The Game Designer's Manifesto

I've been recently interviewing lots of game designers and one of my questions is "what is your game design philosophy?"

I figured if I asked a question like this, I'd better have one for myself ... and it turns out I do. I rediscovered my "Game Designer's Manifesto" in an old notebook and have transcribed it here for you.

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GAME DESIGNERS MANIFESTO

1. I will be open to good ideas no matter who and where they come from.

2. I will focus on the "moment to moment" gameplay without losing sight of the whole project.

3. I will work out ideas and concepts on paper, in prototypes and in discussion before committing other people's time, energy and effort to work.

4. I will accept that change happens and is neccessary as long as it is not constant and arbitrary.

5. I will strive to lock down the "Three C's" (Camera, Control, Character) as soon as possible and not change them unless absolutely neccessary.

6. I will communicate ideas and changes in design with team members and work with them on how best to execute those ideas and changes.

7. I will play my own game as often as possible during the course of production.

8. I will play other people's games in order to expand my own knowledge.

9. I will always follow a negative comment with a "because" and be open to civilized debate if disagreements arrise.

10. I will provide feedback as quickly and clearly and in person if possible.

11. I will give a positive comment when providing feedback.

12. I will create gameplay that enables and empowers the player towards success.

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I hope all you current and future game designers take these points to heart - or are inspired to cultivate your own "game design philosophy."

Great sci-fi that would make great games.

Once in awhile, a website's post inspires me to write up a very long response. This time, it was io9's "10 awesome science fiction stories for gamers" - which was based on the premise that the list included 10 awesome sci-fi stories that had yet to be made into games.


However, I felt that their list didn't really cut it.


So I offer up my own "10 awesome sci-fi stories that would make a great game and haven't really been done justice if they already have been":

Ender's Game: Sure, every space-faring RTS feels like Orson Scott Card's book, but what hasn't been done is the "Zero-G strategy/shoot-em-up" that composes the first half of Ender's school daze.

Logan's Run: By William Nolan and George Johnson. Sci-Fi Survival Horror. 'Nuff said.

I am Legend: While Richard Matheson's book strattles the line between Sci-Fi and Horror, this is another candidate for a Survival Horror game. Or, howabout a "Tecmo's Deception" style game where you build traps to lure the vampires to their demise...

The 10th Victim/Hunter Killer: The 10th Victim was a pretty poor movie based on Robert Scheckley's book series, but while the competitive nature of "The Big Hunt" has been often imitated in many FPS death match modes, no game has ever quite captured in the way it plays out in the book.

Dream Park: Take World of Warcraft and let you choose the genre - that's the basis of this fantastic (and predictor of MMO's and LARPing by at least 20 years) book by Larry Nivens and Steve Barnes.

Snow Crash: IIRC there was one attempt to make Neil Stephenson's book into a game, but it never captured the Saint's Row meets Neuromancer vibe the game should have. At the very least, sword-fighting melee combat is a must.

Sunshine: Danny Boyle's 2007 would make for a great survival horror game in the tradition of System Shock. Hard Sci-Fi, IMHO, is pretty overlooked in gaming.

The Lensmen: E.E. "Doc" Smith's Galactic Patrol of "cops and robbers" in space (and pre-cursor to the Green Lantern Corps) would make for all kinds of great gaming experiences. "Grand Theft Auto in Space" is the obvious choice.

The Automatic Detective: A. Lee Martinez's hard-boiled noir story with the detective cast as a killer robot with a heart of gold would make for a great adventure game.

Flash Gordon and/or Buck Rogers: Other than the Colecovision "Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom" and the Commodore 64 "Flash Gordon" game, I don't remember any video game based on either of these two classic sci-fi properties since the mid-80's. Laser blasters and swordplay, cigar-shaped rockets, jetpacks, space pirates and evil space dicators? Count me in!

Got any of your own suggestions? Post them in the comments section!

Michel Gondry

"Every good idea borders on the stupid."

I used that quote from Michel Gondry in Level Up! and I did because have a lot of respect for him and his work. Even though we live in a world overflowing with creative imagery, some how his visions remain unique and very personal.

So when I recently discovered "The Work of the Director: Michel Gondry" I found his list of his "10 principles*" and who he learned them from.

1) My Mother: We don't fall from the earth because we are attached to it.

2) My Father: You're gonna be all right.

3) Mr Lefoll (school teacher) An infinite straight line goes forever.

4) A friend of my parents: Draw from real life, not from a picture.

5) Physics teacher: When you do a demonstration, don't use the word "because" but "so" instead. In others words, don't start with the consequence to find the cause, but start with the cause to find the consequence.

6) French teacher: Your life is as interesting as any celebrity's life on TV. Tell me about it.

7) Guy Bouart: Even if it's just a fly, it's alive. Don't play with it.

8) Jean-Louis Bompoint: You have to finish your project.

9) Bjork: Follow your instinct.

10) Julie Fong: You are much stronger than what you think.

11) George Bermaan (my lifetime producer): Don't ask the question if you expect a negative answer.

12) My brother Twist: You can't be in love with your girlfriend everyday. It comes and it goes and it's normal. But in always comes back in general.

* just like Gondry to have twelve "ten principles"

How to kill creativity.

We often talk about how to be creative, but we rarely talk about what can kill it.

Youngme Moon posted a video outlining his 14 points on how to kill creatativity. I'm sure we're all guilty of doing at least one his points. For those of you who'd rather get the straight info, here's a transcript of his video:

1. Play it safe
2. Listen to that inner voice – what if someone thinks it stupid
3. Know your limitations – pigeonhole yourself
4. Remind yourself it’s just a job.
5. Show you’re the smartest guy in the room – make skepticism your middle name
6. Be the tough guy – demand to see the data/there’s no evidence this will work
7. Respect history – give the past the benefit of the doubt
8. Stop the madness before it can get started – crush problem ideas early
9. Been there, done that
10. Keep your eyes and mind closed.
11. Assume there is no problem.
12. Underestimate your customers. That’s not what they’re asking for.
13. Be a mentor and give advice to others.
14. Be suspicious of the “creatives” in your organization
15. When all else fails, act like a grown-up - get back to work.

Are you a responsible game designer?

I've recently been thinking about all the little things that can go wrong on a project and all the things that can be avoided early.

One developer I was talking to was telling me how they lost several days of production time just reorganizing the naming conventions of their files. Imagine being half way done with a project and realizing that you have to go back and rename EVERYTHING in the game? A nightmare.

So I thought of a few things to keep in mind when starting a game in regards to naming files and some other things...

1) Keep it to eight characters if possible.

I can't remember which programmer I worked with told me about this, but he said that any file larger than eight characters actually took up more memory. I don't know if I believe him, but I do know that several programs will only display the first 8 characters leaving you with a file that looks like this:

AirWorld...

AirWorld what? Air World War two? Air World Level five? Air World Enemy one? It could be anything.

2) Come up with an easy to understand shorthand for file names.

Make a consistent legend of abbreviations to name files. Air World could be "Air" or "AW" or even "A" - just make sure you don't create redundant named files. I found it's useful to name things phonetically. If you're not sure about how to name something, think of it like a personalized license plate. "Level Designer" becomes "LVLDSGNR".

Just don't get cute and name things using 8 for "ate" or something like that. Naming conventions are not a puzzle for the other team members to figure out. Otherwise your files will end up reading like the titles of Prince songs.

3) Group files accordingly.

OK, I'm guilty of this one. Having well organized files that separate various design assets is really important not only to you but to your co-workers. Generally organize files by stages of production (concept, pre-production, production) and/or by components of information (level maps, character, feedback) You should always ask yourself, "if I were to die tomorrow, would my team be able to find the results of my design work?"

This, of course, is even more important when creating assets to be used in game. Asset management software like Alien Brain, DevTrack, Perforce and Subversion can make or break your project's production. Pick the right one for you and make sure everyone uses it. And backup files often. (daily if not more!)

Speaking of files, there's one other area that gets neglected by teams during pre-production...

4) For God's sake, get those cheats working early!

Getting your cheat camera up and running early is one of the best things you can do for your production. Not only will it help you develop camera postitioning during grayboxing your levels, but also you can use it to help block out "puppet shows" for cinematics. It's extremely invaluable for creating videos and capture screens for marketing purposes. Remember, other people are going to eventually going to want these kinds of assets and they don't want to play through the entire game to get to that one cool spot in the level.

The same is true for player character cheats. Invulnerability, the ability to "fly" your character around, ammo adds, health adds, money adds, the ability to turn powers, weapons and abilities on and off are very important to get in as soon as possible. Not only does it make it easier for you to play and test your levels, but it allows you to show off your levels in the best possible light when your head of production or that guy from the press comes around.

Make sure your level cheats (the ones that take you from one world/level/location/checkpoint) to another is in early as well and MORE IMPORTANTLY easy to access. Don't make the player/tester have to enter the "Capcom code" just to bring up a level or feature. Make it as user friendly as possible. I know it's something that the final product will never see, but you will be living with this game for a year or two or three and getting around it easily will allow you the time to concentrate on the good stuff like design.

5) Make sure you communicate all of the above to everyone on the team.

It's easy to assume that everyone is keeping up with what you are doing, but make sure that this information is easy to find, easy to read and easy to understand. Just because you ARE writing "stereo instructions" doesn't mean it has to read like them.

Good luck!

The TEN movies video games have completely ripped off...

...and what we can still rip off... err, learn from them.

Ever since Miyamoto created his homage to the 1933 movie Kong Kong, video game designers have found inspiration (and downright thievery) in the movies.

Here's my list of the top ten mercilessly plundered movies and, more importantly, what can we still take from them for future video games...



Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Ah zombies. We love to shoot 'em, hack 'em, stick funny heads on 'em, type with 'em. George Romero's sequel to "Night of the Living Dead" cemented the look and vibe of the zombie but more importantly, contributed to the gore factor that is commonly associated with the walking dead.

Exceeding Nazis as the universal enemy, Zombies are the staple of almost every FPS, Action, Platformer and RTS horror and fantasy game published within the last 15 years from the Resident Evil series to the Typing of the Dead. Dawn of the Dead also gave the video game industry other grist including the shopping mall as a level/world location (Dead Rising, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) and the police hero as fearless zombie fighter. (Resident Evil 2)

What's left to steal? The best bit of Dawn of the Dead (and other zombie movies like Sean of the Dead) is the emotion that are created when the hero realizes a character has been bitten and is doomed to zombification. Despite the fact that some argue that most horror games aren't even really horror games anymore - just action games with undead opponents - the true horror of something terrible happening to a loved one that is out of our control and the painful "I have to kill them" choice that has to be made is still almost completely devoid from the video game lexicon.

Star Wars (1977)

Of all the movies in Hollywood, no movie has been picked clean by video games quite like the orignal Star Wars. (I refuse to call it "A New Hope") Just like in George Lucas' space opera, most video game space battles are now based on aerial dogfights (Star Fox, Wing Commander series), "elegant weapons" looking alot like light sabers have found their way into the hands of many non-jedi characters (MegaMan X3, Smash Brother Melee, No More Heroes), the heroes can be found palling around with snooty robot companions (Ratchet and Clank) and hanging out at alien filled cantinas (The Space Bar), heck we can even play as space pirates in a "hunk of junk" smuggling space-pornography (Wing Commander: Privateer) - Star Wars' approaches to the Hero's Journey and the "used universe" has been done to death in games as it has become the bible for "classic" storytelling.

And I'm not even counting in this the legion of actual Star Wars games that have been published - from Star Wars Arcade to Star Wars the Force Unleashed. Almost every genre of game has ended up with the Star Wars license slapped on it. Remember Star Wars Chess and Super Bombad Racing? Star Wars is so used and abused, it's suffering from rugburn.

And don't even get me started on rescuing the princess.

What's left to steal? Has there been a game where the love interest turns out to be the hero's sister? Howabout a 7 foot tall furry best pal as the hero's companion? Options are slim here, folks.

Aliens (1986)

From the moment the Colonel Marines locked and loaded their first pulse rifle, the video game industry fell in love. From Doom to the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines, the rough and ready and heavily armed space marine has become the number one video game hero stereotype. Carrying more weapons than humanly possible, working their way through darkly lit hallways, blasting the hell out of any creature that pokes its head out of an airduct - pretty much sounds like every game made since 1987.

There isn't a space-creepy from Xenophobe to Captain Blood to Dawn of War 2's Tyrannids that doesn't owe something to H.R. Giger's iconic monster design and Ron Cobb's interiors can be found in every game with space horror elements from Contra to Dead Space. Sequences like Bishops harrowing crawl through the airducts have been used in countless video games, the "child-left-to-fend-for-herself" has been used in many a horror and FPS game like Resident Evil 2 and Bioshock. Like Star Wars, the Alien series has had a multitude of games based off of the actual movies, so this ones dried out as well.

What's left to steal? Outside of the official Aliens games, I don't ever remember a Power Loader vs. Monster sequence. The "soft human in the hard shell" versus a ravenous alien could make for some very exciting gameplay.



Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Ah, the movie that launched a hundred video games. Let us read off their names like a roll-call of the fallen soldiers of the Normandy landing... Medal of Honor, Medal of Honor: Allied Landing. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Call of Duty. Call of Duty 2. Medal of Honor Frontlines. Brother in Arms D-Day. Battlefield. Close Combat. Company of Heroes. Day of Defeat. D-Day.

Steven Spielberg's unflinching realism in portraying the Allied Forces' finest hour made such an impact on the video game community that games are still using it as inspiration. As the harrowing twenty-four minute sequence felt like a First Person Shooter, its visual and narrative style has trickled down into other shooters regardless of the genre. The movie's "band of brothers" cast of characters inspired military team gameplay like Mercenaries, Commandos, Deadly Dozen and the Rainbow Six series. Even playing as a "lead character" who eventually dies in action made it's way in the excellent Call of Duty 4.

What's left to steal? Outside of the Medal of Honor titles, there could be more games about Paratroopers (why not space paratroopers? - oh wait, didn't Ratchet and Clank do that?) and I don't remember a video game with any military guys flying gliders (although that didn't turn out to well for the guy in the movie, did it?)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Depite having the distinction of being one of the first licensed home video games, no movie has been ripped off more often than Steven Spielberg's (and George Lucas') Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Every ancient civilization the hero discovers from Lode Runner to Uncharted, every environmental death trap from The Legend of Zelda to Tecmo's Deception, the rise of Nazis as predominant video game enemies in Castle Wolfenstein to Bloodrayne, every rolling boulder from to God of War to Resident Evil 4, every video game snake that ever slithered from Pitfall to Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, every heroic archeologist protagonist from Tomb Raider to Tomb Raider Legends owes it all to the king of all action films.

What's left to steal? Outside of the mediocre Pursuit Force, the greatest action sequence in cinematic history; the Cario truck chase, has yet to be adequately ripped off in video game form. C'mon developers, get cracking!!

Scarface (1983)

Second only to Saving Private Ryan in the speed of games rapidly spawning from the genre, Brain DePalma's Scarface has left it's impact on the video gaming world - albeit 20 years late from when the movie was first released. Ironically, it was the movie's release on DVD that helped push it into the brains of the video game industry (as most game developers probably weren't even born when it first was released!)

You can argue that there have been other more influencial gangland movies (Godfather for example) but the combination of the perverted American Dream: the foreign newcomer who works his way up through the underworld, coupled with the sheer joy of being a criminal scumbag all started with Tony Montoya and his "little friend."

Al Pacino's portrayal is the poster boy for the thug life and his legacy can be found such games as the Grand Theft Auto series, the Saint's Row series, the 50 Cent games, Crime Life: Gang Wars, not to mention a game based on the actual movie itself.

What's left to steal? The idea of a hero addicted to a health damaging substance (cocaine in Tony Montoya's case) is intriguing. Both Redneck Rampage and Haze have played with this idea (beer and Nectar) but more on this idea could be expanded on.

Death Race 2000 (1975)

OK, I know what you are thinking. Other than the infamous 1976 video game, what impact did the Paul Bartel movie have on gaming? Well, first, there's the entire notion of video game violence. This is the one that started it all. And all the controversy that goes with it. The violent game as entertainment as seen in Smash TV and Mad World gets its roots with this film. And of course, you can thank this movie for the entire car combat genre. The Twisted Metal series, Vigilante 8 series, Autoduel, Full Auto series, hell, even Mario Kart owes it's creation to Death Race 2000's car-on-car action.

However, Death Race's greatest contribution to video games is the themed adversary. Without Frankenstein, "Machine Gun" Joe, Herman the German or Matilda the Hun, we would have never gotten King Hippo in Super Punch-Out, Blanka in Street Fighter, Voldo in Soul Calibur, any unusual or freakish themed character in any fighter, action, brawler or any other video game. This movie is the greatest unsung influence on gaming ever and you heard it here first at the Design Lair.

What's left to steal? Spoiler alert! At the end of the movie, the viewer learns that Frankenstein (John Carradine) is just one of a long line of "Frankensteins" who carry out assassinations as well as drive in fast and deadly cars. The theme of the replaceable hero is one that hasn't been exploited in games - which is odd because you'd think that with as many lives an average player goes through in the course of a video game, that it'd be a natural.

Blade Runner (1982)

Syd Myd's visual design has influenced almost every futuristic city skyline in video gaming: whether it's Final Fantasy VII, Ratchet and Clank or Shadowrun - from the giant video advertising billboards to the crowded murky, trash strewn streets.

But the biggest rip-off comes from Micheal Kaplan's costume design. The "anti-hero in a trenchcoat" has become the second most video game hero archetype (Aliens being #1). Graduates from this rip-off school of fashion include Dante, Max Payne, Kyle Katarn and those little tiny guys from Syndicate; not to mention every film character with a licensed game like Hellboy, Blade and Neo.

What's left to steal? Ironically, the Spinner or flying car, has not been a video game staple. Other than BeamBreakers - which mimics the environment of Blade Runner, There still has yet to be a game that allows the player freely switch between flying and driving.

7^th voyage of Sinbad (1958)

If the video game industry had to pay a royalty to Ray Harryhausen every time an animated skeleton showed up, I'd wager he'd be richer than Bill Gates. Ghost N' Goblins, Legend of Zelda, Diablo, Skeleton Warriors... you name it; if the hero wields a sword (or an axe or chain-weapon-thingee) you can guarantee they are gonna smash it into an animated skeleton. As of late, other creatures from Harryhausen's bestiary have been showing up: God of War, Legendary, Conan - it's only a matter of time before players are battling against the Beast from 20, ooo Fathoms.

Another thing taken from Harryhausen is the classic myth/fairy tale themes. The modern Prince of Persia series directly borrows heavily the Sinbad series while elements from God of War are clearly inspired by Clash of the Titans.

What's left to steal? What makes Harryhausen's creations so appealing is not just the excellent character design and strong visualization of classic mythological creatures, but the way they moved. As with Willis O' Brian's King Kong, you could see Harryhausen's master's hand in every creature's pose and action. Audience are savy enough nowadays to complain when something feels too "CG" - they are responding to the lack of "hand made" aestetic.



Robocop (1987)

Paul Verhoeven's ultaviolent cyberpunk film came out in 1987. NARC, the arcade game from Williams Electronics came out in 1988. Both featured cops with large guns blowing away baddies in an urban sprawl punctuated with vehicular manslaughter. Coincidence? The giddy violence in Robocop obviously inspired the team who later went on to make Mortal Kombat - the poster child for video game violence. Even though video game violence existed before these two games, never was it so much fun or so spectacular to off the baddies - a trend that attempts to yearly outdo itself even to this day.

But Robocop's influence doesn't stop there. The character design clearly inspired character design from 1992's Cyber-Cop all the way through to Halo's Master Chief and beyond. And one can argue that Robocop's POV and HUD system was the precursor of the FPS game.

What's left to steal? The script is phenomenal in quickly introducing a character, gaining sympathy for him in 15 minutes, killing him and then getting our sympathy back again. Even as a "mechanical killing machine" we still care about Robocop - something that is often left out of most video game characters.

Well, there you have it. 10 movies, 10 free ideas. Have any ideas or movie suggestions of your own? Post 'em below!

The Platformer Primer

Little Big Planet will turn everyone into a platform game designer - however, it might not make them a good game designer.

So here is a primer on platform games I've put together for anyone who wants to make their game a little better or, more importantly, a little fairer. Enjoy!

Regarding crates

Crates are the running gag of the video game industry. They're over-used, visually boring and frankly, the cheap way out for designers who don't want to come up with more interesting breakable objects (and artists too lazy to make more complex shapes) - they are handy for jumping on, but what do you do if you break the crate underneath?

Old Man Murray came up with a review system they call "Start to Crate" - the time it takes for a player to encounter a crate from the start of the game. It's a brilliant idea and a good gauge to set your game against for just how creative it is.

Rather than re-invent the crate... er wheel, here is a list of fifty breakable objects you can populate your game with other than the humble (and boring) crate:

Barrel, Treasure chest, Vase, Urn, Garbage can, Mail box, Metal drum, Cargo container, Cardboard box, Cage, Lantern, Light fixture, Desk, Filing cabinet, Fish tank, Toy box, Keg (or cask), Hay bale, Pile of skulls, Dog house, bird house, Idol, Statue, Fortune teller machine, Church donation (Alms) box, Suggestion box, ATM, Hollow tree stump, Log, Attache case, Suitcase, TV or computer monitor, Fuel tank, Refrigerator, Oven, Breadbox, Cabinet, Wardrobe, Parked car trunk, Crypt, Sarcophagus, Coffin, Video game console, Soda machine, Vending machine, Oxygen cannister, Filled shopping cart, One-armed bandit (slot machine), Copy machine and Toilet.

Just make sure you use a little creativity when thinking of these things. Use the crate only as a last resort.

52 games in 52 weeks - madness or awesomeness?

This year at GDC, I attended a talk by Patrick Curry (lead designer of Stubbs the Zombie) who did an interesting project in 2006 on his own blog - he created a new game design idea a week using these rules:

Only new ideas. This will force me to keep the creative juices flowing, which is the primary goal. But it will also prevent me from posting a game concept belonging to a long-lost friend, co-worker, or company.

No work-related ideas. I will steer clear of all game concepts that are directly related to any professional game projects that I have previously worked on or am currently working on. Of course I can’t predict which projects I might work on in the future…

Only good ideas. This will be the hardest rule to follow. But I’m really going to work hard to filter the ideas down to the gems, and then go into as much detail as possible about why I believe it’s a good idea, and would make for fun gameplay.

I haven't read all of his ideas yet but I really like the idea of this challenge and I'm thinking of taking on myself. Am I crazed? More to come...