First Critique

The first critique on my work went really well id say, even though it was pretty much about how my idea is too fixed and needs to be loosened up.

I actually spoke to a former attendant, now teacher of the course called Warwick. He told me that my work is too fixed, like ive been working on the idea for years, which means that im too attached to the work, meaning that i wont be able to be critical about it either. From the character concept, he was also saying that trying to incorporate a Japanese honour element is very hard for a western idea to get away with because we actually know very little about the history of Japan and that it isn't really worth it because it wont pay off, it will just end up shallow either way. He was saying that the scheme of honour could work, just try and apply it in a non Japanese way.

With the story, he said that it needs a lot of work because many element really don't work with it and i really need to define a demographic for it as well. I had no idea what a demographic was till it was explained and now my understanding of it is:

• A demographic is a portion of an audience that conforms to various specific consumables. e.g. 10 year olds like Ben10 and like things with bright colours.   

I also got critiqued by Adam, and he pretty much told me the same stuff as Warwick, but elaborated on a few me elements of my ideas. He said that i need to completely reinvent this character and story if i want it to work because it is completely flawed with narrative, mechanic and design elements. He also said that ive dived into concepting in the completely wrong way, that i need start with sketches towards a final design, rather than the other way around.

Reflecting on this, the crit that i got today has more than helped me, i really need to take a step back from the character and define who the game idea is for and why. From this i made a list of what i did bad and what i need to improve:

Do Not Do

• Getting attached to artwork is bad as it leaves no room from improvement
• Concept is about being fast and efficient, not about making pretty artwork, its about making artwork that is needed to complete the task. (this does change from company to company says Warwick)
• Getting as much crit as possible and iteration after iteration just makes the work even stronger.
• Don't work on ideas you have been working on for years as it will not work out e.g (Too Human was a failure after more than  6 years of iterations over various generations of consoles.)

To Do List and Improvements

• Define the audience and demographic, as an idea that you like will not sell as its personal.
• DEFINE A GENRE.
• Get out hundreds of sketches rather than working on one idea for a day as it will definitly be wrong.
• To understand a character, get involved in his personality and mannerism, to understand a character is to iterate and form a better idea. 
• Get work onto the forums for crit.