The Process of Game Design

1. The Process of Game Design Dr. Lewis Pulsipher Copyright 2007 Lewis Pulsipher

2. Who am I • Designed my own games while a teenager • Began playing commercial wargames in 1963 • Played the original Atari 2600 and have played some PC games heavily, but rarely play any video games these days; never owned a game console • Designer of six commercially-published board wargames (most recently February ‘06) • Active designer of board and card games (playtesters solicited!) • My main job is teaching networking, games, Web development

3. Two forms of game design • Video games and non-video games • Scale is different • “big time” video games are produced by dozens of people, cost millions of dollars • “big time” non-video games produced by a few people with budgets in the thousands • Yet a few sell more than a million copies

4. Prototypes—”testing is sovereign” • To best improve a game, you must have a playable prototype • Firaxis’ Sid Meier-Civilization series, Pirates • The sooner Firaxis got a playable version of Civ 4, the more they could learn • A playable prototype includes “artwork” or physical components, and rules or programming • The rules for a non-video game are the equivalent of the programming of a video game • Programming must be precise and is very time consuming (game engines may help in the future) • A playable set of rules can be much less precise, relying on the mind(s) of the designer(s), and notes • It’s also much easier to change the non-video prototype to test different approaches • It’s much easier to produce the physical prototype, than to create the artwork for a video game

5. Learning to design • So we can have a playable, testable non-video game much more quickly than a computer game of similar scope or subject • Consequently, it’s much easier to learn game design with physical games than with video games! • Kevin O’Gorman’s concurrence

6. Art vs. Science • As in many other creative endeavors, there are two ways of approach • These are often called Romantic and Classical, or Dionysian and Apollonian • Or: art and science • Some people design games “from the gut” • Others like to use system, organization, and (when possible) calculation • Mine is the “scientific” approach, which is more likely to help new designers • I think design is 10% art and 90% science

7. One way to look at the difference • Art is something created by an individual, then presented to the public “as is” • There is no “testing” or “focus groups” • Science is something subject to repeated testing • And almost all good games are thoroughly playtested • A sign of an “amateur” designer is insufficient testing

8. Who is the audience? • A game must have an audience • What are the game-playing preferences of that audience • Short or long? • Chance or little chance? • Lots of story or little story? • “Ruthless” or “nice”? • Simple or complex? • There is no “perfect” game

9. What makes a game “good”? • “Fun” is hard to design • And not everyone plays for fun—even if we can define what “fun” is • Educational value (history, children, crosswords) • Some want laughs, not strategy (family games) • Games are social occasions

10. What makes a game “good” • Some play to win • Players must be able to influence the outcome of the game by their choices amongst non-obvious alternatives–otherwise it’s not a game (though it might be a story or a toy or a puzzle) • “Shark” players don’t want to be “gypped” • Will the expert win every time? • Romantic vs. Classical players and games • There are many, many points of view

11. Genre • Video games are more limited by genre than non-video games • Most video games and many others fall into a clear genre category • Each genre has characteristics that come to be “expected” by the consumer • Much easier to market a video game with a clear genre

12. Typical genres • Video games: FPS (first person shooter), RTS (real-time strategy), RPG (role-playing game), action, adventure, vehicle simulation, etc. • Non-video: card games, board games, role-playing games, • Strategy, action, “Euro” style, and all the genres of computer games

13. How to design games • Limits lead to a conclusion: • Characteristics of the audience (target market) • “People don’t do math any more” • Genre limitations • Production-imposed limitations • “Board cannot be larger than X by Y” • Self-imposed limitations • “I want a one-hour trading game”

14. Publisher-imposed limits • Some are publisher preference, some are market-dictated • For example: many publishers want nothing that requires written records in a game • Another example: consumers strongly prefer strong graphics, whether in a video or a non-video game

15. Self-imposed limits • You have your own preferences • Don’t design a game you don’t like to play yourself • If you don’t like it, why should anyone else? • Limits/constraints improve and focus the creative process • Great art and music is much more commonly produced in eras of constraints, rather than eras without constraints • Example of a limit: I want to produce a two-player game that lasts no more than 30 minutes

16. The idea is not the game • Novices tend to think the idea is the important thing • Ideas are “a dime a dozen”. It’s the execution, the creation of a playable game, that’s important • The “pyramid” of game design: • Lots of people get ideas • Fewer try to go from general idea to a specific game idea • Fewer yet try to produce a prototype • Fewer yet produce a decently playable prototype • Very few produce a complete game • And very, very few produce a good complete game

17. The Design Pyramid: Milestones on the way to production

18. How do you get ideas? • Ideas don’t “just come” to you • Thomas Edison: “Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.” Same applies to ideas • You have to work to get ideas • Write everything down. It may not be used now, but may be useful later • I use Info Select. Microsoft OneNote might do. Or use a word processor. • Use a notebook when you don’t have a computer: but transcribe religiously! Back up!

19. Making Use of Ideas • "Strictly speaking, there's no such thing as invention, you know. It's only magnifying what already exists.“ - Allie Fox, The Mosquito Coast • Hardly anything is new under the sun • Most of the time, associations, combining aspects of several things, results in “new” things • Hence the more “old” games and game-related material you know, the more you have to work with • Play games; read game rules; talk about games; read about games; write about games

20. Sources of Ideas • Other games • History and other non-fiction reading • Fiction • People • Discussions • Everyday things • Pictures • Almost anything! I’ve designed games by starting with a particular kind of piece in mind!

22. Do it! • Too many people like to think about designing so much, they never actually do it • Until you have a playable prototype, you have nothing • (Which is what makes video game design so difficult) • It doesn’t have to be beautiful, just usable

23. Put yourself in the player’s shoes • What do you want them to feel as they play? • What decisions can they make? • How do they affect the course and outcome of the game? • What must they do that might not be fun (especially: recordkeeping)? • So how can this be eliminated?

24. The stages of completion of a non-video game design • Idea • Notes about idea • Detailed notes about idea • Rough board/layout of pieces (if any) • Detailed board/layout (if any) • Prototype (pieces/cards added) • Solo-played prototype • Prototype played by others • Full written rules (rarely done before others have played) • "Settled" game • Blind testing • "Done" (but still subject to change, especially by manufacturer)

25. The stages of completion of a video game design • Idea • Notes about idea • Detailed notes about idea • Game treatment • “Rules” • Computer Prototype (usually for show) • Playable Prototype (usually new code) • Development • Testing • “Done”

26. Design vs. “development” • “Development” has two meanings • In video games, it means writing the program • In non-video, development (often by a person other than the designer) sets the finishing touches on a game, but may include significant changes • Development takes longer than design, in either case

27. The designer’s game vs. the game that’s published • Video games are often overseen by the publisher, who is paying the bills; so it is modified to suit as it is developed • Non-video games are often unseen by the publisher until “done”; some publishers then modify them, often heavily

28. The fundamental structures of any game (video or non-video) • The idea behind this: if you’re designing a game, you have to decide what to do within each of these categories • This helps you conceptualize your game, turn it from ideas into something of substance • If one of these structures isn’t involved, you probably have a toy or puzzle, not a game

29. Structures: • 1. Theme/History/Story • Games are usually, though not always, models of a reality • 2. Objective/victory conditions • If the game doesn’t end, or has no winner, it may be a toy or puzzle • 3. “Data storage”. (Information Management) • How do we represent/model the state of affairs? • This is often a board, pieces, cards in non-video • 4. Sequencing • Simultaneous movement? Turn based? “Real-time”?

30. Structures… • 5. Movement/Placement • How are objects translated from one place to another • 6. Information availability • Is all information known? Fog of war? Uncertainty? • 7. Conflict resolution/interaction of game entities • Can there be any conflict at all? Shooting? Swordplay? Spells? Jumping?

31. Structures… • 8. "Economy" (resource acquisition) • Many traditional games have little or none • Money in Monopoly, “kinging” in checkers • 9. Player Interaction rules • Negotiation? • Trading or auctions? • No direct interaction? • There are many more aspects to the structures than listed here

32. Example: Tic-Tac-Toe • Theme: abstract game • Victory: three in a row, can be a draw • Storage: the 3 by 3 array • Sequencing: take turns placing one piece • Movement: place one “piece” at a time • Information: all available • Conflict: cannot occupy space occupied by opponent’s “piece” • Economy: unlimited pieces • Player Interaction: none special

33. Example: Pac-Man • Story: not much… • Victory: get through all the levels • Storage: square array in the computer • Sequencing: simultaneous movement • Movement: your single “piece” moves to adjacent square • Information: all available • Conflict: depends on timing, “death” to touch • Economy: can earn additional “pieces” (lives) • Player Interaction: none special

34. Example: Chess • Theme: abstract but used to represent warfare • Victory: checkmate opposing king, can be draw • Storage: the 8 by 8 array • Sequencing: take turns moving one piece • Movement: one “piece” at a time, varying movement capabilities (and: castling and promotion) • Information: all available • Conflict: occupy opponent’s space to eliminate it • Economy: promotion only • Player Interaction: none special

35. Example: Doom (video version) • Theme: Mayhem! • Victory: survive and reach a goal • Storage: some kind of array in the computer • Sequencing: real-time • Movement: More or less as a person would • Information: “Fog of War”, much uncertainty • Conflict: shooting of various types, melee • Economy: can earn additional lives • Player Interaction: none special

36. Example: Axis & Allies (board) • Theme: World War II worldwide • Victory: take and hold enemy capitals • Storage: area map • Sequencing: take turns • Movement: move all pieces each turn, land-sea-air limitations • Information: all information known • Conflict: move into enemy area, dice rolling varying with attacker and target unit types • Economy: use industrial points to purchase new units, technology • Player Interaction: none special

37. Example: Civil. III (Computer) • Theme: Growth of civilization through the ages (historical, more or less) • Victory: Reach the stars (technological development), conquest, or other means • Storage: square array in the computer • Sequencing: turn based • Movement: move all your pieces/do all your actions each turn • Information: “Fog of War”, much uncertainty • Conflict: Enter enemy unit’s square, rules for firing, technology determines units you may construct • Economy: very complex resource management, pollution, taxes, etc. • Player Interaction: Via diplomacy rules

38. Example: Britannia revised • Theme: History of Britain 44 AD-1085 AD • Victory: Accumulate more points than anyone else, score in a variety of ways such as holding certain areas • Storage: board, 37 land areas, 5 seas • Sequencing: turn based by nation, not by player • Movement: move all your pieces/do all your actions each turn, move two areas usually, overruns • Information: all information available • Conflict: Enter enemy unit’s area, dice rolling after movement modified by terrain, leaders • Economy: Increase of forces based on number of areas held and terrain; additional units arrive from overseas • Player Interaction: Negotiation only allowed at the table

39. Brief “what’s important” • Know your audience! What do they like? No game can satisfy all tastes. • Know your objectives! What are you trying to achieve? • Design is “10% inspiration and 90% perspiration”, especially if you also develop the non-video game. • Writing usable rules (or doing the programming) is the hardest part. • Write everything down (and back it up). • Playtesting is “sovereign”. No matter what you think about how the game will work, only efficient playtesting will actually show how it works. Without a playable prototype, you have *nothing*! (That’s only a slight exaggeration.)

40. Ideas are cheap (easy); a playable game is much harder to create. • Players must be able to influence the outcome of the game by their choices amongst non-obvious alternatives–otherwise it’s not a game (though it might be a story or a toy or a puzzle). . • Be willing to change the game again and again. • Hardly any idea is original...but ideas can be used in new ways. And there’s almost always a new way to treat any subject (many, many ways to do real estate–Monopoly is only one). • Games are supposed to be fun. But “fun” means different things to different people. • Keep in mind the nine fundamental structures of games: • The road to the complete game: 1. Ideas, 2. Playable ideas, 3. Prototypes, 4. Play solo, 5. Playtest, 6. Fully written rules, 6. Keep experimenting. 7. “Blind” test.

41. Example: the progress of a design . . . • Design constraint: I wanted a game that primarily used colored glass beads (“stones”)—elegant, visual effect • Likely to be abstract, then—not enough variety for anything “realistic” • But how much variety can you get with one kind of piece (even chess has many kinds); how could I provide variety? • Introduce a random but somewhat controllable element • Dice undesirable to publishers nowadays • Why not use cards to change the rules (from Fluxx, CCG)

42. “Law & Chaos” • What to change? • Victory conditions (pattern of stones needed) • Capture methods

43. Books about game design • Academic • More about game analysis than about design • Rules of Play by Salen and Zimmerman, MIT Press (game design as “Art”—very academic) • Video-game oriented • Tends to platitudes and generalities, because it’s so hard to create and try a video game • Rollings and Adams on Game Design, New Riders • Marketing oriented • Primarily about how to get the attention of publishers • Game Inventor’s Guidebook by Brian Tinsman • How-to • Well, there aren’t any! for boardgames; a few being done for video games now

44. Some Web resources • IGDA (Game developers) • Boardgamegeek.com • Boardgamedesign Yahoo Group • rec.game.design (limited) • Board Game Designers Forum (online) • Sloperama.com • Gamespot.com, gamewire.com • Gamesjournal.com (no longer published, but read the archives)

45. Questions?