Game Design Resources

Game Play & Game Design
#1

The Resources thread in this subforum is lacking quite a bit. I’m looking for some tutorials/series/programs that are about game design and mechanics. While I’m very well versed in program design/application/theory, designing games is a whole other ball game. I can’t really find a lot through Google besides college programs, which I am also considering, but would rather not as I am in the midst of finishing a CS degree.

So yeah, any help on that would be great. To be clear, I’m looking for resources on game design or architecture; something like that. Not how to make a game in Java. I can do that part.

#2

My understanding of game design is that is not about how to structure the code or how to implemement an effect. I think game design is about:

  • Player motivation
  • Game presentation and content
  • Usability
  • Learning curve, player guidance
  • Story
  • Theme, style and how it influences choice of graphical prsentation, sound, muisc and writing

I see it separate from program design.

I don’t know any good resources either, but I’d like to learn more about these areas for sure, becuase it’s where my skills are lacking most.

#3

Yes. This is exactly what I’m looking for. I mean, as an avid gamer, I like to think that I have an idea of how to layout a game, and what game mechanics should be used, but then again, I’m just the single user that likes what I like. I want to learn methods of effectively creating games that balance, story, gameplay, difficulty, replayability, etc.

#4

[quote=“Troncoso,post:3,topic:40270”]
I guess there’s two ways of learning that: reading lots of books about game design, or by designing games and starting small. Unfortunately, I know few good resources which are really about game design in general. It’s quite a complicated topic, involving psychology, business, user interface design, game theory, storytelling, and so on, and so on.

Here’s a speech by Sid Meier which I found interesting with regards to game design:

Also checking out generic sites such as gamasutra.com or gamedev.net may help you in finding more generic advice on game design.

#5

One more thought: I don’t really think game design is a scientific discipline with “laws” of good game design. It’s more like an art, or philosophy, or perhaps just a handicraft.

#6

There are certain aspects of video games that are an “art” (story, theme, graphics, style, etc), but after that, you need to apply these things to other aspects (gameplay, story flow, interface layout, etc), that have a more standard way of doing them. It doesn’t matter how great your story is, if your user base is so frustrated by the bad control scheme that they rage quit the game.

#7

Best advice I can give is to show what you make to everyone and TAKE the criticism.

I have a friend in a class who uses unity and is fairly good at it but every time I even so much as suggest something small like, “make that thruster shoot more fire out” he gets really offended. Take the criticism and learn from it. The more people you show your stuff to the better.

#8

These days it’s quite hard at times to get people even reporting bugs, even on request … maybe it’s just me though.

It’s very good if you can wathc people playing teh game. It gives very good feedback what works well and what doesn’t. But sometimes you want to know about methods or strategies which work well for design, before you have written so much code that you have something testable, in then find out no one likes to play it.

#9

Also, its good to just keep making things. You will learn a lot, just by doing it.

Most of the ‘big successes’ weren’t the peoples first games or attempts at it. Most of them have had many countless smaller attempts prior to it.

#10

Exactly… do your first game and get it out of the way… chances are it’s going to suck.

I also read somewhere that Angry Birds was Rovio Mobiles 16th game? (I could be wrong, I know it wasn’t their first). Basically do a game that you would want to play and you find interesting… share the idea with people who aren’t friends or family, and accept feedback with a grain of salt :wink:

-Pickle