Midterms

We pitched our game to Emil and the previous team from last semester.  It went a lot better than expected.  The main concern was that our numbers were shit, so we plan to redo our numbers to make them more accurate.  We also have to rearrange our presentation to talk about the game more than what we did.  One of the audience pointed out that he didn't know that the game was a puzzle platformer.

Emil did say that we had beautiful art, so I'm going to show that off more.

CSG 110 Part 7: Countdown to Midterms

We're mostly in the finishing stages for midterms, working out the last kings in our pitch.  I worked with the product owner in our 11 page design after I had him look up the professional standard of design documents.  We got it done a lot faster then what I thought I we would.  It goes to show that the more minds you put on a topics the faster you get it done.  I also had our completed box concept printed and put into a disc box.

Now that midterms are coming up soon, I've never been more nervous.

CSG 110 Part 6: Building a Demo

We decided to try an get a single level demo done for midterms, so I split the team in two teams again.  One was assigned to actually design the demo, the other to finish our business model canvas and surprisingly we actually got a lot done.  The B-Team actually finished our business model canvas and the Design Team got most of the assets in for the demo.  I made a bunch of sprites that will be featured in our demo, so all that's left to do is actually program and build it.

CSG 110 Part 5: Developing the Demo

We decided to go with the alien escaping from Area 51 idea.  I had everyone split into two groups, one to brainstorm ideas for the actual games, whether they are alien types, level ideas, puzzle ideas; and one group to come up with a survey to ask various internet communities if they would buy our game.  For homework I had the team draw up concepts for characters or levels.  After our online meeting (to which only 3 people showed up including myself), I learned how to paint in photoshop and drafted up some preliminary concept art for our various alien types.

CSG 110 Part 4: The Fustercluck

That day was just a huge mess.  I missed the bus I was supposed to take, and then a later bus decided to appear 100 yards from where they usually stop, so I missed that to.  Luckily, thanks to some quick thinking and some expert level communication, I was able to stay in contact with my team and delegate leadership to the next person on the chain.  I did eventually get there about half-way through class, but we were still able to get a lot done, including a lot on our business canvas, and a concept of the game we want to make.

We decided to try and design a puzzle platformer set in Area 51.  An alien being held there uses his psychic power to take control of other aliens captured there, each with their own special abilities.  You use these aliens to solve puzzles and eventually escape Area 51.

Portrait of the Average Gamer

Our CEO didn't show up at all today, we couldn't even get a hold of him.  I was elected as backup CEO, so it was on me to get everyone on task for the day.  We finished up financial business from last week and started on researching economic game trends.  The results weren't that surprising, but it's still preferable to have evidence rather than assumptions.  Currently the Wii U is the highest earning console on the market because they make games for all ages.  Action, shooters, and sports games lead the AAA industry, while most top indie games don't seem to have a single most popular genre.  The most common genres they have in common are adventure and puzzle, but among the big names are titles like Goat Simulator and Five Night's at Freddy's, which are respectively physics-based humor and jump scare horror.  After researching the best selling games of 2014, we moved onto the customer.

We first general layouts of the gamer audience, then as homework I gave each member a specific demographic to research in depth.  It's based on a 3 layer matrix of age (13-17 0r 18+), gender, and core-range (hardcore, midcore, casual). 

Fistful of Dollars, CSG Day 2

Most of our team didn't show up for the first hour or two, which included most of our Chief Officers.  Luckily instead of panicking like a bunch of nerds, we managed to get organized really quickly and get most of our tasks done efficiently.  I personally set up a Trello board and made everyone sign on so that we could assign tasks and jobs to people.  We used it to finish most of our financial planning (office space, a lawyer, equiptment, software, even desks and tables).

Seriously, thank whatever god rules the universe for Trello.  I don't think we'd get even half as organized.  I learned that networking is a powerful tool, having friends in various field is a very good asset.  I communicated with a family friend about lawyer prices, to which I learned that his firm helps startup companies get set up for a flat rate.  As we finished up the day, I had some team members look up business loans and investments, because $10,000 won't cover the cost of starting this company.