Post on 13-Apr-2017
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Idea Generation & Conceptualization Videogame Design and Programming
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Homework #3
submit two game concepts by October 11 @ 23:59
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Concept #1
any game you’d like to create!
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Concept #2
cannot contain violence or sex J
must have an experimental gameplay
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
experimental?
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Guidelines for the Game Concept
• The game-concept document expresses the core idea of the game
• Brief and simple to encourage a flow of ideas (one page).
• The target audience is the people responsible for advancing the idea to the next step: a formal game proposal
• Typically, all concepts are presented to the director of product development (or executive producer) before they get outside of the product development department
• The director will determine whether or not the idea has merit and will either toss it or dedicate some resources to developing the game proposal.
6
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Tim Ryan, The Anatomy of a Design Document, Part 1 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3384/the_anatomy_of_a_design_document_.php?page=1
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
The One Sheet
• It is probably the most important document
• It is a tool to get people excited about your project (management, marketing, sales, licensors).
• It also brings the team and the management “on the same page” with the project objectives and priorities.
• Style does not matter (see the two examples)
• Be short and informative
• Reiterate the points on the one-sheet every time you talk about your game
8
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Designers should not be distracted by the “dramatic” elements.
Story and characters are important but they should not obscure the view of the gameplay
They should remain in the designer’s mind,
but secondary until the main elements have been pin down
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Elements of the Game Concept
• Game title
• Introduction
• Background (optional)
• Description
• Key features/Unique selling points
• Analysis of the market
• Genre
• Platform(s)
• Concept art (optional)
• For concept #2 you need to include also a short sentence to explain why your concept has an experimental gameplay
12
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Structure of the Game-Concept Document
• Introduction
§ These words will sell the document to the reader.
§ One sentence to describe the game in an excited manner.
§ Include the title, genre, platform, and any other meaningful bits of information that cannot wait until the next sentence.
§ Should be brief, the longer it is, the more your vision will seem diluted
§ Example: "Man or Machine is a first-person shooter for the PC that uses the proven Quake II engine to thrust players into the role of an android space marine caught up in the epic saga of the interstellar techno-wars of the thirty-seventh century."
• Description
§ In a few paragraphs or a page, describes the game to the readers as if they are the players. Use the second-person perspective -- "you."
§ Must avoid specifics (e.g., mouse-clicks), but must not be too vague.
13
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Structure of the Game-Concept Document
• Key Features
§ Bullet point list of items that will set this game apart from others
§ For instance, "Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI): Man or Machine will recreate and advance the challenging and realistic AI that made Half-Life game of the year.“
§ Carefully determine the number of features to include (too few will sell the game short, too many will water down the strongest features)
• Genre
§ In a few words, define the type of game or flavor (puzzle, FPS, etc.)
§ In case, refine the genre with additional words (e.g., WWII FPS)
• Platform
§ In a few words, list the target platform(s).
§ f you think the game concept is applicable to multiple platforms, you should also indicate which platform is preferred or initial.
§ If you intend multiplayer support on the Internet, indicate that as well.
14
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Structure of the Game-Concept Document
• Analysis of the Competitors
§ List at least 3-5 games that are your competitors
§ In one sentence tell why yours is special
15
very important!
game concept must be anonymous J
your concept must occupy one page at most.
name must be on the other side J so that we can scan the concepts leaving out the names
art should be included on extra sheets (using one side)
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Your Homework
• Write down the game-concept document for the game you wish to propose to the class
• The firm deadline is October 11 @ 23:59
• The game-concept document must be delivered in class or scanned and sent to pierluca.lanzi@polimi.it
• The game-concept document must be well-written and accurately proof read.
16
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
gamestorming
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Coming up with ideas is difficult
Coming up with excellent ideas is even more difficult
And coming up with ideas is just the beginning…
Game design is about generating layers and iterations of ideas that help to refine and evolve your original concept
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Creativity
• Great ideas come from great input into your mind and senses
• Not only playing games, but living a curious life, full of curiosity people, places, thoughts and events
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes the stages of creativity as
§ Preparation – becoming immerse in a topic or domain of interest, a set of problematic issues
§ Incubations – when ideas “churn around”
§ Insight – the “aha!” moment, when the pieces of the puzzles, or an idea, fall together
§ Evaluation – when the person decides whether the insight is valuable and worth pursuing. Is it really original?
§ Elaboration – the longest part of the creativity process; it takes the most time and is the hardest (Edison, 99% perspiration 1% inspiration).
22
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Ideas also come from analyzing existing games and activities
Develop your critical skills (not just think “cool!”)
Pay close attention to your emotional responses, to your cycle of frustration, exhilaration, confidence, etc.
Discuss games with friends, deconstruct games, etc.
Begin a game journal
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Readings
• Dave Gray e Sunni Brown. Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers
24
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Opening
• It is all about opening up people’s mind
• It is about getting the people in the room putting down the card on the table the information and ideas flowing
• The more idea you can get out in the open the more material you have to work in the next stage
• The opening must be divergent, your goal is the widest possible spread of perspectives
28
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Exploring
• Once you have collected many ideas, you need some exploration and experimentation
• Look for patterns and analogies, try to see old things in new ways
• Sift and sort through ideas
• The keyword for this stage is “emergent”, you want to create the conditions for unexpected, surprising and delightful things to emerge
29
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Closing
• Time to move toward the conclusions, decisions, actions, and next steps
• Assess ideas, look at them with a critical or realistic eye
• Which ones are the most promising?
• Where should you invest your energy?
• The keyword for this phase is “convergent”, you need to narrow the field to select the most promising things of what come next
30
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
10 essentials for gamestorming
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Essentials for Gamestorming (1&2)
• Opening and Closing
§ It is the way you orchestrate the gamestorming activities
§ It is like breathing, expand and collapse, giving rhythm and life
§ Don’t open and close at the same time
§ Close everything you open
• Fire Starting
§ The spark that ignites the process, it is typically a question
§ Another fire starter is “fill-in-the-blank”: you craft a short phrase and you ask the other people to complete
§ For example, if the goals is to explore, the fire starter could be “I want ______”
33
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Essentials for Gamestorming (3&4)
• Artifacts
§ Objects to hold the information during the process
§ They might be sticky notes, index cards, etc.
§ Artifacts are carriers of meaning
• Node Generation
§ During the opening phase, you need to generate as many artifacts (or node) as possible
§ This is called “node generation”
§ It can be silent or involve callouts
§ Ask everybody to write ideas on sticky notes and then, when the process is finished, each one reads a note out loud and put it on the board
34
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Essentials for Gamestorming (5, 6, 7, 8)
• Meaningful Space
§ It is the place where nodes can be displayed/organized
§ For instance, you can ask people to organize the sticky nodes in three columns on a board so that “things that might belong together” are put in the same column
§ Don’t name the columns though!
• Sketching and model making
• Randomness, Reversal, and Reframing
§ Rearrange, recombine, reposition nodes in the meaningful space
• Improvisation
35
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Essential for Gamestorming (9&10)
• Selection
§ You cannot do everything so there will come a time when you need to winnow down a large set of ideas down to a smaller damageable set
§ One way is to give 10 sticky notes to everybody and ask them to vote for the thing they like most
§ Another way is to force a ranking
• Try Something New
39
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
http://www.facebook.com/polimigamecollectivehttps://twitter.com/@POLIMIGC
http://www.youtube.com/PierLucaLanzihttp://www.polimigamecollective.org