1. Review Chapter 1
Test Coming Soon!
January 15th - Friday
Study Guide

2. Today Agenda: Objective:
Outline the five Ps that guide the development of video games.
Today:
Study Chapter 1 for test!

3. Remember: Game –vs- Toy
What is a video game?
A game has three parts:
Game environment
Rules
Victory Condition
What is a toy?
Toy do not have all three components.
Puzzle is a toy!

4. Remember: VG Classification Some Definitions!
Gameplay: is what the player does and how he or she interacts with the game while playing it.
Core mechanics: is the computer programming used to enforce the rules.
Genre: is major category of video game gameplay.
Theme: are subcategories of gameplay within a genre.

5. Examples of Genres and Themes
Board Games, Card Games, Game Show
Action
Adventure
Bat and Ball
Crime
Flight
Horror
Platform
Tactical
Educational/Edutainment
Fighting
Martial Arts
Other
Music and Party
Dance
Music
Party Singing
Puzzle
Guessing game
Logic puzzle
Transport puzzle
Word puzzle
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

6. Examples of Genres and Themes (Continued)
Sports
Baseball
Basketball
Bowling
Fishing
Football
Golf
Hockey
Hunting
Racing
Skateboarding
Tennis
Wrestling
Strategy
Turn based
Toys
Al pets
Screen savers
Role Playing (RPG)
Single/
multiplayer
Massive
Shooter
First Person
Side Scrolling
(shoot ‘em)
Third person
Simulation
A-life
Flight
Sim
Tycoon
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

7. Video Game Design Team: is a group of very creative people who bring the idea of a video game into a playable version.
Role
Description
Producer
Supervises game construction to make sure the game in done on time and on budget.
Creative Director
Sets the vision and direction of the design teams. Oversees many game projects at the same time. Checks the progress of each game in design to make sure it fits the concept and will have the quality needed.
Project Manager
AKA: Lead Designer. In charge of a single game and responsible for assembling a team of specialists to get the job done right. Sets schedule, budget, communicates w/team members, oversees on-time for tasks. Communicates w/creative director. Reports progress.
Lead
Assigns tasks and makes sure everything aligns to the design documents of the game. Over design team. Lead artist is in charge of a team of artist. Lead programmer in charge of programmers.
Artist
Creates the visual components of the game, either 2D or 3D artistic elements.
Programmer
Uses computer languages to create game engines, physics engines, and programs to make the game work and react to the input from the player.
Engineer
Sound Engineer/User interface engineer. SE: Creates, edit, mix sounds (background music, voices of characters, player movement. UIE: design custom controls for the player to input information and to get feedback.
Game Writer
Creates the plot, character personalities, backstory, and dialogue for the game. Develops the game manual.

8. Video Game Scope Some definitions:
Life cycle of a video game begins with an idea and ends with the game is no longer being supported.
Triple-A game: is one that generates a large portion of a game studio’s sales. A company may make any where from $100’s thousands to $100’s millions of dollars.
Video Game Publisher: oversees the entire process of bringing the video game to the retail market.
Publisher: Manufactures, markets, and supports each video game, or title, in its library.
To finance your game, you need to pitch your idea for a video game to one of these publishers to see if they will take on your game project!
Some publishers: Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Capsom, and Activision.
(Google them! For more information.)

9. Five P’s of video game publishing
It’s time to pitch your game, what do you need?
For a Publisher to hear you idea you need to a formal sales presentation! ???? YOU NEED TO PLAN AND PREPARE! This will take some time.
Five P’s:
Pitch
Preproduction
Production
Post production
Patch and return distribution

10. Five P’s P’s Documents Needed or Tasks Description Pitch Preproduction
High-concept and
Game-treatment w/brochure.
Use to sell the game idea. Need to get attention quickly.
HC Doc: one-page overview of the basic idea. It’s like a Resume! Need an introduction, body, and conclusion. Answer the questions.
GT Doc: explains the vision of the game in greater detail. Example: BioShock pitch document…search on the website. (17 pages)
Preproduction
Concept elaboration
Pro-typing
Design document
Publisher has agreed to accept your game. Creation stage of the design process. Is the stage of development where all concept and design decisions are made….Need a Design Document! Every thing that needs to be done must be in this document or it will not be included in the video game. (read pages )
Production
Art bible
Technical bible
Game programmed
Start building the game! Artists, programmers, sound engineers and other team members come together to build your game. Gantt charts are created to keep track of the time and tasks.
Post Production
Testing
Refinements (tuning)
Distribution
Includes testing, tuning, and distribution. Alpha version created. Game testers are quality-assurance. Tuning is where the game is polished to perfections. No bugs, no glitches, no pointless activity is the goal. Distribution is decided on how the game is sent to the customer….. Disc, online, app, coin-operated cabinet?
Patch and Return Distribution
Error reports
Bug fixes
Patches
When game does not work it has to be fixed or refunded. Replacement of disc? Fix it? Error reports are developed. Don’t like to refund the customer, let’s fix it!

11. Pitch Document Questions HC doc:
What is the game going to be about (genre type, basic ides)?
Who is going to play this game (audience, age, target market, desired ESRB rating)?
Who is the player, or protagonist, going to be in this game (player role, character type)?
What will the player do in the game (victory condition, obstacles, opponents)?
What will the world look like in the game (settings, levels, backgrounds, perspectives)?
Need introduction, body, conclusion. Just like a essay/paper.
You only get one chance to sell your idea. This is it! You need a great Pitch document.

12. Pitch for GT doc: Remember you are explaining the vision of the game!
Brochure/presentation folder:
This allows you to sell your idea!
Include the following:
Game introduction
Genre and target market
Platform
Game description/plot overview
Concept art or sketches
USP
Legal issues
Reason why your team is the best one to design the game
Activity 1-3! For your brochure!

13. Bugs?
Bug Type
Means? A
Major Problem! The game cannot be released with this bug. B
Big Problem! The game can be released with this bug, but it will receive bad reviews for the error. C
Common problem. Can be fix if time permits, will not delay the release of the game. Easy fixes are done before release. Difficult fixes are not done at this stage. D
Suggested feature. Will not be fix unless there is time.

14. Piracy
Piracy: is the illegal copying or distribution of copyright material such as a video game. Form of theft!
Jailbreak a smartphone: means altering the phone’s operating system to allow greater control over the device.

15. Business Ownership:
In the game industry, there are many of each type of business organization
An indie company is small and considered to be independent
A corporation is a legal entity that limits the personal liabilities of its owners
Corporations are owned by stockholders
Corporations may pay dividends to stockholders

16. Business Ownership: A partnership is owned by two or more people
Partners may share ownership equally or unequally
A limited partner does not take part in running the company
A limited partnership or company limits the personal liability for its owners
A sole proprietorship is owned by a single person

17. Homework:
Study for test on Friday! January 15th.