作者：Matt Powers

制作人的工作之一就是与设计师共事。我已经在电子游戏领域混迹了20多年，曾与不少设计师共事。我想在此与各位分享我对设计师的一些建议。但因为我自己并非设计师，我认为自己还应该引用之前共事过的一些设计师的经验之谈。所以你在此文不但会得到我作为制作人的建议，还可以获取一系列资深游戏设计师的经验。

我们要制作游戏

当人们询问我有关身处电子游戏领域的感觉时，我总是回答我非常喜欢自己的工作，“我们制作游戏！”而这个简单的回答却含义丰富。游戏是技术性的，同时也是娱乐性的。它们很有趣——无论是体验还是制作的过程皆是如此。

在技术层面上看，电子游戏总是不断推动硬件的发展。电子游戏是计算机技术创新的主要原因之一。电子游戏是人们升级PC的一大原因，是我们更换移动设备的一大原因。每隔5年左右，主机制造商就会推出更新、更高级、更快速、更优良的硬件。电子游戏无疑是一种人们应该紧跟趋势的一种技术冒险。

电子游戏同时也具有娱乐性。这意味着其目标是制作出富有创意和趣味的内容。而这一点却要比技术层面的创新更困难。“趣味”是主观的——对目标用户来说如此，对开发团队来说亦是如此。让人人都认同一个趣味定义，并遵循同一路径是游戏开发的一大挑战。

游戏设计师必须掌握电子游戏的这些关键属性。设计师有责任确保游戏具有竞争性和趣味性。

Chris Cross（Nexon America创意总监）：

我的最佳设计体验与团队合作有关。当团队都与你同步时，就会产生一种势不可挡的感觉。每个问题都能迎刃而解，而其解决方法一般也会成为游戏的一个优势。

Andy Alamano（Gaijin Games主设计师）：

我的最佳设计体验就是看到自己所做的一些事情获得了其他人的积极反应。我过去曾制作过一些并不能算是最好的游戏，但当有人告诉我“我喜欢这个元素的运行方式”或者“这个部分在我看来挺有趣的”，我就会觉得心满意足。如果我有一个想法，并且能够将其传达给玩家，那就是最棒的。

何为设计师？

人人都认为自己能够或者已经是一个设计师。也许你曾经听到过不少类似以下的说法：

“告诉你，我有一个很棒的游戏理念。”

或者

“我这里有个你完全应该制作的游戏理念”

甚至是

“我可以把这个做得更好”

事实上，没错人人都可以是设计师。但多数人并非优秀的设计师。那么设计师究竟是什么人物，其职责究竟是什么？我向自己的设计师朋友提问并得到了以下回答：

Andy Alamano(Gaijin Games主设计师）：这里存在许多“无中生有”的情况。我所经历的最有趣的一些事情就是看到一个概念美术或故事板，甚至是一些基本原型，然后开始根据一件事物创造其故事和功能。它的规模应该是多大？它的移动要有多快？它应该制作什么声音？设计师必须能够回答这些问题。当你坐下来撰写你所需要的文档时，你可以开始与团队联手，让自己想创造的东西成形。不同工作室的设计流程各有区别。我所知道的一些设计师主要从事代码方面的工作，还有一些则更多是运用Word和Photoshop。设计师最终都要能够回答游戏每个环节如何运行的问题，每个摁压按钮的操作方式。

Drew Rechner（Ubisoft Massive游戏设计师）：游戏设计师要创造游戏的所有规则，包括武器、AI和战斗，以及设想门、梯子或疾跑等更为普通事物的运行方式。设计师工作的本质就是用所有的这些系统，创造几乎所有用例的规则，同时要服务于游戏的整体目标，令游戏具有趣味就更不在话下了。有些设计师主要在纸上设计，其他人则多依靠执行，多数人则会混合两种方法来用。当然，这也要取决于工作室的结构以及当前项目的开发阶段。

Mike Wikan（设计师，代表作《Donkey Kong Country Returns》、《Metroid Prime》系列）：设计师是外交家。他们要有描述出自己的想法，与团队分享自己的愿景。他们要整体股东的观点，并令之成为解决方案的一部分，而不是有待解决的问题。设计师在必要时要有实用主义的观点，在另一些情况下则要富有浪漫主义精神。他们要像呼吸一样热爱游戏这种艺术作品。

Chris Cross（Nexon America创意总监）：设计师要将数据转换成感觉。我曾经这样答复一名影视行业的好友：

“你的工作是将文字转化成观众的感觉。我也差不多，但我是将数据转化成感觉。”

你需要千言万语才能向团队说明一个路径。但最终，玩家所感觉到的东西则是由一系列数据所决定的。

*游戏规则是什么？它们定义了什么数据？

*我可以跑多远？这会增加还是消除我的自由感？

*过场动画时间应该多久？这是否会增加整体体验？它应该更短/更长吗？

棘手之处就在于根据这些数据创造一个更大的体验，并且能够预见必要的整体设置。多数情况下是不可能的，但这正是团队合作的重要性所在。

考虑整体目标

我有个朋友根据自己的一个项目写了一个设计故事。他的公司为了项目保密要求他在这则故事中匿名。我觉得这个故事有助于说明设计师在项目中的作用。设计师的技能并不仅仅局限于对游戏玩法的理解。设计师还应该具有外交家，啦啦队长，组织者等一系列头衔。

多年以前我在前公司开发过一款FPS游戏，后来项目进入到由我专职负责武器平衡性的阶段。所有模型、动画、特效和声音都已经到位，我得以制作一系列实现整体平衡的通路。

要实现一系列平衡性，就要考虑到武器角色、威力、射程、准确度、触发时间、扩散范围等所有因素……设计师喜欢在表格上详细列出相关情况，以便实现一个“客观”平衡点，之后我们结合可视形象和“感觉”来创造 我们所希望实现的有趣而能够将邪恶力量一网打尽的强大武器装备。

团队反馈在确认你达到预期目标时甚为关键，并且需要根据团队反馈进行一系列调整，但在一个情况下我真的会碰壁。我不断收到我们的散弹枪威力不足的反馈……大家似乎有点讨厌这支枪。我收到了一些关于“散弹枪很糟糕”，“这是我在任何游戏中见到的最没用的散弹枪”等这种明确的反馈……而当我去看平衡数据时，却发现这种枪实际上威力有点过头了。

对此深感震惊之余，我决定从观念而非实际数据角度来解决这个平衡问题。我找到音频总监要求更改声音。他为这项武器的开火声添加了更多低音，移除了一些中音，并提升了高音令其听起来更为犀利。我并没有告诉团队我只改变了声音，只是让他们试试调整后的效果。结果他们给予的反馈呈现了一边倒的明确表态：“改得正是时候！”“我早就跟你说过平衡性有问题……”等等。所以我最终只是更改了声音来修复这个武器平衡性问题。

我从这次经历中所得到的教训就是，设计师必须总是考虑整体目标，以及组成该体验的所有元素。细节很秉，但我们不能允许设计师因为一叶障目而变得目光短浅。观念才是关键。无论事实是否相反，观念才能决定你的付出是否值当。如果你的用户并不买账，数据也就没有什么意义了。

制作牛仔裤

我经常告诉游戏设计师的一个“教训”就是要记住我们在制作牛仔裤（这个道理也适用于艺术家）。其比喻如下：

每年都有一个时装周，我们会在电视上看到最新款的设计。在T型台上，我们会看到多种服饰。多数时候我不知道究竟有谁会真的去买这些东西，更不用说是穿上它们了。乔治·阿玛尼最新时装秀就有一些我真的不知道谁会穿的衣服。但是，阿玛尼又不是只能从这些时装秀中赚钱——它主要是通过销售牛仔裤和钱包创收。也就是通过出售大众用品来赚钱，而不是通过几样艺术作品创收。电子游戏瞄准的是大众用户——我们是艺术家，但我们也要尽量出售更棒的牛仔裤。

我相信这种比喻值得铭记。有时候我们会过于陷入一种自己是在创造“艺术”的情结，忘记我们的终极目标是出售产品和赚钱。没错，这的确更像是出自制作人之口的观点。这正是我们需要强大设计师的原因——以便平衡来自制作人的“完成任务”式的态度。个人认为，我需要强大的设计师与枯燥的日程安排表和预算相中和。设计师的职责是确保趣味性——只要我们记得制作这款游戏是为了让人们体验和为之掏钱即可，但未必是为我们自己制作游戏。

我曾与在这篇文章中提到过，并且认为游戏设计是一门艺术的一位设计师好友交流，他有一些有趣的观点，但由于他目前的项目也需要保密，因此也要以匿名形式陈述他的以下看法：

游戏是艺术还是手艺？我在职业生涯中曾多次遇到自认为是艺术家，并且对自己的想法和作品投入极大热情的设计师。虽然自主性和责任心也是良好的品牌，但他们有可能热情过度了。因为游戏制作，尤其在AAA零售领域，是一项高度协作和困难的工作。如果执行不当，可能就会让项目过于呈现个人理念或创意，而这可能会有损他人对你的看法。

如果你是在独立游戏领域的小型团队开发项目，目标是创造艺术而不是赚钱，那你就掌握了更多权力。但如果你是在AAA领域，游戏设计是一个高风险，由营销驱动，并且要看数据说话的任务。游戏发布并不意味着项目终结，时间总会不够用。这就属于商业运行了。你并不是在创造《蒙娜丽莎》，这是事关收入的事情（通常是开发现成题材的IP）。整个制作过程的目标是尽量排除风险，并尽早实现报资回报。所以，在这些情况下，如果某个理念或内容并不可行，那就会拖垮整个项目的整体质量，或者需要更多时间或资金来实现你所需要的效果，要尽量跳过你的个人感觉，以实用主义的思维考虑全局问题。

要看到妥协的价值，而不是艰难地为自己的理念而战，要同他人的看法和平共处，而不是执拗于自己的个人想汉。这种感觉很糟糕，但有时候，你就是得自己扣动扳机，毙掉自己恋恋不舍的想法。要牢记你不光是在维持整个局面的控制，你还是在展示一种专业性和灵活性。这样你会赢得同事的尊重，而这一点待时机成熟时最终会让你受益。

圣诞快乐

我回想起过去曾经为某个进入开发阶段的项目引进一名设计师。游戏的设计和机制几乎都已经定型了，但却并没有那么有趣。我需要这名富有经验的设计师在无需打破我们计划的前提下让游戏更有趣。该设计师对这种情况不悦——他将其比作圣诞早晨起床没有在圣诞树上看到任何玩具的那种失望心情。我曾长时间以制作人的身份考虑了他的这种想法，并用不同的眼光来看待它。

设计师的确是在制作自己的圣诞列表。设计师要列出自己的圣诞节需求——哪些玩具可以让新年更快乐。但我们并不能总能采购到圣诞所需的一切东西。事实上，我们也不应该寄希望于得到自己所想要的一切东西。无论圣诞树下有什么东西，杰出的设计师都要能够创造出乐趣。我假设你给予杰出的设计师一堆从抽屉中找到的随机物品，那么他就能够以此制作一款游戏。现在，我不再寄期望于制作史上最棒的游戏——而是在身边找到有趣的游戏。设计师的技能就是找到乐趣，并将其展示给他人。

Bill Anderson（Awaken Games所有者）：关注竞争形势。在开发《Meximo Ghost to Glory》时，我想起了时刻关注竞争形势的重要性。在游戏开发过程中，索尼发布了一款可能会真正摧毁我们项目的游戏。他们推出的游戏名为《MediEvil》，从表面上看可以称为我们这款游戏的3D重制版本，即我们在Capcom美国团队正在开发的项目。尽管Capcom直到今天都拒绝承认这一点，仅表示此举是对原作的致敬，但许多Capcom日本团队的成员仍坚持这一看法。最令我们震惊的是，来自索尼的《MediEvil》所包含的关卡几乎与我所设计的《Maximo》完全相同。所以我们怀疑是Capcom中的内部人员向索尼泄露了我们的设计，最终我们不得不抛弃三个完整的游戏关卡设计，并创造新设计取而代之。

如果我们没有意识到这个问题，我们可能就会在《MediEvil》问世这后发布自己的游戏，而这看起来好像是我们模仿了他们的游戏。这正是设计师为何要时刻关注市场上与自己所开发的项目相似的游戏的重要原因。

不存在所谓的原创

电子游戏并不完成具有变革性。事实上，如果我们的目标是提升游戏销量，我们就必须更具“进化性”，这样才能吸引用户。用户喜欢新鲜事物，但通常情况下他们更喜欢自己所熟悉的东西。我们的消费者知道自己现在喜欢什么，对此的需求量也会增加。他们想知道你为之提供的是什么类型的游戏。作为游戏开发者，尤其是游戏设计师，我们必须能够找到超越现成游戏，并且能够吸引用户的小规模优化。并且要牢记当前甚为管用，并且根本不可更改的设计。

例如：对于任何游戏来说，控制系统可能都是最关键的元素。控制方式是你游戏玩家进入游戏的接口。拥有“正确的”控制方式，并妥善设计其响应时间和用法是成功的关键。我曾开发过大量第一人称射击游戏。第一人称射击游戏一直就是个备受欢迎的题材。在我制作游戏的多年时间中，市场上出现了不少出色的FPS。无论我制作哪款游戏，我首先都要确定其控制方式。通常情况下，我会告诉团队我们应该采用与当前最受欢迎的FPS一样的控制方式。其控制方式应该具有通俗性，能够被用户所理解。大部分购买FPS的人原来就是该类游戏粉丝——这意味着他们正在玩此类游戏。为其提供他们已经很熟悉的控制方式，可以令他们快速进入游戏状态。

如果控制方式没有问题，就不要再调整了。即便你有更好的控制想法，也要知道这些玩《使命召唤》的人并不在乎你的新想法。我相似这适用于大量的游戏制作过程。但是为了推出成功的游戏，你还需要一些创新。而这种创新正是我们需要设计师提出的理念。

Drew Rechner（Ubisoft Massive游戏设计师）：

也许我最棒的设计体验也正是我最糟糕的设计经历。在我早期职业生涯中，我曾开发的一个系统是第一人称射击游戏的控制试试。因为急于在这个项目上打上自己的“烙印”，我精心地创建了自认为可以优化来自其他游戏的不同目标系统的方法（例如，转换加速，水平/垂直转换速度，瞄准磁性，瞄准障碍等），并将其运用于我们自己的游戏，而这会带来一些相当独特的挑战，例如更长的视线，更棒的垂直感，以及极为快速的移动速度。我最终创造了一个相信能够适应我们游戏的独特解决方案，尽管它与其他游戏截然不同。许多玩法测试却证实，我的努力工作还是存在瑕疵，因为控制方式就是无法迎合玩家对第一人称射击游戏的预期。

优秀的控制方法是玩家的自然延伸，如果执行得当，甚至不可以让玩家感觉到自己在使用控制器，我却愚蠢地相信自己的设计会让“玩家去做我想让他们做的事情”。当然，玩家并不会在缺乏知识和动机的情况下，盲目“执行你想让他们做的事情”，这两种情况都难以利用控制器。

我的自大蒙蔽了自己的双眼，以致于无法看到自己设计的问题，并且为自己找借口，认为自己努力制作的控制方式没有问题，是玩家出了问题。虽然我并没有完全杜绝所有反馈，我们仍然发布了（评论员和玩家都注意到的）控制方式不合理的游戏。

我从这次经历中学到了两个极为重要的教训。第一，所有反馈都是有根据的，而设计师的责任就是分析并找到反馈背后的真正原因。如果玩家反映自己并不喜欢这种控制方式，那么它一定是出现什么问题了（这也可能是一个更大问题的征兆），即便他们自己也说不上来哪里出错了。第二，也是最重要的一个教训就是，基于自尊的设计总是糟糕的设计，自尊在游戏开发过程中并没有什么地位。我在某事上如此投入和付出，并且认为我的“超级”思维过程是无懈可击的，这种想法有意义吗？当然没有。最重要的是玩家如何看待你的设计，而不是你对自己设计的感觉如何。

如何成为一名设计师？

如果你想要一堆原创的想法，那么最好是去向一群孩子征求意见。如果你向8-15岁的孩子询问一些新型游戏理念，可能就会得到一些极有创意的想法。事实上，提到原创理念并没有那么困难，而想出一个能够制作出让上百万人都愿意为之掏钱的游戏理念，就是另一回事了。能够做到这一点就是设计师。

如果人人都认为自己是设计师，那么我们该如何成为一名专业设计师呢？以下是我的设计师朋友给予的回答：

Martin Caplan（制作人，游戏学设计和制作顾问）

我对于成为设计师的首要建议？制作一款你不在场的情况下，其他人也能够自己玩的实体桌游。我通常建议制作三款游戏，一是骰子游戏，一是使用纸牌的游戏，最后是开启你游戏设计生涯的桌游，因为这类游戏中具有大量可100%运用于电脑游戏的经验。使用你所选择的实体元素想出游戏规则，决定每回合的操作，并决定胜利条件是成为任何设计师（不仅仅是游戏设计师）这一过程中必须具备的元素。

如果一名胸怀抱负的初级设计师在求职面试时带着三款富有原创玩法理念的桌游，那就会让我产生很深刻的印象。如果这三款游戏都很有趣，那我就会当场录用他/她。

Andy Alamano（Gaijin Games主设计师）

从设计入手。游戏设计并没有什么万能丹。设计可能是一个空洞的词。重要的是专注于你最擅长或者最感兴趣的元素。关卡设计、角色设计、系统设计、故事等。这些东西本身就可能是一项全职工作。人人都有自己擅长的事情。我初入游戏领域时，最让我大开眼界的就是“程序员、设计师、美术师”这些关键职业内部的不同分工。

Chris Cross（Nexon America创意总监）：游戏设计是一个多变的领域。人可以决定成为一名专家，或者只在某一领域加深造诣，并且终身只做关卡设计或者脚本编辑或者战斗设计、AI设计，所以……

1.动手去做。掌握任何编辑器的用法，制作一款小游戏。用这种经历来想出下一步行动。

a.想想我最喜欢这个过程中的哪个环节？

b.我真的很擅长这个环节的工作吗？

想清楚这几个问题就能理顺余下的思路了。如果你所喜欢的事情真是你的长处，那就再好不过了。如果不是，那么你就要考虑如何学习和进步的问题了。

Drew Rechner（Ubisoft Massive游戏设计师）

我的建议实际上有两个部分：第一，分析和解析你所玩的每一款游戏，并理解它的一切运行方式。游戏中的一切几乎都不是偶然的，想想游戏为什么要让你做出某些决定。第二，制作你自己的游戏。它是一个模组还是全新的游戏，它的规模大小并不重要，重要的是你得完成它。许多爱玩电子游戏并加入行业的人很快就会受到打击，因为他们认为玩游戏和做游戏是同一回事。在我看来，热爱制作电子游戏更重要（尽管喜欢玩游戏也挺重要）。有一些制作游戏的经验不但有助于让你了解完成游戏的需求，为个人简历加分，还可能决定你今后是否将与之终身相伴。

Mike Wikan（设计师）

经常有高中和大学的游戏发烧友来问我如何才能“成为”游戏设计师。这是一个既简单又复杂的问题。

简单的答案就是，“去读由拥有真正的行业经验，并且能够以实用方式传授制作有趣游戏的教授所授课的好大学。”

这里的最重要条件就在于“以实用方式授课”这个部分。如果你能够使用像Unity或UDK等不同编辑器制作出引人入胜的游戏体验，并因此为你敲开游戏公司的大门，那就成功了一半。大学可以“确认你的确想认真学习”，但只有具有展示性和可玩性的作品才能帮你找到工作。

这个问题的复杂性与将游戏设计作为职业有关。多数想成为设计师的人认为“我喜欢玩游戏，所以我会成为很棒的游戏设计师！”我经常听到高中的孩子和家长这么说。

但事实却未必如此。多数游戏设计元老都知道，游戏设计是“先入后出”，这意味着我们在团队其他人动工之前打好基础，并且在最后时刻再介入令其焕发光彩。游戏设计的冗长过程中充斥艰难工作，创意冲突，截止日期，不可预料的赶工，以及间歇性的狂躁时刻。

它需要我们用一种“特定的疯狂”来做事，并且要成功完成。为了生存和取得成就，你必须令自己足够强大以支撑这些艰难的时刻，这样才不会崩溃。

要学习有效地制定计划，在你有时间时候创造有趣的游戏。与编程和美术不同，设计是游戏项目范围的仲裁者。如果你的设计过大了，你最终会因资金耗尽而不得不砍削内容。如果你设计过小，你的游戏就不足以创造利润。要找到能够分享你的生活，富有耐心和善良的人。情绪过于戏剧化的人并不适合这个行业。

最重要的是，要热爱自己所做的事情。对游戏设计充满激情，让它成为你向团队扩散的一种病毒。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

One for the Designers

by Matt Powers

One part of the producer’s job is working with designers.  I have been in the video game business for over 20 years and have worked with a number of designers.  For this article, I wanted to share some tips I have for designers.  But, since I am not a designer, I thought I should get the input from some of the designers I have worked with in the past.  As part of this article you will not only be hearing from me, a producer, but from a number of experienced game designers.

We Make Games!

When people ask me about being in the video game business I always reply that I really enjoy my job.  “Heck, we are making games!”  That simple statement says a lot.  Games are technical, and they are entertaining.  And, they can be a lot of fun – both playing them and making them.

On the technical side, video games are always pushing the metal as far as it can go.  Video games are one of the main reasons for innovation in computer technology.  Video games are one of the main reasons people will upgrade their PCs.  One of the main reasons we have color on our mobile devices is for games.  Every 5 or so years the console manufacturers come out with new, improved, faster, better hardware.  Video games are definitely a technical adventure that one needs to stay on top of.

Video games are also entertainment.  This means the goal is to make something creative and fun.  This is just as, if not more, difficult than making something on the technical cutting edge.  “Fun” is subjective – not only for the target audience but also on the development team.  Getting everyone to agree on what is fun and then keeping to that path is a challenge in game development.

Both of these key attributes of video games must be mastered by the game designer.  The designer is responsible for ensuring the game is competitive and fun.

My best design experience was actually about team work. When your team is in sync around you there’s a feeling of being unstoppable. Every problem is quickly dealt with and the solutions generally become a strength of the game.

- Chris Cross, creative director, Nexon America

My best design experience.  The best is always seeing something you made get a positive reaction from someone else.  I’ve worked on some games in the past that certainly wouldn’t be called the best thing ever, but when someone says to me “I like how this element worked” or “This one part made sense to me.” it makes it worth it. If I have an idea and I can convey that idea to the player, that’s the best.

- Andy Alamano, lead designer, Gaijin Games

What is a designer?

Everyone thinks they can be or they are a designer.  How many times have you been approached with the,

“Hey, you know I have a great idea for a game.”

or perhaps,

“Here is an idea for a game you should totally make.”

or even,

“I could have done this so much better.”

And the truth is, yes, everyone is a designer.  But most people are not good designers.  So what actually is a designer and what does a designer do?  I asked this question to my designer friends and here is what they had to say:

There’s a lot of making something from nothing.  Some of the most fun I’ve had is being able to see a piece of concept art or story board, or even some basic prototype and begin to generate the story and function behind a thing.  How big should this be?  How fast should it move?  What noises should it make?  A designer gets to answer all these things.  Once you sit down and document what you want, you can begin to work with the team to see whatever it is you’re making come to life.  The design process can differ place to place.  I’ve known some designers that work primarily in code and others that work more or less in Word and Photoshop. In the end the designers are there to provide the answers to all the questions on how every part of the game should work.  Button press by button press.

- Andy Alamano, lead designer, Gaijin Games

A game designer is someone who creates all the rules for a game, from weapons, AI, and combat, to more “mundane” things such as figuring out how doors, ladders, or sprinting works.  Essentially, a designer’s job is to take all of these systems, create rules for almost every use-case possible, while serving the game’s overall direction, not to mention figuring out how to make it fun.  Some designers work mostly on paper, others work mostly on implementation, while most do a healthy mix between the two. Of course, it matters how the studio is structured and the current stage of development in which the project is currently.

- Drew Rechner, game designer, Ubisoft Massive

A Designer is a diplomat.  They take an idea and map it out.  A designer takes their idea to the involved parties and shares their vision.  They incorporate the views of the stakeholders and make them part of the solution, not a problem to be solved.  The designer will take a practical view when needed and a romantic view when it’s not.  They love the game in it’s entirety as a work of art that lives and breathes.

- Mike Wikan, designer, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Metroid Prime series, others

A Designer Turns Numbers into Feelings.  I once answered a screen writer friend of mine with this answer:

“Your job is to turn words into feelings for the audience.  I do the same thing but with numbers.

I turn numbers into feelings.”

It takes words to illuminate that path for the team; but, at the end of the day, what Players feel is defined by a set of numbers.

-  What are the rules of the game? What numbers do they define?

-  How far can I wall run? Does this add or detract from my feeling of freedom?

-  How long should a cut scene be? Does it add to the whole experience? Should it be shorter/longer?

The hard trick is creating a larger experience from these numbers and being able to pre-envision the whole set that is necessary.  Almost impossible; but, that’s why team work is so important.

-Chris Cross, creative director, Nexon America

Consider the Big Picture

A friend of mine wrote me with a design story from one of his projects.  His company asked that he remain anonymous because of the current project he is working on.  I feel this story helps illustrate what a designer does on a project.  The skills of the designer go beyond just understanding game play.  The designer is also a diplomat, cheerleader, organizer and more.

Years and years ago while working on an FPS title at a previous company we had entered the point in the project where I was focused on weapon balance.  All the models, animations, FX, and sounds had come in for the player’s arsenal, so I had been able to make a number of passes on getting the overall balance and presentation down.

There was the numerical balance taking into consideration all of those elements of the weapon’s role, power, range, accuracy, trigger time, spread, etc, etc… that designers love to plot out on elaborate spread sheets to arrive at an “objective” balance point, that we then marry up to the visual presentation and “feel” to create what we hope will be received as a fun and satisfying arsenal of weapons with which to dispatch the evil beasties of the land.

Team feedback is crucial in validating that you are hitting your target here, and there were a number of changes made to balance and presentation in response to team reaction, but in one case I was really running into a brick wall.  I kept getting feedback that our shotgun was underpowered…people really kind of hated the shotgun. I was getting really clear and helpful pieces of feedback like “The shotgun sucks”, “This is the most useless shotgun in any game I have ever played…ever” and “Why are you allowed to be alive”, etc…  When I looked at the balance numbers, the shotgun was actually a little overpowered if anything.

So…after much consternation I decided to attack the balance issue from the side of perception rather than through the actual numbers themselves.  I went to our audio director to talk about changing the sound.  He added a bit more low end to the fire sound, pulled out some midrange and bumped up the high end to give it a sharper punch.  I did not tell the team that the only thing I changed was the sound, I just asked them to give it another try to see if the changes I made addressed the balance issues they were seeing. The feedback came back unanimously positive and in the clear and helpful form I had come to rely upon “It’s about time!,” “I told you the balance was wrong…spreadsheets are dumb”, etc… So ultimately,  I was able to fix a weapon balance issue by changing the sound.

I think the lesson to extract from this experience is that a designer must always consider the big picture and all the elements that come together to form that experience.  Details matter, but we cannot allow ourselves as designers to become myopic to the point of losing sight of the forest for the trees.  Perception is everything. It is the validation of your efforts no matter the facts to the contrary.  Ultimately the data does not matter if your audience is not buying it.

Making Blue Jeans

One of the “lessons” I have often told to game designers (and this applies to artists as well) is to remember that we are making blue jeans.  The analogy goes like this:

Every year there is fashion week and we see the new designs on television.  On the runway we see quite a variety of clothing.  Most of the time I wonder who would actually buy this stuff, much less wear it.  Giorgio Armani’s latest runway show has clothing I’m really unsure who wears .  But, Armani doesn’t make all its money from the runway show – it makes  money by selling blue jeans and purses.  The money is made by selling a lot of mass consumer items – not a couple fringe artistic items.  Video games are mass consumer – we are artists – and we are also trying to sell the better blue jean.

I do believe the above analogy is important to remember.  Sometimes we can get too caught up in the “art” of what we are doing and forget that our end goal is to sell product and make money.  And yes, I do realize that I am definitely sounding like a producer right now.  And that is why we need strong designers – to balance out the “get it done” attitude from producers.  Personally, I rely on a strong designer to push back and provide a counter point to the schedule and budget.  The designer is responsible for the fun – as long as we remember we are making this game for others to purchase and play – not necessarily making it for ourselves.

I was talking to a designer friend of mine about this article and specifically regarding game design as art.  He had some interesting points I wanted to include but as with the other designer story above, due to his current project he was unable to use his name.  So I told him to send me his thoughts and I would include him anonymously.

Are games art or craft?    More than once in my career I’ve crossed paths with designers who consider themselves to be on the art end of the spectrum and display a great deal of passion for their ideas or work.  While ownership and accountability are qualities to be encouraged, passion can be taken too far.  Because game-making, especially in AAA retail, is both highly collaborative and difficult, in the wrong context, displaying undue attachment to one’s individual ideas or creativity can be isolating and damaging to how people perceive you (and by extension, the design team).

If you are working in the indie space and on a small team where the goal is to make art, and not money, then more power to you!  But if you are working in AAA, game design can be a risk-adverse, marketing driven, and paint-by-numbers affair.  Games are shipped, not completed, and there is never enough time.  In these cases, this is business.  You’re not making the Mona Lisa; it’s a gig and a paycheck (usually for an established IP in a pre-existing genre).  The production is geared towards mitigating as much risk as possible to make back an investment as soon as possible.  So, in these circumstances, if an idea or piece of content isn’t working out, is dragging down the overall quality of the project, or needs more time or money to realize than what you have, try to look past your personal feelings, be pragmatic, and think of the big picture.

Try to see the value in compromise versus being difficult or fighting for your vision; make peace with the reality others see, not the reality you want that’s in your head.  It’s harsh, and it sucks, but sometimes, you have to pull the trigger, and kill that baby.  Take heart in the fact that you are not only maintaining some measure of control of the situation, you are also demonstrating a good example of professionalism and flexibility.  You’ll gain the respect of your peers which you can leverage when the time comes to call in the real favors.

Merry Christmas!

I recall one project where I brought a designer onto the project after it was well into development.  The design and mechanics of the game were mostly decided upon.  But it wasn’t really that fun (yet, as I saw it).  I needed this experienced designer to help make the game more fun without wrecking our schedule.  The designer was not entirely pleased with the situation – he compared it to waking up Christmas morning and not having any of the toys under the tree he requested.   I have thought about that statement and that situation for a long time as a producer and I have come to see it a different way.

A designer does make his Christmas list.  The designer outlines what he wants for Christmas – what toys will make the coming year more joyful .  But we don’t always get everything we want for Christmas.  In fact, we shouldn’t expect to get everything we ask for.  The great designer can make fun regardless of what appears under the tree.  I assume you can give a great designer a handful of random objects out of your junk drawer and he should be able to make a game out of it.  Now, I wouldn’t expect the greatest game ever – but there is a game and fun to be found in everything around us.  The designers skill is finding that fun and showing it to others.

Keep Your Eyes on the Competition.  When working on Maximo Ghost to Glory it reminded me of how important it is to always keep your eyes on the competition; during development of the game Sony published a game that could have really destroyed our project.  They came out with a game called MediEvil, which on the surface could have been called a 3D remake of Ghouls ‘n Ghost, something that we at Capcom USA was already working on.  Although to this date Capcom refuses to admit it, only referring to it as a homage to the original, mainly at Capcom Japan’s Insistence.  But the bombshell that came when we saw MediEvil from Sony was that they had included levels that were almost 100% totally identical to those I had already designed for Maximo, freakishly so.  It was suspected that someone at Capcom leaked designs over to Sony about Maximo and some of its designs; but, none the less, three full levels of game play designs had to be scrapped and new ones created to replace them.

If we hadn’t caught this problem, we would have shipped our game after MediEvil came out and it would have looked as if we copied their game.  This is why it’s important to always keep an eye on games coming out that follow the same genera as the ones your developing.

- Bill Anderson, owner, Awaken Games

Not invented here

Video games are not really meant to be revolutionary.  In fact, if our goal is to sell lots of copies of our game, we need to be more of an evolution so we will appeal to our consumers.  Consumers like something new.  But, more often they like something they are familiar with.  Our purchasers know what they currently like, and usually they want more of that.  They want to know what category is the offering you are putting in front of them.  As game makers, and especially game designers, we need to be able to identify what small improvements over existing games we can make which will appeal to consumers.  And just as important, what is currently working well and shouldn’t be changed at all.

For Example:  In any game the controls are probably the most critical element.  The controls are your gamers’ interface to the game.  Having the “correct” controls and having their response time and usage well honed is critical to success.  I’ve worked on a number of first person shooters.  And first person shooters have been a popular genre for a long time.  First on the PC and now on console, and PC.  For the majority of years I have been making games, there has been a well-established FPS on the market.  And for whatever one I was making, the first step was determining the controls.  And more often than not, I would tell the team that we should have the same controls as [insert most popular current fps here].  The controls need to be approachable and understandable by our audience.  The majority of people who buy an FPS are fans of FPS’s – meaning they currently play them.  Providing controls that match what they are already accustomed to will immediately get them comfortable with the game.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  And even if you have an idea for some better controls – all those people playing Call of Duty don’t care about your new ideas.  I believe this applies to a large part of the game making process.  But, in order to have a successful game, you also need some innovation.  And that innovation is something we inevitably rely on our designers to come up with.

Probably one of my best design experiences was also one of my worst.  Earlier in my career, one of the systems I worked on was the controls for an first-person shooter.  Eager to make my “mark” on the project, I carefully created ways in which I thought I could improve various aim systems (turn acceleration, horizontal/vertical turn speed, aim magnet, aim friction, etc.) from other games, and apply it to our game which had some pretty unique challenges such as longer sightlines, greater verticality, and potentially very fast movement speeds.  I eventually created a unique solution which I believed catered our game well, though it was quite different than other games.  Many playtests later, however, proved my hard-work to be flawed as the controls simply did not meet players’ expectations for what a first-person shooter’s controls should feel like.

Good controls are a natural extension of the player; they should not even realize they are using the controller if done well, and I foolishly believed my design could fit this “if only the players would do what I want them to do.” Of course, players do not simply do “what you want them to do” without proper education and incentives, both of which are difficult to utilize with controls.

My ego prevented me from seeing the problems with my design, and I made excuses for why I thought the controls, my controls–the ones I worked so hard on–were fine and that the players were wrong.  While I did not completely shut-out all feedback, we still shipped the game with inadequate controls that were noticed by both reviewers and players alike.

I learned two extremely important lessons from this experience.  Firstly, all feedback is valid, though it is the designer’s responsibility to process and analyze it to find out what the true cause of the feedback is.  If a player says they do not like the controls, there is likely something wrong with them (or perhaps it is a symptom of a larger problem which is also extremely important to identify), even if they do not know what is wrong with it themselves. Secondly, and possibly most importantly, I learned that ego-driven design is always bad design, and the ego has no place in game development.  Did it matter that I worked hard on something and thought my “superior” thought-process was infallible?  Absolutely not.  The only thing that matters is how players perceive your design, not how you feel about your design yourself.

- Drew Rechner, game designer, Ubisoft Massive

How does one become a designer?

If one wants a bunch of original, creative ideas, then one great place to get them is a classful of kids.  If you ask some 8-15 year olds for some new game ideas, you will get some very creative ideas.  The fact is, coming up with an original idea is not necessarily that difficult.  Coming up with an idea that will make a game that a million people will pay money for – now we are talking.  And the person who can do that is a designer.

If everyone thinks they are a designer then how does one become a professional designer?  Again, I go to the designers in the business for their answers to this question:

My top advice to potential designers?  Make a physical tabletop game that others can play without you being in the room.  I usually suggest making three games, actually: a dice game, a game that uses playing cards and finally a board game as a start to your game design career because there is an incredible amount of learning in those kind of games that apply 100% to computer games.  The process of coming up with rules that use the physical elements you choose, deciding on moment-to-moment turn actions, and determining victory conditions are key elements to the process of being any kind of designer, not just a game designer.

If a prospective junior designer came to a job interview with three tabletop games with original wrinkles to their gameplay that they could explain the math behind, I’d be impressed with the amount of work that represented.  If the three games were actually fun?  I’d hire him/her on the spot.

- Martin Caplan, producer, The Ludologist game design and production consulting

Getting started in design.  There certainly isn’t a magic bullet when it comes to getting a start in game design. Design can be a bit of a vacuous term.  What’s important is to zero in on what design element you’re best at or most interested in.  Level design, character design, systems design, story.  All these things can be full time jobs in and of themselves.  And each one has its own things to get good at.  When I first got into the industry, the biggest eye opener for me was how many different disciplines there were within the key roles of “Programmer, Designer, Artist”

- Andy Alamano, lead designer, Gaijin Games

Game design is such a varied field these days.  A person could decide to be a specialist and only do one part really well and have a whole career only doing Level Design or scripting or fight design or AI design.  So…..

1.  Just do it. Make a game. Learn to use any editor and make a tiny game. Use this experience to figure out the following.

a.  What part of the process was the most enjoyable for me?

b.  Was I good, actually good, at doing that part?

Figuring this out informs the rest of the path.  Win/Win if the thing you really enjoy is something you’re good at. If not, then the problem is figuring out how to learn and get better.

- Chris Cross, creative director, Nexon America

My top advice for someone wanting to become a game designer is really two parts.  First, analyze and deconstruct every game you play and understand why everything works the way it does.  Almost nothing in a game is coincidence and a decision was made for just about everything you see; figure out what those decisions are and why they were made.  Second, make your own game.  It does not matter whether it is a mod or brand new game, big or small; what is important is that you finish it.  Many people who love to play video games join the game industry and get discouraged, because they think that playing games is the same as making games.  In my opinion, it is far more important to love making video games (though I would like to point out that it is still incredibly important to love playing games too!).  Having some experience making a game is not only great for knowing what it takes to finish a game and looking good on a resume, but it is also a fantastic barometer for figuring out whether or not you will enjoy working on them as a career.

- Drew Rechner, game designer, Ubisoft Massive

Thanks for the help

This article would not be possible without the designers that helped contribute.  I would like to give a big thanks to the designers who helped me with this article:

William Anderson

Owner of Awaken Games

www.AwakenGames.com

Andy Alamano

Lead Designer at Gaijin Games

Martin Caplan, Producer

The Ludologist Game Design and Production Consulting

http://www.theludologist.com

http://twitter.com/the_ludologist

Chris Cross

Creative Director -  Nexon America
Drew Rechner

Game Designer – Ubisoft Massive

Mike Wikan

Designer
- Donkey Kong Country Returns
,The Metroid Prime Series,
Duke Nuke’em: Time To Kill,
and more

And my two anonymous designer friends who names, unfortunately, we could not include – you know who you are.

Hopefully this article is useful is providing some tips for all the designers out there.

And here is one more parting tip for those wishing to become a video game designer:

How does one become a designer?  I am often approached by high school and college-aged game enthusiasts about how to “become” a Game Designer.  It is a question that is both simple and complex.

The Simple answer is, “Go to a good college that teaches game design with professors with Real Industry Experience and demonstrate in a practical fashion that you can make a playable game that is FUN.”

The most important part of that statement is the “Demonstrate in a practical fashion” portion.  If you can create compelling gameplay using one of the numerous editors like UNITY or UDK to make a compelling gameplay experience that will SELL you and your natural design sensibilities to a company, that is more than half the battle.  College helps you “check the box that you are serious enough to go to college” but something demonstrable and playable will get you the job.

The complex portion of the answer has to do with the nature of Game Design as a profession. Most people trying to be Designers think that “I love playing games, so I would be a great game designer!”  I hear that from high school kids and parents all the time.

The reality is somewhat different.  As most Veteran Designers know, Game Design is “First in, last out” meaning we start laying the groundwork before everyone else on the team, and we are usually among the last elements to touch it prior to going gold. Game Design is very long hours full of hard work, creative conflict, looming deadlines, unexpected monkey wrenches, and the occasional panicky moment.

It takes a “special kind of crazy” to do what we do, and do it successfully.  In order to survive and prosper doing this job, you need to engineer your life around supporting the tough moments so you do not burn out.

Learn to plan effectively.

-  Engineer in the extra time you cannot plan for.

-  Do not try to create your “Magnum Opus”; that way lies madness.

Create as fun a game as you can in the time you have.  It is better to ship a fun game that can make a profit than it is to crash and burn because you designed bigger than your budget. Unlike engineering or art, design is the primary arbiter of the scope of the game. If you design too big, you run out of money so you panic-cut content at the end.  If you design too small, your game is not enthralling enough to make a profit.  Find people to share your life who are patient and kind. High drama people are not good fits for this business. Be realistic with those you love so that they are not blindsided by unexpected crunch time.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, LOVE WHAT YOU DO.  Be passionate about game design (but not pushy).  Make it a virus that you spread through the team.

- Mike Wikan（source：gamasutra）