Pittsburgh PA
Current topic: How to design a Pet Game via making a design document
June 11, 2016
Spectrum Of Design
a blog series by sunandshadow
aka Mare Kuntz
Blog #3: Does This Rollercoaster Have Sand?
(Themeparks, Sandboxes, and Sandparks)
Themeparks and Sandboxes represent two different philosophies about what a gameplay experience should be like. Themeparks are concerned with giving players…
June 11, 2016
June 11, 2016
MMO: Spectrum Of Design
a blog series by sunandshadow
aka Mare Kuntz
Blog #1: To Avatar Or Not To Avatar?
(No, not that movie with the blue cat-aliens.)
One of the most basic divides among game types is one of the least talked about, because it's one of the few that doesn't provoke much controversy am…
June 11, 2016
August 12, 2013
Fill-in-the-blank description of game's genre and other basic properties from my guide:
[NameOfGame] will be a [2D or 3D or ?D] [optionally name the art style, e.g. anime] [singleplayer or multiplayer] [VPS/RPG/SIM/etc.] game where the player has [a small number or a large number] of [type of pet if…
[NameOfGame] will be a [2D or 3D or ?D] [optionally name the art style, e.g. anime] [singleplayer or multiplayer] [VPS/RPG/SIM/etc.] game where the player has [a small number or a large number] of [type of pet if…
August 07, 2013
Since yesterday I have been working on developing a new game idea. Well, a few fragments of this concept existed already, as can be seen in this thread from 2011 and another from 2012:
https://www.gamedev.net/topic/602667-story-concept-for-a-breedereatersim-game/
https://www.gamedev.net/topic/627379-…
https://www.gamedev.net/topic/602667-story-concept-for-a-breedereatersim-game/
https://www.gamedev.net/topic/627379-…
March 19, 2013
A ranching game is a pet game where the player owns property and infrastructure which are used to produce pets. It is a close relative to farming games where the player owns property and infrastructure to produce crops; the well-known game series Harvest Moon combines these two types of games.
By my…
By my…
March 19, 2013
These are three older entries copied (with a bit of editing) from my equivalent of this developer journal over on the Virtual Pet List forum. I'm copying them here because I wanted to follow up with the new one I just wrote, and they probably should have been copied here in the first place because…
December 29, 2012
X. Finale: An overview of the game development process and how the design document is used during this process.
1. Revise - Theoretically you now have the first two parts of a game design document: a statement of purpose and a features list. Look them over for any inconsistencies or missing informat…
1. Revise - Theoretically you now have the first two parts of a game design document: a statement of purpose and a features list. Look them over for any inconsistencies or missing informat…
December 28, 2012
14. GUIs and Controls, Game Modes and Context-Sensitive Behavior
GUI stands for graphical user interface. Borders, icons, menu bars, mouse cursors, font(s), the title screen, the credit screen(s), the help/about screen(s), trading and shop interfaces, pop-up menus, tool tips, any backgrounds which a…
GUI stands for graphical user interface. Borders, icons, menu bars, mouse cursors, font(s), the title screen, the credit screen(s), the help/about screen(s), trading and shop interfaces, pop-up menus, tool tips, any backgrounds which a…
December 28, 2012
13. Minigames, Puzzles, And Other Combat Alternatives
While combat is the main activity of many games, other games do not have combat at all, or alternate combat with some other major activity. Changing-up the player's experience by alternating two major activities is done with the goal that the pla…
While combat is the main activity of many games, other games do not have combat at all, or alternate combat with some other major activity. Changing-up the player's experience by alternating two major activities is done with the goal that the pla…
December 26, 2012
12. Combat
Combat is the single broadest area of game design. Some games do not have combat at all, but a large percentage do, and in a large number of varieties. The simplest kind of combat is random combat: flipping a coin, rolling a die, or rock-paper-scissors. This is not satisfying, because eve…
Combat is the single broadest area of game design. Some games do not have combat at all, but a large percentage do, and in a large number of varieties. The simplest kind of combat is random combat: flipping a coin, rolling a die, or rock-paper-scissors. This is not satisfying, because eve…
December 24, 2012
11. Tutorials, Quests, Reputation, and Levels
Playing a game is all about having interesting stuff to do within the game. So what exactly do you intend your player to be doing within your game? Game design philosophy is divided into two camps, those who favor sandbox play and those who favor structu…
Playing a game is all about having interesting stuff to do within the game. So what exactly do you intend your player to be doing within your game? Game design philosophy is divided into two camps, those who favor sandbox play and those who favor structu…
December 23, 2012
10. Pets In More Detail: Functionality Within The Game, Capturing, Breeding and Genetic Systems
As you may have noticed, I've been using a very loose definition of the term "pet". Basically, I think any interactive animate being the player owns or controls can be considered a pet. That vague definit…
As you may have noticed, I've been using a very loose definition of the term "pet". Basically, I think any interactive animate being the player owns or controls can be considered a pet. That vague definit…
December 22, 2012
9. Forums, Messaging, Chatting
Purely singleplayer games, of course, have no need for a forum or messaging system. Games with minimal multiplayer may have the messaging system without the forum; usually in this kind of game the purpose of the messaging system is to send gifts and friend invites or P…
Purely singleplayer games, of course, have no need for a forum or messaging system. Games with minimal multiplayer may have the messaging system without the forum; usually in this kind of game the purpose of the messaging system is to send gifts and friend invites or P…
December 21, 2012
8. Currencies, Trading, Shops, and the Marketplace
This section is about the exchange of money and/or items between the player and the game or between two players. "Money" can be any kind of currency, not just bills or coins. Gems, tokens, tickets, pretty much anything can be used as a game currency…
This section is about the exchange of money and/or items between the player and the game or between two players. "Money" can be any kind of currency, not just bills or coins. Gems, tokens, tickets, pretty much anything can be used as a game currency…
December 20, 2012
7. Gathering and Crafting: Climbing the Tech Tree, Recipes, Skills, Building Up Infrastructure, and Crafting Gameplay.
Crafting is any act of processing a resource to alter it or combining two resources into something new. The resources upon which crafting is performed are usually gatherables or dr…
Crafting is any act of processing a resource to alter it or combining two resources into something new. The resources upon which crafting is performed are usually gatherables or dr…
December 19, 2012
6. Inventory Systems: Types Of Items and How Each Type Functions Within the Game, How the User Interacts With Storage, Storage Limitations and Expansion As Gameplay.
Almost all pet games have an inventory of some sort. In games where the player is expected to collect many pets they usually have the…
Almost all pet games have an inventory of some sort. In games where the player is expected to collect many pets they usually have the…
December 18, 2012
5. Avatar Creation: Human vs. Pet, Clothing Systems, The Avatar's Role(s) Within The Game, Avatar Equipment Slots, Stats, and Abilities.
Probably most of you are familiar with the concept of an avatar as a 2D image which you choose to represent yourself on a forum, IM network, or social networking s…
Probably most of you are familiar with the concept of an avatar as a 2D image which you choose to represent yourself on a forum, IM network, or social networking s…
December 17, 2012
4. Player Registration and Account Creation, Data Storage Within The Game
For a singleplayer game it has recently become standard to allow the player to enter their name or name the location they own within the game (ranch/farm/zoo/store/house/estate/tribe/country). This is a simple input and stora…
For a singleplayer game it has recently become standard to allow the player to enter their name or name the location they own within the game (ranch/farm/zoo/store/house/estate/tribe/country). This is a simple input and stora…
December 16, 2012
3. Distribution and Monetization: Getting the game to the player and the player's money to you.
Thinking about selling a game before any of it has been programmed may feel like getting ahead of yourself. However, the intended sales method affects the design, and plans for earning and dividing incom…
Thinking about selling a game before any of it has been programmed may feel like getting ahead of yourself. However, the intended sales method affects the design, and plans for earning and dividing incom…
December 15, 2012
2. Theme: Story, Setting, Playable Character(s), And How These Should Interrelate With Gameplay.
A game is a piece of multimedia entertainment where the writing has to work as a partner with the gameplay (which is programming underneath) and the art. Well, not all games have stories, and virtual to…
A game is a piece of multimedia entertainment where the writing has to work as a partner with the gameplay (which is programming underneath) and the art. Well, not all games have stories, and virtual to…
December 14, 2012
1. Pet Game Genres: What Is Your Game's Primary Activity And Overall Goal?
The first thing to realize is that there are different genres (kinds) of pet games, which have different feature sets. It's very helpful to any game designer to have played a variety of games so they remember experiencing a …
The first thing to realize is that there are different genres (kinds) of pet games, which have different feature sets. It's very helpful to any game designer to have played a variety of games so they remember experiencing a …
December 13, 2012
Wow, I haven't used this journal in a while. The reason I am using it now is that one of the other forums I hang out at is specific to pet games, and there are a lot of newbies over there who want to make a pet game without having much clue what game design is, or what a design document is. I remar…
September 10, 2011
I was trying to describe my experiences giving online lectures and workshops about writing topics to someone, but I realized I had no easy way to look at a list of the lectures and workshops I've given here. Thus I'm going to collect the links to them in this journal entry.
Brainstorming Techniques…
Brainstorming Techniques…
November 23, 2009
Wow I haven't updated this in forever. But I've been actually working on a game of my own (instead of freelance work on other people's projects) for the first time in years. So, I figured I ought to document it here. *cough*ActuallyIwantedtoshowoffmyart*cough*
I like playing animal breeding games…
I like playing animal breeding games…
July 20, 2007
I was looking back at my first several journal entries about game design which focused on how to design a single player RPG and I decided to do some further entries focusing on how to design an MMO since that's what I've been studying for the past year or so. If anyone has requests for what you wo…
August 11, 2006
I recently posted some paragraphs I thought were worth putting in my how-to-write book, so I want to copy them here for easy access later.
A story bears little relation to reality, and that any statement about the way things are 'in the real world' is a very poor way of figuring out how things ought…
A story bears little relation to reality, and that any statement about the way things are 'in the real world' is a very poor way of figuring out how things ought…
March 30, 2006
Plot As Thematic Argument, Characters As Thematic Vectors
(In geometrical terms, plot is the time or X-axis of a story, and the other axes should be Y=possession/political alignment and Z=theme, with characters being the vectors that move through this space.)
The thematic vector value of the characte…
(In geometrical terms, plot is the time or X-axis of a story, and the other axes should be Y=possession/political alignment and Z=theme, with characters being the vectors that move through this space.)
The thematic vector value of the characte…
January 18, 2006
Ooh I'm excited! Although my attempts to recruit a concept artist are going poorly :( I'm very happy with our progress in modeling the first of our characters!
Aly and I together created this blueprint then from it she modeled a rough base character model which I really like. ^_^ (sorry, link remo…
Aly and I together created this blueprint then from it she modeled a rough base character model which I really like. ^_^ (sorry, link remo…
Advertisement
Popular Blogs
Advertisement