Max Swietnicki

Assignment #4: Pitch Deck

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1d9rTF6DGdexwvRr1VpDmnPqq_B5cLx0g/edit#slide=id.p1

Pitch Deck for AR Garden Game

Assignment #2: Basic Unity

Basic unity tutorial: with and without custom skybox

Assignment #5 Pitch Deck Responses

I am the Power User.

‘”I tried VR 3 years ago and took out a second mortgage/saved my allowance/worked another job so that I could afford the latest GPU every cycle. I’m already sold on VR, what I want is a great game, and I’ve played many.”

Color Stack:

“I’m not sure what I’m looking at here: am I just stacking physical items that actually exist in my home, or virtual items? And if so then what’s even the point of the AR? This sort of concept would work great using my VR rig- stacking blocks in VR like jenga, but with a twist? It’s kind of a simple concept, but it works.”

Echo Scream:

“VR Horror is the wave of the future. Stick me in a creepy, well crafted environment and it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. It’s gotta be done well though, and I’m not so sure about the whole thing being in just a hallway. Give me more stuff to interact with.”

Project QUASAR:

“First person shooters are great and all, but I’ve seen it before. It’ll be in VR, that’s true, but tell me more about the VR features. Will there be teleporting or free movement? What do I get out of this that I can’t get out of playing the billion and one excellent FPSes that already exist?”

Unity Assignment #3: Mountain Scene

I wanted this to have an idyllic sort of feel to it. A very peaceful calm, mountain area on a bright day. Also there’s a giant cube there.

30 Things I Hate About Your Game Pitch Response

As someone who aspires to make games, it’s always interesting and valuable to hear from the people who take pitches of games to see what they look for, because what a game needs for its design and what a game needs for it to be published and monetarily successful are not necessarily the same thing. This talk had a lot of good information that I think boils down to three solid pieces of advice.

The first one I think is that to successfully pitch you have to have a strong vision for your game, and be confident about it. Your game has to have a good hook, or unique selling point, preferably multiple (4. Pillars are not hooks), you have to have a strong vision for your design, and not merely trying to tell the publisher what they want to hear (3. I’m not going to design your game for you.) or trying to capitalize on a trendy technology (15. Pandering to the latest tech craze.), or attempting to clone an already successful title (17. Gone home already exists.) Your game has to be unique and have a solid foundation: there should be a reason for your game to exist in comparison to other games.

The second is related to doing your research. Knowing what publisher you’re pitching to (16. Pitching a phone game to a console publisher) what their role is (18. Can you help us negotiate a license deal?), and at least have a bit of an idea of the constraints of your project (20. No idea how much money, 22. You don’t have a team. 22. Business plan is based on outliers), and know what information the publisher wants to know during your pitch, and what to omit (1. I don’t give a crap about your backstory, 2. inventory system.) Basically, be prepared and do your homework, and know what the purpose of pitching to a publisher actually is.

The third is how you present your pitch. You should be prepared to present in a way that is useful to the publisher (26. Watching a pitch on the phone, 27. You brought a laptop, but not headphones), and present yourself in a professional way (28. You’re drunk or high, 29. You trash other companies, 30. You need to take a shower). And also realize that working with a publisher is a business relationship, so treat them with respect, because if they don’t want to work with you, it doesn’t matter how good your game concept is. (23. 24. 25.) And one final thing is that you should expend your effort in meaningful ways. Make a prototype that showcases your unique mechanics, not standard mechanics (10). Don’t spend excessive time on art if it’s going to go to waste (11, 13.) and if you’re going to showcase a certain element, better make sure that it’s good (14. Your sample dialog sucks)