RangerSheck Offline

Game Design Principles

07/08/2008 (read 62x times)

A couple months ago, I made the change from being the sole developer and writer for my game and invited some of my players to join me in creating a design team. While all the coding responsibilities still rest on my shoulders, the other designers have been contributing artwork, mission plots, non-player character design, weapon and armor design, area design, and so forth. I quickly realized that while its possible for people to get a sense of what a coders thoughts and motivations are by playing their game, there are still many aspects of a games design that are not so easy to interpret.

When I set up a forum for our team to collaborate in, much of the initial conversation was brainstorming about changes or additions to make to the game. I found myself defending and explaining various methods and components of the current design and what those explanations meant for future design. I realized that while I am open to other ideas, there were certain things that I wasnt likely to budge on. The more I thought about it, the more I began to understand that I had internalized a set of principles that guide the path of development for my game.

Read the rest at Ranger Sheck's blog.

Tags: PBBG, development, game, design
Ratings: +1