Game Design
What is a game? This is the question that there is no actual definition on as many people have different definitions. I think a game is an activity that one engages in for amusement or for fun, usually containing rules and some conflict between players. There are many different types of games people can play such as online multiplayer, simulations, adventure, real time strategy, puzzle, action, stealth shooter, combat and many more.
In reading through an article named 'Don't be a vidiot, What computer game designers can learn from non-electronic games' By Greg Costikyan he explained how 3D graphic adventure is somehow qualitatively different from a 2D game, meaning that innovation nowadays is more focused on technology rather than creativity in game design. Game developers are more interested in what the game looks like rather than how it plays. This may be due to the competitive market with stores like Smyths stocking hundreds of different games on their shelves.
It seems that online games are much more popular now than board games as more people have access to the internet and technology. These days people can download games to play with their friends on their mobile phones rather than playing board or card games. This seems cool and futuristic but sometimes you can't beat a good board or card game. It seems like the days of all the family sitting around the table and enjoying a good board game are numbered.
Greg also says how game developers can't really fail if they don't make games for big companies such as EA or GT. Perhaps thats why there are lots of games out there that just art that good.
In reading the article "The essence of euro-styled games" by Lewis Pulsipher it seems that there was an era where Euro style board games became very popular and are still popular today. A Euro style board game has a few characteristics that define it:
- Usually takes under an hour to play
- Simple rules
- No player eliminations
- Great visual interest
- Short intervals between playing
- Very pacific
Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of a video game, the gameplay, environment, storyline and the characters in a game. It is the production stage of a new game. In Lewis Pulsipher's article "so your going to make a game for the very first time?" he explains how there are several steps (6) in creating a game for the first time. These are:
- You are better off making a table top or board game if your web programming skills are not that great.
- Make a game based on another game as this will make it faster to get to the point where you can play it.
- Try and pick a form of game that is fairly common, nothing out of the ordinary.
- Focus on gameplay not appearance.
- Once you have the prototype play it yourself as it coule be rubbish to actually play.
- Once all that is done you can modify the game which takes up a lot of time.
I thought this was an interesting article by Lewis and i enjoyed reading it.
Here are three links to articles that i found useful to read on the topic of game development:
https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-learn-board-game-design-and-development--gamedev-11607
https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/02/18/beyond-programming-the-power-of-making-games.aspx
https://techbeacon.com/4-fundamentals-mobile-game-design
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