Games Trailer advice

The following is an early prototype trailer for "Restaurant Simulator".

Some advice / criticism (including harsh criticism) would be welcome, and also some advice as to whether it's likely to be viable. I don't know of any existing game / simulation taking this form, since other restaurant games tend to be cartoony food prep games except for an upcoming "Restaurant Flipper" game which seems to be entirely about remodeling rather than managing the restaurant's operations over a long period, and the game seems to be either canceled or put on hold.

 

I should add that I already realize some of the problems such as the pacing is too slow, the lighting and other graphics effects need improvement, and it needs some type of sound. I was asking mainly for advice on the overall concept of the game and overall presentation of the trailer.

 

The idea sounds interesting and certainly a lot of people appear to be interested in cooking shows and/or managing a restaurant. I think your trailer really needs people. Waiters, customers etc would give it life. Maybe even have a kitchen view. Obviously that is all a lot more work and creating interest and dynamic characters is non-trivial. However, without them you just have a building, rather than a restaurant. I guess it also depends on if you are targeting mobile, PC and/or console. It looks like a PC/console game concept but maybe I'm wrong.

And yes, sound is essential. What do you hear when you visit a restaurant? Bring the trailer to life - imagine you were visiting this restaurant.

Anyway - a few ideas to consider.

 

I was thinking of adding a scene showing a timelapse of customers in the restaurant during a portion of a day (which is how the gameplay will likely display customer traffic since it's a management / building game rather than a food prep game). Or I could show some of the types of customers you can attract (or keep away) via menu and decor choices (Grumpy Old Men, Hopeless Hipsters, Crazy Bag Ladies, etc).

 

With the correct timing, the time-lapse concept could be worth exploring. Our natural world is full of movement, so adding this element, even as an animation, is probably a good idea.

 

The time lapse would just be customers sitting at tables and waiting in line. I'm not sure how fast it should be displayed, and of course the relatively small size of customers from a bird's eye view might be a problem for small video windows Or I could introduce some of the customer types by running through several specimens with information about their species (e.g. The Dentures Dude is a subset of Old Person who will eat anything soft enough for his dentures (oatmeal, jello, etc) but otherwise isn't very picky. The Old Potbellied Guy is a related species that possesses a stomach large enough to be a legal pensioner in its own right, and tends to value quantity over quality).

 

The opening shot is subtly annoying because I expect it to pull-back and show this grand, elaborate dining-room, but instead it zooms in on wall (going to a very claustrophobic extreme). I'm waiting to see the game, but It's giving me the opposite.

 

I could have the camera rotate to the right to show the rest of the dining room, but the room isn't all that grand.

 

I'd also like advice on how to convey one of the game's more unique features: the ability to purchase restaurants that have a pre-existing history and in some cases mild haunted activity. Many actual restaurants are famous mainly for their historical ambiance and some are reputed to be haunted, which has always been left out in previous "tycoon" style games where the player can just build a new business, usually displayed from the top down, which results in fairly generic places that lack character. I was going to let players freely explore their restaurant (some will have hidden areas) as well as modifying them using the same method: i.e., while you walk around in first-person you can also modify or add new furnishings. I'm not sure how to convey this in the trailer: right now there's just a brief scene showing the neon sign for an old coffee house / blues club.

 

I suggest you to look at this GDC session specifically about trailers for games, some good tips:

 

Thank you. Did you have any opinion on whether this type of game (realistic first-person restaurant sim) would do well?

 

I think there is probably a market for this type of game. I know other serious first-person simulations for other activities like farming, truck or bus driving, etc. And if you don't know any other games, then you would have not competition, what is an interesting opportunity.
For planning phase of a restaurant I would give the option to use a top visualization option of the restaurant, in addition to 1st person view. I personally would get a bit exhausted if I had to plan everything in 1st person view and I can imagine that professional planning of a restaurant is done with support of drawings/blueprints. Once overall organization is done, then the 1st view is much better for details and the rest of simulation. But this is only my opinion, as an engineer I work very often with drawings for planning.
If you look my thread, you can see I followed a similar concept in my project, where the ship can be explored in 1st person view (better for details and the immersion) but control from the ship can be also done from an external view. The players can decide what option is better for their style

 

Thank you for your comments. For designing a restaurant from scratch, I was thinking of letting players start by picking a template and then modifying it, which could be done from a top-down view (to put in or remove walls etc); then switch to first-person for the furnishings.
My main concern right now is the trailer, and also how to develop enough support to have a successful crowdfunding campaign since a game this large would obviously require that. My Twitter account only has a little over 300 followers, which isn't enough for successful crowdfunding. Any ideas?