Animation
lends itself to many areas of the Audio Visual World, from Entertainment to
Engineering Design as stated in my blog
article entitled “Inaugural
KingstOOn Animation Competition a boost to local Animation Industry - State
Minister Julian Robinson give Graphic Artists the chance to Feel this Moment
Pitbull and Christina Aguilera Style”.
But
little is known of its use in Video Game Design. Being able to animate images
means you can also be a Designer of Video Games, as your ability to edit or
draw still images as explained in my blog
article entitled “Animation
After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe
Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free” or even group them using the right software
to make movement means that Interaction with these images, the basis of great Gameplay,
is only a matter of learning new programming skills.
Video
Games can be even used as a form of Branding and advertising, the latest trend
in the Video Game world. This is where companies make Video Game Apps with
Promotional Competitions built in to promote their brand as per the article “Harnessing
the Power of Social Gaming”, published by Kerry Kimone, Kerrykimone.com.
A
good example of this was the Boom Energy Drink Book Shaka Boom App Promotion,
which was a downloadable App you could download to your Apple iPhone or Google
Android smartphone and play by catching the falling droplets of Boom Energy
Drink. High Scorers were rewarded with a variety of prizes as shown in the
video below:
Why do Video Games –
Money on the side while Animation continues to Bubble
To
get down to the meat of the matter, once you can create a storyline, design and
draw images, create a Script and
Storyline on a storyboard, you can branch into Video Games. Just like
Animation, there is training and software available that can you can tool
around with to help the Game Design process go a little more smoothly.
With
this concern out of the way, you can focus on the equiptment, which is similar
to that for Animation as described in my blog
article entitled “Animation
After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe
Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free”.
As
it relates to promotion of your Video Game, uploading it to a Cloud Drive and
then promoting it via Social Media is the best way to go as explained in my blog
article entitled “How
to use Dropbox, Google Drive and Sound File Sharing Websites to Share and
Promote your Content online - Sharing is Caring”.
So
at this point you literally have no excuse. Granted, your Video Game probably
won’t make it on either Sony Playstation or the Microsoft Xbox, even as Tablet
and smartphones kill off Video Game Consoles as predicted in my Geezam blog
article entitled Nintendo
and Sony vs Smartphones and Tablets: Post – Portable Gaming Era.
Video Game Models –
Freemium vs Premium
But
with so many platforms for which you can design a Video Game, from Windows to Apple
OS to Google Android both on PC’s, Laptops, Smartphones and now Tablets,
expanding your animation studio into Video Games is a Natural Evolution of your
Animation Group. When it comes to Video Games for smartphones or Tablets as
explained in my Geezam blog
article entitled “Smartphones
and Apps – Freemium Games are No. 1”, you can choose to make Video Games
that are either:
1. Premium,
meaning the customer has to buy the Game App upfront
2. Freemium,
meaning the customer gets the Video Game free but has to pay either for
upgrades in the Game or unlocking higher levels
Hands
down, Freemium is the model to go with, being as it’ll get you a wider audience
that’s addicted to free. Once they get a whiff of your Game and it has good Gameplay,
it’ll attract the Premium buyers.
Planning a Video Game
Design – Layers of Soul
According
to the article “HOW
TO MAKE A VIDEO GAME (EXPERIENCE NOT REQUIRED)”,
published April 13, 2013 By Brandon Widder, DigitalTrends,
the following steps are needed to Design a build a Video Game:
1. Create
a Storyboard for the Video Game Characters and Environments (very much like
Animation)
2. Acquire
Hardware and Software needed for Video Gme Design (which as an Animator you may
already have)
3. Design
the Game Characters and Environments (again yet another similarity)
4. Publish
the Video Game
In
fact, you'll need to have the following people on you Video Game Design Team,
the same people you'd need on an Animation Team:
1.
Storyboard Manager
2.
Programmer
3.
Background Artist
4.
Character Artist
5.
Audio Mixer/Musician
The
Background Artist and the Character Artist are really one persons, hence your
Video Game Design Team really has four (4) persons, preferably with their own
Workstation.
At
this point it’ll start looking quite possible, as a lot of parallels exist
between Video Game Design and the steps needed in making a Successful Animation
Project as explained in my Geezam
blog
article entitled “KingstOOn
Animation Festival and GG’s “I Believe in Jamaica” Animation Training – Genesis
of Animation Outsourcing”.
The
first step is obvious and will actually utilize much of the same Photo Editing
software that’s listed in my blog
article entitled “Animation
After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe
Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free”. Alternately, lots of paper can be used to
draw characters before rendering them in the Video Game Design Software.
Video Game Design
Software – Free then upgrade to Professional
Software
is where the difference between Animation and Video Game Design lies. Also,
remember just like Animation, 3D Game Design requiring far more complex
Software Design Methodologies and computing equiptment with more storage,
memory and computing power.
Below
is a list of the Best Free and Proprietary Video Game Software for designing
either 2D or 3D Games as listed on the resource article “10 Free Game
Development Tools And Other Resources”, published November 4, 2013 at 12:29
pm by Chloi Rad, IndieStatik and “5
Free Game Development Software Tools To Make Your Own Games”,
published February 10, 2010 by Joel Lee and Jonathan Bennet, MakeuseOf:
3.
Construct2
4.
Unity3D
6.
RPG
Maker XP
7.
Ren'Py
8.
Stencyl
10.
Twine
11.
Inform 7
There
above listing are great Game development Software and tools for both 2D and 3D Games.
For tools specific to Apple iOS Platforms and Google Android, I’ll do another
article. Of the lot however, from personal Experience, I usually use GameMaker for 2D development and Unity3D for
3D development. And don’t worry; Professional Game Making software usually
sells for less than US$100, so it’s not that expensive!
In addition, you can Develop Flash Games without using Adobe
Flash. FlashDevelop comes to mind and the excellent ActionScript 3 libraries Flashpunk and Flixel
are even easier to recommend!
After
you’ve chosen your Game Development Software of choice, download and installed
the Game Engine, you then get do to the fun part - Design Process. This is no
different from Animation, except that it’s done entirely by the Game
Development Software.
This
is where your Storyboard and rough sketches of your characters and environments
come into play, as you’ll have to utilize the same Photo Editing software
that’s listed in my blog
article entitled “Animation
After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe
Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free” to design them and import them into the Game
Engine.
Promoting your Video Game
– Your Game on every smartphone or Tablet
Once
you finish making the Game, publishing become a matter of uploading your Game
in your Personal Cloud Drive as described my blog
article entitled “How
to use Dropbox, Google Drive and Sound File Sharing Websites to Share and
Promote your Content online - Sharing is Caring”
and then plastering the URL Shortened Download link on Social Media:
1. Social
Media i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube
2. Email
3. Newsletters
4. Personal
Blog or Website
5. Business
Cards and Flyers
6. Traditional
Media i.e. Radio, Television Newspaper
7. Google
Play Store
8. Apple
App Store
How
well your blog does can be determined by how heavily you promote it and the
Statistics from your URL Shortener service which’ll indicate the Degree to
which it’s downloaded. With more experience using the Various Game Development
Software, you may find other that are more professional and most likely not free.
As you’re an Animator and a Game Developer, you must by now expect this to be
the norm when it comes to Professional Software Tools.
Game
Development and Publishing is an expansion of your Animation Skills. It allows
you to put your animation skills to practical use by developing Games that may
end up being very popular and potentially netting your Animation Studio the
recognition and Revenues you seek.
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