Did all members of GIGnews recently recieve an email asking for you to write stuff for them? Cause i did and i'd like to but i'm stuck. I'd like to write about game design but the problem is is that my ideals change like the weather in the caribean. Does anyone want to share some idea's around to help me out? It would be much appreciated if you could give any writing tips too. Hmmm, obviously something very general would be a good start for a topic to write about... To be general without generalising??! (The reason i ask is that some of you who have seen my yarping posts/threads might have a better idea of what i should write about since you're seeing my writings from an external point of view if you catch my drift) Feel free to exploit this opportunity to have your say! I love Game Design and it loves me back. Our Goal is "Fun"! Edited by - Paul Cunningham on 9/28/00 11:39:13 AM

How about money and creativity? I should probably start a thread on what i''m going to write about so i can tweak out any misconceptions that i might have. I was thinking that i should skip the crpg stuff because it''s so debatable an issue. Although it would be fun ay

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!

Hmm. I think that there is a market for high quality independant games. Look at Ninja Tune records. www.ninjatune.net and www.piratetv.net they have been staying strong, breaking technological boundaries (audio-visual/ interactive music) for ten years now.

That said I suppose that it is the difference in resources needed to compete graphics-wise with the big boys, but I don''t think that it is the graphics that is necessary, you just need a great game! And an organised word-of- mouth campaign, or am I just being Naive ?

quote:By Ahw
Money and creativity ? yeah, sounds good to me. You can do the guy selling his soul, and I'll do the moron resisting from an easy way to fortune to keep his free will ?

Ok, it's a deal:
"But wait, there's more"
"If you order now, we'll throw in a free set of steak knives"
"You can order by...."

quote:
mmm Tell me if you want some controversy in your stuff ... what about a dialogue ? A la Plato.

Yeah, it was wondering if it should be a little lbit controversial in order to get peoples attention. Hmmm

How about "How big is Game Design?" or "What the hell is Game Design?" Like a begginers introduction to game design?! I can't make up my mind.

quote:By ketchaval
That said I suppose that it is the difference in resources needed to compete graphics-wise with the big boys, but I don't think that it is the graphics that is necessary, you just need a great game! And an organised word-of- mouth campaign, or am I just being Naive ?

No way Graphics are very necessary in my books. Graphics are as an essential part of game design as is a good understanding of programming. Don't be lead by the blind my friend Game Design is hard enough without having to disclude some of the most important stages of it from your mind.

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!

Edited by - Paul Cunningham on September 30, 2000 2:29:20 AM

Paul, I stand by my belief that graphics don't sell that many games. (I'm not talking about having Nethack "graphics" in games, just the bare minimum functional + enough to bring out the appeal of the concept / setting.)

It is the SETTING, Ease of use (joint importance), and lastly gameplay that is important.


Think about Tomb Raider each new one is a great hit, but have they majorly improved the graphics in each one ? NO. (Okay the first had good graphics for the time.)

What about Diablo and Diablo 2, again PC Zone was upset that they hadn't improved the graphics, but this too sold Millions ! (These appeal to a more hardcore market, so maybe the GAMEPLAY is more important).

What about Deer Hunter & Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ? Do these have better graphics than Quake 3, OR are they cheaper and more appealing to the man in the street (setting, genre, allure of Money/ Killing Deer?). Which sold more, and has a cheaper price tag?

What about Rollercoaster tycoon, it is in 2d unlike the 3d Theme Park World which do you think sold more copies and is still high in the charts ? Was it the one with (I'm guessing) lower system specifications so that mum/dad could play it?


The Games Industry believes that graphics sell, but which games REALLY sell on their graphics and how many copies they sell?

---and what was the last game YOU bought because of the graphics?

Edited by - Ketchaval on September 30, 2000 9:12:15 AM

I think there''s been a little misinterpretation here, let me explain.

Gameplay is going to become more important as the graphical capability maxes out in computers. There''s no doubt about that. I''m not talking up the idea that graphics have to be absolutely stunning to sell a game. What i am saying is that when you approach game design it workes well to remember that graphics and sound will become an essential part of the game design in many cases, not all i know. This is mainly due to the fact that graphics in most games will be responsible for carrying a great deal of the feel of the game to the player.

Tommorow we will probably have directors who sit between the game designer and the artists, this wouldn''t suprise me and in this case my argument becomes invalid.

There seems to be 2 schools of thought about this argument these days, 1. great graphics are a must do and 2. gameplay means all and graphics don''t. I think both are wrong, I don''t think that graphics and gameplay should be separated so sharply. In my eye''s there''s no white lines between graphics,programming,music and game design. There will always be a blurry line between them.

Blizzard kept the graphics similar in the diablo series because they worked for the game so why change them overly? This clearly shows how important graphics are when it comes to designing games. Brilliant or bad isn''t the case, they have to suit the game design, this is my understanding.



I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!

It depends on what you are doing, but I too acknowledge that they have to fit the game (graphics). Thing is I think that too often we overblow the importance of them, all you need is the bare essentials to represent the ATMOSPHERE of the game, and COMMUNICATE the essentials of PLAY (Ie. Interface, symbolic pictures etc).

And remember that this statement was in the context of small player, Independants, shareware & poor designers competing with the Big Boys. Thus conceptualising the game with the right balance of necessary stuff, ie. minimum of COMMUNICATIVE interface & Game Atmosphere + Gameplay & Setting. If then they can afford to improve the Graphics / Sound beyond this workable minimum then they can if they need to. Whereas the big studios with teams of contract cinematographers, etc can afford to overspend on graphics (Think Westwood's Cinematics in the Command & Conquer series, a similar feel could have been done without so much live action, but the newreporting style of the cinematics improved that part of the experience.)

Edited by - Ketchaval on September 30, 2000 11:16:29 AM

I agree.