Design within Game Genres
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Is good game design universal? Could a good game designer design a game in any genre? Could Sid Meier create the next great FPS? Could Peter Molyneux create the greatest sports game ever?
I have to agree with Symphonic. That would be tantamount to expecting George Bush to lead the way in therotical physics, or asking could Chopin have ever created a good techno track. Nobody is good at everything, and while trying to diversify to learn your limits is a good thing, it is always wrong to assume or pretend that you are something you are not, or can do something you can''t. You should always let an element of doubt be present.
If at first you don''t succeed, call it version 1.0
SketchSoft | SketchNews
If at first you don''t succeed, call it version 1.0
SketchSoft | SketchNews
I think that some of the basic principles of game design are universal, and can be applied to any genre. However, I also think that to design a competent game of a given genre you really need to have a strong interest in that genre, and a reasonable level of experience with similar games.
doodle_sketch - Re. Bush: Beantas did say good game designer...
(backs towards door whistling)
www.coldcity.com
code, pics, life
(backs towards door whistling)
www.coldcity.com
code, pics, life
quote:Bush: Beantas did say good game designer...
:D :D :D
quote:(backs towards door whistling)
It''s OK.
1) I''m Irish.
2) I don''t like Bush much either... but lets not turn the thread into another Bush-basher; we have enough of those as it is.
If at first you don''t succeed, call it version 1.0
SketchSoft | SketchNews
hmm...it seems to me that they are good game designers because they aren''t thinknig about genres in the first place.
Molyneux didn''t sit down and say: "I''m gonna invent the God Game now". Meier wasn''t trying to make a "strategy game" specifically. The key is to make a FUN game, not any specific type of game.
I think that though they COULD make a good game in a genre they are not used to, odds are that they WONT simply because that isnt what they find to be the most fun.
Gamed design, just like poetry or painting, isn''t some magic that people are just born with. It is a learnable skill. And whatever is being made, it is the amount of hard work that is really going to make the difference in whether it is a fun game or not.
Molyneux didn''t sit down and say: "I''m gonna invent the God Game now". Meier wasn''t trying to make a "strategy game" specifically. The key is to make a FUN game, not any specific type of game.
I think that though they COULD make a good game in a genre they are not used to, odds are that they WONT simply because that isnt what they find to be the most fun.
Gamed design, just like poetry or painting, isn''t some magic that people are just born with. It is a learnable skill. And whatever is being made, it is the amount of hard work that is really going to make the difference in whether it is a fun game or not.
Very little of game design is universal beyond programming. If Sid Meier were given the source code for Quake, he''d be able to understand what each part does. He wouldn''t necessarily have any clue as to why. Similarly for Molyneux and NFL Blitz.
Wait a minute... Isn''t Molyneux making a baseball game? I guess Civ 4: Screw the Empire, Let''s Settle This Like Men isn''t that far off then?
Wait a minute... Isn''t Molyneux making a baseball game? I guess Civ 4: Screw the Empire, Let''s Settle This Like Men isn''t that far off then?
I''d say yes. As far as Sid Meier, remember he also did Railroad Tycoon, a great business sim, and Pirates which would be pretty hard to decide what genre that belongs to, he''s done a lot more than just Civ.
Jack
Jack
Author
So then the next question is, if you''ve played every game there is in a genre, can you design a game in that genre well (without having made a game in that genre before)?
I''d like to think that the answer to this question is yes. And then a good game designer should be able to take universal game principles, play a lot of games in any genre, and be able to design a game relatively well in any genre.
And yes, I agree that this doesn''t happen mainly because designers prefer some genres over others. Which I think is baloney.
I''d like to think that the answer to this question is yes. And then a good game designer should be able to take universal game principles, play a lot of games in any genre, and be able to design a game relatively well in any genre.
And yes, I agree that this doesn''t happen mainly because designers prefer some genres over others. Which I think is baloney.
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