Reply from Gareth about Game breif

On the 20th October I received an email from Gareth regards to the questions I sent him. The replies have helped me very much. Here is the reply written in the email:

• The controls? Are they for a mobile phone game or a computer or website? If it's for a mobile phone, the size of the screen? Or will that be up to me when I'm creating the proposals?

Yep, it's up to you. As long as I can play the game and test it then I don't mind too much. Usually its a phone game or a Flash web game, but it doesn't have to be. Someone created it for the PSP a few years ago. Whatever you choose must be comfirmed in your final proposal along with screen dimensions however.

Whatever you do concentrate on having basic movement through 4 or 8 ways (Up, down, left and right etc), with a maximum of 2 action buttons. Depending on your target platform, you might want to use some gyro features, or simply arrow keys on a PC keyboard. You also might not need any action buttons at all.

• For the game itself, I know your after an arcade shooter, so I was wandering if it will be a side-scroller, top down? Does the game need to be a shooter? Or can it have elements of a shooter? Personally, I'm not a keen shooters, I prefer little games were the player has to dodge objects or jump gaps, like Action Turnip on Kongregate.

Hehe someone else in your group has already mentioned Action Turnip! I'm never going to get that tune out my head now! :) Games like that or Canabalt etc I would let you do. It would be bending the rules a bit, but as long as you stuck to other aspects of the brief then there would be any problem. Side scrolling or top down, I won't mind.

• I know the game has to be suitable for all ages and genders, but I'm wandering about other cultures, as if I was releasing the game international, should I make it suitable for other cultures as well?

I have no problem with the game only appealing to a European or North American audience. Of course in the future however it would potentially limit worldwide sales activity. You might not see this as in issue anyway, as if it was good then a mobile or facebook version of the game has a potentital UK audience of 15 million.

If you want to release a game internationally, then it has to have international appeal. I wouldn't get too worried about that though as something straight-forwards like Action Turnip has it.

• For the replay, should it have a score system? By having the scoring it can become competitive playing and make it able for replay.

A scoring system is one way to meet the 'replayability' requirement of the brief. There are others, but that would certainly be one of them.

• Gameplay. For the gameplay, apart from easy, is there anything else? Like fun? Also, should it have interface? Health bar? And maybe a start screen for the game, something small to introduce the game before going into the game itself.

Start screen? Yes. Fun? Of course! Easy? No, challenging! Interface? Up to you. It's whether your game needs them.

Thanks to these responses, I have a clearer idea of creating my game.