Deus Ex for the Playstation 2 received extremely good reviews from gaming magazines but was lesser known by general gamers. We decided to conduct play tests of the first hour of the game.

I found Deus Ex difficult to get a grasp of. Whilst playing the game the player is given his mission but has to find his own way to the destination.  I found this aspect of the game frustrating because computer aids would repeat what they say rather then pointing you in the right direction. I also found the weapons menu selection screen annoying, as it would not display reserve ammunition clear enough. Through plenty of dying and continuing the game became a lot easier, I would frequently learn from my mistakes and know not to do certain things again.

Average 6.7

Customisation of character = 5

The only parts of the character that can be customised are his name and attributes. The characters attributes can be upgraded as the player gains levels.

The different abilities allow the character to do a variety of things such as, swim under water for longer, wear a variety of suits, increase your characters stats with certain weapons etc. when you are interacting with other AI different dialogue options appear, which defines the way in which they react to you.

Average 3.1

Customisation of objects = 7

A range of modifications can be made to your characters weapons. Although I did not get to far through the game I notice around ten augmentations can be applied to the handgun. 

Average 4.1

Enemy AI (how tough the various enemies were as a whole) = 3

A lot of the AI’s I faced were patrolling the area that I was trying to infiltrate.

I found these specific enemies vary easy to defeat, although it did take a few shots to kill them whilst aiming normally. Other enemies such as robots would need grenades to take them out.

Average 4.3

Overall rating

Dues ex received mix feelings from our game testers. The average score it received was 5.9. This could be down to the difficulty of the game and the frustrating level designs, as players didn’t always know where to go.

Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is a very successful shooter. It won the Game Of The Year award in 2009, which has increased its popularity with gamers across all platforms. We play tested the game for an hour and realised we would need a lot more playing time if we were to complete the whole game.

Customisation character = 9

The customisation of your avatar is a leading factor in Fallout 3. The look of the character to his every skill can be edited or upgraded.

Every item of clothing has an advantage or disadvantage, whilst also changing the characters appearance.

Different abilities allow your avatar to pick locks, hack into terminals, pick pockets etc. Other abilities increase your characters use of weapons such as power guns, smaller handguns, melee weapons etc. the amount of character customisation was rated highly at 7.4 by our game testers.

Freedom to Roam = 10

Fallout 3 requires the player to explore almost everywhere. The main mission in the game is to find your avatars father but to do so; many other places have to be explored for the avatar to gain levels. The game has no real restrictions and allows your player to gain access to everywhere if he has the sufficient skills.

Our play testers agreed the game gives you a lot of freedom giving it an average score of 9.3

Mini Games (optional quests ect) = 7

The optional quests are a big part of Fallout 3. While exploring areas and asking computer AI’s about the whereabouts of your avatars father; you gain a number of optional quests. Some optional quests are a lot more rewarding the others but all add experience points to your overall level. Some of our play testers may not of liked this aspect of the game, which reflected in the fairly low 6.1 average rating. Some of the optional quests are a little boring and not really relative to the story as such. None the less they are optional and do not have to be completed.

Fallout 3 is a game with a lot of offer and choice available to the player. The amount freedom to roam the area is unlimited.

The average overall game rating achieved by our game testers is 7.6

 these are the overall results acchieved in our playtest.

results from play test.

Fallout 3

Difficulty = 6

For first time players Fallout 3 can be very overwhelming. The vast areas of exploration and enemies around almost every corner make the game very difficult. Whilst in the wasteland players have to stay on guard and make sure enemies are quickly disposed of otherwise your character can sometimes find himself surrounded. The auto save option also adds to the difficulty of the game, as all dialogue and decisions made cannot be changed.

Customisation of character  = 9

The customisation of your avatar is a leading factor.  The look of the character to his every skill can be edited or upgraded. Every item of clothing has an advantage or disadvantage, whilst also changing the characters appearance. Different abilities allow your avatar to pick locks, hack into terminals, pick pockets etc. Other abilities increase your characters use of weapons such as power guns, smaller handguns, melee weapons etc.

Customisation of Objects (Weapons ect) = 4

Weapons cannot really be customised but when schematics for a weapon are found, the separate pieces have to be combined together with the correct skill to create it. Weapons in poor condition can also be forged with other replicas to repair them; this increases the damage and accuracy of the weapon. Weapons   

Intensity of game = 7

Depending on the area you are in and how you play Fallout 3; increases or decreases the intensity of the game.  Certain areas in the game are overrun with enemies, whereas other areas can have mutated bugs and mines scattered around. No matter what the game has you on edge, as you are constantly on the look out for enemies running up on you.

Freedom to Roam = 10

Fallout 3 requires the player to explore almost everywhere. The main mission in the game is to find your avatars father but to do so, many other places has to be explored for the avatar to gain levels. The game has no real restrictions and allows your player to gain access to everywhere if he has the sufficient skills.

Graphics = 8

The graphics in the game are really good. When the avatar is in V.A.T.S. mode the game is paused and the player can assess any battle situation tactically. When bullets are fired in this mode they fly in slow motion and limbs explode upon impact in a near realistic manner.

Speed (how directly you feel you advanced through the game) = 5

While exploring areas in Fallout 3 can seem very slow. Once a few areas are uncovered they are saved on the map. Clicking on them in the map can automatically access them. This saves a lot of time.

Mini Games (optional quests ect) = 7

The optional quests are a big part of Fallout 3. While exploring areas and asking computer AI’s about the whereabouts of your avatars father; you gain a number of optional quests. Some optional quests are a lot more rewarding the others but all add experience points to your overall level.

Enemy AI (how tough the various enemies were as a whole) = 4

The majority of the enemy AI’s are fairly easy to kill. Once you get the hang of the V.A.T.S. system, shots can target the head and cause critical wounds paralyzing enemies for a few seconds.

Overall Game Rating = 8

Fallout 3 takes a lot of time and concentration but well worth playing. 

Deus Ex

3 hrs

Difficulty = 7

I found Deus Ex difficult to get a grasp of. Whilst playing the game the player is given his mission but made to find his own way to the destination.  I found this aspect of the game frustrating because computer aids would repeat what they say rather then pointing you in the right direction. I also found the weapons menu selection screen annoying, as it would not display reserve ammunition clear enough. Through plenty of dying and continuing the game it became a lot easier, I would frequently learn from my mistakes and know not to do certain things again.

Customisation of character = 5

The only parts of the character that can be customised are his name and attributes. The characters attributes can be upgraded as the player gains levels.

The different abilities allow the character to do a variety of things such as, swim under water for longer, wear a variety of suits, increase your characters stats with certain weapons etc. In the short amount of time I played Deus Ex I didn’t really get a chance to experience the change in abilities.

Customisation of objects = 7

A range of modifications can be made to your characters weapons. Although I did not get to far through the game I notice around ten augmentations can be applied to the handgun.  

Intensity of game = 3

Deus Ex can be played in a variety of ways. I decided to try creep into destinations rather than use my full arsenal to destroy guards. Playing the game like this allows you take out enemies one by one which is easy once you get the hang of it. However if your character is detected and an alarm is raised, the intensity of the game is increased while the guards are on full alert. Even when the guards are at full alert there are only usually around three enemies, which made the situation difficult. I believe the intensity of Deus Ex is low that Is also due to the small amount of enemies presented to the player.

Freedom to roam = 4

Throughout Deus Ex the player is required to explore his surroundings in order to find a way into buildings. Although the player is required to roam the area he is held back by boundaries that stop the character from entering areas with high security clearance. Some areas can only be accessed by hacking into terminals the only difficulty is some terminals only access security cameras.

Graphics = 5

Bearing in mind Deus Ex was released in 2002 the graphics for the game are good. Comparing this game with recently released titles would be vary unfair as there has been many advances in game graphics in the past eight years.

Speed (how directly you feel you advanced through the game) = 2

I found the game slow and rather repetitive. After I had explored one area thoroughly, I had to go all the way back to progress to the next point. To play the game a lot quicker, a bigger machine gun would have too be acquired so enemies can be deposed a lot easier.

Mini Games (optional quests ect) = 1

As I did not progress far enough I did not have the choice of any optional quests. The game however gave the option of entering the enemy compound through the front door where I would have to interact with a number of enemy AI’s or to find A quiet way in.  

Enemy AI (how tough the various enemies were as a whole) = 3

A lot of the AI’s I faced were patrolling the area that I was trying to infiltrate.

I found these specific enemies vary easy to defeat, although it did take a few shots to kill them whilst aiming normally. Other enemies such as robots would need grenades to take them out.

Overall Game Rating = 6

From looking at the site above, the estimated sales figures for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 sold around $550 million copies in the first week alone. The game out shone all other forms of entertainment which held records for the highest incomes to date e.g. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which made $394 million, Dark Knight that created $203.8 million in revenue.

Dino Crises

Dino Crisis sold an estimated 2,400,000.

Fallout 3

Fallout 3 has out sold its counterparts and other games such as Oblivion, Fable 2 and Fifa 09. Apparently 4.7 million copies were sent around the world and made around $300 million in revenue.

Deus Ex

Sale figures for Deus Ex are estimated at around 1 Million copies.

modern warfare 2

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61298

http://terminalgamer.com/2009/11/20/modern-warfare-2-production-cost-sales-figures-revealed/

http://modernwarfare2.infinityward.com/games.php#/videos?id=8

Dino Crises

http://www.thegamergene.com/industry/capcom-release-lifetime-sales-figures/

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58546

http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Best_selling_Capcom_games

Battlefield Bad Company

http://battlefieldbadcompany.com/?p=62

http://www.gamerbytes.com/2009/07/battlefield_1943_breaks_sales.php

Fallout 3

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2008/11/04/fallout-3-outsells-all-previous-fallout-games/1

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171152

http://www.pcgamefuntime.com/2008/11/fallout-3-makes-a-ridiculous-amount-of-money/

Deus Ex

http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/static/EkupVkuypZbrOeKYok.php

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112657

Screen Cast

We need to speak a lot more slowly and clearer. We can create quick contents stating what will be covered and sub headings so people know where we are. Make points shorter so the screenccast doesn’t seem to drag on and loose viewers’ attention.

This is a list of games that we decided to pick from. we chose to use the ones with stars becide their name because they are either the less or more popular ones in the list.

Main Demand

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2*

Gears of War

Dino Crisis*

Rainbow Six Vegas

Army of Two

Battlefield Bad Company*

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Halo 3

MAG

Unreal Tournament 3

Metal Gear Solid 4

Resistance 2

Killzone 2

Main Offer

Fallout 3*

Borderlands

Mercenaries 2

Bioshock

Too Human

Deus Ex*

  .

This is a copy of our questionnaire.

Questionnaire Questions

Game:                                               .

Playtime Duration:                         . 

Please Rate your game on the following aspects 1 being the lowest and 10 being highest (circle the number)

Difficulty

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Customisation of Character

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Customisation of Objects (Weapons ect)

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Intensity of game

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Freedom to Roam

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Graphics

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Speed (how directly you feel you advanced through the game)

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Mini Games (optional quests ect)

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Enemy AI (how tough the various enemies were as a whole)

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Overall Game Rating

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

Please feel free to add any extra comments you have about the game

Comments:

In the lesson this week we had a look at a variety of Horror games which will be used in other members of the class’s projects. I found Fear 2 to be more my type of game but did not enjoy the atmosphere it presented. Its not really scary as such but I find the dark scenary to be a little annoying. I found Silent Hill to be very boring as there is alot of exploration and not enough action. Throughout Silent Hill the character is made to run everywhere, but every so often you find the end of the road/corridor blocked which means you need to run in the opposite direction. I found the game more annoying then scary. Although the cut scenes are eairy but other then that i found it a little tedious. 

We also had a look at differences between Resident Evil and its newest counterpart Resident Evil 5. I found the big difference was in the game play. In Resident Evil you are made to explore a mansion overhauled with zombies. It uses fixed camera angles, which makes it difficult for the player to know what is infront of him. Whereas in Resident Evil 5 the game is more action based and allows the character to view his surroundings. this makes the game a whole lot easier and less scary.  

How does the level of offer and demand in the shooter genre affect a games’ popularity

Deliverables

- Screencast  

A Screencast to demonstrate our findings through visuals from the games, this will be an evaluation of demand and offer in our games and how they affect the player. Some of this footage will be from the play tests we will be conducting, and information will come from both ourselves and the users involved in our play tests.

-Full written evaluation

An overall evaluation from the literature review, play test evaluation and questionnaire findings to collect and summarise from those areas. This will cover Offer and Demand in our games, previous research into it, gamers’ opinions on the subject, our personal opinions and a conclusion to our research question.

Project Breakdown

The project we will be conducting will be based on this question “How does the level of offer and demand in the shooters genre affect a games’ popularity?”

We will begin by deciding which games to play test. We will choose variety shooters that have very different elements to their game structure. This will allow us to acquire a variety of opinions when we later on conduct our questionnaires.

Milestone

After we agree on which shooters we will play test, we will produce a questionnaire that will aim to find out what the shooters required our players to do in order to progress to the next stage of the game.  It will also contain questions asking the player what optional assets the game offered them such as optional quest, alternate ways to progress or additional time to explore the surroundings.

Milestone

The next stage in the development of our project is to play test the shooters we have chosen. We will be asking classmates to aid us in this section. Two of the testers will be ourselves in addition to the three more we will require. This will allow us to acquire first hand knowledge on what different games demand us to do to progress through the game. It will also show us what optional aspects the game has to offer other then the linear walk through. As our subjects play test games, we will record footage so it can be used at a later date when composing our Screencast. Whilst testing the shooters, every tester will be required to fill out a questionnaire on each of the games they play.

Milestone

After play testing we will sum up our findings in form of another evaluation. This will include the opinions of all play testers involved in our experiment and why they thought the game is popular or not and our own thoughts of what the game demanded and offered us as players.

Milestone

To conclude our play testing we will create a Screencast. Most of which will be made up of footage we will have recorded whilst play testing the various shooters. The Screencast will be evaluating demand and offer in our shooters and how they affect the player’s perception and judgement of the game. The information used in the Screencast will be extracted from the opinions we will have acquired through results in our testing.

Milestone

Next we will be researching a variety of literature on different aspects of our shooters. This will help us identify existing opinions on both poor and the more popular games in the genre, as well as research already done into the cause of this popularity. Once are research into literature sources have been completed we will produce a report on our findings in form of a review.

Milestone

We will conduct a search on the Internet for different forums based on the different shooters used in our project. Using the forum we will be able to interact with users and view posts of their opinions on the various games we play tested. We will also ask different members to complete our questionnaires so we can acquire a broader view on the games. When all the questionnaires have been filled in and returned to us, we will sum up our findings in form of another evaluation.

Milestone

Finally, we will create an overall written evaluation of our results. Using the literature review, forum evaluation, play test evaluation and questionnaires, we will be able to sum up how demand and offer in games affects a game’s popularity.

Timeline

Decide games to look at                                 1 day                           February 27

Produce questionnaire                                  2 days                          February 28 – March 1

Personal play test of games                         3 days                          March 2 – March 4

User play test of games                                 1 week                         March 5 – March 12

Evaluate play test                                            2 days                          March 13 – March 14

Produce Screencast                                        3 days                          March 15 – March 17

Literature research                                        2 weeks                       March 18 – April 1

Evaluate literature research                       2 days                          April 2 – April 4

Games forum research                                  2 weeks                       April 5 – April 19

Games forum questionnaire                       1 week                         April 20 – April 27

Evaluate forum findings                               3 days                          April 28 – April 30                  

Produce Full Evaluation                               1 week                         May 1 – May 8 

Decide games to look at                     1 day                           February 27

Produce questionnaire                        2 days                          February 28 – March 1

Personal play test of games               3 days                          March 2 – March 4

User play test of games                      1 week                         March 5 – March 12

Evaluate play test                               2 days                          March 13 – March 14

Produce Screencast                            3 days                          March 15 – March 17

Literature research                             2 weeks                       March 18 – April 1

Evaluate literature research              2 days                          April 2 – April 4

Games forum research                       2 weeks                       April 5 – April 19

Games forum questionnaire               1 week                         April 20 – April 27

Evaluate forum findings                     3 days                          April 28 – April 30                  

Produce Full Evaluation                              1 week                                   May 1 – May 8

We have had to change the schedule in which we conduct our research, reviews and screencast. this is due to me having to leave the course early due to personal matters. We have decided to the screencast earlier so i could be there while we film and comment on footage. it will not affect the project as a whole because all written elements of the project will be done online sent to each other via E-mail. If everything goes to plan according to our project timeline, we will have a spare week to alter any written work which will hopefully be enough to make a succesful project. 

We also had a look at a small extract from the game World Of Warcraft. I found the visual side to the game was pleasing to the eye. the only thing i didnt like the look of was the houses, i found them to be to bright and would rather them be a little more dark and dingy. I found the backgrouns soun was relaxing and fitted in with the setting very well.  although I did realize the footsteps sounds where slightly out of sync with the feet. I think this was down to the poor quality video.

This week I did a short game testing sesion, where I had to download a game from the big fish games wewbsite. my game did not work which was very annoying. The IT technician told me to try an already downloaded game. whilst playing the game I realised the game was incomplete. I couldnt actually go through the gates which lead me to to keep running round the structure to find another way into the structure. I also kept firing rounds as I could not do anything else. I found the detail in the game was good as when i fired rounds bullet shells would fall on the floor an create piles. other then that i found the game boring and incomplete.

Harrison tested World Of Goo, while I questioned him about the games design and playability. I found the game looked very cool and was put together in a good way. While questioning him I found the game is frustrating and addictive driving you to keep playing the game so you can progress to the end. Both Harrison and I enjoyed the idea of the World Of Goo. i found there was not much questions to ask, as when he went silent and i asked him what he was thinking; he would simply respond im thinking of ways to put the the bits of goo together.