Visuals for game

Costs and Budgetting

Software Cost 

Unreal Engine (Programming) - £18 p/month

Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator (Graphics and Artwork) Creative Cloud -  £46.88 p/month

Equipment

PC - >£1000

Mac - £1500

Xbox One (Testing) - £400

PS4 (Testing) - £350

Average Staffing Salary per year

Designers - £45,039

Artists - £42,812

Programmers - £55,291

Level Designers - £27,000

Sound Engineers - £33,666

Testing

QA Staff - £12,000+ a year

Marketing and Advertising

Billboard Rental and Posters - 16 sheet Billboard (£400) 1 x 16 sheet Poster (£100) [1 month per billboard]

Distribution

Disc Burning and Printing (TVV Productions) - 65p per unit for 500

Green Game Cases (Xbox One) - 19p per unit

Blue Game Cases (PS4) - 20p per unit

 

Overall Development Cost- £7,757,000 

Pitch Presentation

Audience Profile

Shaun is 17 and has a part time job as a waiter at a pub, which he uses to afford games for his games console. He has a great social life, often playing football with his mates and plays in a 5-a-side team. His favorite games are the Sims, which he plays online, and FIFA, which he buys religiously every year because he likes to see new transfers, player ratings and improved game development. Shaun’s favorite game mode is Be a pro for he likes the opportunity to control one character and progress through their career. But he wants to see a game where you are able to control a custom made footballer as they progress from as a conference league player and eventually reach world-class status. Shaun often gets stressed in school, especially when there is a lot of pressure on him, so he uses gaming as a release to calm himself down

Production Schedule

Analysis of Current Market Trends

There are a few competitors to the game, in a few completely different genres

FIFA 14- FIFA 14 is the biggest selling football game, and has managed this for a great number of years, due to the fact that the gameplay is regarded as the best on the market, however in past years, PES has come close. FIFA has the advantage that it has licenses to the greatest number of leagues, teams and players, which is sometimes more desirable than the gameplay. It has sold over 100 million copies worldwide and is available on basically all platforms to maximise its target audience.

SIMS- The sims 3 has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and is one of the most successful PC games ever. This is due to it being a game that involves both genders as well as having no particular age limit as it helps escape reality and make a world of your own. It is so popular as it was one of the first games of its genre. Since its initial game, SIMS have made a variety of other games and expansion packs available on more than just PC making it widely accessible.

Planning Documentation

Player Creation Centre

The player creation centre will be the initial starting point for the game, it is where you decide on the look, traits and characteristics of your character. The first step is deciding on the facial features of your character which include:

·      Eyes

·      Mouth

·      Nose

·      Ears

·      Chin

·      Skin Tone

·      Head Shape

·      Hair

·      Facial Hair

After deciding on these features you can decide on the body shape of your character within these categories:

·      Height

·      Weight

·      Build

·      Muscle Tone

These will then affect your stats, as a tall player of 6’5 will be strong but lack acceleration, whereas a small 5’5 player will be quick off the mark but will have low strength. Playing Style and Characteristics will be the next category, including such things as:

·      Position

·      Traits

·      Specialities

·      Preferred Number

·      Sleeve Length

·      Boots

·      Ankle Tape

·      Gloves

·      Undershirt

The Final Category is attributes. You will have set attributes due to your position, height and weight, but then you will be given a certain number of points to boost your starting attributes to suit your type of game. The attributes available for customisation are:

·      Acceleration

·      Speed

·      Agility

·      Jumping Height

·      Heading Accuracy

·      Heading Power

·      COG

·      Stamina

·      Strength

·      Control

·      First Touch

·      Dribbling

·      Curl

·      Crossing Accuracy

·      Crossing Power

·      Long Shot Accuracy

·      Long Shot Technique

·      Finishing

·      Composure

·      Volley Accuracy

·      Volley Technique

·      Shot Power

·      Free Kick Accuracy

·      Set Piece Accuracy

·      Penalties

·      Aggression

·      Attack Positioning

·      Tactical Ability

·      Short Passing Accuracy

·      Long Passing Accuracy

·      Vision

·      Standing Tackle

·      Sliding Tackle

·      Interceptions

Shops

Shops in the game will change throughout and become larger or in greater numbers in bigger cities. Shops will vary in cities, but each city will have these shops at the minimum:

·      Club Shop- To buy club memorabilia

·      Sport Shop- To buy new boots, socks, shin pads and other necessities which will be worn out through the season

·      Supermarket- To buy food for your character

·      Furniture Shop- Buy items for your room and home

In the larger cities there will be a greater variety of shops as your character will have more money and freedom, due to having his own home. There will be variations in items but larger cities will have most of these shops:

·      Estate Agents- To buy larger houses/flats

·      Agents Office- To get a better agent and have a greater opportunity to get a transfer to a better club or break into the national squad

·      Clothes Shops- A variety of clothes shops will be available to style your character

·      Restaurants- To take your character out for a meal, increasing happiness and energy as you don’t cook

·      DIY Shop- For when household problems occur

·      Airport- For weekend breaks

In foreign cities for championships, there will be a variety of novelty shops to get souvenirs from as well as museums to give football trivia for that particular club/country. There will also be a hotel with a TV, minibar, restaurant etc. for your character. 

Training

Shooting Drills

Long Shots- Shooting from various positions outside the 18 yard box after 1 touch hitting targets set up on the corners of the goal

Finesse Shots- Drills taking the ball into the box from various angles and finishing from various marked positions

Volley Drills- Footballs crossed in from the wings, then hit first time by the character

Chip Shots- Chip shots from various positions inside and outside the box over stacked boxes into the targets

Heading Drill- Heading the ball towards goal from corners and crosses

Passing Drills

Long Passing- Lofted through balls to wingers running down the channels into highlighted areas

Short Passing- Ground passes through gates from 5-30 yards away

Crossing- Various heights on crosses depending on the obstacle onto attackers

Vision Passing- Passing to attackers running through on goal past obstacles

Dribbling Drills

First Touch Control- Passes of various heights and speeds to be controlled by the player getting to the ball in a controlled job

Controlled Dribbling- Weaving in and out cones in a controlled jog

Speed Dribbling- Sprinting with the ball in a large square, slightly changing direction in the middle section of each side

Skilled Dribbling- Taking the ball past a defender with skill moves in a small marked rectangle into a small goal

Set Pieces

Shooting Free Kicks- Free Kicks taken at targets in the goal over a wall

Set Play Free Kicks- Free Kicks crossed in at attackers running into the box

Corners- Corners taken targeting runners in the box

Penalties- Penalties taken hitting targets in the goal

Physical Drills

Acceleration- Sprinting between sets of cones highlighted after a completed cone

Agility- Sprinting between cones in a line

Defending Drills

Standing Tackles- 1 on 1 situation to jockey, then tackle the attacker

Sliding Tackles- Running in from an angle to slide an attacker

Interceptions- Passes played from machines across the pitch, to then be intercepted by your player

Strength Drills

Weight Training- Use multiple buttons to match the symbols that come up on the screen. The closer to perfect you get the more your strength will improve

Advanced Training Drills

Advanced training drills will simulate in game experiences to improve a variety of skills in one game, they are harder and require more skill, but if done well, increase attributes quicker

Advanced Finishing Drill- Dribbling into the box, around a defender, then scoring past the keeper in the net. Improves: Acceleration, Sprint speed, Composure, Curl Finishing, Ball Control and/or Dribbling, depending on the skills used to score

2 on 2 Match- Playing against 2 players with a team mate, with the objective of scoring into the small net at the opposite side, making sure the opponents do not score in yours. Improves: Acceleration, Sprint Speed, Dribbling, Ball Control, First Touch, Short Passing, Crossing Accuracy, Crossing Power, Curl, Standing Tackle, Sliding Tackle, Tactical Ability and interceptions, depending on the skills used to score

Counter Attacking- Starting with the ball in the centre circle, 2 defenders will be in the middle channel, you either take on the defenders or feed the ball to the wingers in the channel, then sprint into the box to receive the header or volley. Improves: Acceleration, Sprint Speed, Dribbling, Ball Control, First Touch, Short Passing, Volley Accuracy, Volley Technique, Shot Power, Heading Accuracy, Heading Power, Jumping Height, depending on the skills used to score

Crossing and Wing play- Starting with the ball in the centre, you receive a pass from the player in the centre, you will be on the wing. After receiving the ball you sprint down the wing, taking on the one player down the channel, you then decide on the type of cross to play into your 3 attackers. Improves: Acceleration, Sprint Speed, Dribbling, Ball Control, First Touch, Crossing Accuracy, Crossing Power, Curl, depending on the skills used to score.

Mini Games

All mini games are used to boost happiness and social life and can also boost the characters stats

Bowling

Mini game at the bowling alley, competing against either invited friend or random person at the alley

Fishing

The fishing mini game will consist of fishing in a local pond, fish can be caught and taken home for meals after they are caught, however this requires a developed cooking level

Cooking

To make food, the mini game involving chopping food and cooking it must be completed, depending how well it is done, the stats for cooking will increase

Dancing

Interactive dancing in the night club, involving pressing the displayed buttons in sequences, increases the chance of getting a partner

Boot Shopping

After purchasing a pair of boots you must play a game involving items being launched from 3 cannons. The player must catch the pair of boots amongst other items. Some can be caught, others will end the game

Stretches

After each game a sequence of stretches can be done, a sequence of commands come up to be done in order, the better it is done, the more energy will have been recovered

Casino

There will be a few mini games in the casino, including Blackjack, Poker and Slot Machines, money can be won in these games

Scouting

During the seasons, depending on how well known you are in the league, scouts from different teams will be watching at the games. Scouts can approach you after the game in your local team and offer you a professional contract. It is your choice which team you pick, and this can influence who you will be scouted by in the future, so waiting for the right team may be key. Deciding on a good agent is also important as a better agent will get you better press, however the better ones are likely to cost more, so affording one to get you into the top divisions may take time.

Your managers opinion on you and effort in training will also count towards how many scouts come to watch you, as the manager can put in a better word for you if you are well liked. Your teammates opinion of you is important in transfers because a good team spirit shows you have a good connection with your fellow players adding to your appeal to other clubs. Fans must show a good appreciation of you as well if you want to be transferred as it shows the team that you can be a fan favourite and role model amongst the team. Finally your skill stats and goals/assists/clean sheet records play a huge part in getting a better club, as these are the things that clubs will be wanting, the better you are in these areas, the more likely you are to go to a better club. Getting scouted for your national team means you have to play in a team in either the top or second tier, showing how important a better team is.

Houses

As you progress through the game, more homes will become available as you move to the bigger cities. The bigger houses will be more expensive but come with more rooms and have a wider variety of furniture to put in.

Basic Flat- 1 Bedroom with en-suite and 1 Living room with Kitchenette

Large Flat- 1 Bedroom, 1 Living room, 1 Kitchen and 1 Small Bathroom (shower only)

Bungalow- 2 Bedrooms, 1 Living room, 1 Kitchen and 1 Bathroom

Small House- 2 Bedrooms, 1 Living room, 1 Kitchen, 1 Bathroom with shower, Garden, and a small office space

Large House- 3 Bedrooms, 1 Living Room, 1 Kitchen, 2 Bathrooms (one with shower), small office space, Conservatory and a garden

Small Manor- 4 Bedrooms (2 with en-suites), 2 Living Rooms, 1 Kitchen, 2 Bathrooms with showers, Large Recreation Room, and a large garden

Large Manor-5 Bedrooms (2 with en-suites), 2 Living rooms, 1 Large Kitchen, 2 Bathrooms with showers, 2 Large Recreation Rooms, Large Garden, Roof Terrace, Indoor Pool, Hot tub on roof terrace

Sponsors

As you progress through the game, you will attract attention for bigger and better sponsors, ranging from furniture companies, to the largest of sports giants. When sponsored you will have the ability to access locked items, as well as get free ones from the company. As your player gets more recognition internationally and plays for bigger clubs, there will be more chance of being approached by the sponsors, you also have the ability to negotiate how much you will get in terms of money and items, however if you take too long with negotiations, or demand too much, the sponsor may back out of the deal.

Concept idea

Game Idea
Football and life simulation
Take inspiration from:

• FIFA's be a pro mode
• The Sims 3 gameplay
• GTA style Free roam

Develop a game that uses the thrill of creating your own character, and being able to develop them into something to be proud of, or getting them to fulfill one of your dreams. To do this make a game that follows the life of a footballer controlled by you and in theory is you. Have 2 modes, one in the footballing world, and another in the real world. Having the real world in 3rd person and the football in a tele style view. Real world should have a huge array of items and add ons to buy in the game and personalise the experience for the user.  

Lo3 Review a computer game

FIFA 14 Review

·      Price- £35.99

·      Publisher- EA

·      Developer- EA Canada

·      PEGI Rating- 3

EA have yet again pushed the boundaries of football games with their latest installment of the franchise with FIFA 14. With more leagues, more stadiums, more teams and more players, it is the biggest one yet. FIFA has long since been the reining champion of football games, barring a minor blip in the 2005-06 series, where PES took centre stage. From last year, this game has subtly come on leaps and bounds improving everything from player engines to the stadium atmosphere.

The player engine has been improved yet again, the tackles have more ferocity and realism, in comparison to last year when you could be tackled and end up doing a handstand by the goalposts. The new engine has given more freedom to the range of movement of players, meaning there is no longer turning at 45 degree angles only. Players this year feel slower, and more heavy, which straight after playing the older game, was actually quite off putting and strange. Yet after a few games, you will start to realise you can no longer bomb down the wing with the afterburners on with Theo Walcott, but will have to balance out play with your midfield players before releasing it to the wide men. With the greater range of passing and movement from the new player intelligence, it has given a new edge to crossing. With countless ways to cross, and attackers that seek the best positions in the box, you can ping balls into the box all day, and by cancelling the runs if you want, you can enable the attackers to bullet in headers all day.

The new real ball physics allows for a larger variety of shots, from the laces out dipping long shot, to the outside of the foot chip shot that seems to be all the rage at the minute. The new physics creates a wide choice of shot selection, this makes it harder for keepers and your opponents to deal with, but on the other hand, when uncomposed players are being pressured they are likely to lose their balance and are easily put off by defenders. This makes the game more life like. Strength of players is taken into account more too this year, so as to make the larger, usually slower defenders more realistic. This stops the nippy wingers from blazing down the pitch without being touched, so these long armed beanpole defenders can use the tactics they use in real life to pull these players back.

Obviously, being the world-renowned football game it is, FIFA does not have a story mode. Yet if you want to live the life as a footballer or manager, you can. Manager mode allows you to take control of your own football team. This mode means you can select your present day club football team and make every decision from who you want to select as your scout, to press conferences and interviews. Your aim is to complete the tasks set for you by the board of the club you manage. To make it a real challenge you select the difficulty of the teams you play against as well as the leniency of the board with regards to transfer and wage funds. These can be increased by winning competitions throughout the season like the Barclays Premier League, and also from selling players. You can take your club in any direction you choose. If you wanted to be an Arsene Wenger youth talent squad, you can sell your expensive over 25’s and replace them with the cheap, prosperous youth that you have sent your talent scouts out to find. Your players will get better from game experience, as playing games or loaning them out to teams where they get game time, their overalls will grow, making your players better and more expensive. Or you can choose a rich team if it suits you, max out your budget and get the current best players in the world to make a team that won’t be stopped for a few years. Also you can take control of a national team and take them to the World Cup Finals, selecting your best national squad with anyone you want from this country. It’s also a sneaky way of getting your youth players international experience, if your managing their country.

Be a Pro mode enables you to be a youth player from a team of your choice. It is about the only time in the game you feel like a real character, fighting for your place. You choose your height and weight as well as your facial characteristics and the position you play. Your starting attributes depend on your height and weight, as a small light player will be very agile and quick off the mark, but weaker than Mr Burns from the Simpsons. Like in real life, if you select a high profile team like Real Madrid, you won’t be good enough to play in their first team, so they will loan you out to lower leagues to get experience playing. You are set challenges from your club as to how many goals you should score if you’re a striker, how many tackles you should make as a defender, or even how many saves as a keeper. Your overall will increase with the accomplishments set for you, scoring 5 goals perhaps, gives you a +1 shooting boost, which increase with the size of the challenge. However, sometimes this can get tiresome, as you never really have chance to increase your Free Kick Accuracy, due to the fact you aren’t good enough to take them for the team you play for, and the accuracy only increases by scoring them, so free kicks seem to be out the window throughout the whole mode. But all in all it does work very well and gives a very rewarding experience in the game.  

There are a few ways of playing online on FIFA 14, one of them, being the huge Ultimate Team feature that has become vastly popular over the last few years. This allows you to build a team of any nation or league you want, or even create hybrid squads of a mix of leagues and nations. Players are obtained from packs, which are bought by coins from either selling starter players or playing matches, or can be purchased with FIFA points which cost anything from £2.99 to £89.99. The players are displayed as cards, with Pace, Shooting, Passing, Dribbling, Defending and Heading stats all displayed on them. Each pack contains either Bronze, Silver or Gold cards, and each card is a player, consumable, or club item. These consumables and club items allow you too change the position of a player, edit your stadium or kit etc. Building your team is easy, you find a formation you want, and the players who fit into the allocated positions. Players next to each other who have connections by nation, league or club have a stronger chemistry, so play better with one another

The android and iOS version uses the touch screen to its advantage, allowing the controls to be adjusted and moved around the screen, yet its graphics and low processing power means the smoothness of the game is lacking. The PS vita incorporates the use of its touch pad on the back for the shooting in the game, by tapping on a segment of the pad, you are able to place it in that section of the net. At first glance, the idea seems great, launching shots from impossible places, but actually, it takes some of the challenge away from the game. 3DS use double screen features to display both the map and the game screen, so more can be viewed at one time, making up for lack of graphics and processing power. Wii uses the wiimote and nunchuck to make the game more interactive, making you shake the controller to shoot and other things with movement, due to the fact graphics are not as good as they can be on other consoles. If you are to buy this game however, I recommend you get it for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 or Xbox One. Although the Wii might be superior for party games, and the 3DS for practicality, you simply cannot deny their superiority for this game. The sheer power of these consoles in comparison to the other consoles is mind boggling, and it creates stunning graphics and smoothness incomparable with other consoles. The game is best suited to these as it gives not only better gameplay and graphics, but also more variety in game modes and a greater online experience. Now, being brutally honest, the PS4 and Xbox One are slightly better than the PS3 and Xbox 360 for the game, due to the crispness of quality and faster loading of games, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend buying a next gen consoles just on these reasons, as the differences are only subtle.

For us football fans, £50 a year is reasonable, just to see if Ronaldo is better than Messi at last, or to see new transfers because you’re fed up of Bale being in a Spurs kit, or even just to see the ratings of those few players you like to watch. But hand on heart, I can say this year it was more than worth it. FIFA 13 was barely an improvement on FIFA 12, the hype was too much for what it was. The player engine failed miserably with people flying about the pitch. The near post over powered shots were more annoying than the sight of George W. Bush. And if I had a pound for every time someone scored from a corner against me in the 90^th minute, Roman Abramovic would look up to me like a god. All in all, FIFA 13 was a failure, with minor improvements on the previous game. Now FIFA 14 however is a triumph, putting the dismal FIFA 13 back into the dark ages. The sophisticated realism of it is sublime, the new career modes are a massive improvement, online divisions have more leagues to battle through, skill games are much improved and ultimate team, yet again, has gotten better.