How does it work?

BlitzKrieg

Riight, I was chatting to a friend the other day about various games, and topics like the plotline to simple 2d platformers (ala Mario and Sonic) came up.



A thought that rung out in my head was that unlike the movie industry where the plotline is the very first thing that is established (either by adapting a story, or scripting an original one.) I wouldnt think they would be the first thing established with the gaming industry.


So I'm actually curious, is there a percieved method to the industry or is it approached in unique and different methods from company to company.


Where does a game begin? Does it start with a scriptwriter, or does it start with the programmer?

zAbbo

I starts with a movie licence tie in or a rehash of last years game.

You'd be very naive to think that there's much creativity involved, it's a numbers game.

BlitzKrieg

zabbo wrote:

I starts with a movie licence tie in or a rehash of last years game.

You'd be very naive to think that there's much creativity involved, it's a numbers game.

yeah you get the same with Hollywood.


But where did Shadow of the Colussus begin?

Did it begin with the story or the gameplay mechanics?

Was the story written after some game designer explained they were going for a series of epic boss battles?

Or did the creative force throw a few stories around and then when they found one they liked did they start trying to design a game around it?

sprinkles

SOTC had to have been a story based origin. I can see what your getting at with the movie industry but with the exception of generic rehashes ala FPS I would assume the story would be the first thing.

Saying that I would also think that they would set the genre out in the beginning. For instance, we're looking at making a new RPG. next come story. Say WW2 RPG. Next look at the structure of the game - level based are there bosses etc....then art design and then the last thing should be graphics and programming (the least important in terms of gameplay but the most important in selling to idiots )

That's my guess anyway

BlitzKrieg

the only person I can find who has made a successful career in the games industry fulfilling only the writer/director role is hideo Kojima

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideo_Kojima

looking into it more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_designer

It seems a Game Designer incoporates a large part of those roles into one occupation. Which is interesting.

History

The first video games were designed in the 1960s and 1970s by programmers for whom creating games was a hobby, since there was no way to sell them or earn money from creating games. Some were designed by electrical engineers as exhibits for visitors to computer labs (OXO, Tennis for Two), others by college students who wrote games for their friends to play (Spacewar!, Star Trek, Dungeon).

Some of the games designed during this era, such as Zork, Baseball, Air and Adventure later made the transition with their game designers into the early video game industry.

Early in the history of video games, game designers were often the lead programmer or the only programmer for a game, and this remained true as the video game industry dawned in the 1970s. This person also sometimes comprised the entire art team. This is the case of such noted designers as Sid Meier, 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 (allowing more features), the job of game designer became a separate job function, with the lead programmer splitting his time between the two functions, moving from one role to the other. Later, game complexity escalated to the point where it required someone who concentrated solely on game design. Many early veterans chose the game design path eschewing programming and relegating 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 Tetris or 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 or vehicles) may have a separate producer, lead designer and several general designers.

sprinkles

BlitzKrieg wrote:

the only person I can find who has made a successful career in the games industry fulfilling only the writer/director role is hideo Kojima

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideo_Kojima

looking into it more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_designer

It seems a Game Designer incoporates a large part of those roles into one occupation. Which is interesting.

Hideo's work is very cinematic and in that term he can probably juggle the 2 jobs somewhat. The writer sets the scene, which is limited in some aspects to a single path which the director has a clear view of.... thus the 2 jobs are kinda merged.


For games that are entirely interactive the focus would change from the invironment telling you a story, as in Hideo's case, to a situation where you determine the story by interacting with the invironment. In this case the writer/director would have 2 completely seperate jobs, the writer focuses on the development of the story depending on the choises you make in the game and the director focuses on ensuring that the choices present themselves in a certain way.

BlitzKrieg

here we go

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_development

Game design begins with a concept: some are original inspirations, while others are client-mandated, often as part of a broader marketing campaign. The designer may start informally by discussing the game idea with others or may start writing immediately. Either way, one of the first tasks is to create an initial game design (or proposal, depending on the circumstances). The initial design needs to be approved and then full-scale production can begin.

so thats the blueprint I guess...

projectmayhem

BlitzKrieg wrote:

It seems a Game Designer incoporates a large part of those roles into one occupation. Which is interesting.

what i'd like to do career wise.

what tends to happen is someone has an idea, a concept for a story (stealthy war game set in vietnam... FPS set in the future, etc.). a basic plot is laid out before letting art guys at it for a little bit. after that the plot/art and concepts are taken "to the top" to be given the green light.

if it's approved then budget etc. is worked out, then the engineers (lead programmers, graphics guys) wade in and talk technology with the designer, and they work it out based around the ideas for the game & the budget. budget makes the difference between buying a renderware etc. license to work off (GTA), buying a physics engine like havok and working from that up (half life 2) or developing on your own from the ground up (killzone ).