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Real Worlds: Research Dossier

 Real Worlds Research Dossier


SWOT Analysis

  • My strengths when it comes to this project are generally character design including the props and written backstory of my characters another strength is my ability to produce some half decent key art. I will play to my strengths in the 3d section by doing a paint over of a 3d block out as well as creating some interesting props to look at within the piece itself.
  • My major weakness is 3D and the general workflow around it, I have some skill but I am nowhere near good enough in my opinion. Another weakness of mine is ideation and perspective so I'll try to push myself a bit more in those aspects. The ideation section of the 3d will help me improve on this area of weakness because it will allow me to delve further into shape language and storytelling through visual details.
  • An opportunity that will come up in this project will be when I receive direct feedback from a client telling me whether the designs are working or not enabling me to go back and re-iterate and improve. This whole project will enable me to experiment with different factions and designs as a whole leading to many different avenues for exploration.
  • The biggest threat will be time - time will be a huge factor not just the deadlines but the time it will take to redo aspects if the client is unhappy the previous time spent is all worth though because you have the potential to easily change them depending on the medium you use. Another large threat will be my peers, I don't want my designs to be too similar to theirs just for varieties sake.

IP

Deadzone (2012) by Mantic Games is a fast paced TTRPG consisting of small strike teams as opposed to the large armies you would see in the likes of Warhammer 40k (1987) by Games Workshop. These smaller strike teams allow for quicker game turnarounds and more dynamic playstyles. 

The Deadzone game is set in the Warpath universe a futuristic universe where humans have achieved space travel and have encountered many different races, some friendlier than others. In universe corporations have been searching for resource rich places however those resource rich areas are often the most dangerous ones, they are declared as containment zones because of the potential dangers they harbour towards humanity's survival. These containment zones can range from the size of cities to whole planets, the containment zones are not meant to be broken, but avarice is a powerful motivator and so these companies, rebels, and other resource hungry factions send in elite strike teams to "Get in, get out, get rich, or get dead.". 

Factions

After looking at the IP I have decided to choose the Asterians and the Plague. 

The Asterians are a society founded on the principle of universal balance above all else. Their society has a deep dislike for violence however they seem to have a caste of warriors that pilot the drone soldiers known as Cyphers enabling them to engage in combat without the risk of being on the battlefield making them the perfect counter to the plague. The Asterians seem to be the ones who discovered the plague out in space and they were the ones to warn humanity implying that 1- they are on neutral terms with humanity and 2- they have been fighting to contain the plague for a very long time. 

To continue the Asterians are by far and away the most technologically advanced civilisation in the galaxy, they are also the largest empire in the galaxy with arguably the greatest military might, to contrast this or balance this rather, they do not often use their military strength; they often hold off on combat however they once had a period of time that was rife with "destructive excess" and as history so often repeats itself a day will come where it will happen again.




The plague are mutated beings, all organic sentient lifeforms are altered by it in some way morphing their bodies. The origin of the disease is currently unknown according to the brief backstory mantic gives, this could allow me to further experiment with potential origin point versions of the plague with some differing characteristics. The mutants that come from the plague vary in there displays of cognisance, with some being mindless drones while others have traits associated with who they were before as well as being able to use machinery. The look of the Plague units vary mostly because each of those afflicted is a different person but more interestingly because of the planet they are on

Art Direction/Design Language

  • The Asterians or "space elves" are quite slim generally 
  • They wear masks and the drones heads lack facial features too besides eyes
  • They use energy weapons and blades 
  • Some are humanoid warriors called kalyshi and some are robots called Marionettes
  • Some of these robots are piloted and called cyphers
  • The plague take many different forms including animals
  • They have warped proportion
  • Generally muscular
  • Covered in what looks like chitin and spikes.
  • Some of the normal humans that were infected are capable of using conventional machinery
  • The commercial images depict them with more red and white tones however looking at some other miniatures of the plague faction they have a lot more blue tones and muted skin tones. 





Genre

Third Person shooter/ Action RPG akin to the likes of Warhammer Space Marine 2 (2024) by Saber Interactive, given that Deadzone (2012) is inspired by Warhammer 40k this style of game fits well. To pay homage to Deadzone (2012) itself aspects of a mission could be a timed skirmish between two factions for an objective and other parts could be traditional in mission design featuring ad clearing and mini boss fights throughout a given mission. I had also thought about how a PvP game mode could be implemented into a game like this. After a quick discussion with Sam I solidified an idea for how this could work, it essentially boils down to a 6v6 skirmish or a 12v12 sort of ground war mode consisting o capturing points and holding the objectives to gain ground against the opposition. similar to the likes of Overwatch (2016) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's (2024) Domination/ Hardpoint game modes.

Licensing

An IP license is a contractual agreement between two parties, for example a games company and a film company, enabling one of them to use assets, characters and storylines from an existing IP that one of them owns on the grounds that the companies agree to terms set by the licensor. If you own an IP you can "license-out" the IP and in return you will receive a payment from the licensee. You can also do something called "license-in" which is basically the opposite you ask to use another companies IP in your projects. 

Mantic games has worked with several different IP holders and they would do this to create different revenue streams and to try and branch out into other media spheres and provide a different way for gamers and potentially film and Tv enthusiasts to play as characters in their favourite universes. For Mantic to acquire an IP license they would have to contact the IP holder directly through an email, a phone call or a meeting, to briefly go over the steps to acquire the IP license, the licensee would have to find out whether the licensor has a valid license they would then have to be given terms by the licensor and then draft an legal document which would solidify the actual agreement once this agreement is settled the licensee would then have to pay the licensing fee to the IP holder generally over the period of time they have access to that IP specified by the IP holder in the agreement.

Pros and cons to working with an existing IP as follows

Pros:

You've created another revenue stream
Wider audience reaching into diverse customer bases
Increased publicity and brand recognition through collaboration
Market advantage

Cons:

Potentially restrictive depending on the agreed terms
It's expensive and could drain you of your profits
You don't actually own the IP and you can't use it without the holders say 



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