Today was the day we (or more specifically, our project managers) pitched our ideas to a panel of game industry people, as we would a panel of potential clients, for feedback after which they would select the one they wanted us to pursue. It was a very interesting and in some respects humbling experience to hear these experts critiquing games I had helped design. Their insight was quite inspiring and showed us all how well they knew their professions.
To present each idea our manager would go up and show a powerpoint presentation, showing the rip-o-matic and talking through the game concept, after which the panel would respond with their thoughts.
For both Dubstep Dragons and White Van Man, the main critique was that our games didn't fit the '[adult swim]' brand, which i agree with, though more so with white van man. They reasoned that an american audience would for the most part be completely unfamiliar with the stereotype of a 'White Van man', which is true as the game had all the classic references to pubs, bad workmanship and drink-driving. Which brings me to another issue the panel had: Censorship.
Both Straitjacket Racers and White Van Man had utterly unsubtle references to drug-taking and alcoholism that would see our games shot down in an instant were we to present them to [adult swim] for real.
As for Dubstep Dragons, the concept myself, Dean, Tim and Wayne had been working on over the last fortnight, and which i had become rather fond of, was sadly not chosen. The panel said they really loved the concept, though as mentioned previously it apparently was unfitting of our clients request. On top of this they felt they couldn't get a good idea of how the game would look, they also thought the top-down perspective wouldn't be great on a mobile as the screen would be too small to distinguish individual characters, and finally they said that if we were going for speeds similar to the WipeOut games then top down perspective would be really really unsuitable.
In the end, the game that came out on top was StraitJacket Racers! The panel loved the look of the game, they thought it fit the [adult swim] brand and thought it was great that the game was a 'racing managerial' game than a simple racer. The only conditions that they had were that the references to drugs and alcohol be taken out or exchanged, and that we change the name to something other than Straitjacket Racers.
And so, 'Mad Lads' became the focus of our game design project! We thanked the panel for their input then went to our respective groups.
Our first order of business after the game had been selected was to pick our roles for the project. As with when we were being put into group, i was a little unsure and ended up putting myself down as an 'Animation/Modeller' as we were required to put at least two skills down. This led to my being paired up with Tim Nguyen as my Co-Animator. Together, the two of us would be doing all the animation for the game; quite a daunting task for me especially as i felt i had no skills to really draw from besides my past experience using the free 3D Modelling program Blender several years back.
To present each idea our manager would go up and show a powerpoint presentation, showing the rip-o-matic and talking through the game concept, after which the panel would respond with their thoughts.
For both Dubstep Dragons and White Van Man, the main critique was that our games didn't fit the '[adult swim]' brand, which i agree with, though more so with white van man. They reasoned that an american audience would for the most part be completely unfamiliar with the stereotype of a 'White Van man', which is true as the game had all the classic references to pubs, bad workmanship and drink-driving. Which brings me to another issue the panel had: Censorship.
Both Straitjacket Racers and White Van Man had utterly unsubtle references to drug-taking and alcoholism that would see our games shot down in an instant were we to present them to [adult swim] for real.
As for Dubstep Dragons, the concept myself, Dean, Tim and Wayne had been working on over the last fortnight, and which i had become rather fond of, was sadly not chosen. The panel said they really loved the concept, though as mentioned previously it apparently was unfitting of our clients request. On top of this they felt they couldn't get a good idea of how the game would look, they also thought the top-down perspective wouldn't be great on a mobile as the screen would be too small to distinguish individual characters, and finally they said that if we were going for speeds similar to the WipeOut games then top down perspective would be really really unsuitable.
In the end, the game that came out on top was StraitJacket Racers! The panel loved the look of the game, they thought it fit the [adult swim] brand and thought it was great that the game was a 'racing managerial' game than a simple racer. The only conditions that they had were that the references to drugs and alcohol be taken out or exchanged, and that we change the name to something other than Straitjacket Racers.
And so, 'Mad Lads' became the focus of our game design project! We thanked the panel for their input then went to our respective groups.
Our first order of business after the game had been selected was to pick our roles for the project. As with when we were being put into group, i was a little unsure and ended up putting myself down as an 'Animation/Modeller' as we were required to put at least two skills down. This led to my being paired up with Tim Nguyen as my Co-Animator. Together, the two of us would be doing all the animation for the game; quite a daunting task for me especially as i felt i had no skills to really draw from besides my past experience using the free 3D Modelling program Blender several years back.
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