2. Ideas
All games start out as ideas.
Some games come from one
powerful idea, but most are
formed by combining many
ideas to create a unique
whole. It’s very possible that
initial ideas will be (or should
be) abandoned, and lots of
new ideas will be considered
during the process.
3. Inspiration
Ideas don’t come out of thing air. Game designers are
influenced by personal interests an hobbies.
Spend a significant part of every day doing something
other than playing games:
Read a book
Go see a play
Listen to music
Exercise, draw or sketch
Study a new language
Volunteer at a neighborhood organization
5. Game Idea Sources
Brilliant Inspiration
Licensing Hook
Technology Hook
Filling A Gap
Following Coattails
Orders From Above
Sequels
6. Brainstorming
A group creativity technique
to find a conclusion to a
specific problem by
gathering a list of ideas
spontaneously contributed
by its members. In games,
brainstorming is used to
generate a large number of
ideas about game's concept,
mechanics, setting,
characters, etc.
8. Advice About Ideas
Come up with more ideas than you’ll need
Never rule out an idea as bad until you’ve
tested it
Never accept an idea as good until you’ve
tested it
Do not get emotionally attached to ideas
9. Pitch Presentation
A pitch is a concise verbal
(and sometimes visual)
presentation for a film, TV
series, or game, made by
the producer to an executive
in the hope of getting the
financing to do
development. "Pitch" is a
contraction of "sales pitch."
10. Stages of Creativity
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes
the classic stages of creativity:
Preparation: Becoming interested in a topic
Incubation: Period where ideas “churn around”
in your subconcious
Insight: The “aha!” moment, where an idea
comes together
Evaluation: Deciding whether the insight is
worth pursuing
Elaboration: Fleshing out the idea
11. Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is a short summary used
to quickly and simply define a product and
its value. The name "elevator pitch"
reflects the idea that it should be possible
to deliver the summary in the time span of
an elevator ride, or approximately thirty
seconds to two minutes.
The term itself comes from the scenario of
accidentally meeting someone important in
an elevator. If the conversation inside the
elevator in those few seconds is
interesting and value adding, then the
conversation will continue after the
elevator ride or end in the exchange of a
business card or a scheduled meeting.
12. Elevator Pitch Structure for Games
Game Title is a game genre
for target player. It features
game mechanics that bring
play value. Unlike
competition, this game
unique differentiation.
13. Example Pitch
Somehow it always falls to
Mustachio to rally his friends for
their many adventures. Run and
jump through a side-
scrolling world made of and
inhabited by blocks. With
mustaches. A world full of
action, puzzles and arbitrary
danger that Mustachio faces
boldly with his mustache-fueled
power to make block duplicates of
himself. What? Cloning AND
mustaches?! You betcha!
14. Receive 3 game mechanics from your instructor
Brainstorm a game using these three mechanics.
Present an elevator pitch for your game, including:
Game Title
Target Player
Game Genre
3 Game Mechanics
What Makes It Fun (Play Value)
Competition
What Makes It Unique
15. Concept Pitch vs. Design Doc
Concept Proposal Game Design Documents
PowerPoint Slideshow Wikispaces Wiki
Summary Details
Sizzle Steak
16. Greenlighting
To green-light is to give permission
to go ahead to move forward with
a project. The term is a reference
to a green traffic signal, indicating
"go ahead". In the context of the
game industry, to green-light
something is to formally approve
its production finance, and to
commit to this financing, thereby
allowing the project to move
forward from pre-production to
production.
17. Create Game Design Document Wiki pages
Overview
Ideal Play Session
Inspirational Media
Game Play
Systems
User Interface
Narrative and World
Game Levels
Create Technical Design Document Wiki pages
Controls
Camera
Character
Main Game Loop
Staff
Risks
Create Art Document Wiki Pages
Color Palette
Mood Board
Environments
Characters
Props
Music
Art Assets
Audio Assets
18. Find 3 games to use as inspiration
Create Inspirational Media Page Wiki Page
For each of the 3 games
1. Screenshot
2. Link
3. Genre
4. Game Mechanics
5. Goals
6. Resources
7. Obstacles
8. Play Value (What Makes It Fun)
9. What Inspires You About This Game
Editor's Notes
A game begins with a concept. Most,everybody already has lots of ideas for games they want to work on. And not just the designers. Programmers, managers, artists, executives, testers, marketers, salesmen - they ALL have game ideas. Perhaps they all chat up their ideas, perhaps some of them have written concept papers to present their ideas.Some examples of possible sources of game concepts:Brilliant inspiration - a designer or artist or someone on the team has an idea for a game, usually one that's revolutionary and not yet done to death in the marketplace. Most industry outsiders probably think this is the main source of game ideas, but that ain't necessarily so. The license hook - Perhaps the game company has acquired the license for (the rights to make a game based upon) a movie or personality or book or whatever. Star Wars, Tony Hawk, Hollywood Squares. Jackass, Junkyard Wars, Battlebots, Martha Stewart. (Okay, so nobody has made a Martha Stewart game yet, but you get the idea.) If the company has spent a lot of money to acquire a license, you can bet that they're going to want to make a game based on that license. The technology hook - Perhaps the engineers have spent a lot of time, energy, and money to create some game technology (an engine or a way of making a game machine do something new, like water or fog). Perhaps the decision makers decide they want to make a game that takes advantage of this technology. Filling a gap - The company's marketing wizards might analyze the market and decide that there is a genre or platform that is under-represented (either by the industry as a whole, or by the company itself) and that it would be a good idea to make that kind of game. Following coattails - The executives look with awe upon the success and profitability of a particular game (made and published by another company), and decide to ride the tailwind of that game by making something similar. Orders from above - Perhaps the boss gets an idea for a game (it might be his pet idea or it might just be a passing fancy), and the designer is set to work on the details. Sequels - self-explanatory.