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Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage[1] and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as well as documentation that describes such a design. Game design requires artistic and technical competence as well as writing skills.[2]
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Early in video game history, game designers were lead programmer and often the only programmers for a game, and this remained true as the video game industry expanded in the 1970s. This person also sometimes comprised the entire art team. This is the case of such noted designers as Sid Meier, John Romero, Chris Sawyer and Will Wright. A notable exception to this policy was Coleco, which from its very start separated the function of design and programming.
As games became more complex and computers and consoles became more powerful, the job of the game designer became separate from the lead programmer. Soon game complexity demanded team members focused on game design. Many early veterans chose the game design path eschewing programming and delegating those tasks to others.
Today, it is rare to find a video or computer game where the principal programmer is also the principal designer, except in the case of casual games, such as Bejeweled. With very complex games, such as MMORPGs, or a big budget action or sports title, designers may number in the dozens. In these cases, there are generally one or two principal designers and many junior designers who specify subsets or subsystems of the game. In larger companies like Electronic Arts, each aspect of the game (control, level design) may have a separate producer, lead designer and several general designers.
Game design starts with an idea,[3][4][5][6] often a modification on an existing concept.[3][7] The game idea may fall within one or several genres. Designers often experiment with mixing genres.[8][9] The game designer usually produces an initial game proposal document containing the concept, gameplay, feature list, setting and story, target audience, requirements and schedule, staff and budget estimates.[10]
Many decisions are made during the course of a game's development about the game's design; it is the responsibility of the designer to decide which elements will be implemented, based on, for example, consistency with the game's vision, budget or hardware limitations.[11] Design changes may have a significant positive or negative impact on required resources.[12]
The designer may use scripting languages to implement and preview design ideas without necessarily modifying the game's codebase.[13][14]
A game designer often plays video games and demos to follow the game market development.[15]
It is common for the game designer's name to misleadingly be given an undue amount of association to the game, neglecting the rest of the development team.[16]
Funding game publishers must be taken into account, who may have specific expectations from a game[17] as most video games are market-driven — developed to sell for profit.[18] However, if financial issues do not influence designer's decisions, the game becomes design- or designer-driven; few games are designed this way because of lack of funding.[19] Alternatively, a game may be technology-driven, such as Quake (1996),[20] to show off a particular hardware achievement or to market the game engine.[20] Finally, rarely a game may be art-driven, such as Myst (1993),[21] mainly to show off impressive visuals designed by artists.[21]
In The Study of Games, Brian Sutton-Smith writes:
| “ | Each person defines games in his own way — the anthropologists and folklorists in terms of historical origins; the military men, businessmen,and educators in terms of usages; the social scientists in terms of psychological and social functions. There is overwhelming evidence in all this that the meaning of games is, in part, a function of the ideas of those who think about them. ...
... A game designer is a particular kind of designer, much like a graphic designer, industrial designer, or architect. A game designer is not necessarily a programmer, visual designer, or project manager, although sometimes he or she can also play these roles in the creation of a game. A game designer might work alone or as part of a larger team. A game designer might create card games, social games, video games, or any other kind of game. The focus of a game designer is designing game play, conceiving and designing rules and structures that result in an experience for players. Thus game design, as a discipline, requires a focus on games in and of themselves. Rather than placing games in the service of another field such as sociology, literary criticism, or computer science, our aim is to study games within their own disciplinary space. Because game design is an emerging discipline, we often borrow from other areas of knowledge — from mathematics and cognitive science; from semiotics and cultural studies. We may not borrow in the most orthodox manner, but we do so in the service of helping to establish a field of game design proper. |
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A game designer is a person who designs gameplay, conceiving and designing the rules and structure of a game.[22][23][24] Many designers start their career in testing department, where mistakes by others can be seen first-hand.[25]
In 2010, a game designer with more than six years of experience earned an average of US$65,000, $54,000 with three to six years of experience and $44,000 with less than 3 years of experience. Lead designers earned $75,000 with three to six years of experience and $95,000 with more than six years of experience.[41]
World design is the creation of a backstory, setting, and theme for the game; often done by a lead designer.[42]
System design is the creation of game rules and underlying mathematical patterns.[42]
Content design is the creation of characters, items, puzzles, and missions.[42]
Game writing involves writing dialogue, text, and story.[42]
Level design is the construction of world levels and its features.[31][32][33][42]
User interface design constructs the user interactions and feedback interface.[42]
Numerous games have narrative elements which give a context to an event in a game, make the activity of playing it less abstract and enhance its entertainment value, although narrative elements are not always clearly present or present at all. The original version of Tetris is an example of a game apparently without narrative. It should be noted that some narratologists claim that all games have a narrative element. Some go further and claim that games are essentially a form of narrative. Narrative in practice can be the starting point for the development of a game, or alternatively can be added to a design that started as a set of game mechanics.
Gameplay is a commonly used term used to describe the interactive aspects of video game design. Gameplay involves player interaction with the game, usually for the purpose of entertainment, education or training.
The design process varies from designer to designer and companies have different formal procedures and philosophies.[43]
The typical "textbook" approach is to start with a concept or a previously completed game and from there create a game design document. This document is intended to map out the complete game design and acts as a central resource for the development team. This document should ideally be updated as the game evolves throughout the production process.
Designers are frequently expected to adapt to multiple roles of widely varying nature: For example, concept prototyping can be assisted with the use of pre-existing engines and tools like Game Maker. Level designs might be done first on paper and again for the game engine using a 3D modelling tool. Scripting languages are used for many elements—AI, cutscenes, GUI, environmental processes, and many other behaviours and effects—that designers would want to tune without a programmer's assistance. Setting, story and character concepts require a research and writing process. Designers may oversee focus testing, write up art and audio asset lists, and write game documentation. In addition to the skillset, designers are ideally clear communicators with attention to detail and ability to delegate responsibilities appropriately.
Design approval in the commercial setting is a continuous process from the earliest stages until the game ships:
When a new project is being discussed (either internally, or as a result of dialogue with potential publishers), the designer may be asked to write a sell-sheet of short concepts, followed by a one or two-page pitch of specific features, audience, platform, and other details. Designers will first meet with leads in other departments to establish agreement on the feasibility of the game given the available time, scope, and budget. If the pitch is approved, early milestones focus on the creation of a fleshed-out design document. Some developers advocate a prototyping phase before the design document is written to experiment with new ideas before they become part of the design.
As production progresses, designers are asked to make frequent decisions about elements missing from the design. The consequences of these decisions are hard to predict and often can only be determined after creating the full implementation. These are referred to as the unknowns of the design, and the faster they are uncovered, the less risk the team faces later in the production process. Outside factors such as budget cuts or changes in milestone expectations also result in cuts to the design, and while overly large cuts can take the heart out of a project, cuts can also result in a streamlined design with only the essential features, polished well.
Towards the end of production, designers take the brunt of responsibility for ensuring that the gameplay remains at a uniform standard throughout the game, even in very long games. This task is made more difficult under "crunch" conditions, as the entire team may begin to lose sight of the core gameplay once pressured to hit a date for a finished and bug-free game.