Unit 1- Pre-Production Techniques FOR THE CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES Tutor: James Tedder

What is pre-production. http://www. garagegames Finance Platform Time Personnel Contributors Codes of practice and regulation

Unit 1 – Pre Production Techniques – Finance Discuss and get basic costs for a game production: Software(Unreal Engine, Unity, CRYENGINE, Game Maker 1&2, Construct 2, Maya, 3D Studio Max) Hardware(Computers, Peripherals, Dev Kits(PS&XBOX)) Publishing(Steam Greenlight/Direct, ID@Xbox, PSN, Apple Developer Program, Google Play Developer) IP property and copyright protection(Copyright law, patent law and Trade Mark) Ratings Board(Pegi, ESRB(US), USK(Germany)) Promotional Website(Hosting, URL)

Other Costs Staff including programmers, artists, QA need paying Location\Building\Office costs e.g rent and bills Marketing and advertising Supporting Multiple Languages, Regions, Platforms Creating Hardware peripherals (Rock Band, Guitar Hero, etc) Complexity, Uniqueness and Novel technical/artistic elements IP Licensing costs See more about PEGI ratings costs: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/253603/How_paying_for_content_ratings_is_hurting_devs_who_release_in_Europe.php IP = Intellectual Property = game franchises or just individual games

Think about your article from Unit 13 on financing Unit 1: Pre-Production Techniques FOR THE Creative MEDIA INDUSTRIES - Finance – Task 2 Research, explain and discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of the different ways to finance games e.g: Self Financing, Bank loans. Indie Funding(Indie Fund, GamesLab Development Fund, Sony Pub Fund) Crowd Funding(Kickstarter, IndieGoGo etc) Grants(Unreal Dev Grants, UK Games Fund, Queen of code, Greenshoots) Publisher(Activision, EA, Bethesda etc). How does this work? When done apply this to your own game that you are making with Wayne. Which is the best option for this production?

Managing your time – Creating a project Timeline Open Excel – File>New> Search for “timeline”>Select “timeline with milestones” Rename project and read the “tips section” Create 10 milestones for your project Adjust dates. Start date and end dates based on Wayne's assignment.

Time Constraints You need to add sections to your pre-production document covering: Deadlines Availability of equipment Availability of personnel Timescales for clearances(Legal, age rating, platform approval) Useful link: http://bit.ly/1MKHCWi Make sure you explain how you could manage your time and how and why you have created a project timeline. Useful Link: abt.cm/1Fh87QN

Personnel Look back at your work for Unit 13 – Understanding the Games Industry Briefly explain job roles within the game industry(Feel free to re-use previous work). Apply it to your game. Which roles will you be using while making your game with Wayne? Include: Size of team Skills and experiences Resourcing Availability Costs Team or Crew CV’s

Materials What sort of materials do you need and where would you get them from? Concept art, storyboard/animatic, internet, assets, audio, script, graphics/sprites etc. Freesound.org has lots of open-source sounds, OpenGameArt.org can cover your art, and you can search music sites like SoundCloud for open-source music. If you use anything that was created by someone else, make sure you are using it under Creative Commons, and do credit them in your game.

Contributors As well as needing a team to create your game, you may also need other people to contribute to your project. You might be able to acquire the services of actors, presenters or voice-over artists (referred to as talent) to make your game look and sound more professional and might also include contributions from experts in the area that you are dealing with in your game. For example Call of Duty frequently uses military advisers to create authentic weapons and scenarios in their game Link: http://www.pcgamer.com/interview-cods-military-advisor-versus-12-year- old-boys/ Include: Type of contributor whether specialists, experts, or known talent.

Codes of Practice and regulation Intellectual property rights and licenses Consumer protection(Consumer Protection Act 1987) Age ratings and classification(Pegi) Marketing and advertising laws  Data protection and privacy Gambling regulation(Gambling act 2005) Responsibilities concerning staff and employment practices Health and safety policy Also discuss copyright, trademarks and patents using examples. (This could be included as part of Intellectual property rights and licenses).