Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
A prototype's focus affects the choice of prototype technique. If you are trying to
design a balanced economy of power-ups in a physical platform game, a paper
prototype can work even though physics are hard to reproduce as a board game.
However, if you are trying control schemes with a new input device, you will need a
high-fidelity, software prototype that is close to the real game.
The following aspects of game design are typical focuses for prototyping, loosely
ordered from early to later prototypes:
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Tech demos.
It is always a good idea to make sure you or the team of program-
mers can actually deal with the technology involved. For a tech demo, you should
try to tackle the most difficult and most novel aspect of the game technology and
prove to yourself, and ideally a publisher too, that you can build the game. Tech
demos should be built early to prevent surprises during later stages of development.
While building a tech demo, keep an eye out for interesting gameplay opportu-
nities. Especially when you are working with novel technology, quickly building
something simple can lead to deeper insights later.
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Game economy.
A game's economy revolves around a number of vital resources.
You can prototype a game economy with low-fidelity, paper prototyping techniques;
this is best done early during the design process. The following are typical playtest
questions: Is the game balanced? Is there a dominant strategy that wins all the time?
Do the players have interesting choices? Can they sufficiently forsee the consequences
of their choices? Getting the right players for a game economy playtest is impor-
tant. You and your team are good test subjects, although you will be handicapped
because you have an idea of how the game is intended to be played. In general, the
ideal test player for this type of prototype is an experienced power gamer who can
quickly grasp the mechanics and has experience in finding and using exploits. Make
sure you ask them to try to break the game. If it can be broken, you should know.
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Interface and control scheme.
To find out whether players can control your
game, you must have a software prototype of your game. The prototype does not
need to have much content or complete levels; rather, it is a playground where play-
ers can try most of the game's elements and interactions. These are typical playtest
questions: Can players perform the actions you offer them correctly? Are there other
actions they want or need? Are you giving them the information they need to make
correct decisions? Is the control scheme intuitive? Do the players have the informa-
tion they need to play? Do they notice they are taking damage or that a vital game
state has changed?
