A summary of the notes I took while I was at GDC attending various seminars and round tables. Not very organized, but do enjoy.
For the full version, go to my post on the Ringling Game Design Club blog.
- Surprise your player by surprising yourself.
- If the player isn’t having fun, it’s your fault.
- Nail down the core concept of fun, and everything falls into place after that.
- By lowering the penalty for failure, the player is forced to improvise new actions, instead of restarting altogether.
- Design robust mechanics, so their interactions can be utilized at the player’s whim to create emergent solutions to situations.
- Crunch with a quantifiable goal.
- Put your team first, and they’ll never do you wrong.
- Adapt quickly to new development conditions, or you’ll fail.
- Technical Artists don’t make the art assets, they build tools that get technology out of the way so artists can do their thing.
- TAs use Python, DCC App languages, and C#.
- Do plenty of research to find your games visual style, pulling from other games, paintings, architecture, and so on. By focusing on this visual style, and using the reference, your game won’t turn out as bland as a typical Realistic Shooter.
- Shader and Post Process manipulation is key to establishing a unique visual style.
- Great Designers exhibit 10 traits:
1. Clear Communication
2. Positive mental attitude
3. Teamworking skills
4. A desire to continuously learn
5. Empathy for the player
6. Keep it super simple
7. Flexibility
8. Problem-solving and analytical skills
9. A little knowledge about a wide array of topics
10. Passion for all games
- Everything is a game, including job hunting.
- We can design a mansion, but we may end up with an outhouse. Great designers see the outhouse in the planning phase.
- Managing the scope of your project will be key to success.
- The computer-controlled corporations in EVE Online are the source of all money in the economy. By forcing players to buy certain goods from corporations, CCP guarantees they can pull money OUT of the economy, stabilizing the quantity of currency at any given time.
- EVE Online makes use of Tech Levels to add an element of obsolescence to the game, thus lowering the price of more obsolete or outdated tech.
- Puzzles make players feel really smart.
- Players are not dumb.
- Be conscious and make use of key principles of design when designing puzzles. The rules still apply.
- A readable interface exposes games systems to the player.
- Provide logical responses to players’ actions. Their input should have meaning.
- Designers should program.
- Be subtle about the integration of information into the gameworld. Don’t add aesthetic content that doesn’t add to readability of the game.
- Give your player weenies to look guide their exploration of the world.
- Make sure players know the main paths through the world, but offer up side paths for further exploration. Discovering these side paths make your players feel smart.
- Nobody reads manuals.
- Game Developers have a responsibility to their players. We have a profound effect on their lives. Show the consequences of violence.
- Educate players through your entertaining medium.
- Don’t try to do too much.
- Introduce new blood and fresh ideas into a project every three to 6 months.
- Make sure everyone is constantly aware of what everyone else is working on.
- Give team members complete pipeline ownership over an asset, from concept to completion.
- Three factions can be nicely balanced, and provide more interest than a binary conflict.
- No tech art pipeline is the same from studio to studio.
- Reuse code. It’s just being efficient.
- Respect the Player.
- Players fall into three types, Planning and Approach Strategists, Rambo, and the Guerilla. They all loop together, and blend.
- Designers should support the player’s decisions and choices.
- Nobody is hiring Sophomores as interns. Spend most of your time just MEETING people.
- Everyone there is really friendly, and very willing to converse.
- Don’t be an arrogant prick, don’t misrepresent yourself. Know your place in their world.
- Business Cards should have your name, what you’re currently doing (title, organization), and contact information. Favor a readable business card over a flashy one. Have them printed on quality paper.
- Bring a portfolio, you never know when you can get someone to look it over.
- The Ringling name has a lot of pull in this world; they respect the institution, and the quality graduates it produces. Continue that excellence.
- Wear. Comfy. Shoes.
- Try to get your swag earlier, rather than later. You’ll get a wider variety of t-shirts and GDC branded Stuff.