Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Dramatic imagination is required for the development of good characters, plots,
scenes, motivations, emotions, climaxes, and conclusions.
Conceptual imagination is about relationships between ideas, their interactions,
and dependencies.
Lateral thinking is the process of looking for alternative answers, taking an
unexpected route to solve a problem.
Deduction is the process of reasoning from a creative decision you've made to its
possible consequences. Deduction isn't ordinarily thought of as imagination, but
the conclusions you arrive at produce new material for your game.
Technical Awareness
Technical awareness is a general understanding of how computer programs, partic-
ularly games, actually work. You don't have to be a software engineer, but it is
extremely valuable to have had a little programming experience. Level designers,
in particular, often need to be able to program in simple scripting languages. Get to
know the technical capabilities of your target platform. You must also be aware of
what your machine cannot do so that you don't create unworkable designs. For
example, many low-end mobile phones don't have enough processing power to do
3D rendering.
Analytical Competence
Analytical competence is the ability to study and dissect something: an idea, a
problem, or an entire game design. No design is perfect from the start; game design
is a process of iterative refinement. Consequently, you must be able to recognize the
good and bad parts of a design for what they are.
One example of an analytical task is detecting dominant (that is, unbeatable or
nearly unbeatable) strategies at the design phase and weeding them out before they
get into the code, as in the infamous
Red Alert
“tank rush.” In
Command & Conquer:
Red Alert,
tanks on the Soviet side are so much more effective than any other unit
that an experienced player can dedicate all production to cranking out a few tanks
and then immediately storm the opposition base before the enemy has a chance to
get a production line set up.
Mathematical Competence
Designers must have basic math skills, including trigonometry and the simpler
principles of probability. Balancing games that feature complex internal economies,
such as business simulations or real-time strategy games, can require you to spend a
lot of time looking at numbers. You don't need a PhD in mathematics, but you
should be comfortable with the subject. You may be able to handle most of the
requirements with a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel.
