Saturday, 19 November 2011

Market Research and Analysis

The App Store

I looked into the top free to download games available on the appstore for iPade and iPhone at the moment in last month's Apps Magazine (www.knowyourapps.com).

I downloaded Tiny Tower which was the top rated free game, and tested out its game play. Its simple graphics give it an instantly recognisable brand image, and its time-dictated managing system gives it a casual feel - yet it does surprisingly demand a lot of your time in order to manage your tower well.

It includes an option to pair your tower with your freinds and so you can create a high-rise city, competing in real time to build the highest and most profitable tower before your friends do!

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/tiny-tower/id422667065?mt=8

I also spent a lot of time looking into casual and more in depth games available for free on the app store. Many of these free games have purchasable items within them - and that is how the developers make their revenue. Games like CK Zombies have a very distinct and professional style, with great 2D visuals for the loading screens and opening introduction, and impressive 3D graphics for the game play.

Their controls system is a lot better than most first person shooters, as developers seem to forget that the iPad is quite cumbersome to hold and aim a gun with. A simple shoot button and free movement of the viewpoint by draggin your finger onscreen allows you to move quickly and precisely which is essential in first person shooters!

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/contract-killer-zombies/id438979179?mt=8

An interesting casual game I have found personally quite entertaining is a Horse Simulation game called MyHorse. Its gameplay is very simple, and you care for your horse by feeding training and grooming it. The game uses mini-games in order for you to complete certain tasks, and then uses timed tasks which require a level or skill or money which the player can schedule. These timed tasks only require you to schedule it and then the rest is done by the game. The thing that kept me coming back to this game was its ultra realistic horse in the game. Natural Motion (http://www.naturalmotion.com/) have captured a horse's intricate characteristics so well that you begin to believe you are tending for a real horse.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/my-horse/id421167112?mt=8


Flash Games


http://www.aorchard.com/content/point-and-click-game-tutorial-flash-as30

After painstakingly piecing together very short, simple animation on flash, it would not work when I played it back. I know that if I had more time I could go back and fix it, but I would like a coherent finished product for the design document. Therefore after attempting to create an interesting item in flash, I will now be doing story boards instead.

However I don't think that doing story boards is a step down. If I can draw well planned insightful story boards then that in itself is a form of animation, and this skill will help me plan ahead for future projects using flash.

The website above is a well written tutorial on how to create a point and click game in flash. I have posted it here so that I may have record of it for future projects as I would like to tackle flash again.


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Robin Silcock

I am a Second Year Games Art and Design student at Norwich University of the Arts. After exploration of a number of roles in my first year, I am now looking to graduate as a 3D Artist with applicable skills in Maya, Mudbox, ZBrush and Photoshop. I understand that my skills in this field are not there yet - but I aim to achieve this goal through consistently working through the programs in my University and Personal Projects. I love to be busy - I have always had a lot of things on my plate since the age of 7 where I successfully balanced school with Ballet, Tap, Horse-Riding, French, Piano and Singing Lessons! In the same fashion, my university schedule is just as hectic and varied; I am a Peer Mentor to first year students, Student Rep for Second Year, and President of the Enterprise Society. Like I said, I love to be busy! I am a Games Hippie - so to speak - I believe that Games if designed and harnessed in the right way, will be able to help solve many of the global issues we have today - even if it starts off in a small way. Just look at the positive effects that Facebook and Twitter have already had... When navigating my blog;
  • Works in Progress - This section is a constantly running account of all my current projects - personal and for university. It will contain reference images and website links and sometimes less than coherent posts, so be prepared!
  • Finished Pieces - This is where you will find my more polished artwork. Looking for help with Maya? Check out the posts tagged "Maya How-To's"