The components of Game Design
The following consists of key excerpts taken from an article by Ian Schreiber. It aims to discuss one's definition of a what a game is.
Schreiber (2009) discusses that many games have similar contrasting ideas. For instance, dots and boxes present the user with a simplistic objective of whoever attains the most boxes wins the game. The same mechanics apply to Tic-tac-toe. Therefore, it is important to clarify the differences between games.
A substantial amount of individuals have clashing definitions in terms of what a game is, but all have equal elements. The components of an enticing experience can incorporate conflict, a set of rules, a problem solving task as well as an out of body experience yet all require interaction. A game does not essentially call for technology for the experience to be stimulating, there can be colossal subsets to a game. A game may be as straightforward as "tossing a ball around", as Schreiber (2009) states "play is just one aspect of games", although for instance puzzle activities may further be a "subset" of games (Salen & Zimmerman, 2009) yet they may not (Costikyan, 2009).
An earlier mention of technology, creating a playable game does not depend upon programming as well as imaginativeness, a concept can be commenced and elaborated upon, this idea can be seen as daunting as mentioned by Schreiber (2009), a process requires building in addition to disposing.
Four Basic Methods of Generating Ideas
The following consists of key excerpts taken from an article by Ilya Vasiliev. It aims to discuss the four basic methods of generating ideas in terms of game design.
The four techniques outlined by Vasiliev (2017) are as follows: concentration, brainstorming, scamper and ramsey. These approaches can benefit ones production of ideas.
Concentration
The author credits a changing atmosphere as a means of generating different ideas. Moreover, they state a stationary atmosphere as the primary reason that an individual will always create the same ideas. Furthermore, the author credits previous research on this area that has highlighted how a change in environment has a positive impact on idea generation.
Brainstorming
This method is infamous for its success in idea generation. Teamwork within the game industry is critical so there are three stages. These stages contain statement of the task, generation of ideas and grouping and selection. They help to outline the task, develop new ideas and categorising them accordingly. Grouping individuals that are diverse in terms of race, nationalities, social status, history and gender improves work ethic. Vasiliev (2017)
Scamper
Building a game that is unfamiliar to a particular individual requires a scamper method, this method breaks down into several sub-sets (substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put, eliminate and reverse) The overall purpose of this method is to change different aspects of a game as far as an idea is generated and elaborated upon.
The Ramsey Method
According to the author, this is the most difficult method. It focuses on the psychological aspects of developing a product. It cites that if one takes a substantial amount of information, you can discover new pieces of information/links by examining the provided information thoroughly and attentively. The author indicates that this theory can also be used in the opposite manner. For example, creating new concepts that the author classes as being "unobtrusive".
Essentially, the fundamental objective of this method is to gather the maximum amount of information on the topic. Once complete, one must study the data carefully and seek out hidden aspects and connections in order to link the information with the concept of the game.
Upon conclusion, the author states that the two key components of this method is the quantity of information being received and the effort involved in studying the information.
Items of Interest
Here is an article I read that talks about game mechanics and how they should fit the style of the game you're developing. Furthermore it will be helpful when it comes to future projects!
Here is an article based on ways you can improve brainstorming within a group. This article is going to be helpful in many teamwork situations, it doesn't have to be about game design!
Here is an article on how you can boost your creativity, This will be incredibly helpful in terms of starting off when creating a game.
-Anna Zurawska
Hi Anna! I was reading your blog on Game Design and I find it is very well written. I like how you linked additional papers for people to read and engage to and how you talked about Ian Schreiber's paper. I also liked how you put in the four basic methods of generating ideas as they truly can be very helpful :)
ReplyDeleteHi Anna! This post is very well written and easy to understand. You condensed the main points of each paper very well! You helped me refresh my memory on the different methods of game generation. The extra articles seem very interesting, especially the last one since I tend to get creativity blocks so thank you! Looking forward to reading future posts!
ReplyDeleteHey Anna great blog post! This was so well written and easy to read, It definitely helped me anyways. Well done on adding attentional articles this was a great touch to the blog. I took some time to read these always and they were very interesting and useful. I hope you're enjoying the year so far. Good luck with everything. I look forward to reading more of your posts!
ReplyDeleteHi Ania, great blog post. Really nice and easy to read style of academic writing. It was well written and very well laid out, so I could follow the reading with no hassle at all. The addition of more articles with reference to game design was very interesting and a great idea. I say some people will really appreciate this addition. Overall, great post and I am excited to read more of your posts!
ReplyDeleteHi Step Bro... mbbb I mean Anna, good interpretation of game design and meaning of a game, I never really deeped games like I do now, learning about the invisible building blocks of a game really shifts my perspective when analyzing games and playing games. The four methods 'basic' methods for creating games are not so basic after all, as they really aid in the process... especially when combined together and done correctly.
ReplyDeleteHey Anna,
ReplyDeleteI think this was a great blog about game design and you managed to condense the information into an easily readable way and you summarised the main points perfectly, I found all of these articles useful and I hope many other people did as well. Good luck with your game!
Hi Anna, this is a great blog the layout is very easy to read such as having the headings above the paragraph so I knew what it was going to be about the spacing between paragraphs also makes it a lot clearer to read. You have also brought the descriptions down small which in my opinion is better as I will remember more than larger block of text. It has made me remember any of the parts that I might have forgotten. Best of luck with your game -Niamh
ReplyDeleteHey Anna
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your Game Design blog. Your blog is written so well and the layout is great! You have included so much information that wasn't unnecessary so it wasn't hard to read at all. I found your articles very useful too and I love how you embedded them into the text instead of having the link on display.
Best of luck this year.
Hi, Anna!
ReplyDeleteHere I am again hihihi
It was a very good blog post that you wrote! And you summarised all the points so well *-* I love summarised stuff, so much better to comprehend hihihi
I don't know about you but I get all confused with these terms some times :'(
Anyways, hope you are doing well :D
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