by Annie | Jan 27, 2012 | Game Design, Psychology of Games
Game design is a balancing act. Literally. Not only do you have to balance the various tasks that fall under the umbrella of game design, but, more importantly, you’re responsible for balancing the gameplay experience. At the core of every well designed game is a carefully balanced spreadsheet. Numbers and stats can govern everything from a character’s jump height to the number of resources available. To create an experience that’s both fun and engaging, these numbers need to be tweaked, again and again. One of the things most people fail to realize is just how many tweakable variables there can be within even the simplest gameplay experiences. Creating a spreadsheet is a great exercise for challenging you to think critically about all the different components in your game. Start with the obvious ones, like levels, points, and time. Then, move on to more nitty gritty variables like the number of jumps a character needs to make to get to a certain goal. Think about what you want to teach your player and when to teach different skills. Using this theoretical framework as a guide, plug your best guesses into your spreadsheet, and then start playtesting. If a playable prototype isn’t yet available, conduct theoretical playtests. You’d be surprised how much balancing you can accomplish through imagination alone. (If Einstein could develop the theory of relativity through theoretical physics, you can balance a game through theoretical design.) The resulting numbers are one of the most critical parts of your design and will be invaluable for communicating gameplay elements to other members on your team. They will inform everything from the...
by Annie | Jan 20, 2012 | Game Design
Check out the latest issue of the VFS In Focus magazine, featuring some insights on the game design industry and the future of games, courtesy of some VFS grads (including yours truly!). The issue also includes stats from the latest games industry/alumni survey, as well as a story about the team behind Forerunner, an iOS game released by recent grads. Also, a heads up for anyone in the Vancouver area who might be interested in the VFS game design program – don’t forget to drop by the Open House this Sunday, 10:30am-5pm. See you...
by Annie | Jan 11, 2012 | Logoland
I’ve always been entranced by logos. There’s something about the simple complexity of communicating a big message with a small image that’s always fascinated me. Good logos communicate layers of meaning, both boldly and subtly. Take a look at these 50 startup logos from...
by Annie | Jan 9, 2012 | Game Design
Learning to program through books and tutorials is hardly an exciting endeavor. The first few exercises might maintain your interest by capitalizing on your staunch commitment to reach your goal of becoming an avid programmer, but interest often wanes as the exercises become more difficult and seem to drift further from real world applications. Enter Codecademy, an interactive game that teaches programming, right in the comfort of your own browser. Codecademy holds your hand through each step of the programming basics, including declaring your first variable and executing your first function. Explanations are concise and easy to understand, even for the absolute novice. You can follow the exercises at your own pace, and you can even experiment using the scratch pad, an in-browser Javascript editor that lets you play around with what you’ve learned. Best of all, Codecademy is built around basic game mechanics, including missions and achievements. Track and share your progress, and you’ll soon be on your way to programming your own website or game. Right now, Codecademy only offers Javascript courses, but it looks like they’re working hard to add more programming languages as soon as possible. So if you’ve always wanted learn how to code, give Codecademy a...
by Annie | Jan 6, 2012 | Game Design
If you’re at all interested in the VFS Game Design program, come on out for the Game Design Expo Open House on Sunday, January 22nd. You can take sample classes, learn more about the program, and talk to current teachers. I will be giving a short presentation about my experience at VFS, so stop by if you get a chance. Hope to see you...
