Game Design
Game Design, Development & Production
The entire process of producing a game from start to finished is synonymously called, game design, game development and game production. The synonymous use of these terms can lead to some confusion especially if one is new to the game industry. For that reason, many game designers and researches have tried to develop clearer definition of each.
Game designers and educators, Collen Macklin and John Sharp defined each of these terms, in their book, Games, Design and Play. According to Macklin and Sharp, game design is "the practice of conceiving of and creating the way a game works". Game development on the other hand is the actual making of the game, from the art, to code, levels to marketing materials. They concluded by stating that game production is the "process of producing the game indicated by the game's design".
In his book "A Playful Production Process by game designer and educator Richard Lemarchand, defines game design as "the process for coming up with ideas for a game". Whereas game production is the process of ensuring - the game gets built", both game design and game production are "two sides of the same coin". Lemarchand continues by defining game development as the process of using tools, making art, writing code, etc. to create a playable game.
To further complicate the confusion among these terms, academic programs will often use the term design for referring to a program with an art emphasis and development for programs with a programing emphasis. Additionally the term game production is sometimes associated with degree programs in business.
Making a Game, The Game
While there is no complete consensus on what game design, development and production really is and because these terms are used so synonymously, in this text we propose thinking of these terms in relation to playing a game.
Let us call this game Game Production and in this game there anywhere from one to hundred plus players who are working collaboratively as a team. The game is played over multiple rounds each round is called a stage.
Unlike traditional games, the game of "Game Production", begins by having the team define the goal of the game. The goal is called the Game Design, which outlines the overall objective for what will be created (developed), in order to win (complete) the "Game Production".
Game Development can be thought as the procedures, steps or mechanics for the game. Basically all the things the players do each round to make it to the end of the "Game Production" game.
While this analogy might be a little unconventional, it does help to provide some distinction between each of the terms. Besides what better way to think of the process of making a game as a game.
Stages in Game Productions
In the analogy above "Game Production" is described as being a game played in rounds. These rounds are referred to as Stages in Game Production.
While the goal of the "Game Production" is the "game design" each stage (round) in game production has its' own goal. These goals are called deliverables. You can think of deliverables as side-quests that must be completed before and on the way to complete the main goal.
In the game industry and in other texts, these stages are sometimes called Game Development Stages or Game Design Stages. However, since we have established that design and developments are elements of production, using the term Stages of Game Production makes the most sense.
The stages and deliverables of the game development process include
| Stages | Deliverables |
|---|---|
| Concept | Idea Generation: exploring ideas and or features. |
| Pre-Production | Physical prototype: testing feasibility |
| Presentation: optional step, however, if funds or buy-in is needed before moving forward. a presentation is made to stakeholders or team members | |
| Digital Prototype: rough development, test build | |
| Production | Design Documentation: all documentation on all aspects of the game or features are prepared |
| Development: all members of the game production team begin the actual development of the game including assets, levels, systems, etc. | |
| Quality Assurance | Alpha and Beta Builds: near complete builds of the game for testing, used to identify any bugs or issues with the game. |
| Deployment/Maintenance | Game Release: production build of the game to market, ongoing maintenance (i.e., updates, patches, and extensions). |
Software development has a lot of overlap with digital game production, and as such also breaks the production into stages called the Unified Software Development Process or Unified Process. The stages in the Unified Process are:
- Inception: exploring ideas and or features
- Elaboration: developing prototypes and presentations
- Construction: prepare design documentation and begin development
- Transition: reevaluation, testing, and refinement
Agile Game Production
Agile project management is used throughout each stage of game production. Remember that agile project management is an iterative process. So, what does agile project management look like in a game production?
Let us say for example that you are working through one of the sprints during the pre-production stage of the game production for a an action adventure game in space. Someone on the team suggests adding an ion cannon as one of the weapons available to the player in the game. The process for implementing this would look like the following:
- Plan - propose the new feature, plan for assessing the worth of this feature on the project.
- Research / Design - review how other games have implemented a similar features; work out some concept art and flowcharts for how the canon might work.
- Implementation - create a working prototype for testing
- Testing - everyone on the team tests out the new feature and assesses its usefulness, novelty, and accessibility.
- Review - If everyone likes the new weapon it goes into further development and is included in the game, however, if the consensus is that it is not working, then it is eliminated or put on the back burner to come back to consider after other key features have been developed.
Player-Centric Design
Game production process is highly collaborative and uses a Player-centric design approach.
Player-centric design builds on the idea of user-centered design in which all your design decisions are made to meet the needs of the user or player. However, the player-centric design model goes further by also ensuring a certain type of player experience in the design and development of the game.
When using the player-centric design approach the key question being asked throughout development, is "What is the player experiencing?" Thinking about how the player will experience a game level, an interaction a storyline, and whatever else in the game can dynamically shift how the game is developed.
Advocate for the Player
In a game production to title of Game Designer is given to the individual(s) who ensures that the team is working towards their overall goal, which is the Game Design itself. According to game designer and author Tracy Fullerton, the role of the Game Designer in a game production is to be an "advocate for the player".
What exactly is an "advocate for the player"? The game designer needs to ensure that everything implemented in the game meets the needs and expectations of its intended players. This advocacy for the player ensures that a player-centric design approach is applied in to the game production.
The problem that game designers sometimes face, is that they are not part of the target market for which the game they are designing is intended. For example, maybe you have come up with a game aimed at 2nd graders to help teach them math. Chances are there are not many 2nd graders on your game production team needing help with math, though that math one may be debatable.
The point here is that game designers need to ensure that the game will be fun to play for their target market and that no unnecessary elements are added to the game that will alienate, confuse, frustrate, or bore their players.
Everyone working on a game production team should think like a game designer when it comes to being an advocate for the player.
Collaborative Process
Game Production can be a most intense, collaboration process experience. As such any successful team know that it is important that all members of the team contribute to the design.
Every member of the team should feel like they have a say in the direction of the project and that their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions will be heard.
Some best practices for collaboration include:
- Know everyone's name: from the game designer to the individual artists and programmers everyone should know everyone on the game design team.
- Brainstorming sessions: during the design phase all for anyone on the team to attend and participate in the initial brainstorming.
- Suggestion lists: create an open list of ideas that may or may not be implemented through the production process.
- Weekly lead meetings: allow team leads to head up the meeting giving a diverse perspective on the project.
- One-on-one creative talks: allocate time talking to each member of the team about the creative process to give them a sense of value
- Ask for help: team members should feel open to ask their colleagues for help or advice on any one of their assigned tasks.
- Share authorship: use the term "we" not "I" when talking about the project; remember that everyone is a valued part of the project
Idea Generation
The first stage of game production is the concept phase, in which the initial idea of the game is developed. But how do game designers come up with a game idea?
Play: Taboo
📝Critical Thinking | 🕒20 minutes | 📂Required Resources: Taboo cards
This activity is designed to help students practice creative thinking and generate ideas under constraints by encouraging them to find alternative ways to communicate concepts.
Discussion
After playing the game, have students discuss the following questions in their groups, using the back of the paper for notes:
- How did you come up with alternate ways to describe the word without using the taboo words?
- What strategies did you use when you felt stuck or couldn't think of a different way to communicate an idea?
- How does limiting certain words in Taboo encourage more creative solutions?
- What role did collaboration play in generating ideas during the game?
- How did working under constraints change the way you approached the challenge compared to if you had no restrictions?
- How might the process of finding new ways to express a concept help you think outside the box when coming up with game ideas?
Where do ideas come from
Ideas can come from anywhere and at any time, say 4:30 am in the morning. This is why you should always have a notebook by your bedside table to jot down those ideas!
Seriously though ideas can come from many different places, often from personal experiences, analyzing and critiquing others' ideas, and brainstorming.
How do we come up with good ideas? This is the question that former NASA Engineer and Youtuber Mark Rober aim to highlight in the following TED Talk from 2015.
Author and game designer Tracy Fullerton states that "Game designers think of the world in terms of challenges, structures and play. We can break this down by further defining these elements as
- Challenges: what is it that needs to be done, what is the goal
- Structures: what are the constraints or rules to get the challenge done
- Play: what is fun or playful about the challenge
Innovative Ideas
We've already established that Good ideas can come upon us at any time, but how do we know if the idea is innovative? Designing for innovation pushes game designers to look beyond the current types of games and ask themselves what is next?
In the following TED talk, bestselling author Steven Johnson aims to provide a complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, society, and culture forward.
You might have noticed in the Steven Johnson's talk he states that good ideas often need time to "incubate". Incubation is one of the 5 stages of creativity. Therefore one can make the analogy that generating good ideas is a creative process.
Designing for Innovation
After generating a game idea, the game design team should consider how innovative is the idea. One method of determining this is to ask the following questions:
- What unique or new play mechanics will be implemented?
- What new or niche player type will this game appeal to?
- What new or emerging platforms will this game take advantage of?
- How can this game be integrated into our daily lives?
- What new business models will be used? Is your game free-to-play or subscription-based?
- What current game design problems do you hope to fix? Better story integration, and emotionally rich gameplay?
- What is the impact will the game have on individuals, society, or culture?
Methods of Idea Generation
While it might take years for good ideas to come to fruition, game designers often need to generate many ideas on the fly. There are several methods that can help with idea generation, the following are just a few.
Get Inspiration
Getting inspiration from games that have come before is a great way to generate new ideas. There are countless game designers who have made a huge impact on the industry and it is important as a game designer to be familiar with these individuals and their contribution to the industry.
Brainstorming
One of the best ways to generate ideas is to brainstorm. Brainstorming is the technique used to quickly generate ideas. Best practices for brainstorming include:
- Define the challenge: what are you generating ideas for? Be specific, do not just say to make the best game ever, instead how about making the best multiplayer first-person puzzle game ever?
- No Criticism: all ideas are welcomed during a brainstorming session regardless of how off the wall or non-related they may seem. One crazy idea might spark a new idea in someone else.
- Collaborative environment: make sure that everyone is in the brainstorming session participates, even at this early stage of development everyone on the team needs to take ownership of the project.
- Record ideas: generating ideas is not helpful if you forget them the next day. Make sure that all ideas are recorded in one format or another so that they can be referenced as the ideas are refined.
- Generate lots of ideas: the more ideas the better, again one idea might spark another
- Don’t go long: being creative takes effort, and going for too long can wear out your creative juices, keep brainstorming sessions under 60 minutes.
Research
Research means to immerse yourself in a subject to further develop your idea. For example, say your team has an idea for a gangster role-playing game (RPG) set in 1920s Chicago. The team should begin by researching 1920s Chicago, what events were taking place during that time period and region, and what challenges were people facing that could be incorporated into the game. This research will provide an added sense of realism and perhaps make the game somewhat educational.
Game Designer and author Richard Lemarchand, states that "every game can benefit from some research to give its foundations in the real world"
Research doesn't end with narrative design. Maybe your team has decided to develop a virtual reality (VR) game. In this scenario, the team should begin by researching the technology and answering questions like what games have already been developed using this technology, what are the best practices for designing in VR, what are some technical limitations, what are the best tools for development, and so forth.
Narrowing Down Ideas
After generating ideas the game design team needs to take time to reflect on those ideas. After a few days, the team will come back together and narrow down the ideas by asking questions such as:
- Is it technically feasible? Will we be able to make it?
- Is there a market? Who would buy this game? Will it be profitable?
- Can it be produced within budget? Will further funds need to be secured?
- Are you in love with it? How passionate are you about making this game?