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How would game designers design their games?

I understand it takes a certain education to make something. But with all these games that are high demand, how would someone prevail that. Say like a story game, how would you go on about it. Like the music, combat, story, and so on.

#video-games #gaming

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James Constantine’s Answer

Dear Covon,

Blueprint for Game Development

The process of game development is a journey that takes you through several phases, including pre-production, production, and post-production. Each phase requires crucial decisions regarding various facets of the game, such as its genre, mechanics, narrative, and visual style.

Pre-Production Phase

The pre-production phase is where game developers craft a game design document (GDD). This document serves as a roadmap, detailing the comprehensive vision for the game. It encompasses information about the game's intended audience, genre, mechanics, plot, and aesthetic style. This phase may also see the creation of concept art, prototypes, and design documents for specific game elements.

Production Phase

The production phase is where the game comes to life. Developers collaborate with artists, programmers, and other team members to build the game. This phase involves fine-tuning the game mechanics, generating assets (like characters, settings, and sound effects), and incorporating the game's features. Developers may also liaise with other teams (such as marketing and QA) to ensure the game aligns with its intended objectives and is primed for launch.

Post-Production Phase

Once the game hits the market, developers may continue to enhance it by releasing updates, patches, and expansions. This phase includes monitoring player feedback, rectifying glitches, and addressing balance issues. Developers may also engage in marketing activities to boost the game's visibility and grow its player community.

Crafting a Story Game

Creating a story game involves key components: music, combat, narrative, and characters. Here are some factors to consider for each of these components:

Music

Music is a crucial element in establishing the atmosphere and mood of a story game. Developers should deliberate on the kind of music that complements the game's genre and setting. For instance, a horror game may benefit from unsettling or suspenseful music, while a fantasy game might suit grand or symphonic music. Developers should also think about how the music will evolve throughout the game to mirror different events or situations.

Combat

Combat plays a significant role in many story games. Developers should contemplate how combat will integrate with the overall gameplay mechanics and the narrative. They should also think about the level of challenge the combat will present and how it will progress over time. Lastly, they should consider the range of weapons or abilities the player will have at their disposal during combat.

Narrative

The narrative is arguably the heart of a story game. Developers should meticulously plan the narrative to ensure it captivates and satisfies players. They should think about character development, plot twists, and pacing to maintain player engagement. They should also consider how the narrative intertwines with the game's mechanics and visual style.

Characters

Characters are another vital component of a story game. Developers should thoughtfully design each character to ensure they are complex and appealing to players. They should consider each character's history, personality traits, and motivations to make them feel authentic and relatable. They should also consider how each character contributes to the overall narrative and how their interactions will shape the player's experience.

May God Bless You!
James Constantine Frangos.
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Stephen’s Answer

Thanks for your question, Covon.

Games that are in high demand typically are created by large teams of developers, with each person specializing in creating one small part of the game.

If you're looking to do all of the development yourself, look to Indie Games for inspiration and what a very small team can accomplish. Also, participating in Game Jams can help you understand some of the complexity of creating a videogame.

If you want to specialize in one particular kind of Game Design - like music, combat, or story design - one thing I like to do is research and play lots of games that are known for those elements.

Taking music as an example, if you're interested in creating epic soundtracks like those in AAA console games, listen to the music in the God of War or Medal of Honor franchises. If you're looking to incorporate musical mechanics in your game, then of course the rhythm game genre and games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero franchises are good examples. Finally, if you want to do it all yourself, listen to the music in Seiklus (cly5m) and Standard Bits (Doomlaser).

If you want to incorporate all of the above, check out Crypt of the Necrodancer.

Stephen recommends the following next steps:

Draw inspiration from games that share similarities with your ideas: https://braceyourselfgames.com/crypt-of-the-necrodancer/
Participate in a Game Jam like the annual Global Game Jam: https://globalgamejam.org/
Download free game development software (like Unity) and watch tutorial videos: https://unity.com/
Have fun!
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Viviane’s Answer

Hi Covon B.
Well, first it is important to define what you mean by "games that are high demand". There are indie games that are high demand and there are AAA games that are in high demand. The importance of defining what you are referring to will define how big of a team is necessary in order to create a story driven game in that scope. It is highly possible to create a story driven indie game with a small team, and it is common for big companies to be able to create a over the top narrative epic.
The second is to determine what is the game play that accompany the story driven nature of the game. Different gameplay style would also dictate how much manpower you will need to create something. For example, Undertale was created by a small group of team, as oppose to God of War which would take a large company and many outsourcers.
The third thing to figure out is what you mean by high demand, what would qualify as high demand. Is it just popularity, or is it monetization.

So depends on the above, different demands are put on the music, combat, story etc. Similarly, demands of man power is also affected. Regardless of which type of game it is, usually there is a game design document that would have the outline that describes the game play, the music, plot, story.. etc. Imagine it as a rough instruction manual regarding this game.

Music and Art: Usually there is an Audio or Visuals department(or person if the team is extremely small). Depending on the above 3 points, this person can be a generalist, or they can be a specialist. In both cases, they can be self taught or formally educated. More often it's highly dependent on their portfolio body of work. With the internet containing many sources of information, it is more likely than ever that they are self taught.

Combat and Story: Combat and story are usually created by the Game Designer. Combat wise, like others has mentioned, comes from a lot of research on existing games. Usually the game designer has played a variety of games in multiple forms, such as tabletop games as well as video games. Story wise, it's like being a fictional novelists, it's imagination, research and experience. Experience, meaning experiencing existing stories/worlds just like the combat system.

So to successfully creating a high demand game, for example a story game. It definitely needs to have a good story as the hook for the players, then support it with the rest of the game elements. :)

I hope the above helps.


Viviane recommends the following next steps:

Define what is "high demand"
Define what is the scope of the game by finding similar type of games in the market.
Identify what role you want to play in the team.
Build a world, write a story, have fun.
Build the game document. Here is a template/guide: https://sites.google.com/view/indiana-game-design-template/home
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Rodrigo’s Answer

Hi Covon, making videogames is such a difficult task, when developing a game many people is involved, such as programmers, designers and creative leaders, maybe you are more interested in the story you can study some literature but specialized in sci-fi or something like that, if you want to develop and code for a videogame I advice you you check Unity for videogames is a tool for developing games.
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