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Reddit mentions of The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition

Sentiment score: 31
Reddit mentions: 46

We found 46 Reddit mentions of The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition. Here are the top ones.

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Found 46 comments on The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition:

u/TwinfoxDev · 14 pointsr/gamedesign

There are quite a few good book on this topic, that I would recommend, like Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design, or Justin Gary's Think like a Game Designer. These books describe the process way better than I ever could, but I'll try anyway.From my personal experience I always start from an idea (hey, wouldn't moving fortresses be awesome?), then I start to think about what exactly fascinates me about that idea. Then I try to capture the awsomeness in game mechanics. From there I create a list of what has to be done to test the mechanics, do that (plus some eye-candy because I'm a visual person) so I have something to test. When I have something to test, I try to analyze what doesn't work and fix that (not in code, but in paper). And start the process again.

So basically once I have an idea, it's this loop of creating/refining mechanics, implementing them, then testing and analyzing them. Then I go back to refining.

If you often suffer from scope creep, there are several methods to battle that. Like setting yourself a deadline, always cutting a mechanic when you add a new one, etc. Don't be afraid to throw something out (it's not lost you can use the idea/mechanic in another project). A game is way better when it knows what it wants to be and throws away everything that doesn't contribute to that core experience (I mean they could add RPG elements to Call Of Duty Campaigns, but they don't because that's not what the game is about).

Also if you don't like your code, that's 100% normal. when you look back at something you've made, you'll always be able to spot something that you would do differently now. That's because you've learned new things since you started . I'm programming for nearly a decade now, and when I look back at code that I've written a few months ago I'm always like "Eww, why would anyone write code like that?". So don't be afraid to make mistakes and don't continuously refactor code. Make something, learn from it and do it better next time.

I hope that helps!

​

EDIT: spelling

u/oddible · 13 pointsr/gamedesign

For design, get the combo of Jesse Schell's Book of Lenses and Deck of Lenses.

For dev get Nystrom's Game Programming Patterns

u/againey · 11 pointsr/gamedesign

That sounds like a "kitchen sink" way of development. Keep adding features whenever the play testers sense a gap. It'll never end.

I'd contend that the healthier process would be to have a very clear concept of what the game is about at its core. With NMS, a plausible core could be "exploration". Then, whenever there is a perceived gap, the first question is if filling that gap will contribute strongly to the core. If not (or sometimes even if so), then ask a second question: What is causing the feeling of there being a missing feature? Is it possible to actually cut the feature that leads to the wish for the missing feature? Trim the fat, leave only the leanest meat clinging to the bones, so to speak.

I'm pulling pretty heavily from Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design, in particular "The Lens of Unification":

> To use this lens, consider the reason behind it all. Ask yourself these questions:

> What is my theme?
>
Am I using every means possible to reinforce that theme?

u/lockedcc · 11 pointsr/gamedesign

Personally, I can recommend "The Art of Game Design" to you. It covers a lot of topics and is also a good entry point.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Second/dp/1466598646/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540218109&sr=8-2&keywords=art+of+game+design

u/jhocking · 10 pointsr/gamedev

> What are the changes between the two editions?

Aside from being updated throughout for new versions of Unity (eg. WebGL deployment barely existed when I wrote the first edition) there's an entirely new chapter about 2D platformers. One of the most common cons in reader feedback (whether or not they liked the book overall) was there wasn't enough about 2D games.

> After finishing your book what book/resource should the reader focus on next?

I would say focus on learning game design. My book teaches how to program a game, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're able to design an original game. The afterword of my book mentions several books about game design (including Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell, who wrote the foreword of my book!)

u/DiggyDog · 9 pointsr/gamedev

Hey there, I'm a game designer working in AAA and I agree with /u/SuaveZombie that you'll probably be better off with a degree in CS. BUT... don't give up on wanting to be a designer!

 

You should realize that it's not giving up on your dream at all, in fact, it's great advice for how to reach that dream. A designer with an engineering background is going to have a lot more tools at their disposal than one who doesn't.

 

Design is way more than just coming up with a bunch of cool, big ideas. You need to be able to figure out all the details, communicate them clearly to your teammates, and evaluate how well they're working so you can figure out how to make something people will enjoy. In fact, working on a big game often feels like working on a bunch of small games that all connect.

Take your big game idea and start breaking it down into all the pieces that it will need to be complete. For example, GTA has systems for driving and shooting (among many other things). Look at each of those things as its own, smaller game. Even these "small" parts of GTA are actually pretty huge, so try to come up with something as small as possible. Like, super small. Smaller than you think it needs to be. Seriously! You'll eventually be able to make big stuff, but it's not the place to start. Oh, and don't worry if your first game(s) suck. They probably will, and that's fine! The good stuff you make later will be built on the corpses of the small, crappy games you made while you were learning.

 

If you're truly interested in design, you can learn a lot about usability, player psychology, and communication methods without having to shell out $17k for a degree. Same goes for coding (there are tons of free online resources), though a degree will help you get in the door at companies you might be interested in and help provide the structure to keep you going.

 

Here's some books I recommend. Some are specific to games and some aren't, but are relevant for anything where you're designing for someone besides yourself.

 

Universal Principles of Design

The Design of Everyday Things

Rules of Play

The Art of Game Design This and the one below are great books to start with.

A Theory of Fun This is a great one to start with.

Game Feel

• Depending on the type of game you're making, some info on level design would be useful too, but I don't have a specific book to recommend (I've found pieces of many books and articles to be useful). Go play through the developer commentary on Half-Life 2 or Portal for a fun way to get started.

 

Sounds like you're having a tough time, so do your best to keep a positive attitude and keep pushing yourself toward your goals. There's nothing to stop you from learning to make games and starting to make them on your own if that's what you really want to do.

Good luck, work hard!

u/octnoir · 8 pointsr/Games

He's right. One of the 'holy grails' of game development books is "The Art of Game Design - A Book of Lenses"

Jesse Schell starts off by saying before you start designing a video game, start designing a board game because if your mechanics can't be explained or are too complicated for a board game, they just won't work in a video game.

u/kalas_malarious · 7 pointsr/gamedev

Are you looking for how to make games? Not just programming, but actually make them? I have some suggestions, but they often aren't about programming. There is a million books about programming, but finding those that talk about the ideas and ways to successively improve is a better point to start from.

  • The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
  • Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games
  • Kobold Guide to Board Game Design

    Making video games is easy. Put the pitchfork down and let me explain. Anyone can open unity and load some assets and call it a game. Making good games is difficult, and even if you are not looking at card/board games, you should be prepared to test your game on paper. It is easier to make iterative improvement if you can look for mechanical and mathematical issues by scrawling some notes on paper cards.

    For a book that covers both programming and game design, I also suggest this one.

    These books will cover the psychology, the pitfalls, etc that come with making a game. You do not need a class to make a game portfolio. You can often get things done faster by a book, because it's goal is to teach as you read, not set a timer for 15 weeks. It can assume you will do it over 26 weeks or more if the book is huge.

    Anyway, this is a much larger reply than I intended. Hopefully these are informative. If nothing else, they are significantly cheaper than a class.
u/sjbrown · 6 pointsr/RPGdesign

I recommend The Art of Game Design as a great resource for this specific question:
https://smile.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Second/dp/1466598646/

And if you don't want to spend the money, here's a hot tip: download the "Deck of Lenses" app on your mobile device. It's basically an extremely summarized version of the book, organized into a "deck". As you consider your resolution mechanism, flip through cards in the deck and ask yourself, "how does this lens apply? is my mechanism successful or deficient when viewed through this lens?". Not all lenses are going to apply, but it's a very useful exercise.

u/luciensadi · 5 pointsr/MUD

One of the most important aspects of game design is that the story should always be written first, with the design and technology then being informed by the story. What you need to do is come up with the game you want to make (which hopefully is also a game you think other people will have fun playing), after which you can create a design plan / feature list / implementation plan from that.

I suggest you read The Art of Game Design for general game design information and Richard Bartle's Designing Virtual Worlds for MUD-specific information. That's probably a good first step for getting you into serious MUD development.

Edit: link formatting

u/7tryker · 5 pointsr/gamedev

Have you read Jesse Schell's Art of Game Design book? It's a great read for game designers if you don't have it as a reference.

In it, he gives you some good lenses to look through that encompasses almost every game design decision you should be making for your game. I am positive there is a lens in the book that you can look through for your game that addresses your unwillingness to bend reality to accommodate intriguing game ideas. Remember your audience isn't yourself or your own personal tastes, if something doesn't make sense for you, maybe prototype the idea and playtest it with some folks and then judge whether the idea is indeed enhancing the game experience, if so it shouldn't matter much if it makes sense to you or reality or not.

u/swirlingdoves · 5 pointsr/Polska

@1. Mysle ze pytanie ktore trzeba zadac sobie najpierw to "czym jest dobry game design". Ile ludzi bedzie gralo w dana gre? Ile pieniedzy gra zarobi? Jaki efekt bedzie miala na graczach? Ogolnie polecam fora czy nawet subreddity typu /r/gamedesign. Sa tez kursy oferowane za darmo online przez powazne uczelnie np MIT. Z ksiazek polecam Theory of Fun i The Art of Game Design

@2 Tak, spojz na Notch'a ;)

@3 Rob male, proste gierki. Polecam "game jams" Nie wiem jakie to popularne w Polsce ale w Internecie jest tego sporo i po krotce chodzi o taki "sprint" (na przyklad 24 godzinny lub jedno-weekendowy) podczas ktorego celem jest zrobienie gdy na podstwie jakiego hasla lub protych ktryteriow. Znajdz innych ludzi i zamiast samotnie, pracuj w grupie powiedzmy trzech osob co by sie wzajemnie motywowac.

u/RoguelikeDevDude · 4 pointsr/gamedev

Book suggestions? Now that's my jam.

Out of all the books i've read, here are my recommendations regarding game programming:

Eric Lengyel's Books (only one out so far). This is aimed at game engine development, but if the 2nd onward are as indepth as the first, they will be amazing fundamental knowledge. Also, they're not thick, and jam packed with information.

Game Programming Patterns. The only book that comes more recommended than this is the one right below it by Jesse Schell. This book is fantastic, but you should write one or two small games to really get the most out of this book. You can also read it online on his website free, but then you don't get a pic of him and his dog on the back cover.

Book of Lenses. This is your intro/intermediate dive into game design. There are a lot of game design books, if you only read one, it should be this one.

Gane AI By Example. This book is a hodgepodge of fantastic techniques and patterns by those in AAA. There are other books on the series (like Game AI Pro) which are similar, but in my opinion (at least when I read AI PRO 3), they're not as good. But more knowledge is never bad.

Truthfully, as I sit here looking over all my books, those are the only ones i'd consider mandatory for any seasoned developer. Of course plenty of developers get by without reading these books, but they likely pick up all the principles listed herein elsewhere, in bits and pieces, and would likely have benefited having read them early on.

Here are a few others that I do recommend but do NOT consider mandatory. Sorry, no links.

Unity in Action. Personally, I recommend this or a more interactive online course version (udemy.com/unitycourse) if you want to learn unity while having a resource hold your hand. Having read the book, taken the course, AND taken Unity's own tutorials on the matter, i'd order them in order from Course being best, book second, videos from unity third. But none of them are bad.

Game Engine Architecture. This is the king for those who want a very broad introduction to making a game engine. It comes highly recommended from nearly anyone who reads it, just so long as you understand it's from a AAA point of view. Game Code Complete is out of print and unlikely to be revisited, but it is similar. These are behemoths of books.

Realtime rendering. This is one I haven't read, but it comes very highly recommended. It is not an intro book, and is also over 1000 pages, so you want this along side a more introductory book like Fundamentals of computer graphics. Truth be told, both books are used in courses in university at the third and fourth year levels, so keep that in mind before diving in.

Clean code. Yeah yeah it has a java expectation, but I love it. It's small. Read it if you understand Java, and want to listen to one of the biggest preachers on how not to write spaghetti code.

Rimworld guy, Tynaan sylvester I believe, wrote a book called Designing Games. I enjoyed it, but IMO it doesn't hold a candle to Jesse Schell's book. Either way, the guy did write that book after working in AAA for many years, then went on to create one of the most successful sim games in years. But yeah, I enjoyed it.

Last but not least, here are some almost ENTIRELY USELESS but interesting diagrams of what some people think you should read or learn in our field:

https://github.com/miloyip/game-programmer

https://github.com/utilForever/game-developer-roadmap

https://github.com/P1xt/p1xt-guides/blob/master/game-programming.md

u/Orthak · 4 pointsr/mylittleandysonic1

The first thing that I would say is: If you're thinking or making something bigger than a Pong clone, dial it way back. Your not going to make something fantastic, or Hell even good, straight out of the gate. Think of one idea that you have, and stick only to that. Make something very small, you can always build on it as you progress.

As for resources, they're limitless. There are tons of engines, assets, tutorials, book, and anything else you'd want. I'll make a small list of things here to get you started, but I strongly suggest looking for other things that you'd need on your own. Research and critical tinging is paramount in this hobby/profession.

Engines:

  • Unity - Very powerful and free 2d/3d engine. Uses mainly a JavaScript dialect and C# for scripting. The asset store is a great built-in resource
  • GameMaker - Surprisingly powerful 2d only engine. Uses it's own language for scripting, and has excellent drag-n-drop scripting. It's been a while since I used it, but it was great from what I remember.

    Art:

  • OpenGameArt - I've used tons of assets from this site. They range in any quality/type that you could need.
  • Kenny.nl - Wonderfull asset packs, I've used one of their UI packs and it was great. I think these are also the guys that post free stuff to /r/gamedev every now and then.

    Music/Sounds:

  • FreeSound.org - Great resources. I've used many sounds from here, and they usually have just what I need.

  • as3sfxr - Create your own chipsounds! I've mad a bunch of stuff here if I needed something that sounded a bit less organic.

    Tutorials:

  • Cooking With Unity - Is fantastic. I've followed almost all of these, and I loved them. He does a really good job explaining the concepts, and the scale in difficulty isn't too seep.

    Books:

  • A Book of Lenses - I haven't gotten too far into it, but what I've read so far is great. Wonderful info on game design.

  • Game Programming Patterns - This is an awesome book to get into the programming aspect. The examples are written in C++, but can be implemented in any language. Also: The web version is totally free!

    That's about all I can think of quickly. It should be enough to get you off the ground.

    Have fun, and good luck!
u/GeniDoi · 3 pointsr/gamedev

If you want some more information about what makes a game a game, The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell covers a lot of game theory such as what makes a game fun amongst many other conceptual ideas. I would highly recommend it.

u/Pogotross · 3 pointsr/gamegrumps

I think Arin likes The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition and either he or Jon liked Game Feel: A Game Designer's Guide to Virtual Sensation.

Personally my favorite game design resource is either Mark Rosewater's design articles or his podcast. I prefer his podcast but both covers most of the same information. MaRo is the lead designer for Magic: The Gathering so a lot of the articles are about MtG specifically or about tabletop games but nearly all the general design podcasts are worthwhile. Most importantly, he has around twenty years of successful (and unsuccessful) design under his belt, so he isn't just talking in vague generalities or theories. He has examples backing up pretty much everything he talks about including, and maybe most importantly, times he thought he was doing the right then and messed up. I think anyone interested in game design should listen to the "Ten Things Every Game Needs" and "20 Lessons" series. You can hear his GDC version of the 20 Lessons here.

*: But the absolute best thing you can read on game design is a gamemaker tutorial. Theory is useless without execution.

u/daybreaker · 3 pointsr/tabletopgamedesign

There's an app called The Art of Game Design: Deck of Lenses.

Its a deck of cards meant to make you think about different aspects of your game. It goes together with the book Art of Game Design, but can be used separately.

u/MightyDodongo · 3 pointsr/Games

Read Jesse schell's book and take everything in it to heart. Pick up game maker or unity/unreal, and start putting the book into practice. Amazon Link

This is going to be a hot take, but I'd consider going a step further and making your own lightweight engine using SDL; it will teach you not only a lot about programming, but also give you a lot more flexibility in the long run. Lazy Foo has an incredible guide on working with SDL Link

Feel free to DM me for advice. I'm not even close to doing this as a career (currently a software engineer and working on engine stuff on the side), but I can at least offer advice on programming and general engine work.

u/Kyubinin · 2 pointsr/gamedev

I just finished The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell and thought it was super insightful!

u/GeoKureli · 2 pointsr/gamedev

The Art of Game Design is a fantastic book focused on exposing all of the different ways to look at game design and all the different options and approaches you can explore. I highly recommend it.

As for me, I look at why a core mechanic works in an existing game break it down into the most abstract components. Like Punchout is about learning timing and sequence recognition. Reacting quickly to an enemy's "tell" makes me feel powerful, and not knowing the "tell" makes me want to explore and try things out and challenge my intuition. So apply it to something else, what else requires reflexes and discovering enemy patterns? I unno... Ping pong? Ping pong requires finess and I want a discreet Turing nature to the success of my volleys, can I simplify the controls? What about that game where I put my hand on top of yours and you have to slap my hand before I pull them away? Whack-a-mole requires reflex but the pattern is random, can I change that?

Just break down games into the smallest components and know that that is something that can be explored and try mixing things up

u/Danwarr · 2 pointsr/boardgames

You might want to give a few of these a read before diving right in. Just because you have some experience playing various games does not mean that experience is going to completely transfer over to game design.

Kobold Guide to Board Game Design

Characteristics of Games (MIT Press)

The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition

u/MinMacAttack · 2 pointsr/leveldesign

Buying him computer hardware might be nice, but there's a lot of other ways to give something related to games and game design.

There's always a great big pound of dice. It's full of dice of assorted numbers of sides, and a game designer remotely interested in tabletop (which should be all of them) can use a healthy supply of dice for making tabletop games. There's always the fun of just rolling dice giant handfuls of dice. I'm out right now but I'll add the link when I get back home. Here's the link: Pound of dice

I'd also look into games he hasn't tried. BoardGameGeek has a lot of board games listed and reviewed that you could get, and of course there's always steam. For board games I'd recommend:

  • Red Dragon Inn, a fun party game for 2-4 that's best with 3+. You play as a bunch of adventurers after big dungeon raid and now they're spending gold at their local tavern and gambling. Can support more players with its sequels.
  • Monopoly Deal: A card game version of Monopoly, without the bullshit. Unlike it's big board game cousin, it actually plays out fairly quickly while still being focused on building monopolies to win the game. As a game player perspective it's a fun game, but also from a game designer's perspective it's interesting to see how this game re-imagines the original board game while being true to the source material and streamlining many of its game mechanics.
  • Carcassonne: A well known classic game that works well with 2-5 players where players build up a world of castles, farmland, and roads.
  • Bang the Dice Game: A game where the sheriff and his deputies face off against the outlaws but nobody knows who to shoot. At the start of the game players are given their roles in the conflict but only the sheriff shows who they are. The rest of the game involves social deduction to try to figure who everyone is supposed to be shooting, and trying to read past bluffs. The game works great for 5-8 players, and can work for 3-8.

    There's also a lot of books on game design you can get him. You may have to check to see if he owns some of these already, but I've found them to be great reads that I can recommend to anyone interested in game design.

  • Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: This is a book that tells "The Triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made" and talks about the stories behind 10 different games from across the video game industry and what went on during development. I just bought this one and haven't gotten to chance to read it yet, but I'm excited to start it soon.
  • The Art of Game Design: This is one of the most well known books on game design that discusses a lot of what makes games work. I recommend it to anyone interested in game design.
  • Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games: This book talks about everything that goes into how to design a game and some key differences on how some types of games work. It's more on the beginner/intermediate side, so some of it might be familiar to him.
u/corpsmoderne · 2 pointsr/learnprogramming

It seems you're not lacking skills on the technical side, if you want to make games on you own, you may want to gain skills on the game-design side. This is the must-have : http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-Edition/dp/1466598646/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

And another must have : http://www.theoryoffun.com/

u/RaunchySlappy · 2 pointsr/boardgames

Thanks for the great question! I'll answer the way my mother always answer my long emails...

  • Background? My background is in actually more on the visual creative side rather than the game design side! I graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a degree in Illustration. My thesis project was to create and illustrate an entire game on my own ("Landfall" mentioned in a couple other places in this thread). Of course I ended up focusing on (and enjoying more) designing the gameplay and player experience aspects of the game.
  • Motivation? I really just want to design games and have people play them! If I'm lucky I'll break even on this project, haha. I've tried to keep everything as minimal and efficient as possible, to get the game to the people is my only real intent. It is incredibly satisfying when demoing the game to watch people truly enjoying something I've poured my blood, sweat, and tears into.
  • What resources did you seek/find? I am lucky enough to have a fantastic day job to afford to keep the lights on (and the 3D printer running), and have done lots, and lots, and lots, and loooots of research. The thing they don't tell you is that when you want to get your game published through KS, its like getting a third whole new job (in addition to my day job and my board game design job). It is so in depth you can practically major in crowdfunding. I read a ton of stuff from Jamey Stegmaier, have been reading this book andthis book, and have done lots and lots of trial and error.
  • Which resources were most helpful to you? Probably the 3D printer was one of my best investments as a tabletop game designer. It reaaaaally helps immerse the player (and myself) in the game I am creating if I can basically instantly create whatever components I want. (I purchased this affordable 3D printer and have had great success with it)
  • What approach worked for you personally, and how is it different from other boardgame designers? This is a really good question. Board game designing isn't typically something that becomes someone's full time job. Each person who has made the leap usually starts somewhere vastly different from game designing, and I believe that gives each designer a very unique perspective to their games and the way they go about creating them. For me, those things are mostly visually creative-related. At work I do illustration, graphic design, photography, videography, video editing etc etc. So making a decent looking prototype is something that I was able to do (mostly) on my own, and similarly making a nice game trailer and digital ads was relatively easy for me. While I had the visual components down, I differ from other designers who have different characteristics that they bring into play like business experience, industry contacts, an in depth understanding of Kickstarter (I am pretty familiar with KS, have backed a few things, but I am by no means a superbacker myself).
  • The biggest challenge you are proud to have overcome? Even though my campaign isn't at its goal just yet, I am proud at the amount of people I have been able to spark some interest and connection with through my game when starting basically from scratch. They say to have a successful campaign you need to have at least 10,000 emails when you launch, I had about 150 (I lucked out when my game trailer ended up blowing up on Reddit about a week before launch). It was very hot in that pigeon suit I wore for 4 days straight at PAX East promoting Crumbs, and it was exhausting taking a 5 day trip to NYC and demoing the game every day, but it was so worth it. This is my first game, and for someone starting with a near zero fanbase, I am proud my game has been able to touch this many people to begin with.
u/OvertechB · 2 pointsr/Unity2D

A lot of the balancing comes from play testing with actual players and a basic understanding of probability math.

Randomness in games can often be a fun addition because it leads to surprises and can make a boring game more interesting. But you also want to use with caution because you want your players to still feel like they are in control. Too much RNG can make people feel that the game is unfair.

Pre-built maps are good if you want people to be able to master them, and generated maps are good if you want people to think on their feet every time. Pre-built can make things predictable, whereas generated can add replayability.

As for symmetrical maps, do you mean both players start with an even playing field? If so, that's ideal for balance. If you do intend to give one player a map advantage, you'd have to properly balance the other player to have some other advantage. Imagine playing golf. The player at a disadvantage might be granted a handicap. The important thing is that both players must feel like they are treated fairly.

Edit: If you're really interested, I'd recommend The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. There's 2 excellent chapters in there about game balance that details probability math, good design, and player psychology when dealing with balancing.

u/PukeOfEarl · 2 pointsr/tabletopgamedesign

I highly recommend Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. It's primarily focused on videogame design, but the topics are broad enough that most are applicable to boardgame design.

u/alttoafault · 2 pointsr/gamedev

Well it sounds like its time to start prototyping and analyzing what does and doesn't meet your documents/requirements. Getting these out should motivate your team and make you feel a bit more confident in what to do next.

As far as looking for resources, there are quite a few out there. I really recommend checking out The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell, it's one of the most practical books on game design (a lot like Raph Koster's are way more theoretical). I'd also check out gamasutra for a great design-focused community, there's a lot of resources there that can help you out.

Also, don't worry if everything falls apart. Game design is a lot of work and people can tend to be pretty flaky about it. That's why I've tried to learn every aspect of development so I don't have to depend on others.

u/Wh0_The_Fuck_Cares · 2 pointsr/gamedesign

A lot of people have already talked about going to university for computer science, design, etc... but make sure you're also reading (The Art of Game Design), watching video series (Brackeys), and try participating in clubs or local meetup groups to get to know the industry and get your name out there.

u/TheBestOpinion · 2 pointsr/feedthebeast

If you've read the art of game design or a similar book, you'll find that in FTB's case, most of the fun is had through the problem solving.

A game designer gives problems to the player for him to solve, and the player either gets frustrated or entertained by the problem solving.

In SkyBlock, because of Ex Nihilo, Mystical Agriculture, Chickens stuff, Tiny Progressions, the player is very free. He always has multiple ways to approach problems.

When you place a wall down the player's road and the only way to get past it is to jump, if I don't like to jump; I'll get frustrated.

But if the game designer add a window, a door, explosives, portals, there's less chances that I'll get frustrated trying to get past his wall.

This is what a Skyblock/Sky factory modpack does very well.

u/kevodoom · 2 pointsr/IAmA

My recommendation for this would be twofold: Grab an Unreal 4 subscription and burrow through the ever-increasing collection of tutorials there. You'll learn the nuts and bolts of level development using the same tool the professionals use. To develop your design skills, there are three books I'd recommend you read, in this order: Raph Koster's A Theory of Fun, Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design, and Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman's Rules of Play.

Following these two tracks of learning the practical elements of game development along with the theory of why game design works the way it does will get you started on a good footing.

u/Eldakan · 2 pointsr/GameDevelopment

Technology: What technology are you using to create your game, mostly which engine... Where I read about these four aspects it was reffering to all kinds of games (Which would include card and board games as technology)


Story: The lore, history and narrative told in your game


Mechanics: What are you able to do in a game; e.g: Jump, Dash (for jump an runs) or block and hit (fighting game)


Aesthetics: What makes the game correspond to the players senses: music, visuals, light, shaders etc


Hope that helps (Source: https://www.amazon.de/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/1466598646 )

u/swordrush · 2 pointsr/TheSilphRoad

You're telling me (I design board games as one of my hobbies, read up on game design, talk about game design with other people designing games, etc). It seems very apparent to me you'd want to hire people specifically for game design aspects. But it's not always completely apparent to everybody. Also, Niantic starting out may not have had the funding available to dedicate somebody to focus on game design.

u/komoro · 2 pointsr/gamedev

Well for game design, I cannot overstate the impact that the book The Art of Game Design has. It lists where to start building a game, how to find mechanics, how to deal with chance and map building, what the players expect, how to engage the player, how to use audio correctly and many many more. Go check it out, if you are already familiar with programming, the more the better. But to be a great game designer takes much more - and a lot of it can be found in the book.

Happy creating :)

u/SunyiNyufi · 2 pointsr/GirlGamers

So as some of the others: I'm not from the gaming industry either (though I plan to make games on the side). And an other disclaimer: I'm over 30.

Let me just say most people in their 20s don't know what they would like to do, and even if they do, your interest will change over time, so just try to say flexible and don't fear making a switch if you are unhappy, of course within reason and financial security.

I recently switched from my regular office job to a less regular one in software development. My official background in software dev before was: none. I picked up coding like a year ago or so, because a C# course for game development was super cheap on Udemy (and by super cheap I mean like 10 or 15 USD), and continued learning coding ever since. Though I was a privileged candidate for my current job, because it was an internal hire, I basically got it by showing them what I can do. And we don't even code in C# in my new role lol

So my point is: learning doesn't have to be expensive, while some jobs require a specialized college degree a lot companies nowadays are more interested in whether or not you can do the job.

Also there are some Game Music courses on Udemy as well, though they might be too basic for you, still worth to check out imho :)

If you are interested in game design I would recommend this book too The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses https://www.amazon.de/dp/1466598646/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nay4AbC7P2BFB

u/RollingCarey · 1 pointr/vancouver

Thank you for the advice. I have learned a bit on my own (shameless portfolio plug here ) The dilemma I am having is the part of Game Development I enjoy most is Game Design the systems mechanics and rules part I have been reading some theory on my own Theory of Fun & The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses would recommend both. Anyway I find I learn very well in a class room environment seeing peers work on cool stuff gets me all fired up. Ok life story aside whats applicable as far as "normal degree/certificate" for Game Design?

u/MikeontheJob · 1 pointr/hearthstone

If you want to learn how a company makes a compelling game then read The Art of Game Design

u/destructor_rph · 1 pointr/gamedev

Which Book is better?

This One or This One?

u/Xand0r · 1 pointr/IndieDev

Glad my feedback was useful.

Thinking in terms of simplicity doesn't necessarily make for a better game. Fun should probably be more of a focus.

I definitely wouldn't say that I had "fun" or was hooked by your prototype. Creating fun in game design can often mean designing a good game loop. You game loop right now is 5 seconds long, consisting of "press a button for 4 seconds". Not very interesting or rewarding as it stands.

Here's a book I highly recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Second/dp/1466598646/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537819025&sr=8-3&keywords=game+design

It's all about game design, independent of coding or anything else.

u/bobbateswriter · 1 pointr/IAmA

The single most important skill a game designer needs is what I call "Player Empathy." You must be able to figure out what the player is thinking, what he/she wants to do next, and how to entertain them while they are playing the game. Beyond that, there are so many different types of games - and therefore game design - that it's pointless to try and summarize in a forum like this. I did write a book about game design, which you can probably get from your local library. The Amazon link is here: https://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Bob-Bates/dp/1592004938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487025482&sr=8-1&keywords=bates+game+design

It's been out long enough that it's a bit dated on the production side, although the game design fundamentals still hold true.

But the best book to get, and it's much more current is Jesse Schell's book, which you can find here...

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Second/dp/1466598646/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487032271&sr=8-1&keywords=Jesse+Schell+game+design

If you're building your very first game, I would advise not waiting for it "to be done" before you show it to people. As soon as you have made any portion of it, get it in front of people to see their reactions. Look up the name Sid Meier and see what he has written about how he develops his games a little piece at a time. Iterative development is where it's at!

u/Shadow-Master · 1 pointr/gamedev

Don't be suckered by a "Game Design" program. There are VERY few good ones. Most of them....as in, 99% of them...are rip-offs.

Learn programming, 3D-modeling, or animation. Pick one that you're more interested in and then full-speed ahead. These will make you useful in more than just game development roles, thus helping you in the future when you have trouble landing a game dev job. At least you'll still be doing something you like in the meantime, and still building your skill in that area. Many really popular game designers have specialties outside of just "Design". Some are excellent programmers, some are artists, some have excellent business skills (really good at project management), and some are brilliant story-writers. Most game design positions are not entry-level, because you REALLY have to know what you are doing, before someone will trust you enough to let you touch the design. The only real way to prove that you are actually a good game designer is by having games to show off. That proves that you have some idea of the design process and know how to maintain a game from start to finish. This is HARD.

Some like to say that these degree programs for game design help them by giving them the incentive to push through and finish their stuff, otherwise, they might not have the motivation. Well, that's very problematic, because that means that you will not be the type of person who can finish a game. Game development requires you to be highly self-driven.

Most of what "Game Design" programs teach you can be learned by picking up a few game design books and making your own games (alot of them, too). Game design is learned by making games, not by having a professor tell you about it. You have enough mentors in the game development community already. They will always be there to critique what you do and give you tips on how to improve your work. Pick up a couple of books like The Art of Game Design and Designing Games. You can look at other books in whatever other area you want to master and just get started on making games. Turn off your console and just get started. Start small. Make very simple, basic games to start off with (B.A.S.I.C.). It's about learning the process first. Do that while reading a ton of highly-detailed game postmortems online. Just learn the process. THAT will be your real education.

And finally, start working your way up to putting together a portfolio. Portfolios speak much louder than a resume (although, a resume is still important). And that doesn't mean having a bunch of "Game Design docs". Games. Not docs. Games. Then build up your confidence and hook up with a team, so you can fight your way together to the end of making a complete game. (this may be one of the only valuable things that a game design program can provide you out of the box, i.e., a team that you are forced to work on a game with)

The single most important tool you will ever have is discipline. No degree will be able to top that. Give up the idea of being a hardcore gamer, because you are now going to need to become a VERY disciplined person. You're going to need it.

Finally: Don't forget to have fun. Good luck! :)

u/shizzy0 · 1 pointr/gamedev

There are lots of books that purport to do something like this, but the field is so varied in terms of tools and styles, it's kind of a fool's errand. One merely ends up writing a, Here's How I Did-It/Would-Have-Done It.

One book I like that is very comprehensive when it comes to game design is The Art of Game Design. It does try to address the practical matters of making a game, but that's not its primary focus.

One book I would recommend for finishing is The Game Jam Survival Guide and just doing a game jam like ludum dare. A game jam is a great way to get experience finishing a game, and time is so tightly constrained that it forces a very different, scope-limited mindset. The ideal is never, ever attainable and yet some really creative, amazing games do come out of these jams.