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Game Developers Conference 2007
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WRITING WITHOUT WORDS
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← click here to download GDC 07 slides
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Writing begins with the same rough notions that drive game design.
The problem is, designers, not writers, are usually the ones who sharpen and refine
game elements, and important story demands are often overlooked until it's too late.
This talk, part of an all-day tutorial, examines useful ways to harmonize game design and storytelling -- an idea
we're learning to call, "narrative design."
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Game Developers Conference 2006
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RULES WORTH BREAKING
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← click here to download GDC 06 slides
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This is the latest report from The 400 Project. When it began, I speculated that there
might be as many as 400 informal rules for game design, most of them unexpressed.
Noah & I (mostly Noah) have now accumulated more than 100 of these things, and it looks like
there might be 4000 more lurking out there. Some of them govern huge tracts of design
territory, some only apply to tiny domains. They clash and contradict each other.
And yet, like the many rules developed to guide creative souls in other fields, they all
contain germs of wisdom.
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Austin Game Writers Conference 2005
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THE LANGUAGE OF GAMES
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← click here to download Austin GWC 05 slides
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In their long history, movies have evolved a complex collection of
rules that govern presentation. This is a solid body of
knowledge, commonly called "the language of film," that matured
more than 75 years ago. The history of electronic games spans more
than 30 years now, and in that time developers have evolved a language
of writing and design that has endured through numerous technological advances.
This language (or rule set, or feature list) didn't arise through theory or logic,
but through the experience of trial and error, gradually incorporating ideas that work
and discarding those that don't. In this way, the history of games resembles
the history of movies.
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Game Developers Conference 2005
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WIRING NARRATIVE INTO GAMES
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← click here to download GDC 05 slides
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Narrative is shouldering its way into every genre of electronic game, and the
effect is often clumsy and embarrassing. Storytelling can only succeed in games
when the story elements become integrated into game mechanics. How to
turn drama into play is the topic of this talk.
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Game Developers Conference 2004
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COGNITIVE DISSONANCE & IMMERSION IN GAMES
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← click here to download GDC 04 slides
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Immersion (effectively, the "suspension of disbelief") is a goal of game design.
The problem is, like much of life and all the other arts, video games are riddled with
conflicting features that hinder immersion. Sometimes these conflicts can be
eliminated, sometimes they can be attenuated, and sometimes nothing but careful
management of player consciousness will do the job. In all these situations,
designers can make consequential choices to improve the sense of immersion and
player response to our titles. This talk recommends some effective
strategies for making the right choices.
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Game Developers Conference 2002
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MORE OF THE FOUR HUNDRED
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← click here to download GDC 02 slides
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In 2001 at GDC I proposed the idea that game design can make good use of informal
rules of thumb and discussed a few to illustrate. Now Noah Falstein has
joined the search by launching The 400 Project, and we're back with some new rules
to perplex and enlighten.
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Game Developers Conference 2001
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FOUR OF THE FOUR HUNDRED
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← click here to download GDC 01 slides
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Game design is an uncertain and murky endeavor. In this it resembles art, architecture,
writing, moviemaking, engineering, medicine, and the law. All of these fields do their
best to reason through their problems, but all have found it necessary to develop practical
rules of thumb as well. Hmm -- could game developers benefit from a similar approach?
This talk has no doubts and takes the position that lots of rules are already out there, waiting
to be discovered. How many might there be? Maybe 400 or so, of which vast total I discuss
only four.
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