Research relating to the narrative (29/4/2014)

* Jon recently sent me the idea for the narrative opening which included the following text and story board.

PTB opening:

1. Fade in to family on couch watching TV by the fire (relaxing lounge music).
2. Close shot, lower 45 degree angle into the fire, slowly revealing eyes (intense music build up).
3. The camera backs away from the fire, then the eyes talking in a demonic voice (intense music).
4. (close shot on the family) As the family start to panic as a small cute fire monster comes out with a blank face just standing there staring at the family in front of the fire (medium shot on the fire creature) (quick happy sound as the small creature walks out then silence).
5. (medium shot) The family stare back (silence).
6. (medium shot) The fire creature with a blank face then walks around tipping and breaking objects (no music only the sounds of the fire creatures feet tapping around).

* Since the above closely follows my first idea I decided to add to the original script for that one. Bearing in mind, that he also liked the 1940's / 1950's idea, although due to the modern house featured in the game he suggested that I play around with a narrator that had that era's type of silly over dramatic voice.

Therefore, I looked up some old Pathe news bulletins so as to figure out how to write in such a style correctly, you can see the videos I used below...

 
With the above in mind I adapted my first idea so as to fit the team leader's story board...

New Narrative:

A mum, dad, son and daughter happily sit around the fire place.

Narrator: Ah, this is the Jason family! Happy and cosy in front of their little fire. However, perhaps they should have been more careful and cleaned their chimney, then they could have avoided the flaming terror... FIRE!

Intense music plays as evil looking eyes appear in the fire place.

Narrator: Yes fire! When controlled it can be one of mans' greatest and most valuable resources. However, when not controlled it can become a hindrance, and burn all you love and cherish! 

The family look blankly at the flame as it starts to wander around, tipping things over that then burst into flames.

Narrator: Looks like this little blighter is causing a bit of a ruckus! Still, not to worry, the trusty fire department will be there in a jiffy to put it out! Or at least I hope so, I sure would be annoyed if that was my house burning down.

Harvard Referencing:

• British Pathe (2014) Air News - Fire Prevention Devices (1953). [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEp7exPvn58 (Accessed on: 29/4/2014).
• British Pathe (2014) Dave and Dusty - Camp Fire Issue Title Pathe Pictorial Goes Into The Country (1947). [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXAb62qH0Sg (Accessed on: 29/4/2014).
• British Pathe (2014) Fire Prevention Depends On You AKA Fire Prevention Week In N.S.W. (1967). [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q61014QsNQc (Accessed on: 21/4/2014).

Feedback on my monetisation research (24/4/2014)

Today I showed the work I had accomplished over the holidays. Overall, they really liked my presentation skills and the research and explanations I gave for the monetisation options.
I also showed the example narrative comic, which the art department felt they could easily create quickly and professionally. 

Speaking to the team leader, he had some other ideas in his head for the narrative. Therefore, he said he would read my initial scripts and email me a storyboard of his ideas later as everyone was rather busy today.

I was also able to hear Jon's Computer and Jim's Chainsaw voices which came out great. Therefore, I can not wait to see them featured alongside mine and Adam's in the final game.

Narrative Illustration - Comic Layout (22/4/2014)

Since I came up with the narrative ideas a while back, I decided to do a quick example of what I mean by a comic book layout.

Therefore, I drew the following which is based on the first idea of the family sitting around a fire.

I decided to take the layout from the 'Batman' comic example used in a previous blog post, as I felt it was a good one to use. After all, the frames are stylised in a way, so as to not be boring. More importantly however, there are only a few frames, which means the art department would have less to draw.

This same format would also apply to the other ideas if they are chosen over this first one.

More monetisation options (21/4/2014)

Having been asked some time ago to research monetisation options, I decided to watch an 'Extra Credits'  video based on the subject.
See my notes below.

• Monetisation should be part of the experience, not a separate aspect. However, you should build a great game first, then think of ways to add monetisation.
• We have to come up with a philosophy for the game! e.g. the player has to enjoy spending money on the game, not be forced to / stopped by not doing so, or feel that it is pointless to do so in the first place.
• Things you can buy should be exciting and invoke the same feeling you would get when buying something you really want in a store.
• One interesting example, of something bought alongside a game, was a 'money bomb' in a MMO. The player who bought the bomb couldn't pick up the money themselves, but other players could. Thus the original player / purchaser gets satisfaction through making others happy and as a result other players will perhaps buy the item as well. Therefore, thinking of ways to invoke that feeling of happiness may be a good thing for us to do as well.

I also decided to watch other relevant videos from the same company, which included the following...

Micro-transactions:

• Allow players to earn nearly everything in game through playing exceptionally well. In this way, if they feel positive about the game then they will be more likely to play it (which is important in it self). As a result they will be more likely to spend money in other areas in the game. Also, it is proven that players are more likely to buy more things, if they get past their first purchase. Thus encourage them to do so with useful and relevant transactions.
• NEVER SELL POWER! In other words, don't sell things that drastically shift the balance of the game. Otherwise it can make players feel over powered and not want to come back to your game. However, you can still sell boosts which allow players to earn things more quickly. After all, just because they are completing things quickly, doesn't mean they are breaking the game.  

Collectable Games Part 1 and 2:

• Perhaps have things the player can buy in 'booster packs'. This not only keeps the theme of cards that we have in the game already, but it also makes players excited for the random things they will get from the pack. Also, make the game so that, if they do get the same thing multiple times, it is still worth while or can be used to enhance something else.

Games in Education:

• Games are voluntary, NOT something you should force on players. So, if we can find a means of making playing our game fun and rewarding, despite being educational we can prevent it from being a turn off, and we will be sure to earn customers.

Harvard Referencing:

• Extra Credits (2012) Extra Credits: Microtransations. [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXA559KNopI (Accessed on: 21/4/2014).
• Extra Credits (2013) Extra Credits: Collectable Games (Part 1). [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlrJLIyiWk (Accessed on: 21/4/2014).
• Extra Credits (2013) Extra Credits: Collectable Games (Part 2). [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBIX_A1l1bM (Accessed on: 21/4/2014).
• Extra Credits (2013) Extra Credits: Games in Education. [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HTS2nxpRqM (Accessed on: 21/4/2014).
• Extra Credits (2014) Doing Free to Play Wrong - How Bad Monetization Harms F2P Games - Extra Credits. [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhz9OXy86a0 (Accessed on: 21/4/2014).

New narrative scripts - openings (10/4/2014)

Having come up with four new narrative ideas last week, this week I wrote the scripts for the openings.
Please read the last blog for more information. As for the voices below, we will try and find people that are interested other than those of us who have acted already, so as to give them a chance. However, as I have listed female roles below our male voice actors may have to put on comedic female voices since none of the girls in our group feel comfortable with voice acting and we don't intend to force them to do something they don't want to do. 

Overall, the following can be adapted if necessary or combined with others. They are just meant to be examples we can draw from.  

First idea:

A mum, dad, son and daughter happily sit around the fire place.

Dad: Ha! I knew lighting the fire was a good idea to keep ourselves warm!

Mum: But honey, it looked awfully dusty, should we have made sure to clean it first?

Son: Ahhh, but mum! That would have taken AGES! And it's FREEZING!

Daughter: Yea mum! More heat dad! More heat!

Dad: Ok, ok!

The dad throws a couple of new logs onto the fire. The fire gets bigger and bigger until a pair of evil looking eyes appear. The family all look curiously at it.

Evil fire: You're doomed!

Then, the fire rises higher before emitting a cute little spark/flame.

Cute fire: Hello!

The family all smile at it, finding it adorable.

Family: AHHHH!

Daughter: It's soooo cute!

Son: Can we keep it mum?

Mum: Oh I don't know sweetie... is it dangerous?

Dad: Dangerous? HA! He's fine! Aren't you my little...

Before the dad can finish what he was about to say, the cute little flame/spark suddenly sneezes sparks that start to set the furniture on fire! Causing other mischievous ones to appear and cause 'Gremlin' like havoc. 

Family: AGGGHHH!!!

The family quickly run out of the door as a non gender specific fire fighter bursts through the window with an extinguisher in his hand, putting out the fires inside.

The text 'PUT OUT THE FIRE!' then appears, ending the opening.

Second idea:

The same as above, only with a different ending since the family are seen running outside and calling the fire department themselves.

Cut to the fire fighters chilling inside their station, sleeping, playing hoop / pool etc. Suddenly the fire alarm goes off causing exclamation marks to appear above their heads. 

Fire fighter: Fire fighters! Assemble! 

They all quickly get changed through a dressing montage e.g. hat, jacket, boots and perhaps even underwear before jumping onto a fire truck and speeding along the road to the burning house.

Third idea:

A drunk can be heard shuffling in the dark, even bumping and hurting himself when he finally switches on the kitchen lights. He staggers to the fridge, pulls out some bacon and sets the gas stove alight with a match.

Drunk: Ah man! This is going to taste greeeat!

He happily starts to sizzle the bacon.

Drunk: Now all I need to do is... is...

Suddenly, he falls asleep standing up. As he does so a fire erupts out of the pan and eats his bacon before spreading to other surfaces and causing lots of mischievous flames to appear. The drunk wakes up as a result of all the noise and smoke. 

Drunk: Ah? Wh-whats going on? On no... not again!

The fires then start to poke him with flames as he runs around the house trying to avoid them, screaming drunkenly.

Meanwhile, from outside a fire truck can be seen speeding to his rescue.

Fourth idea:

Done in the cheesy style of a 1940's/50's TV couple, the following use possible fire hazards for their intended uses. 

Husband: Ahh, after a long day's work I think its time for a nice healthy cigarette...

He lights his cigarette with a match as his wife happily enters the room.

Wife: Put your feet up honey, I have the oven on so dinner will be done soon. In the mean time shall I light the fire?

Husband: That sounds like a capital idea! Perhaps we can burn some junk mail whilst we're at it!

Wife: Anything for you sweetie!

The wife nods her head happily, lighting a fire in the fire place before throwing a stack of papers into it nonchalantly. As the smoke rises the fire alarm tries to ring out, only to (cartoon like) die by coughing, like a old man. The husband and wife then raise their drinks for a toast.

Husband and wife: To a happy healthy life!

Suddenly, as the say this all the sources of fire ignite. This causes their fire hazards to ignite as cartoon fires appear and run amok.

Wife: Oh no! Who could have foreseen this!

Husband: I certainly couldn't!

The husband then rolls up his sleeves and pulls out a blanket.

Husband: I shall try and put out the fire myself! Stand back dear...

He throws the blanket over one of the fires which appears to be extinguished, before setting alight the blanket and roaring at him.

Husband: Well... I'm out of ideas!

Wife: Perhaps we should leave this to the professionals honey...

Husband: Good idea! Lets leave post haste!

The two then put on their coats and the husband opens the door.

Husband: After you...

Wife: Thank you. 

As the two leave the fires start to laugh menacingly. Cut to outside as a fire truck speeds to the rescue.

New narrative ideas (3/4/2014)

* First thing, I showed off my ideas to the team leader who really liked them and thought they were fun and creative. In the end however, he decided that he liked the 'Rayman' / 'Gremlins' idea and the comic book layout in which each panel fades into the scene one by one.

Therefore, I decided to adapt this concept and come up with some narrative ideas.

1. The first, the team leader thought of. There could be a family sitting around a fireplace when the fire gets bigger and a pair of evil eyes appear inside it. A voice says something like "You're doomed" before a little flame/spark jumps out. The family are confused, but think it's cute, until it starts setting things a light (possibly by sneezing). The family then run out of the house as a fire fighter bursts through the window, ready to fight the fire. 
2. Similar to the above, only the family call the fire brigade and they rush into action. 
3. Instead of a fire place it's a drunk who tries cooking something, he falls asleep at the stove and therefore starts the fire. Thus it is up to the fire brigade to save him and the house. 
4. Done in the cheesy style of a 1940's/50's TV couple, but not necessarily during the same time because of the electronic fires included in our game. A husband and wife light a stove, burn some papers on a a fire place, light a cigarette etc, all normal things. Suddenly, their fire alarm dies and all the potential fire hazards erupt into their own individual enemy types and begin to reek havoc. Thus the couple get out of the house before calling the fire service for help. 

* Over the holidays I have been asked to write a script for each of these ideas and basic visual ideas for them so that the art department can adapt them. Thus, when I return from Easter the team leader will be able to choose the narrative. Afterwards I can along with the sound department record some new voice acting for the opening and possible ending so as to keep voice acting in our game.

New narrative ideas (28/3/2014)

* Wanting to make sure I was still doing my bit for the project, I decided to talk to the team leader and suggest that we make sure to include an opening and ending as we planned previously, even if it is just one of each.

Jon was ok with this idea and even said that it could now be slightly more quirky since we no longer have a client and the fire information can be put across through the cards instead, provided the ideas are not too silly. 

* The following includes both new and adapted ideas, some being simple so that the art department don't have too much extra work on their hands. Others are a little more complex, but I thought I would share them regardless.

The ideas themselves are as follows...

1: This narrative idea is basically the same as the one we decided we would do, but never got round to e.g. the short mission brief. Only, it would be in the style of a JRPG cut scene or 'Phoenix Wright' game play where the silhouettes talk in front of a background. We could have it that a fire fighter is to the right side of the screen and a large slideshow of fire hazards could be to their left.

2: Following the same narrative idea as above, it would be a parody of 'Call of Duty' since it would include a satellite zooming down on a burning house.
This could be a rather tongue in check style of comedy where the voice acting is played straight, but perhaps the camera zooms in too far on a ant or something, and we see aliens above the planet.

For a reminder of the narrative mentioned above, please read below...

Start:

"Firefighters report! We've just received a call from 13 Pevel road, Lives-ville, the house is on fire. They were trying to fry some chips and left the stove on long enough for the oil to ignite. The fire has already spread drastically as the residents tried fighting it with wet flannels, so you'll need to use both foam and water to put out the flames. Good luck!"  

End:

"Excellent! Not only did you save the family's home, but you also stopped the fire from spreading to others. Well done team!"

Going onto more abstract narratives...

3: A silly animation of the fire being started by an unsuspecting mum or dad at a cooker. The fire then attacks the panicking house and the fires run a mock similar to the film 'Gremlins'.
This would all be in the style of a modern 'Rayman' game animation. Therefore, despite our game including voice acting this idea may just be fun random gibbering so as to get across the playfulness of our game.

4: Finally, a group of fire fighters at a station are relaxing when the alarm sounds off and they rush to their  fire truck. Getting on board, they race through the streets until they come across the burning house.
This idea doesn't necessarily need dialogue and would be in the style of a comic book in which each panel would be black until the scene occurs. Thus this idea is accomplish-able and would only require one A4 page of drawings similar to below. 

* Once one of the above ideas has been chosen, I will then come up with some possible layout ideas and narrative. 

Harvard Referencing:

• Cook, J (2010) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Review (WiiWare). [Online Image] Available at: http://www.gamersdailynews.com/article-2284-Phoenix-Wright-Ace-Attorney-Review-WiiWare.html (Accessed on: 28/3/2014).
• Fire, L (2010) Legendary Comic Book Creator Neal Adams Returns To Batman In 2010. [Online Image] Available at: http://firewireblog.com/2010/04/02/legendary-comic-book-creator-neal-adams-returns-to-batman-in-2010/ (Accessed on: 28/3/2014).
• Gamersyde (Unknown) Galerie Rayman Origins. [Online Image] Available at: http://www.gamersyde.com/pop_images_rayman_origins-16796-3.html
  (Accessed on: 28/3/2014).
• Unknown (2010) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. [Online Image] Available at: http://corenesstech.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/ps3-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2/
  (Accessed on: 28/3/2014).

Monetisation research (27/3/2014)

* After choosing the menu design as a group we all got to listen to the edited versions of our voice acting which turned out fantastic and got a good response from the group. I was very happy with my performance since it was edited to sound echo-y and got a good laugh from the others.

Finally, we prioritised programming to be our main focus so as to have a working game. We then listened to some fantastic tracks for the game and reviewed the great new user interface and level design.

* After the above I then went over ideas with Jon and Ryan before double checking the tutorial.

* Having been asked a while back to research the different methods by which we could include possible monetisation options within our game, I decided to look up some websites and write down their advice.

• Understand your audience!
• Distimo (a market research firm) has stated 'while only four per cent of titles in the iOS App Store feature an in-app purchasing business model, 72% of revenue generated in that market comes from consumers paying for in-app items.'
• Give players plenty of options so as to give them variety. After all, players love choice.
• Michael Schade (CEO of Fishlabs) says “Think of ways to reach out to as many players as possible and how to convert non-paying members of your community into paying members over time,”. “But also think different". He then continues to state “Free-to-play with in-app-purchase might not be an equally successful solution for all developers alike. Before you blindly copy your competitor’s business model, your team should take the time to analyse your IPs and evaluate their chances on the market.”
• Companies that own the sites we potentially publish on will, on average take between 30 to 40% of the revenue made off the games. This isn't a bad percentage as we would still make a reasonable amount. 
• If the player is happy then they are more likely to buy content for the game. Thus, we must make sure they understand the rules of the game and make the game accessible so as not to ruin the user experience and, as a result convince them not to buy from us again.

* Considering the above advice stated, you should understand your audience, I decided to share a Youtube video from 'Extra Credits' on the Facebook page entitled 'Designing for Youth - Making Games for Players Under 14'. I did this so as to get everyone thinking about new ideas and what our target audience would want to play. After all, age can have an enormous impact on the game as, if you fail to cater for your audience then you alienate them. 
You can watch the video itself below...

* Wanting to include narrative in our piece, I will over the weekend write down some new ideas for openings and endings (cut scenes) as we are no longer forced to make them safety focused, especially since we have the fire information cards for that. Therefore, they can be made fun and somewhat silly (within reason). 

Harvard Referencing:

• Extra Credits (2014) Designing for Youth - Making Games for Players Under 14 - Extra Credits. [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdFw8kvHAY8 (Accessed on: 27/3/2014).
• Freeman, W (2011) Beyond free-to-play: The future of game monetisation. Available at: http://www.develop-online.net/analysis/beyond-free-to-play-the-future-of-game-monetisation/0117249 (Accessed on: 27/3/2014).
• McAllister, G (2012) The four essential steps to successful monetisation of free-to-play games. Available at: http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-four-essential-steps-to-successful-monetisation-of-free-to-play-games/#null (Accessed on: 27/3/2014).