Post on 27-Jan-2015
description
THE ROLE OF THEGAME DESIGNER
Session 1
David Mullich
Game Design 1
The Los Angeles Film School
Who Am I?
David Mullichdmullich@lafilm.edu@David_Mullichwww.electricsheep.biz
Instructor at LAFS Game Designer at Electric Sheep
Game Consulting Co-creator of Boy Scouts of America
Game Design Merit Badge
PROFESSIONALISM
How to Succeed in LAFS
Be your own Career Entrepreneur 3 Keys:
DevotionPersistenceRe-invention
This is a College Class
Studying game development at college is still college study.
Take Notes Study Read
Take Notes
Having one of these is a minimum requirement.
At all times.
Study
Review the Lecture Notes
Think Understand Reflect and
Connect
How to Read
Reading assignments are not mandatory but strongly encouraged
Make notes or highlight key concepts
Leave time to reflect and connect
Do You Have Skillz?
Gamers are good at digital interfaces
Gaming professionals are good at both digital and human interfaces
This means communication.
With grammar‐Nazis.
“...the different ways they done it like in the game play and the scenes ad the props”
...is not communicating and will incur their wrath.
Game development is a team sport for Geeks.
All Business is Communication
Publisher to Player Developer to Publisher Producer to Team Team to Producer Team Member to Team Member
Good Communication
Precise
Clear
Brief
Written Communication
Informal Communication
Its cool to werk in gamez.u get too do anything u want & stuff
Formal Communication
It’s cool to work in games. You get to do anything you want and stuff.
Written Communication
Capitalize the beginning of sentences, names, game titles, and the word “I”
Use proper spelling and punctuation Put a space between punctuation mark
ending a sentence and the start of the next sentence
Don’t use “u” for “you”, or “&” for “and” Don’t confuse “its” and “it’s”
Attention to detial
It matters.
Assignments
If you can’t be bothered to: be creative strive for originality even within established
norms or constraints look beyond your initial idea actually enjoy and actively want to do the above
Then get used to the phrase
“Would you like fries with that?”
Drop Box
You will be invited to the instructor’s DropBox folder “Game Design 1”.
There is one subfolder for each class assignment (for example, “Assignment 1”).
Save each class game or written assignment into a subfolder with your name. For example:
Dropbox Game Design 1
○ Assignment 1 Laura Croft
game.exe
report.pdf
Make It Easy To Review Your Work
Sending bosses or potential clients or instructors files in a format they can’t open will just make them angry! And you don’t want angry people evaluating you!
So, always send documents in PDF format!
And send executables in EXE format!
“I just want to pass this class”
Classes are not kidney stones.
If you think about them in these terms, maybe you’re on the wrong career path?
<<<Expand your horizons>>>
Just because it doesn’t have the word GAMES in it, doesn’t mean it’s not going to inspire, inform or be useful to you every day for the rest of your creative life.
This is especially true of non‐electronic information such as: Books Museums Art History
Impressions
Your colleagues and faculty will most likely be your doorway into the industry.
How do you want them to think of you?
Leave a professional and lasting impression. They’re your first referees, either on paper or via word of mouth.
The Golden Rule
Designer Perspective: Warren Spector
G4 Icons Episode #30: Warren Spector
THE ROLE OF THEGAME DESIGNER
Roles
Builder Engineer Scientist Dreamer Teacher But NOT Boss
Main Role
The game designer’s main role is to be an advocate for the player.
In some ways, designing a game is like being the host of a party. It’s your job to get everything ready and then open your doors to guests to see what happens.
Skills A Game Designer Needs
Animation Anthropology Architecture Brainstorming Business Cinematography Communication Creative Writing Economics
Engineering History Management Mathematics Music Psychology Public Speaking Technical Writing Visual Arts
But The Most Important Skill Is LISTENING
To Your Team To Your Audience To Your Game To Your Client To Your Self
Design Specialties
Lead Designer System Designer User Interface Designer Technical Designer Level Designer Content Designer Game Writer
Players vs. Designers
Players want the fun of playing a game as well as the enjoyment of being with their friends.
Game designers are focused on how the game works: How do you make it, and how to you break it? What are the different elements and how do they fit
together? What skill level does a player need to successfully play
and win? Does each player have an equal chance of winning and a
fair chance of experiencing all that the game has to offer?
The Designer’s Journey
Stage 1: Consumer Stage 2: Tinkerer Stage 3: Masher Stage 4: Creator
Teale Fristoe
Stage 1: Consumer
We all begin our game designer lives as game consumers. Most children play games, and for many people games are significant and meaningful. If you want to make games, you probably already love games.
To consumers, game design is pure magic. Consumers believe that a game designer imagines a game, then creates it exactly as he or she envisioned it.
Stage 2: Tinkerer
Tinkerers tend to imagine new games in terms of modifications (often additions) to existing games, sticking closely to their underlying rule sets.
Many games come with a level editor. This allows Tinkerers to get involved with a game in a whole new way.
However, Tinkerers begin to realize that game design is not magic, but it is a lot of work.
Stage 3: Masher
At this point, the designer is creating entirely new games, but the design process tends to involve mashing existing genres, mechanics, and themes together.
Mashers envision new games as collages of existing game components. They tend to focus on the mechanics and theme rather than on the player experience.
Stage 4: Creator
Before long, a game designer will shift his or her focus and work style. Instead of having visions of a specific game, the designer will be interested in exploring broad or incomplete ideas. The ideas can be about theme, they can be about mechanics, they can be about player experiences… really, they can be about anything.
Stage 4: Creator (cont’d)
Designers at this stage approach new games with a healthy emotional distance. Obviously, they are excited by their ideas, but they know many ideas never work out, so it’s dangerous to become attached to an untested one. They also know that the initial conception is very rarely the best implementation, so keeping an open mind and keeping nothing sacred will tend to result in better final games.
Extra Credits, Season 1, Episode 16 - So You Want To Be A Game Designer (7:36)
Discussion
Why is communication the game designer’s core skill?
What other skills does a game designer need? Why is “idea guy” a poor definition for what a
game designer does? Why shouldn’t game designers get too attached
to their ideas? What is the number one cause of failed games?
THE PLAYCENTRICDESIGN PROCESS
Aesthetics of Play
Extra Credits: Aesthetics of Play (9:41)
Discussion
What are Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics?
Which does a Game Designer handle first when creating a game?
What does a player experience first when playing a game?
So what does Extra Credits think Game Designers should focus on?
Playcentric Design Process
Involving the player in your design process from conception to completion.
Setting Player Experience Goals Prototyping and Playtesting Iteration
Tracy Fullerton
Player Experience
A game designer does not create games.
A game designer creates experiences.
What experience do I want the player to have? What is essential to that experience? How can my game capture that experience?
Jesse Schell, Lens #1
What Experience Do I Want The Player To Have?
Immersion: the illusion that you are another person or in another place.
Novelty: New or unexpected experiences.
Challenge: meaningful “work” where the player can make clear progress and has incentive to try again if s/he fails.
What Experience Do I Want The Player To Have?
Stimulation: the emotional element of play: victory, defeat, humor, suspense.
Harmony: Player-to-player engagement.
Threat: when the player feels tension, danger, provocation and humiliation.
.
What Is Essential To That Experience? Immersion: premise, environment,
character, story. Novelty: fantasy, artistry, surprises. Challenge: difficulty, order, obligations,
achievements. Simulation: pace, thrills, joy, multiplayer. Harmony: competitiveness, trust, glory,
integrity, help. Threat: tension, gloom, danger.
How can I capture that experience?
Game mechanics Goals Obstacles Story Art Audio
Step 1: Brainstorming
Set player experience goals Come up with game concepts or
mechanics Narrow down the list to the top three Write up short, one page description of
each Test your written concepts with potential
players
Step 2: Physical Prototype
Create a playable prototype using pen and paper and other craft materials
Playtest the physical prototype Modify physical prototype until it meets
player experience goals Write 3-6 page gameplay treatment
Step 3: Presentation
Presentation is often made to secure funds to hire the prototyping team
Your presentation should include demo artwork and a solid gameplay treatment
If you do not get funding, get feedback from your funding sources about what to modify or start over again
Step 4: Software Prototypes
Create rough computer models of gameplay
Playtest the prototype Modify prototype until it achieves your user
experience goals
Step 5: Design Documentation
Use the notes you’ve been taking during prototyping (you have been taking notes, haven’t you?!) to create a first draft design document
Work with team members to make sure the design is achievable and correctly described in the design document
Some designers now prefer creating a wiki to a static design document
Step 6: Production
Staff up and create real artwork and programming
Don’t lose sight of the playcentric process during production!
If the designer waits until production to really start designing the game, it can lead to all sorts of problems!
Step 7: Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance, or QA, is the testing of your game by professional testers
Make sure your gameplay is solid before your game goes into QA!
Designing For Innovation
Design games with unique play mechanics – think beyond the existing genres of play
Appeal to new players – people who have different tastes and skills than hardcore players
Try to solve difficult design problems like: Integration of story and gameplay Deeper empathy for characters in games Creating emotionally rich gameplay Discovering the relationships between games and learning
Ask difficult questions about what games are, what they can be, and what their impact is on us individually and culturally
Let’s Go Make Some Games!
1. Download Game Maker 8.0 for Windows from http://www.yoyogames.com/legacy
2. Download GM Tutorial - Catch The Clown.zip from the LAFS GD1 website Resources page
3. Create a Catch The Clown game