Pre-Production

Pre-Production

What is Pre-Production?

Pre-production is planning before making a product. However this is not just used in games design it is used in many other media production. Examples of media that use pre-production is film, television,  advertising (photo-imaging, cinema, television and print, etc.), games development, internet, radio, press, interactive media and print.

 

Finance

When companies begin to plan making a game they usual come up with a budget so that they know what they can spend and they have a rough idea of what they are going to spend the money on. These types of things may be equipment such as PC's, consoles, software, sound and motion captures, facilities, employees, etc. When making a game transport is important. For instance if you want to sell your game to everyone then you will need to travel all around to advertise your game to everybody involved. Furthermore you may have multiple locations in facilities to travel to, this obviously cost money, so companies need to take that into consideration. If an employee is highly talented at their job, then the company will have to pay that employee an substantial wage in order to maintain them within their company. To gather a crew together to make a game will cost money, in wages, bonuses etc. A real-life example of a company making a profit is Rockstar making GTA 5 for a combined cost of £170 million. This is taking everything into consideration.

Rockstar's GTA 5 in action.

Time

Similar to making a budget in finance, with time you have to make a deadline to when you are going to get your work done by. The reasoning for this is so that everything is done efficiently and everybody is working to get something done by a certain time. When setting a deadline companies would need to consider the availability of equipment, this could be for example when they are using a computer what if that computer breaks down. They would need to consider this to make sure that they don't go over. They would also need to availability of personnel for example if somebody gets ill and is unable to attend the company may take longer to produce something. This would then add to the deadline date. An example of deadline in real-life not working is when GTA was originally supposed to be released in March 2013 but was delayed because of most likely one of the reasons above to September 2013.

GTA 5 front cover.

Personnel

It is very important that when a company employees a team they employee the right amount of people so that the company doesn't get too big or cost too much to run. When employing people the company that is employing has to consider what roles they need to employ. For example they don't need to employ more of something they need, this would cost them way too much which would then go over their budget. When they employee somebody they are looking at the have to consider what skills they have and how they would develop the company to grow accordingly to how they want, to succeed in making their game. Again they would have to consider the availability of the people they are employing, for example if they need some time off they need to have back up of people to replace that person. Finally they would have to take in account the cost of wages of that person so that they don't go over their budget.

Employment

Facilities

A company would need to either hire or buy a property the right property so that the company has the required space needed so that all of their workers/employees can work on their game successfully. At this place of work they would have to have work space that would have PC's, sound and motion captures and many other things such as green screens. So it is important that they buy or hire the right property. As well as making the game, they would also have to produce the game and sell it. So they have to buy or hire the right property in order to produce the game as well, this is mass production of the product that they are producing. Furthermore the accessibility of the property must be good as well so that all the employees can get there easily and quickly so that the product/game can be made successfully. Turn 10 studio's have a facility in where pretty much everything is done in one building.

The Turn 10 studio's.

Contributors

When creating a game you might want a celebrity to promote or be in the game. This would be a well liked celebrity so that the game would get more publicity. This would essentially sell more copies of the game because of the fan base of that celebrity might also buy the game along with people/gamers that generally buy that genre of game frequently. A real-life example of this is Ellen Page when she featured in Beyond Two Souls. Because of her act in the game the game became more known publically and sold more copies than it expected to.

Ellen Page in her sequel of games.

Locations

For a company when choosing a location for a company, the company will need assess whether the location is suitable for everybody at the business. For example, if you picked a location in Scotland and most of their employees lived in London this wouldn't be suitable for everybody to take a journey to Scotland everyday. So the company need to think logically about where they are to locate. The company might want to travel around to take inspiration from locations for their game. For example a British company may travel to America to get inspiration for a game they were creating that was set in America. However this doesn't always go as planned, for example the weather may not be what they want. This then may take longer than planned to capture what they wanted from that location. For example The Crew design the base of their map is the whole of America with real landmarks placed in real places.

 

 

Codes Of Practice And Regulation

Having created a game the company would have to go through stages of signing legal documents so that there is proof of no copyright infringements. Legal codes of practice will cover any injuries to the general public, as long as there was a risk assessment before the injury had taken place. Furthermore completion insurance which is used in independence financial productions. This guarantees the producer will deliver the product to the distributor and the money will then be transferred to the producer from the distributor.

OFCOM
This stands for Office of Communication. This looks after TV, Radio, Mobiles, Postal Service and Telecoms. They protect the public from harmful content shown own on such things as above.

ASA
This stands for Advertising Standards Authority. Their job is to analyze all advertisement before it is shown to the public, to stop any offensive content that could be shown. If the advertisement even receives just on bad complaint the advert pulled out of the publics view and goes into investigation.

ESRB
This stands for Entertainment Software Rating Board. This is the American and Canadian version PEGI. They play and rate all games before they are released to the public to buy to decide on an age rating. An example would be if the game includes bad language it will likely be at least an 12+. Furthermore if a game is violent and contains drugs or sexual content it is most likely going to be an 18+.

PEGI
This stands for Pan European Game Information. This is the European equivalent to ESRB. They rate games in a similar way to ESRB. They decide on a age rating, depending on violence level or graphical content.

References

http://www.examiner.com/article/gta-5-reveals-hot-fix-patch-for-gta-online-money-freezing-exploit
(Wednesday 1 October 2014 | 15:18) - I used a picture posted on this website of GTA.

http://onlyfullgames.com/gta-5-demo-download-pc-gta-5-demo-download-game/
(Wednesday 1 October 2014 | 15:50) - I used a picture posted on this website of the GTA cover.

http://www.jber.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-120217-043.jpg
(Wednesday 1 October 2014 | 15:52) - I used a picture posted on here for a picture illustrating employment.

http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2011/06/07/exclusive-behind-the-scenes-at-turn-10-studios-and-the-making-of-forza-motorsport-4/forza-4-studio-tour-1/index.html
(Wednesday 8 October 2014 | 13:27) - I used a picture posted on this website on the outside of Turn 10 studio's.

http://living-myth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/two-souls-one-face.html
(Wednesday 8 October 2014 | 13:41) - I used a picture posted on the website of the sequel of games Ellen Page is in.

http://www.howoriginal.net/artist_pages/Marita/god_bless_america.htm
(Wednesday 8 October 2014 | 15:02) - I used a picture of New York City posted on this website.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/what-is-ofcom/
(Wednesday 8 October 2014 | 15:12) - I used information about OFCOM off this website.

http://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA.aspx
(Wednesday 8 October 2014 | 15:26) - I used information about ASA off this website.

http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp
(Wednesday 8 October 2014 | 15:33) - I used information about ESRB off this website

http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/33/
(Wednesday 8 October 2014 | 15:42) - I used information about PEGI off this website.

Pre-Production in a Maze Game

What Particular Pre-Production Requirements Will You Need For Wayne's Maze Game?

Software

The software I am going to use for Wayne's Maze game was Game Maker. In Game Maker I am going to develop my initial spites. I am going to further develop my sprites on Photoshop, this is because Photoshop can be more accurate and have a more quality finish to my designs. Furthermore I am going to use Game Maker to create rooms. These rooms are for each level of my game. After my sprites and my rooms are created I am going to use Game Maker to program my game to work. With both Photoshop and Game Maker combined I am going to create a fully working maze game. To create a draft for the maze game I am going to use Paint which is a free program which is pre-installed with Windows. All of this software is currently free for me, however if I was going to make this game professionally I would need to buy these so that the game could be produced with the best possible equipment possible.  

 

Facilities

I am going to create this game in college at South Leicestershire College. At SLC I have access to all of the software I need to create the game for free. If however I was creating this game seriously I would have to hire a facility substantial to my needs in creating my maze game. To hire facilities would cost a lot of money and this would have to added to my budget. Furthermore the software will no longer be free. Therefore I would need to buy the software needed to create my maze game.

 

Time

To make a game productively I will need to make a deadline so that my game doesn't become too long in the making. My estimated time to make the game is about 2-3 weeks. This will include planning, programming, and developing. However if I was making the game professionally I would not set the deadline until a distributor told me when they want the game by. There and then I would decide a set deadline for the game so that the distributor could get the game on time and they could sell the game for me.

 

Crew

I am the only developer in my game development. I am responsible for the graphics, programming, planning and development. The deadline is set on the purpose that I am a sole developer. If I had a few people helping me in certain areas the deadline wouldn't be as long. If I was professionally making the maze game I wouldn't be the sole developer of the game. I would hire people to help me produce the game so that the game could be the best of its ability.

 

Finance

If I created my game at home I would need to set a budget. This is because I would need to buy all of the programs and software needed or order to develop the game. These programs would include Photoshop, Game Maker and a PC capable of creating these games. Adobe Photoshop costs around £330. Game Maker costs around £560. For the PC capable of creating these games would most likely cost over £1000. The budget would probably be around £2000. This would enable me to work at home on making this game so that the deadline could become a lot shorter. Plus I would have more time making things more perfect outside of college.

 

Copyright And Rules And Regulations

 

When I am creating my game if I use an image off of Google I will need to check whether these have been copyrighted. If so I wont be able to use that image as it will be illegal and I could be prosecuted if I did so. However I could ask for permission to use the image and acceptance may be granted. If I was professionally publishing this game for people to pay and play this game I would check if the game meets the rules and regulations for the PEGI rating given, so that it is appropriate for everybody to play. Due to copyright you can not use published songs for sound without permission. Therefore free options are a better solution. For instance Audio Blocks is a website where you can sign and get non-copyrighted sounds so that it is legal. At this moment in I do not need a PEGI rating, however if was creating the game professionally and I sold it for money to people I would need to give it a PEGI rating.

 

 

 

Gaming Genres

Genre Name	Genre Description	Genre Example
FPS	This stands for First Person Shooter. This essentially means you have the first person view of the person you are controlling. With this combined the game is also a shooter.	Call of Duty Black Ops 2 was published in 2012 by Treyarch. The Call of Duty series is well renowned for its multiplayer gameplay. It is a FPS with a more simulated approach of gaming rather than being realistic like EA digital illusions do in there series Battlefield. Call of Duty is aimed at people over the age of 18 although it main fan base is teenagers. The online multiplayer has a system of where the more kills and strategy points you get the more you level up and eventually you are enable to prestige.
Survival Horror	A survival horror is game where it aims to scare the person playing the game. The game usual involves traditional dead, the undead, blood and gore.	DayZ is a mod on Arma but is considered its own separate game. The game was released on December 16, 2013. The game has massive map which is constantly online, or better known as MMO. The basic description of the game is that you are a random character that is generated when you spawn, you basically have to survive when there are a mob of zombies patrolling the map. You have eat, sleep, drink, clothe. So it is a proper survival game. Its main target audience is teenagers aged 16 and onwards.
Racing	A racing game is where it simulates driving a vehicle fast usually around a set track.	Forza 5 is produced by Turn 10. It was released on November 22, 2013. It is a realistic driving game that has a very realistic driving engine. The game partnerships with Top Gear. Top Gear producers Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May all read out descriptions and facts about cars. Along with this Forza 5 have the rights to have the Top Gear track on there as well. Its main target audience is children, any age really just anybody that is into cars. Every track on Forza 5 is digitally produced to perfection.
Open World	An Open World game gives you freedom to explore the world you are in, as completely and thoroughly as you want to, whilst there is a main story to complete as well.	GTA 5 is an example of an Open World game. GTA 5 was published by Rockstar North and developed by Rockstar Games. It was released on September 17, 2013 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. GTA 5 has 3 protagonists that are all playable at any time. Each protagonist has a special ability. In simple detail you have to rob banks in able to get money… and furthermore complete the game. This is an excellent game that you can play at your own freedom, for example you can steal any car you see and you can to any specific locations at any given time.
MMO	This stands for Massive Multiplayer Online. This is a game which is capable of holding a large amount of players simultaneously.	The Crew is game set to be released 14 November 2014. This game is published by Ubisoft and coming out on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The Crew is a racing game based on the whole of America. The game has all of the main cities implemented into the game and furthermore has all of the main attractions in America including the Grand Canyon, Laguna Sega Speedway and many, many more. The map size is 79 real life miles long and will take an age to discover fully. The game is always online and uses only one server for its whole community on each platform. For example Xbox One and PS4 have different servers but there is only one on each.
Vehicle Simulator	This a simulator of driving a vehicle in real-life situations, either just for fun or to learn how that vehicle reacts as you are about to drive it.	Euro Truck Simulator 2 is developed by SCS Software. The game was released in October 19, 2012. The game allows you to be a truck driver in a game. It allows you to complete deliveries all over Europe as realistic as possible. For example you have to fuel up, you can have any damages or you can’t drive erratically and you can speed. The game is aimed at people that are wanting to drive trucks in the near future, but can also be played for fun.
RPG	This stands for Role Playing Games. This is a game which simulates a character in a fictional setting.	Fallout New Vegas was released in October 22, 2010 and was developed by Obsidian Entertainment. The game is an action role-play. In the game you play as a character in a wasteland that has high radiation and is full of creatures that mutated. It is all about survival mixed with quests and mission in order to complete the main story. You can get special attacks using the V.A.T.S system in game. With all of this combined there are many mutated creatures that are hard to defeat and come out at the most horrible and worst moments.
Adventure	An Adventure game is where the player of the game takes the protagonist through an interactive story.	Fable 3 was released on 29 October 2010. It was developed by Lionhead Studios and was published by Microsoft Game Studios.