Tag: Week 6 – M730

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GDD730 - Module 2

Practice Pitch Week!

Week 6.1 – 2nd July. 2021

Research – And Now the Hard Part…

To begin this week, I have found a really good chapter in; Scott Rogers book Level up – A Guide to Great Video Game Design. He lists all the key objectives, that need to be seen or mentioned throughout a pitch presentation.

Rogers states the importance of making each part of the pitch a) easy to read, b) to show a few words at a time, c) show more pictures, d) make sure you have a variety of images, and to keep your audience engaged!.

Key areas to include below;

  • Title screen with Logo
  • Company Profile
  • High Concept
  • Who your game is for?
  • Why everyone should care about your game?
  • What your game is about?
  • How your game will be awesome/ What makes it different?

He advises to only show some of your best pieces that will make your game stand out from the rest, and not to show more then necessary, as it could overwhelm your audience you are presenting too.

“A pitch is a streamlined, easily digestible version of your game design document. It contains everything that’s great and original about your game with out all the “twiddle bits”.

(Rogers 2014 : 451)

The Art of Game Design

In comparison to Jesse Schell’s book; The Art of Game Design, discusses the 12 pitch tips, however the only tips that I need to apply are; showing passion for the game, understand from their point of view, be aware of all details, and to be confident.

I always think confidence can sometimes make you sound like a “know it all”, but in this instance, Schell explains by believing in yourself, you are showing that you believe in your game, and your team.

“Being confident means you are sure your game will be perfect for the client and that your team is the perfect team to pull it off.”

(Schell 2013 :528)

This now leads me to discuss our performance, with the practice pitch.

Week 6.2 – 7th July. 2021

Pitch practice in action!

This slide needs to be worked on – more detail to be added about the game references we are using. We cannot assume the audience knows our references already. We need to highlight what particular element that inspired us from that game.

(Figure 1 : Land 2021 Game References)

This slide was never added, but after the feed back from the judges, I think we need to add it in here, straight after the concept slide, with a Mood board to show the colours we were going to be using.

I think it helps to clarify to the audience what the stages are, and helps to make the level seem more engaging. They will have an idea of the end goal for the first level.

(Figure 2 : Norton 2021 Game Map)

How the player moves, what actions they do and how to control them needs to be shown. (following with another slide)

(Figure 3 : Larkin 2021 Mechanics)

Retrospective of the journey so far…

Their are three main areas, that are considered throughout the retrospective; 

What should be started?

  • 1) A coloured mood board.
  • 2) Adding the isometric map into pitch deck, visually show where the player starts and finishes.
  • 3) A short storyboard to introduce the characters, background and game name.

What should be stopped?

  • 1) Burning the candle at both ends.

What should be continued?

  • 1) Using the 10 Pitch slides.
  • 2) Developing the game demo.

Retrospective is key to reflect on what happened, any iterative processes put in place which didn’t work, analyse why and devise a plan to avoid it happening next time around. But keep simple.

As Schell would say:

Your pitch should be accessible, have surprises, have a good interest curve

(a hook, a build, tense and release, a climax), etc. It should have a good aesthetic design, favoring images over words whenever possible.

Your pitch should be elegant, focusing primarily on what is unique about your game, why it will succeed against the competition, and why it is a good fit for the person you are pitching it to.

(Schell 2013 : 477)

Further Research – Pitch Retrospective -Gigaom

I have delved a little deeper into pitch retrospectives from a judges point of view, and have found this tweet, that is a really great point.

My first experience for the practice pitch, and my after thoughts were completely on track with this quote below. I started to feel like we were trying to make the game more complex than need be.

I feel its good to show why you should play the game, what the characters do, what the rewards are, to keep you glued to the screen, but I don’t think we need to add anything else.

“The trick, therefore, is to present something simple: while this may only be a subset of what you do, it may be enough to move you forward. The more complicated it is, the less of a pitch it becomes.”

(Gigaom 2018)

References

ROGERS, Scott. 2014. Level Up ; The Guide To Great Video Game Design. 2nd edn. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SCHELL, Jesse. 2020. The Art of Game Design ; Book of Lenses. 3rd edn. Tailor & Francis Group

Gigaom: When is a startup pitch not a pitch? Retrospective thoughts on TechPitch 4.5. 2018. Available at : https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/gigaom-when-is-startup-pitch-not-retrospective/docview/2027693963/se-2?accountid=15894 [Accessed 07/07/21] Chatham: Newstex.

Full list of Figures

Figure 1 : Land 2021 Game References

Figure 2 : Norton 2021 Game Map

Figure 3 : Larkin 2021 Mechanics