled as I know I have solid primary research that I carried out which I can use to compare with the secondary research I found to consolidate and find differences. I could have improved this my then double checking the difference I found when comparing and looking into them in more detail which would mean my data had no flaws what so ever however I do feel as they were quite small it would not have impacted to quality of the game majorly.

Competitor analysis is another from of research I carried out. All three of the games I looked into were from the genre of Action Adventure so it was interesting to see what made them appeal to others. GTA offered many social aspects allowing the players to invite friends into their lobbies and play games such as Team Death Matches (TDM) together, Borderlands 3 offers many interactive features and many different ways the character can travel round the map some more creative than others. Finally Tomb Raider, Borderlands and GTA are all extremely interactive games which I feel is key to appealing to the target audience especially within the genre of action adventure. Much like my current market research I played the games myself ensuring I had a set of non-bias results leaving me with good data that I could use to compare to others again making this research very reliable. When carrying this research out again next time I will look at more games of the same genre making my results a lot broader so I can find more similarities I can include in my game.

Secondary research is looking into other peoples research that they have already conducted, it allows me to gather an opinion aside from my own research. With secondary research I can have a point of reference to compare my research to to find similarities and differences. A book that I looked at was "Games and Narrative" from this I looked at the structure of the game and the methodology used when playing it. This will help me plan my game in a neat and organised structure however, I could have improved this by carrying out some more audience research before planning to see if they preferred this structure.  Through my research reliability is key, Secondary research is not as reliable as primary research I conducted as I have no way of showing they took the same precautions as I did meaning it could have been done with a lack of attention, while ensuring my primary research was as reliable as I could make it there could still be room for improvement by checking the source I got it from was a trusted and well known blogger or web page creator for example. I feel I could have improved my secondary research by getting more sources as a whole and looking into weather they contain many similarities or differences, I did not do this, this time round due to time limitations.

Considering Research

Focus Interviews

These are my interviews as part of my audience research. Here I have interviewed 3 people about their personal gaming opinions in the hope to widening my knowledge of the feild and what people want. This is another method I am using to find out what people like about games so I can make my games as good as possible.

Audience Research Analysis

I recently carried out some audience research to gain a better knowledge of my target audience and what they like.10 males and 2 females answered my questionnaire, they were all aged in the higher spectrum of teenagers. I also created 4 vox pops of people within my target audience and 3 interviews.

From my research I have discovered that, the majority of people within my target audience enjoy listening to music, of the people who listened to music pop was the most preferred genre. This shows me that they are young people who like to keep up to trend with whats modern, while being around for a long time pop music dominates the industry and I feel the fact it is the most preferred genre among those who listen to music is very important and shows there is a large market.

Action adventure games was the most popular genre of game with Grand Theft Auto V being the most frequently played by the people I researched into. The fact GTA V was most frequently played among all the gamers shows I must create a versatile game such as GTA leaving the player with a lot of control over the game and what they do.

9 of the 12 people who took the questionnaire prefer complex storylines and storyline was voted the most important aspect when looking for an action adventure game. This tells me that my target audience look for games with good and complex storylines making it a feature I must focus on in great detail to ensure I provide my target audience with what they want. I will achieve this by allowing myself the necessary amount of time when planning.

2/3 of people who took the questionnaire said that social elements of gaming was fun, this means while creating a complex storyline I must also find a way to include many social elements such as joint missions to ensure my target audience have many more reasons to play the game and ensure my game is the one of choice over others. By creating a very social game I will be bringing more people together.

While some found modern action adventure games sexist or male dominant the majority vote was people found them not to be in addition, 2/3 of people who took the questionnaire has no preference to the sex of the character meaning when it came to characterisation my canvas is quite black allowing me to be accordingly creative. The target audience would also prefer the character to be resourceful of the materials around them meaning when creating my game things like weapons or materials will not just be given to then throughout the game.

Unlike the sex of characters when deciding between environments games are set in it was almost a clean sweep for realistic environments. To ensure I give my target audience what they prefer the game will be set in a realistic environment, that means it will be quite familiar to one they may be use to seeing most days such as the city of London.

Finally, there was only one major disadvantage that everyone i researched into found a major people with modern video games which was price meaning, my game will be reasonably priced ensure I can make as many people as happy and satisfied with my game that there could be.  

Audience Research ~ Vov Pops

These are the vox pops I have created when gathering information to help me prepare for the creation of my script. I feel that these were one of if not the most useful tasks to carry out when preparing. It was very direct information I was receiving straight out of my target audiences mouth and seeing the emotions on their faces when speaking about certain things really helped me feel how they did making vox pops extremely useful.

Questionaire Charts

Secondary Research - Storytelling, internet and books

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How Video Games Have Become The Perfect Storytelling Medium

- See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84016/20150914/how-video-games-have-become-the-perfect-storytelling-medium.htm#sthash.pIIlWuLK.dpuf

How Video Games Have Become The Perfect Storytelling Medium


Storytelling in video games has always been a very common match, early 1990's games such as Phantasmagoria and 11th Hour as living evedence of storytelling in video games. Tex Murphy was one of if not the first games that passed the decision making over to the player which would then change the outcome of the game, games such as The Pandora Directive even had multiple endings which set the ball rolling. Wadjet Eye Games founder Dave Gilbert says the fact that gaming puts you in the story leaving you with controll of the direction the game goes is why game is such a powerful medium of storytelling. From was this piece of research I have found that an effective story to be portrayed through game the player must be able to submerse themselves withing the game, yo recreate this in my game I will be ensuring there are goals the player can work towards and the characters are fully customisable meaning the player can really connect to the character and be motivated and determin to work throught the levels and complete the game.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84016/20150914/how-video-games-have-become-the-perfect-storytelling-medium.htm

Video game storytelling: The real problems and the real solutions

The essence of storytelling in video games is putting the player in someone elses shoes, it is likley the shoes belong to someone the player would aspire to be and carry out actions the player would never dream of doing in real life but deep down the player wishes they were the character which is why the market is so big and to put it simply this is what games do. It is only in recent times that story telling in video games has really branched out and and formed its own shell. Many big companies such as Rockstar Games have alot of pressure to pump out game after game, “Sometimes we find a recipe that really works, sometimes it’s easier to just stick to the recipe and make money out of it.” From this I have realised that by creating a game, while being realistic the game must also have access to paths the player would not come across in real life, opportunities they would never be given and chances they probably would never take. Within reason the game must allow the player to be transported to a whole new world with different circumstances, considereing I am not creating a franchise simply just one game I will have to think about successfull games and  what features make them as successfull as they are so I can recreate them with my own twist. The character I will create has to be someone that the player would aspire to be weather that be a male or female, the character will have to be customisable to ensure the player feels a connection between themselves and the character also making the character the players creation likley to be someone they would like to be like.  

 http://www.gamesradar.com/real-problems-video-game-storytelling-and-real-solutions/


‘Games and Narrative’  by Diane Carr in Computer Games: Text, Narrative and Play edited by Diane Carr, David Buckingham, Andrew Burn and Gareth Schott

This secondary research is probably the least reliable out of all the research I carried out. This is because although the websites and articles were legit I did not write the information therefore cannot be certain of its reliability while the do seem trustworthy. Secondary research is very important as it allows me to enhance my knowledge of the area and also develop my own opinion through the research of others, I found this extreemly beneficial as it let me have a pre conceived idea of specific knowledge witin video games which will help me throught the creation stage. 

Here is more secondary research I carried out, this one from a book. I read through and highlighted crucial information. I feel the source itself was quite reliable however the information did not link solely to action adventure games however the strategy found in the game did help write my story. overall this source was rather reliable.

Of course, this isn't a new thing: throughout the history of video games, developers have used video games for telling stories: in fact, with the old point-and-click adventures of the 1990s, storytelling was a necessity to motivate players to continue playing the game. Classics like the Gabriel Knight series, Phantasmagoria and 11th Hour had stories that were integral to gameplay: those little things that made players want to complete every puzzle and uncover every mystery and find out exactly how it all plays out and ends.

One of the first point-and-click adventure games to offer choices with consequences was the Tex Murphy series: the fourth game in the series, The Pandora Directive, released in 1996, even offered different endings, depending on which choice you made in the game.

So what is it about video games that makes them such good storytelling devices?

"Video games achieve something that other forms of storytelling just can't," says Dave Gilbert, founder of Wadjet Eye Games, the producers behind Technobabylon and the Blackwell series. "They put you IN the experience. You are making the events happen, or the events are happening to you. It's not easy to pull off, but when it's done right there is no experience like it."

- See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84016/20150914/how-video-games-have-become-the-perfect-storytelling-medium.htm#sthash.3Xp4ocB1.dpuf

Of course, this isn't a new thing: throughout the history of video games, developers have used video games for telling stories: in fact, with the old point-and-click adventures of the 1990s, storytelling was a necessity to motivate players to continue playing the game. Classics like the Gabriel Knight series, Phantasmagoria and 11th Hour had stories that were integral to gameplay: those little things that made players want to complete every puzzle and uncover every mystery and find out exactly how it all plays out and ends.

One of the first point-and-click adventure games to offer choices with consequences was the Tex Murphy series: the fourth game in the series, The Pandora Directive, released in 1996, even offered different endings, depending on which choice you made in the game.

So what is it about video games that makes them such good storytelling devices?

"Video games achieve something that other forms of storytelling just can't," says Dave Gilbert, founder of Wadjet Eye Games, the producers behind Technobabylon and the Blackwell series. "They put you IN the experience. You are making the events happen, or the events are happening to you. It's not easy to pull off, but when it's done right there is no experience like it."

- See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84016/20150914/how-video-games-have-become-the-perfect-storytelling-medium.htm#sthash.3Xp4ocB1.dpuf

Of course, this isn't a new thing: throughout the history of video games, developers have used video games for telling stories: in fact, with the old point-and-click adventures of the 1990s, storytelling was a necessity to motivate players to continue playing the game. Classics like the Gabriel Knight series, Phantasmagoria and 11th Hour had stories that were integral to gameplay: those little things that made players want to complete every puzzle and uncover every mystery and find out exactly how it all plays out and ends.

One of the first point-and-click adventure games to offer choices with consequences was the Tex Murphy series: the fourth game in the series, The Pandora Directive, released in 1996, even offered different endings, depending on which choice you made in the game.

So what is it about video games that makes them such good storytelling devices?

"Video games achieve something that other forms of storytelling just can't," says Dave Gilbert, founder of Wadjet Eye Games, the producers behind Technobabylon and the Blackwell series. "They put you IN the experience. You are making the events happen, or the events are happening to you. It's not easy to pull off, but when it's done right there is no experience like it."

- See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84016/20150914/how-video-games-have-become-the-perfect-storytelling-medium.htm#sthash.3Xp4ocB1.dpuf

Of course, this isn't a new thing: throughout the history of video games, developers have used video games for telling stories: in fact, with the old point-and-click adventures of the 1990s, storytelling was a necessity to motivate players to continue playing the game. Classics like the Gabriel Knight series, Phantasmagoria and 11th Hour had stories that were integral to gameplay: those little things that made players want to complete every puzzle and uncover every mystery and find out exactly how it all plays out and ends.

One of the first point-and-click adventure games to offer choices with consequences was the Tex Murphy series: the fourth game in the series, The Pandora Directive, released in 1996, even offered different endings, depending on which choice you made in the game.

So what is it about video games that makes them such good storytelling devices?

"Video games achieve something that other forms of storytelling just can't," says Dave Gilbert, founder of Wadjet Eye Games, the producers behind Technobabylon and the Blackwell series. "They put you IN the experience. You are making the events happen, or the events are happening to you. It's not easy to pull off, but when it's done right there is no experience like it."

- See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84016/20150914/how-video-games-have-become-the-perfect-storytelling-medium.htm#sthash.3Xp4ocB1.dpuf

Of course, this isn't a new thing: throughout the history of video games, developers have used video games for telling stories: in fact, with the old point-and-click adventures of the 1990s, storytelling was a necessity to motivate players to continue playing the game. Classics like the Gabriel Knight series, Phantasmagoria and 11th Hour had stories that were integral to gameplay: those little things that made players want to complete every puzzle and uncover every mystery and find out exactly how it all plays out and ends.

One of the first point-and-click adventure games to offer choices with consequences was the Tex Murphy series: the fourth game in the series, The Pandora Directive, released in 1996, even offered different endings, depending on which choice you made in the game.

So what is it about video games that makes them such good storytelling devices?

"Video games achieve something that other forms of storytelling just can't," says Dave Gilbert, founder of Wadjet Eye Games, the producers behind Technobabylon and the Blackwell series. "They put you IN the experience. You are making the events happen, or the events are happening to you. It's not easy to pull off, but when it's done right there is no experience like it."

- See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84016/20150914/how-video-games-have-become-the-perfect-storytelling-medium.htm#sthash.3Xp4ocB1.dpuf

Competitor Analysis

This is some game footage from GTA 5, it shows multiple screen shots of players fulfilling activates at various points within the game. The top image shows two players mid way through a mission. here we can see they are both well equipped with weapons, there is blood on the floor and they are running, there are also big objects they can hide behind and other players on the map, this shows the action in this action and adventure game. The fact they have weapons and the layout of the map looks like this suggests they are probably in a game mode within the game possibly a team death match, this is very interactive as it relies on the players thought processes and actions to determine the outcome.  

This is an online team deathmatch where the players are playing against each other to get the most kills on the opposing team determining the winner with the highest score. This is great multiplayer features I would like to include in my game.

This is a mission within story mode, as you can see the character Michael is involved in heavy combat. I very much like the setting in this location, I will try to incorporated a dirty abandon building in my game.

This is an online heist, the players are parachuting onto a boat. I very much like the freedom of being able to do mostly whatever you want whenever you want especially something adventurous as skydiving, I will try to make many activities as accessible in my game.

These two images were taken from general gameplay, the character franklin is aiming a gun at cervillians in the game. This is very odd to do when playing as in real life this would be illegal, this added an element of excitement when playing and made me want to play on, I will try and incorporate this in my game.

This was another inamge taken within a task online, as you can see a player is dangling from the areoplane wing. Again this is more action that wouldn't take place in real life so brings that element of excitement, I would like to add features like this into my game.

Borderlands 3 is an action, role-playing, first-person shooter video game set in a space western/science fantasy location. The objective of the game is to travel to a different planet to the steal their vault. The player must complete mini quests and adventures before completing the game. This games is very interactive as you can see, the player is in control of 3 characters, the player must also control where the character moves and what weapons they use. As you can see from the images below there are many ways for the character to travel around the map again meaning the choice of travel the character uses is dependant on the players input, another interactive feature of this game.

I like the look of this gun, it is well suited to its environment, I will ensure all assets in my games do this. I also like the abnormal colouring however, this would not suit the style of my game.

I very much like the aiming style here as it still gives you a good view of your surroundings while aiming. I would like to incorporate a feature like this into my game to make it easier for the player.

I find the lasers here very appealing and think my target audience, on some level i would like to include these but maybe laser sights to keep it realistic.

All of these images were taken at different stages of general combat within borderlands. While some features were very appealing to me I feel the combat style is very un realistic and therefore, would not include it in my game.

Tomb Raider is another action adventure game, the main protagonist is Lara Croft. She must navigate through unfamiliar environments to get the treasure hidden somewhere within the game. There are many moves such as running, climbing, jumping and swinging which she must perform to get thought the environments, all of these are controlled by the player much like all the other games I have researched. Overall I have found that action adventure games are very dependant on the player when it comes to the movements and actions of the character, I feel this genre in particular relies on a lot of player interaction to achieve objectives.

I like the rustic appeal in this shot of the game, I think it is realistic and the hanging debris brings the element of outside into the cave to show the player is not detached. I also like the low level lighting showing they are not relying on electricity, I would like to try and include this in my game, maybe in the derelict building I spoke about from GTA.

I especially like the subtitles here, the yellow really makes them standout. I will include subtitles. When text appears on the screen I will ensure it pops out as much as this so the player can see it clearly.

All of the colours like in and I especially the subtle hints of red every now and then. I will try and match colours subtlety like this.

All these images were taken from a mission in the game Tomb Raider, as you can see she is using a fire torch so she can see, there is a lot of action in a cave with water, fire and a lot of debris to use and avoid.

Here is my competitor analysis, here explains games within the action adventure, much like the research into existing products, I played the game then analysed them. As far as research goes i find this reliable as it came from me first hand after I played them. This research would be more reliable if I had a team that condcuted it as it would have elimanted any personal bias from myself. I very much like the online features seen in GTA's online missions, I will try and incorporate this into my game. I also like the dirty unclean look from tomb raiders cave, at some point I will make sure there is a location in my game with low lighting and scattered debris to bring some erie excitement to the game. Finally, I like the aiming styles when looking down the guns from borderlands, I will try and incorporate this into my game.The benefits of this kind of research is that it allows me to see two things: 1) What my competitors are doing so that I can see what they do well and use that for inspiration. 2) I can look for holes in their products and think of ways to out do them.