Game Design Process 101: Part II (Creative Thinking)
For many people who want to be Game Designers, the most difficult thing about the process, aside from the actual work, follows soon after the initial spark of inspiration strikes. More often than not, the first mistake a budding developer makes is to get inspired and immediate start the execution of the game’s design, usually after slapping together a whole lot of hype to get other people interested in his or her project. Screenshots, like an actual plan, are optional. A great example would be GamerJoe21 taking a shower, thinking about the ‘kick-ass war movie’ he saw last night where ‘that dude did that awesome thing with that minigun’. Don’t laugh, it’s probably happened numerous times… Unfortunately, for a game to be the best it can be, there must be some amount of planning and preparation. “But wait! So the question is not what your game will be about, for you’ve already satisfied that in the first part of the Game Design Process, namely inspiration. Whew.
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Risk and Reward Deluxe « #AltDevBlogADay
I recently came across a quote from Cliff Bleszinski (source forgotten) where he contemplated that he’d rather have other game designers ripping off Gears of War’s “active reload” mechanic than its cover-based shooting. Reading that, I was reminded of an observation that my friend and colleague Peter once had while we were playing Wii Tennis together. We were pretty good players, having played that game daily during our lunch break for months. And we finally understood the finesse, the genius, of the service in Wii Tennis. The service in Wii Tennis works like this: First, you waggle the Wii Remote to throw the ball into the air. While the power serve is played by throwing the ball into the air and hitting it with the bat when it has reached its peak, the lulu-service needs the player to hit the ball moments before the Mii catches the ball again with his hand. Nintendo’s genius can be seen in this intricately modeled risk-reward scheme.
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4 Powerful Game Development Tools | Gameplay Passion
September 20th, 2012 When making a game, you want to : Work efficiently and quicklyEasily organize and keep track of your ideasSee your game in action as soon as possibleEasily test if the final product matches to your Game Design In this article, I present 4 powerful game development tools that you can use to achieve the 4 goals stated above. 1) Game Design document (GDD) Update 23/03/2013 : some of my ideas here about game design documents may be outdated, check this article for more up-to-date ideas. When a game is born, it comes to the world in the form of a piece of paper or a word document called Game Design Document A Game Design Document describes EVERY feature of your game in a precise, clear and detailed way. Every detail should be there, no exception. When I started game development a few years ago, I made very incomplete or no GDDs at all. By neglecting to maintain a GDD, I was off-topic most of the time. The quickest way to develop a game is to imagine it first. 2) Dev Journal
Keynote Speaker: Business Growth * Change * Sales * Leadership & Teamwork * Success BUILT to LAST - Mark Thompson
Game Design Resources
Harper & Associates - The Joy of Conflict Resolution
DC On Using Math
Not too long ago, a friend told me about an experience she had at a local game store. The topic of Privateer Press came up, and she mentioned my name in conjunction with some development topic. Much to her amusement, the guy’s response was something along the lines of: “Oh, yeah; I’ve heard of DC. He’s the guy who does math.” I guess my interest in mathematics shows through a bit in my blogs or in projects I’ve worked on, but my actual day-to-day work usually involves a whole lot more writing, editing, planning, proofing, and discussing than it involves hardcore mathematical calculations and analysis. There are, however, times I can really dig into the mathematics behind a particular project, and one of my current projects ideally fits the bill. Anyway, I suppose none of that is all that exciting since I can’t even share the game concept yet much less the secret recipe. The Guy who does Math, -DC
Features - Structuring Key Design Elements
All games start as an idea, something like "Wouldn't it be cool to be a space marine and blow up zombies on Phobos" or "Wouldn't it be cool to be a pilot in a starfighter involved in an epic struggle to overcome the oppression of a star empire gone bad" or "Wouldn't it be cool to drive modified street cars on Tokyo streets at night." These idea sparks are often the source of long conversations between developers late into the night at the studio. Another potential starting point for a game is a licensed property; i.e., "make a RPG/RTS/action game using XXX license." This article discusses how to turn the structure that your business context and your game ideas provide into a game concept worthy of fleshing out into a game design document. Business Context Shapes Design, Or Does Design Shape The Business Context? First of all, I am not asserting that having your business context in hand will act as a magical tool that will turn any game idea into a well-thought-out game concept. 1. 1.
Brainstorming
Description: Brainstorming is the name I have chosen to use to describe techniques aimed at generating new ideas (e.g. game concepts, features, game mechanics, play mechanics, etc.) or solving design problems (e.g. imbalances, loopholes, control schemes, etc.) through spontaneity. As a game design tool, brainstorming is not isolated to the beginning of the game design process but recurs throughout the entire process. While these techniques can sometimes seem a waste of time and non-organic, their primary advantage comes from structuring ideation and problem-solving (in a group or alone), which can save a game designer(s) a lot of time and energy. · Escape old convictions and assumptions. · Find new and unique solutions. Use: To use brainstorming effectively, there are several questions that you should ask yourself before using it as a tool. (1) How innovative do the results need to be? Is the brainstorm about new ideas or solutions to problems? · Game Concepts · Game Mechanics · Play Mechanics
