Transcript GDC 2005 - Sloperama

How to Start Designing Games On Your Own
(and What that Really Means)
How to Start Designing
Games On Your Own
(and What that Really Means)
Tom Sloper
Sloperama.com
What does “design” mean?
» "Design" doesn't mean
"programming."
» "Design" doesn't mean "art."
» "Design" doesn't mean "story."
» You don't have to be a
programmer. But it helps.
» You don't have to be an artist. But
it helps.
» Story ≠ game. It's a subset.
Everybody wants to be
the game designer
» It takes a lot of people to make a
video game.
» Not everybody can be the
designer.
» They only give the job to someone
they trust.
» To become the designer, you need
lots of experience.
» Do the job to get the job.
Ways you can design
games on your own are:
Write concept pitch documents.
Write GDDs.
Create game storyboards.
Create board game prototypes.
Create card games, parlor games,
paper RPGs...
» Make mods.
» Whichever suits your talents.
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WHY design games on
your own?
Not to sell them (necessarily).
Why not just because it's fun?!
Because you're driven to.
Because nobody can stop you from
doing it.
» Because it's good practice.
» It can lead to a career.
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Concept pitch docs
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Log line (high concept)
Elevator pitch
2-page concept
Treatment (~10-20 pages)
Powerpoint
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Audience: game execs, VC's
Tone: exciting yet informative
Present tense
Competitive analysis
The plan: Who'll develop it? Will it be
expensive?
Elevator pitch
45 seconds
Have it memorized
Smooth delivery
What is the concept?
What's exciting (different and
good) about it?
» Log line / high concept
» Audience, purpose of pitch...
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Concept doc
2 pages
Exciting opener
Evocative image
Brief description of game
Minimal description of story (if
applicable)
» Target audience, platform
» Competitive analysis
» Audience for / purpose of doc...
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Treatment
» ~12-20 pages
» More detail about the game
concept and gameplay
» More detail about the story,
characters, universe
» Description of the team who'll
create the game; what's the plan?
» Audience / purpose of treatment...
Powerpoint
» 10 slides – 20 minutes – 30-point
font
» Verbal fill
» Present while audience flips
through treatment
» Audience, purpose – what you're
really selling: yourself... your
team(?)
Design docs
Describe every detail of the game.
Tone: descriptive, to the point.
Not like a game instruction manual.
Not like a movie script. Games are
interactive.
» Feature details similar to, different
from, features of other games?
» May be collection of docs / specs
» Audience / purpose of GDD...
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GDD contents (part 1)
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Log line
Elevator pitch
Concept
Treatment
Main game screen(s)
Story elements
User controls
UI
GDD contents (cont’d.)
» Game structure
» Story breakdown/structure
» Goal
Win conditions
 Lose conditions
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» AI behavior
» Scripted events
» Gameplay walkthrough
GDD contents (cont’d.)
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Levels
Modes
Scoring, achievements
Shell (front end)
Menus
User editing tools (if applicable)
Other docs
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TDD
Art Design
Art asset list
Sound Design
Sound asset list
SFX list
 Music spec
 VO script
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» Onscreen text
Board games,
paper RPGs
» To test your game ideas, to
balance them;
» Or to make fun games to play on a
tabletop.
» Great portfolio material.
» Rough prototype to playtest;
» Better prototype for portfolio.
» The publishing problem...
Prototyping board games
» Boards
» Pieces
» Randomizers
Dice (cubical or multi-sided)
 Spinners, dreidels
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» Cards
» Rules / instructions
Card games
» To test your game ideas, to
balance them;
» Or to make fun games to play on a
tabletop.
» Great portfolio material.
» Easy to design, print. Card
protectors/sleeves.
» Getting published, though...
Storyboards
» For the artistic. If you can't, don't.
» As supplement to pitch docs or
GDDs, not to replace them.
» To illustrate your game ideas.
» Not just to illustrate the
cinematics. Not just about "story."
Storytelling
» Story ≠ game, but know how to
tell good stories.
» The Hero With a Thousand Faces,
the hero's journey (Joseph
Campbell)
» Literature, novels, mythology,
movies, TV, and yes, comic books
» Screenwriting
» Emotion!!
Mods
» Make a mod yourself, if able.
» Otherwise, collaborate with others.
» Some moddable games:
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Half-Life
Unreal
Max Payne
Neverwinter Nights
Quake
Morrowind
Battlefield
Battlezone 2
Dungeon Siege
Freedom Force
Organize
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Gamer contests
Developer gatherings
Promotional events
Online events
Ads, flyers – good portfolio fodder
Network
» Three rules of networking:
No talking
 No résumés
 Business cards
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» Rules are meant to be broken
» Where to network:
IGDA gatherings
 Game conferences
 Start a game dev group @ school
 Online
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Portfolios
» Design portfolios: the "unsolicited
submission" problem
» What else can go into a design
portfolio
Photos of board games, card games
you designed
 Fliers of events you organized
 Articles, reviews you wrote
 Articles about you
 Your art (if applicable)
 Your code (if applicable)
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Business plans
» Why write one?
Not because you'll get a loan...
 ...Not yet anyway...
 But because it's good practice, you'll
learn a lot.
 And it’s a necessary part of a pitch.
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» What goes into a business plan?
Business plan contents
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Not just a single game idea
An entire business plan
Staffing plan
Office plan
Money needed
For startup
 For ongoing costs
 For how long
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» Profitability plan
Review
» There are many aspects to game
design;
» There are many ways you can
design games on your own.
» Why do it? Because you want to.
» You can't sell a game design.
» There are always exceptions.
Thanks for listening
» Questions?
Tom Sloper
www.sloperama.com