Responsible Game Design

 

Where do Game Designers draw the line?

Are you a game designer or developer? Do you have creative input into the content of the games you or your company produce? If so, then this discussion is meant for you. There are a series of questions I want you to think about and answer for yourself:

Where do you draw the line between appropriate and inappropriate game content in a game meant for the common market?

Where do you draw the line between “edgy” and “too far”?

Where do you draw the line between “artistic freedom” and “inflammatory content”?

In other words: where do you draw the line that says “I am responsible for this content” and “Buyer beware”?

Level Design 1: Week 1

So, it’s a new year and I’m still doing horrible about posting here on my poor ‘ol blog. Oh well. New stuff!

Week 1 of Level Design 1 has gone well so far. We did level mockups this week for original Far Cry 2 mission designs. Mine’s pretty rough, but I think it will work well as a decent starting place. Check it out!

Gear-flation in WoW

The day many people knew was coming has [publicly] arrived for World of Warcraft: the Official Item Inflation Discussion. In the Nov. 4^th edition of Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street’s Dev Watercooler series he tackles the issue head-on and with an honesty some developers might not be comfortable with. “As I type this today, we haven’t decided on which if either solution we want to try. Maybe we’ll come up with yet another solution,” says Street near the end of his article. This admission comes after he outlines two of the possible fixes the WoW Developers are considering for resolving the ever-increasing Item Inflation issue.

Analaysis: Mists of Pandaria Scenarios feature

I know what you’re thinking.

“How can you possibly do an analysis of something when it was only just announced yesterday at BlizzCon and hasn’t even been developed yet??”

That is, perhaps, the most brilliant element of this new proposal from Blizzard and the WoW Dev Team. I can tell you, on a basic gameplay level, right now how it’ll work. This is because there is nothing special about the actual minute-by-minute gameplay of Scenarios; it’s still exactly what you’ve been doing for six years now. What is different about the Scenarios system isn’t what you’re doing, but how you’re doing it. That’s what I’m analyzing here – the potential of the Scenarios themselves, not the mechanics.

To-Do List Explosion

This post is something of a tag-along to my last one regarding GDCO. In wake of the awesomeness that was GDC Online I find myself with a To-Do list that’s gone nuts. My excitement level, thirst to learn, and desire to GoGoGoGo have all been revitalized by my experiences this week and now it’s time to get into gear.

The first order of business pertains to Era of Havoc: Mythos Sector. I had the opportunity to speak with Chris Keeling (our teacher for Design Project 1) at the conference and he gave some advice on our desire to continue developing the game. After thinking about what he said my brain started popping out all sorts of ideas. Time to talk to the other guys and get things moving again for EoH!

Next up on my list is actually a revamp of my website and this blog. While I really just finished a revamp I’m not the sort of person who ignores good advice – especially not when it comes from multiple industry veterans who look at these things regularly. So, the website and this blog are going to get adjusted a bit to include an actual portfolio section. I’ve already got a basic outline for the revisions put together, but it will most likely take me a little time to actually implement the changes.

Aside from those two major issues, my To-Do list is now filled with a million smaller things I won’t bore everyone with. Needless to say, I’ve got a full schedule ahead of me. Time to get started!

GDC Online – 3 Days of Awesome

Well, my participation in GDC Online 2011 is over and it was an awesome experience all around. I was able to meet and talk to a lot of great people and learn a huge amount about the industry I’m joining. I am incredibly thankful that I took the advice of so many people who had said, “You need to go to GDC!” Missing out on this week’s experience would have just been unforgivably stupid.

GDCO Incoming

In about 10 hours I’ll be packing my car and hitting the road for Austin. While GDC Online doesn’t open its doors until Monday, the volunteer orientation is Sunday afternoon and there’s bag-stuffing to do before that! I think I’ve managed to get everything completed that I wanted to including the Programming lab due next week Wednesday. That means that I’m home free to enjoy GDC without anything hanging over my head waiting to be forgotten.

More news to come as I blog each day about what’s happening at the conference!

New business cards!

Well, the new business cards I ordered just arrived! They turned out fantastic and I will have no problem handing these out to folks I meet at GDC. I highly recommend Vista Prints to anyone looking for quality cards at great prices. The scanned image of the cards (front on top, back on bottom) isn’t all that great, but the real deal looks great.

My new Business cards!

What Steve Jobs indirectly did for me

Like most people I was shocked yesterday to hear the news of Steve Jobs’ death. I cannot say I ever knew the man, but like legions of others his work has had important impacts on my life. So, to honor one man’s life work here’s what Steve Jobs did for me…

• I learned my ABCs on an Apple II.
• I played my first computer game on that same Apple II.
• I rediscovered computer gaming years later on a Macintosh Quadra 660AV.
• I developed my first computer game on a Mac using Macromedia Authorware and a desire to make a Star Trek: TNG game.
• I discovered the internet and everything that comes with it on a Macintosh.
• I designed my first website and learned HTML on a Macintosh.
• I played my first online game and gained a passion for both playing and designing them on a Macintosh.
• I got my first job ever at CompUSA because I knew Macs and the new iMac was close to release.
• I burned my first CD and DVD on Macs.
• I began my current progress toward being a Game Designer on a Mac

Thank you Steve Jobs for playing such a big, if indirect, role in my life through your work and passion.

September’s End

Today’s the last day of September already…I can’t believe it.

As of this week I’m now into Programming Foundations aka “Welcome to Unity and Coding Sucker”. Now, just to clear up any confusion I will admit right now that I seem to be incapable of remembering the name of this class. I’ve called it Programming Fundamentals, Fundamentals of Programming, and about half a dozen other variations of combining “Programming” with words starting with “F”. I’ll let you figure out some of the more colorful ones. Luckily, despite class name issues I feel like I’ve got a good grasp of the material so far.

Famous last words…