Copyright

Copyright is defined as the protection of the physical expression of ideas. As soon as an idea is given physical form such as a piece of writing, a photograph, music, a film, a web page, it is protected by copyright. There is no need for registration or to claim copyright in some way, protection is automatic at the point of creation. Both published and unpublished works are protected by copyright.
As part of the process of show, the other students and I have to talk about the copyright issues with our products. For my game, I used music from already existing games. However, because I used the files for educational purposes then it is allowed.
"Unlimited manual copies of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works may be made for the purposes of instruction. This means, for example, that a diagram may be re-drawn on a whiteboard and hand copied by students. This exception does not cover any sort of reprographic copying, e.g. photocopying, although this may be possible under licences held by the University."
"The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 states that copyright is not infringed by anything done for the purposes of an examination."
Being an applicable examination, the show meant it was okay for me to use the music in my game.

Discussion Group

Today the other students and I had a discussion group meeting about the show and how each of us thought it went. We all had to say what we thought was good about the show but also how we thought it could be improved.
I was one of the first to express their thoughts on how I believe the show went. Firstly I stated what I thought the good elements of the show were; the length of time was the first thing I said. I thought two hours was a good amount of time for the show because it wasn't as busy towards the end of the evening as more people started to leave than the amount of people that had arrived. I then stated one thing that thought could have been done for the show to be improved. I thought the venue was the main problem for me. After the evening, people had started to vandalize the area so had we changed the location for our show, perhaps there wouldn't be any vandalism.
Sam was also one of the first to say what he thought of the show. He stated that the idea and theme for the performance was good. Shanice then said that she thought the communication between the staff and the students wasn't at all good, and had there been any more preparation then things could have been better in that area. Ross thought that the big issue with the event was not during the event but rather the cleaning and tidying afterward. Gem then expanded on Shanice's earlier comment by talking about the problems with communication between staff and students. Jodie was the first to talk extensively about the catering for the show, by saying she thought the quality of the food was good but perhaps the service could have been a bit better. I finished off the discussion by saying how better directions would have been more useful too. People may have had trouble trying to get to the show because the were no signs or any indication of were they had to go.

Show Learning Outcome 5 Task 3

For task 3 of show's learning outcome 5, I have to evaluate the show commenting upon strengths and weaknesses and must have continually reviewed my progression throughout the unit in this blog; which I believe I have done to a great extent. In this evaluation, I will talk of how well I believe I have worked, how any external factors may have affected my work, how others responded to my work and how other people are represented in my work.
Firstly, I will talk of how well I believe I have worked. Throughout this unit, I have put a great deal of effort and determination in to Show; I have researched extensively in to different options and products I could have made, by thoroughly investigating the target audience each option has to offer. I tried to link this to products I would be interested in making too, if possible; so that I could put on a very successful installation that both I and the people I show it to would be interested in. I looked into what mediums of the media people would most enjoy seeing on show and why that is. After deciding upon making a game, I then looked into possible ways I could widen my target audience which is when I thought of using an arcade machine to present it in so that people of an older audience could also relate to my product. When it came to making the game and thinking of what it could be about, I thought a game where a student trying to escape would perfectly apply to this unit. Not only would people of an older generation be interested in the product because of the arcade machine, but younger people would too be interested because of the objective of the game; escaping college. I then applied my creative skills to the publicizing of the show; by producing a professional looking poster and logo that I went on to put around college. I then used the logo and other 'trademarks' of my game to add to my arcade cabinet so it looked like the machine was designed for my game. Overall, I believe all of the above shows that I have greatly considered every aspect of the unit and therefore worked at an exceptional amount.
I will next talk of the external factors that have affected my work throughout the unit. The main factor was the time constraints for the unit. At first I was hoping to produce the game as an iPhone app, but because this would be a lengthy process as the programming of the game would take a very long time to learn, then I opted for the program, Game Maker, instead. However, it didn't get any easier after deciding to use this program. Although it was a simpler program to use than the iPhone development programs, I still had to learn the basics of the software so I could create a successful product. I created two versions of my game; the first being a very basic duplicate of my second. After realizing how unsuccessful I believed my first game would turn out, I started to create another. However, by this time, the time constraint had again got tighter. Fortunately though, I managed to complete my game in time for the show. The second major factor that affected my work, was the compatibility of the software, Game Maker. The first version of my game that I had produced was on the home PC but I then had the problem of how I would get my product to the show. Luckily though, because I have a laptop, it was possible for me to bring my game to college. However, as my laptop is a Macintosh computer, it wasn't compatible with the Microsoft version of the game I had finished making. So I then had to download the Mac version of Game Maker on to my laptop and start producing the game again from scratch. Another factor that would have affected my game greatly, would have been the adverse weather we had for a whole week. Because of the weather conditions a couple of weeks ago, the college had to close and so that meant more time lost for people who had to work in college. Luckily for me though, I was making my product from home so this didn't affect me at all.
The third factor I will talk about in this evaluation, is how people responded to my work. I found after assessing all the responses to my product that the general opinion on my game was that it was a very good effort with little needed to be done to it for it to improve. I also found that my product managed to attract a wide variety of age-groups, from below 10 years of age to middle-aged people. Some people who enjoyed interacting with my product said they have actually never been attracted to games before. One person who played my game said he has never really played games before and yet he was one of the people who played my game multiple times. I was also pleased to acknowledge that opinions never changed between the varied age groups; everyone was really enthusiastic about how good my game was. Overall, I was really pleased with the responses I got.
The last factor I will be evaluating is how people are represented in my work. Clearly my product would apply as my product is a game where a student must escape from college. This is not to say that every student spends their every week day trying to escape college, but skiving is something that is commonly associated with teenagers and so in that respect, people, or in my case, students, are represented in my work.

Show Learning Outcome 5 Task 2

Task 2 of learning outcome 5 is all about assessing the feedback that we had gained and comparing it to our own opinions. Out of seventeen comments, only one person gave a suggestion on how I could improve upon my product; whereas everyone else who gave me feedback thought my product was perfect as it was. One comment from a person of my age group was "I can't believe you made an actual game! I'm pretty impressed Jack! A really great game and good product! Well done!" I sensed that this was the vibe for all the comments I received from the people of this age range. A person of an older age group also seemed thrilled with my efforts, "Very well executed piece, designed specifically to be relevant to your target audience. The game and the cabinet both show your clear consideration and understanding of your audience as well as being a fun and well executed game to play! Excellent!!!" I was very proud to receive a comment like this because they gave good, clear critique of my product which helps greatly in my assessment of my feedback.
Personally, I feel that I couldn't have tried any harder than I did and I am very pleased that my hard work paid off to put on a seemingly successful installation. During the process of making the product, I was afraid my game wouldn't be enough to satisfy the audience that game to the show, but I believe I set my standards of work higher than others which could be the reason why my product was better than I thought it was.

Show Learning Outcome 5 Task 1

Task 1 of learning outcome 5 is all about the collection of feedback and the range of ways in which you do it. 'Vox pops' and questionnaires were some of the ways that were suggested but my class mates and I opted for notebooks beside our installations and a live blog. To produce an extensive live blog, the other students and I took turns in taking pictures of the event and uploading them to a blog which we edited by talking of what was happening and how it was going at the time. I was the first to update the live blog. I thought a good way in which I could start off the blog would be by first introducing what everyone is doing and what their individual installation was about. I took pictures of each installation and beside each picture, I wrote in the blog what the installations were about. The second way in which we collected feedback was through individual notebooks in which we would ask people to write feedback and how they thought our products were. I was very pleased with the feedback I gained; managing to get extensive and pleasing reports from everyone who played my game. I was also pleased to get feedback from a very wide range of people.

Progress Report

Over the weekend, I managed to finish my game for show and am now ready and prepared to exhibit my product on Wednesday. Below are screenshots of the process of my production and I have explained what I am doing in each one.

This is the animation process I had to do for my game in order for my characters to move. I had to import individual frames and merge them together so that it would program them to move.










This is one of the first steps of my production; adding the sprites. A sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that makes up the layout of the game.











This was another important step into the making of my game; adding the music and sound. I used music from Mario and Pokemon because these games are very well known so people could maybe relate to my game a little more from having past experiences with these games. Also, I found that these music files matched the nature of my game really well. I also considered the target audience when choosing the music and sounds that I would import into the game and surprisingly I know a lot of people my age who still play Mario and Pokemon games; including myself!







One of the next steps of the game was to create the objects. This is a process where you assign actions to your sprites so that they act how you want them to in the game.











This was one of the last steps in completing my game; the time limit. Because I have made quite a short game, then I thought a way of making fun out of it was by adding a time limit of one minute. At first however, I found trouble in adding a time limit because I didn't know how to add a total of one minute to the whole game, rather than just ten seconds in each level. This meant I had to do extensive research into time limits in Game Maker, and in the end it meant I had to register to the Game Maker Community; which is an online forum for Game Maker users who can write their questions and get more experienced users respond with advice on how to correct it. Eventually, I managed to correct this problem by using the help and advice from the people who replied to my question. Below are some screenshots of the forum where I asked my question


This is the forum where I asked my question...











...and these are some of the responses.












This is the first level or 'room', as Game Maker calls them, of my product. In this room the player has to try and escape the class room without being caught by the teacher wondering up and down the middle of the class. Before the game even starts however, it is obviously very important to explain to the player how to play the game...






...This is when messages like these pop up, to prompt the player and advise them what to do to escape. Messages like these will pop up after every level to explain what is coming next.

















This is the next level; the library. In this room, the player must look out for the other students if they are to escape. If they bump into one of the students, they well tell on you for trying to escape qand you will go back to the beginning of the level.








This is the third level; the staff room. In this room, the player must avoid all the teachers and also get past the tutor blocking the door.










This is the fourth level; the PTL room. In this room, the player must escape the grasp of the program team leader. The fact there is only the PTL in the room may lead the player into a false sense of security; however, the level is not at all easy. The PTL moves faster than the other characters we've come across so far so the player must focus a little more in this level in order to progress further.




The level after is the exit of the building. Again, this may lead the player into a false sense of security as it's arguably the easiest level of the game; but this is indeed the intention because they then wont expect the difficulty of the next level.








This is the last level; the college gate; where the player must get outside of the college campus before the front gates close. This is the hardest level, where the player must find their way to the other end of the narrow pathway without getting caught by the teachers, tutor, PTL and the director of the college; all in what little time they are left with of the full minute.