Week 15: Finishing Touches

We are in the final stretch of the semester. We worked on finishing up the presentation slide. The majority of the time I worked along with the CFO to finish up the final expense sheets. I learned a lot will working on the financial team.  I learned that beginning the company and starting the project will take a lot of money.  I also learned from reading other indie game companies, that they tend to just save up the money to found their projects. I think we would have to do that.

Spread Sheet of Final Expenses

I also worked on editing the final power point presentation that we would be using for our pitch. I mainly worked on formatting of the slides as well as looking over and checking for any grammatical/spelling errors.

Pitch PowerPoint

Week 14: CAC...Again

This week we mainly worked on preparing for the final presentation of the game. We essentially want to present a vertical slice. Since I'm on the financial team, I worked on calculating the customer acquisition cost, along with the CFO, a member of marketing and the CEO of the company.  The main problem we kept having was figuring out how much we as a company should spend on marketing as well as figuring out our goal number of customers.  I learned that even though there can be some great social media sites to try to advertise, it may not always be worth doing so because the cost is just too much.

Spread sheet on the current expenses

The other big issue that took a while to determine was the goal number of customers. This has been a problem figuring out because at first we needed to have a number to determine the amount of marketing we could do. It's like we needed research on customers of our game when our game isn't even out. In the end we set a goal of 500 customers and used that in conjunction with our marketing plans.

Week 13: Poker

This week we took the user stories from the previous week and then used planning poker in order to vote and decide whether these user stories are possible and/or worth trying to implement.  I still am not completed understanding the voting system. For instance, stories that are essential but easy to implement are voted low. However, user stories that are not as important but harder to implement can have the same vote number.

Planning Poker Site

I do like this way of voting because it allows us to determine value at a very quick pace rather than going through each user story and getting into whole debates that could take a lot of time.

Week 12: Sprinting

This week we did some sprints, or at least worked on backlogs. We all created user stories specifically for the environment for our game.  I found this to be rather difficult because there are a vast variety of things we want in our game, but we are trying to pinpoint the truly necessary elements.

We also did a user story for the User Interface. I learned there will be ideas and elements that we as a whole or individually want in our game but may not be possible at the current time. I think that over time I will be able to become better at these user stories so that I can help get the most important elements into our game.

Week 11: Agile

This week we watched a video about agile game development. I think it was very interesting to see how this differs from what we are doing right now. The main thing that I noticed that was different was that this sort of process is much quicker and is able to point out the flaws in the game quicker as well.

As of right now, I think our team would do rather poorly because we are still figuring out the game still. We've been focusing on the infrastructure for the last several weeks that we put aside working on the game itself.  

I also have been trying to continue my work on the financial portions, but I'm finding it difficult because there are some financial figures that are based off of having a product already out in the market. Perhaps this agile development will help us. I think it will help us narrow our figures even more so that we can get the budget finalized.

Week 10: Getting the Costumer

This week I have been trying to figure out a way to calculate the customer acquisition cost (CAC). I am finding this to be rather difficult because there are a lot of factors that are needed to calculate this but at the same time we don't have a lot of numbers to work with. What I mean is, for instance, one big variable that is needed is marketing numbers. As a new company, we are trying to spend as little money as possible. Furthermore, we are most likely going to use free marketing tactics whenever possible. So far, the only real marketing ideas that would cost us money is buying Facebook and Twitter likes and followers.

I looked up several websites to see if there are any formulas to calculate the CAC. Some formulas require more variables; However, the majority of the sites had two main variables that remained the same: marketing cost and number of costumers. The main concern is the number of customers. While optimism is may help us give us the needed drive to push forward with our product, it can also be a hindrance. I hope to be able to calculate this soon.

Week 9: Exactly

This week we continued to gather facts about finances and marketing information. I requested that people from marking make a draft of all the little thing that they can think of that they may need to get our company name out. I asked that they could get it posted by Friday. I figured four days would be a good amount of time to do some research.
I looked over the documents that several of the team members posted.

I learned a lot from looking over these documents, and I post my personal   One of the biggest things I learned was trying to weigh cost and efficiency. For instance, in the software options document, there are free software options. I made a point that questioned if the free cost is worth it if team members would have to learn how to use them. In the back of my mind, I was think of the old saying: time is money. While not paying for a program is nice, would it be better to just eat the cost if it meant that people could work immediately and be more comfortable. Another point was related to the marketing options. There was merchandise items that I was wondering if we as a team would plan to sell in the immediate future or once our name is out there.  I realized that for now in terms of finding a budget, we should only look at immediate expenses; all of the merchandise items were for future plans. Another big point I learned was the necessity for precise numbers. Some of the merchandise had a price, but I felt as if there could be more pieces of information. For instance, there was a possible idea of selling balloons. The helium tank was listed between $45-$60. Also there was a package of 15 balloons for $44. This looked fine at first, but then I realized there are possible problems that could occur.  An example I gave was for the helium tank. Was the price range for a certain size tank but different distributor costs, or was the price range for different size tanks? Also, how many balloons can a single tank fill? If we want to sell 30 balloons and a single tank fills 10 balloons then we would need to purchase two more tanks. These may seem really specific, but as a member who is working with money I need exact numbers or near exact. These are just some of the things that came to mind while reviewing possible purchases for the company.

Week 8b

The team had part of a review, and let's just say that we didn't do so well. I think the biggest thing that I learned from the review is our game lacks any real "wow" factor.  I know what the team wants for the game, but we can't be making a game for ourselves. Another thing I learned is that we need facts and data. We also need public opinions, which we didn't have.

Another big thing that stuck with me from the review is the aspect of participation. Our team doesn't progress that well. Like I stated in the previous post, I try to contribute what's on my mind or a counter argument to ideas; however, most of the time I feel like most of team, myself included, tend to recycle our ideas. This leads to our stagnant progression.

I've tried to search for more concrete data for the finance portion of the team. Specifically, I'm to research revenue facts on Steam Greenlight, and how much revenue is shared. Also, I'm looking at other methods to load our game that may be free for us. I'm probably searching the wrong way, and that's most likely the reason why I'm not getting very far on this. Hopefully, I can find something during this week,  I don't want to be kicked, just like everyone else, but I understand only the best will continue.

Week 8a: Thoughts So Far

We're entering the 8th week in the course and I just wanted to share some thoughts so far. The main thing that comes to mind is about the company. I think that sixteen people for a start up company is too much.  I used good 'ole Google and looked up indie game companies. I looked at a wikipedia article that listed indie game companies, and I looked at a decent amount of the companies.  I would say that the majority of these companies were founded with I'd say around three people on average.

However, our company is working with five times that many people. I understand that this is a course, so things would most likely not be the same with an actual start up. One thing I've learned with working with this big of group is not everyone will get heard. I try to have input in discussion, but I know there are people that don't participate a lot. Sometimes it's probably due to shyness, but other times I think it's because most of the time they may not know when to join in. In addition, there naturally is a bit of a hierarchy where certain people participate more not only that but also some of the ideas/thoughts from people who don't participate much are disregarded a little. Basically, your idea may be heard but it will not always be accepted and/or looked further into.

Overall, the course is very interesting and has made me think about the game industry in a way I never thought of. I do like working with other people. Also, the idea that our game that we're creating could actually happen, if we get chosen to make it, is really cool. I think it would be pretty awesome to create the game and I'm looking forward in the semester.

Week 7: Game Coming Together

This week we came up with more details on our game. First of all the name of the game will be Daydream High. The centers around creating a character that the user will control and the character will go through the school and face his/her daydream characters. I think a lot of people can relate to being in school, and dazing off during a class period; this is what we are trying to capture in this game.

As for more specific details, we originally had the selling price at around $15; however a point was brought up that if we are a new company how many people would want to pay that much for game they don't know much about and from a no-name company? Not a lot of people would buy that, so we decided that we should lower the price to $5. We figured this way costumers who are interested won't pay a lot for a new game. In addition, the company can still get something out of the costumers.

Week 6: First Ideas

This week we continued to brainstorm ideas about the game we're creating. There are some aspects that we are pretty set on such as the game is going to be for PC. We figured that out of the most popular consoles out there like Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Wii, mobile, PC would be the most reasonable.

I think the reason behind this is that with other consoles we would need to get specific licensing in order to sell for those consoles. We also veered away from mobile since we felt that it mobile just isn't worth it. Most of the games that I have played for mobile, I don't have a long lifespan. What I mean is that I'll play a mobile game but then after a few days maybe weeks I'm bored of the game and remove it from my phone. In addition, we think with a PC game we can have a wider audience.

 We were also set on the idea on using Steam as our way to purchase and download the game.

In terms of actual game ideas we want a game that has rpg elements and we are thinking of school setting. I think that next week we'll be able to think of more details.

Week 5: Who's Buying?

A big aspect in creating a game is the target audience. This week I learned that there is a whole model to look at when it comes to finding a target audience. I learned that the company will want to be specific when trying to find our costumer. There are multiple factors to consider in this process. What type of game do we want to make? What age will our costumers be around? Will our game be free to play or pay for the game? Even that question has a few sub options. Since I'm part of the finance portion of the company, the main aspect that I look at is the free to play or paying. One option to consider is micro-transactions.

For instance, one game that I play is League of Legends which is free to play but has micro-transactions. One thing I've noticed is that I've probably spent more money or just about as much I have than my subscription that I pay to play World of Warcraft. Even WoW I've paid for additional things in game. I'd consider myself a whale.

No not that type of whale! But a gamer that pays a lot of money within a game. The things I pay for are usually aesthetics. For instance

By the way, yes, I do have all of those skins.These are the thing we as a company will have to consider. The game decides the costumer and the costumer decides the game.

Week 4: Pricey

Like other businesses, Formation Gaming has separate divisions that handle certain tasks. For me, I'm part of the finance division. This week, our division went over possible costs of creating and running the company. I learned that as a start up, it's gonna take a good chunk of cash to get things going. For example, for programmers and animators, the cost of building PCs is nothing to laugh at. Furthermore, since the company would make high quality games, we need high quality PCs. My wallet is hurting already.

Other things in the budget included salary, marketing, and software just to name a few. The scary thing to think about is that a lot of start ups will fail so our company could pour all this money into creating a game but there is a real chance that money goes down the drain.

Week 3: Down to Business

We've all seen this before. Whether we're downloading a game or a program, we've all had to see this type of message pop up. So what it it exactly? It's a End User License Agreement or EULA for short. It's a type of document that most if not all users will have to accept in order to use a company's product. Also, I'm going to take a wild guess and say about 90% (myself included) of users most likely skip reading these and just click accept and move on. However in this week's class, one of the tasks was to read a EULA specifically for the program Unity. At first I was like:

Then, after reading the first paragraph about 10 times in row, I managed to read through the entire thing. My first impression? First of all it's very, emphasis on very, repetitive. Basically if I can sum this up, it states that, talking about the free version, if you make over 100k from using the free version then the company can revoke your use of unity and that you should remove the program. The EULA also stated that if you do "X" and it breaks a rule then you can't use the program anymore. So next time you see this type of document pop, try reading it and find out what exactly you can and can't do.

Week 2: What Do I Enjoy in Video Games

This week we did not have class, however that does not mean that I didn't learn anything. As the semester goes on and our company figures out what games to make, one aspect of creating our games will be why should people play our games. I started to think about the games that I play(ed) and what it is exactly that makes me play them? What qualities do these games have that maybe some other games do not have? I don't actually play a lot of games; I play at most 3-4 games regularly. Some people may believe that is a lot, but I don't think so.

Now I'm pretty biased in the games I play. I play mostly Blizzard games: WoW, Diablo 3, Hearthstone, and just recently I started playing a little bit of Starcraft 2. I also play a lot of League of Legends by Riot Games. I learned that the main reason I play these games are the for the interactions they bring to the user. For instance, being able to do quests and/or fight against other people in the game is something I enjoy doing. I've met a surprisingly amount of people over the years just through WoW for example. Knowing that there's a large community within the game and outside the game makes the game more enjoyable. (Yes, I do realize the picture below is of old content, but I think it gets the point across of the ability to bring in a lot of people and the sense of community a game can have.)

Another reason I like games is the storyline. If a game has a good storyline, chances are I will continue to play it or go back and play it even if the game may be out of date. Another WoW example is about the older content. When I level up a character, there are certain quests that'll I intentionally repeat because I enjoy the story behind it. Diablo is another example, I enjoy the story and how I am able to immerse myself into the game. For instance, one aspect of League of Legends I like is their lore even though it may not be at the level of WoW or Diablo. Reading a champion's lore and knowing why they like/dislike other champions really helps me get into the game and enjoy it even more.

So why do I like the games I play? I like them because of the community and the interactions I can have within it. I also enjoy games for their stories and I think, personally, that is what I look for in a game.

Week 1: Thoughts

Hello everyone, I'll be using this blog throughout my journey in the computer simulation and gaming program at MATC. Our first class was very interesting. I learned how competitive the gaming industry, and in order to do well and get your foot in the door I will have to give 150%. The majority of the class, though, we split into teams that would work as if we are a new gaming company. After spending pretty much the entire class brainstorming, my group settled on 'Formation Gaming' as the company name. I like it and I'm excited to see the growth of this company.