Challenge for Thinkers, Designers and creative individuals.

[arkain101]

Okay I will see what I can do with the maps.

 

I am going to work soon (into camp for 6 weeks, working on a diamond drill, which means a mineral exploration drill that cuts through solid rock and ore with diamond matrix bits.) SO I might be gone and wont be able to do anything with it. However If I could get a laptop out there I could do it in my spare time, come to think of it that would really keep me entertained in the 1 hour of freem time I have each day.

but not HL2 clearly!

Yah its quite amazing!

[IDMclean]

I do understand the potentials and pit falls for going the modding route. However one of the restrictions placed so far is that this a Game Proposal Document with a Plan to Implement.

 

What this means is that I am more interested in how I would do it, not in actually doing it. If I can put together a game plan, then I can get it funded and actually get a game underway. I am interested in the theory aspect of the game design at the moment.

 

Let me say that again. I am interested in the process of going from Designing, to and Developing the project. Right now we are at the stage of conceptualization. This stage is independent of practical solutions. This is the brainstorm stage.

 

We will worry about how we will build it later in the design phase. Right now we should be concearned mostly with identifying what we want to build, and why we want to build it.

 

In the Artistic steps this is Idea/Purpose.

Scott Mccloud's Six Steps of Artistic Design

 

Once we know what we want we can write up performance specifications. Which tell us what it has to do, which will outline our problem space and allow us to put together our solution space.

 

This intended to be the Design Documentation. I do not expect to write code for this any sooner than next year. This document will provide a number of excercises for those who participate. The benefit of which is practical education in the world of game design.

 

I none the less appreciate the feedback so far.

[arkain101]

sounds excellent, and I wish you luck!

 

I am gone to the bush diamond drilling for 3 weeks, I leave thursday. The pay is great.

[IDMclean]

Alright the purpose of all this information that I am collecting here is to give an overview of the task at hand. I am attempting to present, sequentially, the problem in total and in parts, and purpose some possible solutions.

 

I highly suggest reading through the links at the bottom regarding Scott McCloud's dissertation on art and the artistic design process.

 

A game designer is a person who designs games. The term normally refers to a person who designs computer or video games, but it also refers to one who designs traditional games, such as board games.

 

Video and computer game designer

 

A video or computer game designer develops the layout, concept and gameplay, the game design of a video or computer game. This may include playfield design, specification writing, and entry of numeric properties that balance and tune the gameplay. A game designer works for a developer (which may additionally be the game's video game publisher). This person usually has a lot of writing experience and may even have a degree in writing or a related field (such as English). This person's primary job function is writing, so the more experience they have with that activity, the better. Some art and programming skills are also helpful for this job, but are not strictly necessary. Game designers often have studied relevant liberal arts such as psychology, sociology, drama, fine art or philosophy. Due to the increasing complexity of the game design process, many young game designers may also come from a computer science or other computer engineering background.

 

In the video game industry, the job of game designer is one of the hardest to obtain. It is not easy, though many people think they "have what it takes" to perform this job. Almost everyone in the game industry has what they believe is a "killer game" concept and is waiting for the opportunity to develop the game. As a game designer, they may get the opportunity to develop that game concept, so competition is usually very high.

 

Since a video game publisher may invest millions of dollars towards a game's development, it is easy to understand why they choose game designers carefully—one or two poor game concepts could end up costing them millions of dollars of revenue and could even risk bankrupting the company. For this reason, game publishers usually choose game designers who have a proven track record with several hit games under their belts. Less seasoned designers may be assigned to low profile games that have budgets in the low tens of thousands.

 

Game design

Game design is the process of designing the content, background and rules of a game. A document which describes a game's design used during development may also be called a design document. Professional game designers specialize in certain types of games, such as board games, card games or video games.

 

Key concepts

 

Theme

 

A game's theme or setting is what the game is about: the armies of a chess board, the marine stuck on an abandoned lunar base, or entrepreneurs making money through property. Although not essential, most games have a theme of some sort, and it is often the starting point of the design. A strong theme is considered a core part of the marketing strategy for a commercial game and will often be conceived in a marketing department before being passed to game designers to create a game, particularly with licensed properties.

 

Gameplay

 

Gameplay is what the player does during the game, governed by the interactions of one or more game mechanics. Gameplay is at the heart of the design process and is usually extensively tested and refined. The aim of the gameplay is to make the game enjoyable and/or interesting to the player or the spectator. There are a wide variety of methods for achieving gameplay and designers are constantly inventing more. Gameplay is interactive and usually challenges the player in some manner.

 

Presentation

 

Presentation is the how the game and its theme are realised, the look and feel of the game. Although the final presentation of the game is not usually created by the designer of the mechanics of the game, the game design will inform the presentation, and the designer's opinion is usually sought.

 

Video/computer game design process

 

Game design begins with a concept: some are original inspirations, while others are client-mandated, often as part of a broader marketing campaign. The designer may start informally by discussing the game idea with others or may start writing immediately. Either way, one of the first tasks is to create an initial game design (or proposal, depending on the circumstances). The initial design needs to be approved and then full-scale production can begin.

 

However, just getting a game idea or design approved can be a long process. If the initial design is rejected, the designer needs to try to figure out why it was rejected and make changes to appease stakeholders. The process of submitting a design, getting rejected, tweaking and resubmitting can take weeks, months, or even years. Often, a game design never gets approved and the designer has to attempt a different idea altogether. But when a design finally gets the "green light", it isn't over.

 

When full-scale production begins, the initial game design gives the production team (programmers, artist and one or more producers) a "jumping off" point for development. Artists generate concept sketches and programmers will develop several prototypes to test out various game concepts. During this time, the game design will evolve, change and grow drastically, and it is the game designer's job to document it all.

 

But it doesn't end when the early production phase is over. During development many discoveries are made (for example, a way to render larger scenes) and shortcomings have to be dealt with (for example, the inability to calculate inverse kinematics). All these discoveries alter the game design and must be documented. The game design is a "living document" and the game designer is its heart and blood. Making and managing all the changes is difficult and can be cumbersome, so the designer must be adept at prioritizing and tracking changes. Additionally, since changes can be made in any place of the document, the designer must be vigilant in keeping the team informed of these changes and must be ready for any anger or criticism levied at them from the outcome—many hundreds of hours of work may be discarded from subtle changes to the game's direction.

 

The main weapon in a game designer's arsenal is a word processor, or, increasingly more often, a wiki. With this application, the designer will hammer out the game design as it goes through its scores of revisions, growing from a few sparse pages to a mammoth tome, cross-referenced and indexed. Samples of artwork, graphs and tables make up some of the content, but most of the document is text which the designer generated.

 

The game designer must be diplomatic. During development, many members of the development team will offer suggestions or request changes (actually, a good game designer will solicit comments from the team). When many suggestions for one aspect of the game are made, the designer must choose which one is most desirable. They must be diplomatic in announcing their decision so as not to offend those who proffered the unused choices. Like in most endeavors, a coherent team is vital in game development and the designer can't afford to offend those who may play vital roles.

 

Diplomacy is also important when dealing with the client, who may be upper management, or, in the case of a third-party developer, the game publisher. If these stakeholders are not satisfied with aspects of the design, the designer must diplomatically resolve these issues, balancing satisfying the client with keeping in features that he or she wants. Upsetting any one of several possible stakeholders could lead to removal of the designer from the game.

 

If the designer is not the sole designer on a game, one must exercise diplomacy when discussing features with other designers. Conflicting ideas can easily escalate into heated arguments when passionate personalities are involved.

 

Game designers must be creative individuals with broad backgrounds. A wide frame of reference is used to generate new ideas or entertaining content. Because of the demands of the market, designers are often required to design games based on licensed properties or IPs—some of which may have little game potential (for example, Cap'n Crunch breakfast cereal). In these cases, the designer must exercise great creativity and patience while forming a game that is fun and interesting.

 

The Six Steps, by Scott McCloud, from "Understanding Comics"

 

Visual Culture Language

 

Scott MCcloud's Big Triangle

[IDMclean]

The objective at this point is to identify what it is that we are doing, and what we need to do to procede. This is the Game Project step of Design, which will be followed by Development, and finalized (hopefully) by Publication.

 

The First step in Design is coming up with what you hope to develop. We are the customer in this whole thing, so we specify what it is that we would like. I have put forth that I would like it to be First Person Roleplaying Game. I have also put forth that the graphics on it don't need to be spectacular. I am interested in a intrict game more than a pretty one.

 

So by the above information here are some questions.

 

What is the Theme of the game? In the Artistic sense, we are asking where are we placing our focus? The Idea/Purpose or the Form? What is the game about, is it about you the player or the world that you play in? Or something else entirely.

 

In the Big Theory of Roleplaying games this is the question of focus on Creative Agenda.

 

Study of any one of these approachs brings up the true intend of any game conceived, and an important aspect to concider when making a game. That is that you are making some kind of statement or exploration with your game.

 

What then is the statement(s) that should be made? What then is the concept(s) that should be explored?

 

Unlike comics, a computer game is a living breathing entity. It is interactive and mutuable. We have two things which we can use to our benefit. One is that we have a world that the player exists in and through it we prompt the player to strive towards somekind of goal, if not a goal then we guide the player to find a role.

 

So is there anything that anyone might want to say, or any concepts that anyone might wish to explore?

 

Do we wish to tell a story, or make availible a powerful tool for telling your own stories?

 

See also GNS Theory and GNS and Other Matters of Roleplaying Theory, and finally the Big Model.

A diagram to be helpful, BigModel.pdf, found at Random Wiki: Big Model.

 

Finding Your Place in the World - By Norman Gilbreath

 

Well that's allot of information for the night, and I need to sleep. I hope this proves to be informative regarding the creative process. I look forward to feedback.

 

-Clowns are ferocious creatures when provoked. They are known for their bull's eye aim with cream pies and devastating seltzer shots.

KickAssClown

[Jay-qu]

Do we wish to tell a story, or make availible a powerful tool for telling your own stories?

 

I think this is a really good distinction to make. I have enjoyed some games purely for their great storyline, while some games let you make the story line up as you go. I think the second is a lot more work!

[IDMclean]

Alright. Here is what is on my agenda.

 

I am going to identify what I would like in a game. I am going to identify what games I like, what it is that I liked about them and why I liked those aspects.

 

I am then going to related that to the concept that I have for the game project.

 

On top of that, I am going to see about setting up a Forum, Wiki, and Webpage for the Game project.

 

As I have stated I am shooting for a production grade Game Purposal Document. Now admittedly I am a novice in terms of Experience, however in terms of determination, comprehension, perseverance, and diversity of education, I am of decent understanding of the process, and workings of how to manage a project. Even one as ambitious as I have in mind.

 

As I told Jay-qu, I realize that designing, developing and publishing a video game takes a village. I can not do it alone.

 

At this Tier (Tier I: Design) of the project, it is open. Any comments, any ideas, and critism is appreciated. Anything at all that can be contributed is worth while.

 

The areas of Design that I have Identified so far are:

• Interface
  
• Dialog
  
• Causality Handler/Event Handler
  
• AI
  
• Physics
  
• World
  
• Characters
  
• Story/Script
  
• Sound Effects
  
• Music
  
• Graphics
  

 

Some games that I take Inspiration from:

• Battlezone
  
• Breakdown
  
• Creatures
  
• Chronotrigger
  
• Dark Cloud
  
• Darkstone
  
• Diablo I: Hellfire & II:LOD
  
• Drakan: Order Of The Flame
  
• Dues Ex
  
• Dungeon Keeper
  
• ElderScrolls III: Morrowind and IV:Oblivion
  
• Final Fantasy 1-7
  
• Grand Theft Auto
  
• Half-life 1 & 2
  
• Harvest Moon
  
• Jade Empire
  
• Kingdom Hearts
  
• Mechwarrior II: Mercinaries
  
• Might and Magic
  
• Oddworld Series
  
• Outpost
  
• Planescape: Torment
  
• Pokemon Series
  
• Rage of Mages 1 & 2
  
• Red Faction
  
• Secret of Mana & SoM II
  
• The Sims Universe
  
• System Shock II
  
• Thief
  

 

I will go through shortly and pick out what it is from each game that appealed to me, why I find them pleasing and useful, and how they might be implemented in another 'genre' of game.

[IDMclean]

Alright, no replies in two days.

 

Here's an easy assignment for anyone who cares to apply.

 

If you could have five minutes of the world's attention to say one thing that would be understood regardless of medium or language, what would that one thing be, why would you say it, and how would you say it?

 

I expect a detailed response, preferablely longer than a paragraph.

[TheFaithfulStone]

If you could say one thing to the world, what would it be, and why would you say it?

 

Jeez, Clown, think you could ask a tougher question? I've only spent the last ten years trying to figure that one out to no avail.

 

BTW, my favorite game of all time is HALO (the first one.) The story was awesome and mysterious. It was like a book - I found myself playing it not so I could see the ending, but so I could find out what happened next.

 

As far as sandbox games go - look for Will Wrights "Spore" to see pretty much the ultimate expression of "do what you want."

 

TFS

[IDMclean]

Submission by Corey Blanding

 

His answer to my one minute question. This is what he would say to the world.

 

Start Over

 

 

 

When one winged angels

fly without falter,

when the contents of your heart

are the same as your alter,

when concepts like greed

are removed from your heart,

perhaps then

you can have a fresh start.

 

For ignorance ain’t bliss

despite what you’re told,

and it’s wrong to define

whose hand you can hold,

your morals don’t dictate

the way the world works,

cause all are important

because of their qwirks.

 

You can’t keep on pushing

them to the ground,

stealing their rights

just to kick them around,

and time will show

just how wrong you were,

when your grandchildren grow up

and still there’s no “cure”.

 

But you don’t fret

cause your god says your right,

and just for this

you’ll kill and you’ll fight,

then when it’s all over

you’ll make up excuses,

only to find out

“my dog ate it” is useless.

 

Perhaps in the future

we’ll all come to see,

our lives aren’t about

the all-mighty ME,

and then if we’re lucky

we just might discover,

true bliss can be found

when we’re helping others.

 

You see there’s no reason

for those kids to starve,

our wealth can’t come with us

when we return to the stars,

cause that’s what were made of

when broken to parts,

insignificant pieces

of tiny star farts.

 

Ohh I hope we remember

the lessons we learned,

and instill in our children

the rights they have earned,

but until that time

when we start again,

until that moment,

that I call you friend...

 

 

 

I’ll sit in my room

and I’ll pray to no end,

that that time is coming

so real life can begin.

[InfiniteNow]

If you could have five minutes of the world's attention to say one thing that would be understood irregardless of medium or language, what would that one thing be, why would you say it, and how would you say it?

Just let go and enjoy.

 

That's what I'd say.

 

I expect a detailed response, preferablely longer than a paragraph.

Multiple paragraphs aren't necessary. Perhaps I'd also say this:

 

It is our expectations that cause us pain. Expect nothing and you will never be let down.

[IDMclean]

Ok, so that is what you would say still got two other parts of the question.

 

why would you say it, and how would you say it

[InfiniteNow]

why would you say it, and how would you say it

Because I feel like it and as clearly and broadly as possible.

[TheFaithfulStone]

Most important things have already been said by people a lot wiser than anybody on this forum, and nobody listened then either.

 

Some examples-

 

"Love the neighbor as thyself" - Jesus

"Desire is suffering" - Bhudda

"Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" - Wallace Shaun

 

How do you bring the mountain to Mohammed?

 

TFS

[IDMclean]

I'm not going to give you a purpose. This is an exercise in finding purpose and if it is lacking, making purpose for yourself.

 

Sure they might not take to heart what you have to say, or they might interpret it wrong. Nothing we can do about that. However the premise is that you have the entire world listening to you for five minutes. You get to say anything during that time. You could even say nothing but that is your choice.

 

I would say something, and in fact, I am composing it currently. I will post it after I get a few more in depth replies to my question.

 

Most people are happy it seems to say what, but not why and how.

 

So the question remains.

 

If you could have five minutes of the worlds undivided attention, in which to give a message in some form or another, assured that it would be understood irregardless of culture, language, or medium. Knowing full well that it might not be taken the way you intended it to be.

 

What would you say, if you would say anything?

 

Why would you say that, and if you wouldn't say anything then why not?

 

How would you get your message across? Movie, Music, Poem, Painting, Comic Book, Speech, or Written upon the moon temporarily?

[IDMclean]

This is the reply from my good friend in Canada to my question.

 

My brothers and sisters,

Our world, regarless of which country we live in is slowly dying. I am asking you as a human being to serously think of one thing that is going to make this planet a better place to live in. Now, ask yourself why you can't do it, what is stopping you from doing it. Now, if this answer has anything to do with money... you've found our world's biggest threat.

 

kinda something like that.. more a denounciation of capitalism. I would say it because people are hating eachother for the bad reasons.. for religion.. for confort.. for ressources.. for land... for liberty... all of which have money in their roots... ... POWER..

 

I would say it as a teacher asking his students...

[TheBigDog]

Clown, I am going to answer this one several times I think. But I will start with this quote from Atlas Shrugged. In it the character John Galt has the opportunity to do exactly what you ask, make a statement to the whole world. It is a 60 page monologue, but I will give you just the last few paragraqhs...

"In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of you battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.

 

"But to win it requires your total dedication and a total break with the world of your past, with the doctrine that man is a sacrificial animal who exists for the pleasure of others. Fight for the value of your person. Fight for the value of your pride. Fight for the essence of that which is man: for his sovereign rational mind. Fight with the radiant certainty and the absolute rectitude of knowing that yours is the Morality of Life and that yours is the battle for any achievement, any value, any grandeur, any goodness, any joy that has ever existed on this earth.

 

"You will win when you are ready to pronounce the oath I have taken at the start of my battle -- and for those who wish to know the day of my return, I shall now repeat it to the hearing of the world:

 

"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."

 

Bill