Design by stumble redux #252
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I should probably just cut this
Not my favorite, but not bad I think
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| title = "Design by Stumble" | ||
| description = "The first game design mistake we all make" | ||
| date = 2023-12-10 |
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| tags = ["game design"] | ||
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| I think everyone who dabbles in game design at least sometimes gets the feeling of "what if [thing that I like], but made by me!" |
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Phrasing before the quote needs work for punchiness.
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| "Man, Minecraft is so cool. I'd love it if I made a game and at the end of the process, it was just like Minecraft, because Minecraft is really cool." | ||
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| "I love Dungeons & Dragons, and I love making games! I want to make a games that are just like Dungeons & Dragons." |
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| "I love Dungeons & Dragons, and I love making games! I want to make a games that are just like Dungeons & Dragons." | |
| "I love Dungeons & Dragons, and I love making games! I want to make a game that is just like Dungeons & Dragons." |
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| I think everyone who dabbles in game design at least sometimes gets the feeling of "what if [thing that I like], but made by me!" | ||
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| "I love God of War. Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a game that was a lot like God of War, but like, I was the one who made it!?" |
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These examples need a bit more variation to be convincing.
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| I think everyone who dabbles in game design at least sometimes gets the feeling of "what if [thing that I like], but made by me!" | ||
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| "I love God of War. Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a game that was a lot like God of War, but like, I was the one who made it!?" |
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These will be nicer to read in a bulleted list.
| There's no shame in it. | ||
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| But, this outlook generally doesn't lead to good outcomes. | ||
| Obviously, following this instinct blindly leads to very derivitive work, but there are lot of more subtle issues at play here. |
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spelling error in derivative.
| Firstly, works which inspire a game are a bit further removed from the game being made. | ||
| When designing by stumble, the inspiring work is used as a *starting point*. | ||
| It's like taking a whole painting and then painting on your own additions over top of what's there. | ||
| Healthier inspiration is more like taking the outlines or broad strokes from a painting, sketching it on the canvas using a pencil, and then using that as *guidance*. |
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Artists are going to object to this exact metaphor lol.
| Healthier inspiration is more like taking the outlines or broad strokes from a painting, sketching it on the canvas using a pencil, and then using that as *guidance*. | ||
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| More concretely, when a skilled designer takes inspiration from other work, they typically start not by hacking on it, but by *analyzing* it. | ||
| The first stage is focused on determinging which parts of that work were effective, which parts weren't, and *why*. |
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| The first stage is focused on determinging which parts of that work were effective, which parts weren't, and *why*. | |
| The first stage is focused on determining which parts of that work were effective, which parts weren't, and *why*. |
| And that's the rub. | ||
| Because design by stumble really falls apart if you want to make something that's, y'know, *good*. | ||
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| ## Why doesn't design by sumble work? |
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| ## Why doesn't design by sumble work? | |
| ## Why doesn't design by stumble work? |
| 6. **Huge starting scope:** When working in video games, copying other popular games is often much harder than it seems. Large AAA games require hundreds of people working over the course of years. Starting with that as a template would sign you up for far more work than most studios have the budget to complete. (As a sidenote, this problem doesn't exist on the tabletop because copying someone else's TTRPG is as simple as copy/pasting the text of the rulebook. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.) | ||
| 7. **Static analysis:** Iteration is great, but a lot of iteration time and work can be saved by carefully analyzing mechanics before adding or changing them. Thinking through designs, running small tests on paper, comparing to existing work, building internal frameworks for balance, and more are all great design strategies. Think before you stumble! | ||
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| ## Doing better: a Principled Approach |
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| ## Doing better: a Principled Approach | |
| ## Doing better: a principled approach to picking a game concept |
| - What timeline are we aiming for? | ||
| - What are our team's main skill gaps, and how able are we to hire out that kind of work? (If you can't cover those gaps, then you'll need to design around them.) | ||
| - Business | ||
| - Monetiziation strategy: How are we going to make money from our players? |
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| - Monetiziation strategy: How are we going to make money from our players? | |
| - Monetization strategy: How are we going to make money from our players? |
| ### Mainstream games can often be derivitive, but for different reasons | ||
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| A natural question is: "so, is this the reason that AAA games are so derivitive?" | ||
| Although design by stumble does often produce derivitive work, I don't believe it's is the reason why many released games are derivitive of others. |
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| Although design by stumble does often produce derivitive work, I don't believe it's is the reason why many released games are derivitive of others. | |
| Although design by stumble does often produce derivative work, I don't believe it's is the reason why many released games are derivative of others. |
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| ### Mainstream games can often be derivitive, but for different reasons | ||
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| A natural question is: "so, is this the reason that AAA games are so derivitive?" |
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| A natural question is: "so, is this the reason that AAA games are so derivitive?" | |
| A natural question is: "so, is this the reason that AAA games are so derivative?" |
| This outlook *is* very similar to design by stumble, but it's subtly different. | ||
| In this case, the goals are actually very well defined, but the project is lacking in vision because the "why" behind the project is explicitly to try to copy someone else. | ||
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| It's a mindset born not of blind XXX, but of risk-aversion. |
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| It's a mindset born not of blind XXX, but of risk-aversion. | |
| It's a mindset born not of blind admiration, but of risk-aversion. |
| But, if you can do that analysis, this can be a winning strategy. | ||
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| The difference here, again, is that the goals are quite clear. | ||
| The work is still explicitly derivitive, but the strategy and motivation are sharp: take something else and improve upon it. |
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| The work is still explicitly derivitive, but the strategy and motivation are sharp: take something else and improve upon it. | |
| The work is still explicitly derivative, but the strategy and motivation are sharp: take something else and improve upon it. |
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