Hello everyone, I recently got back from a game developers conference out in Troy, MI called Interfaces (hosted by IADT Detroit). After a day of recovery, my brain finally felt up to typing all my notes up so you guys could all benefit from them. It was a very interesting conference with a lot of great speakers from companies such as Bioware, THQ, 2K Boston, Zenimiax and Obsidian Entertainment. There were more, but these are just from sessions I went to. I hope you guys can all learn a thing or two from my notes!
There was a ton discussed at the conference, and my hand could only write so fast. If you’re confused on part of my notes, want me to explain further, or are wondering if they covered a certain topic, don’t hesitate to ask. Typed up, my notes were 9 pages long! I did this all for you guys, so please read.
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System & Combat Design
Mark Acero
Sr Action Designer
BioWare EA
Overview: Mark Acero will be sharing his experience and philosophies he’s acquired working in the trenches of game development and applying them to System and Combat Design. Topics include: it takes a great team to make a great game, games are for players, building for the masses, leaving depth for the advanced, the three “C’s” and difficulty scaling strategy based.
Notes: In early and middle stages of development, there are usually many arguments between designers on how things should be done and what to include. There are many good ideas, but not enough time to implement them all. The main thing I got out of this portion of his speech was that when you find your team playing “Theory Fighter”, his term for design theory debates, you need to take a step back from your own argument and instead of lobbying for your own ideas ask questions about there’s.
Talk to different members on the team about the decisions made. That way you get different schools of thought and get an estimate on how long it will take. A programmer might give you an idea that an artist didn’t have!
Always be respectful to people on your team. You don’t have to like someone, but you sure as hell have to respect them. This is very true within the game industry. If someone it there, they are probably good at what they do. The person you think is a noob and whose feedback you want to dismiss might actually be your target market, so his feedback is probably the best!
Another important reason to respect those around you is because the game industry is very tightly nit. Employers don’t always look at resumes; they call up other studios and ask about you. If they call up and hear that, “Oh that guy’s a jerk, don’t hire him”, guess what, you’re not getting hired. So respect everyone!
If people make stupid decisions in real life, what do you think they will do inside a game? Don’t assume the player knows what to use or where to go. He gave a good example in the recent Terminator Salvation game. He completed one level in which several gates were locked. In the next level he faced a huge boss and was simply told to “run away.” Well to him, run away means turning 180 degrees and running. Instead, the game wanted him to run towards the enemy, past him, and then into the gate that was locked in the previous level. Prior knowledge told him that that gate was already locked, so he didn’t think of it. That, in combination with bad directions, left him confused and frustrated.
It’s a good idea to give the game an advanced mechanic that doesn’t need to be used to play it, but can give the advanced players something to do. For example, in Gears of War there is reloading mechanism that if you hit reload and hit it again in a certain spot in the reload time bar, it reloads faster instead of slower. You don’t need to do this, but for advanced players, it gives them an edge over the opponent.
Studies are done on the reaction time of players versus in game actions. There is a delay balance you have to strike between the animation and the action. For example, if you jump, there’s a pause between when you decide to and when you actually do. That pause is actually you bending your knees down and propelling yourself up. That’s actually quite a lot of time! Imagine if Mario had that sort of delay while jumping around the game. It just wouldn’t work. So make sure your actions are fast enough to allow for reaction times.
The three C’s are Characters, Camera and Control. Each of these contributes to the Good Feel Factor.
Character - what you do and how you navigate.
Camera - where is it and what kind of camera is it? There is a screen relative type and a character relative type. If you press left in a screen relative type, you face left. If you press left in a character relative type, you move to that characters left.
Control – ease of control
Difficulty needs to be scalable. Punch Out is like Game Design 101. First you start off with two moves and your opponent’s attacks are slow and predictable. As you progress, you get more attacks but your opponents get harder. SCALING DIFFICULTY DOES NOT MEAN JUST SCALING HITPOINTS AND DAMAGE. He went on a rant with this.
Questions from Audience:
Q: What do you think of quick time events?
A: *pause* *smirk* they are pretty. Not the greatest idea. My problem with it is that while you’re looking at what buttons to press, you’re missing out on the action. Heavy Rain does a good job of not being exactly quicktime, but doing something unique. Instead of having a little scroll bar with button combo’s, they put the actual button you need to press on the attack. Like if someone is punching, they put the X button on the enemy’s fist.
Q: Are there times during your design meetings and avoiding playing “Theory fighter” where you need to just lay down the law and go with an idea.
A: Yes, absolutely. During early and mid development there is room to make adjustments to things. Other times, and during the end of development you need to just draw the line and sick with the core ideas.
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User-Generated Content: Game Systems/Game Stories
David “Zeb” Cook (This guy is a design GOD! I learned a ton from him)
Lead Content Designer
Zenimax Online
(This speaker allowed for Q&A during his speech, so I will have various Q&A through out it)
Overview: Telling stories in game isn’t just about words, characters, and plot. Games are about letting the player create his own story – letting user action generate story. Since game systems are the “how” of games, it’s all about the choices the designer makes and how the player uses those choices to shape his own story, for good or ill.
Notes: Content, in its most basic and core definition is not just story, environments, characters and assets, it’s what the player does.
Q: (My question to him!): In the past, especially with role playing games like Final Fantasy and Fallout, there is a lot of running from point A to point B. This is unexciting and sometimes frustrating. What advice do you have for countering this?
A: Well you have to ask the question of “Are we giving the player something to do?” Running doesn’t really count for obvious reasons. So you have two choices, you can skip it or find something entertaining. In Fallout 3 you can travel between these two points, or you can walk. Me, I’d rather fast travel. If the actually time spent traveling is that important to your story, be creative. In Assassins Creed you do a lot of running, but you can jump along roof tops, swing and do ‘mini quests’ along the way. And the plot doesn’t actually continue until you chose for it to continue. The important thing though is to keep the adrenaline flowing in the player.
There are three types of content I will talk about here today. There is design content, user created content and user generated content.
Design content is packaged, preset and polished. Who plays through a single play game twice? Not many. The reality is most don’t even finish a game!
User created content is the buzz word in the industry right now. Think of Spore or Second Life (where it’s all you). Designing a game with user created content in mind is hard and truth be told 95% of user created content is crap. Creating the tools to allow users to create their own content is hard too. They people who are playing your game aren’t always tech savvy, so you have to make your tool simple enough to reach the masses.
There is a huge problem with user created content though, and you may laugh, but we call it the penis problem. When ever, and I mean without fail, you allow the user to develop and insert their own models or textures into a game, you always get someone who develops a penis monster or some variation of it. You may think its joke, but is a serious problem for developers. If it gets bad enough within a game, the government can sometimes intervene. So that means you need someone to police the content and weed stuff out and that costs a ton of money. There are games that use a rating system to help the community police itself, but there are always exceptions. In that case though, you don’t have to have as large of a policing force to monitor content.
Q: Where are the policing in a game such as Counter Strike Source in which you can upload your own spray image?
A: Counter Strike Source actually does have a type of policing system in it, but it’s not what you would typically think. It’s not that people are actively checking sprays, it’s the fact that the game is broken down into so many different servers. Where you really need to worry about it if something X rated could be instantly available to thousands. Since CS:S is so compartmentalized, the widespread effects of something inappropriate being released isn’t large at all. Plus many servers are monitored by admins who don’t allow such sprays to begin with.
Q: Do you think companies purposefully don’t finish a game on purpose and just say, “We can just add it on with some downloadable content”?
A: No. It’s bad business and it’s a bad idea. There is some debate on whether or not downloadable content has dulled games a bit, but in my own opinion, it hasn’t. What does happen in game development though is that some features get cut out along the way. This is how it is, and how it’s always been. Downloadable content allows for the developer (most often a different, minor league sort of team than the original dev team), to go back in and add some of the stuff that had to be taken out due to time constraints. The change there isn’t loss in the quality of the game, but actually a gain in what you get over all for your money.
User generated content is something you want the player to do unconsciously. You don’t want them to think about it because the moment they do they start creating inappropriate content. The goal here is to have them create a story by themselves. PVP (Player vs. Player) is so popular because it takes out the battling of NPC’s (Non playable characters) where everything is scripted and replaces it with something unique every time because it’s against a real player. A chat system is also a form of user generated content. It’s also a really easy system to control. Just slap a few filters on it and you can weed out swearing and sexual references.
Random notes: With user created content comes the ability to Mod a game, and if you’re not being a bone head about it, it’s a really great way to get recognized inside the industry. Look at the Portal team for example. The whole team got picked up by valve! That is very rare that a whole team get’s picked up, but it’s an awesome success story.
Downloadable Content keeps the idea alive and fresh in the memory of the players.
There is another type of content called procedural, in which the game writes itself.
Q (my question to him!): *jokingly* So with all this said now, how long do you think World of Warcraft has to last before it get’s topped and becomes old news?
A: (There was an audible gasp from the audience and murming LMAO! WOW nerds
)
I have no idea, and I wouldn’t dare to venture a guess. However I will say this: That the game that beats WOW is going to come from a very unexpected place and bring some very new and unique to the table. Keep a weather eye out!
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Worlds Make Stories
Panel: David “Zeb” Cook, Colin Moulder-McComb & Steven Schend
Overview: From everything we’re taught in school, plot trumps setting. Worlds provide setting but they don’t create story. Characters create story. Setting just fills in the details. But, in the interactive biz, what if what they taught you was wrong? In games, the world has a role as big as characters. Join us as we talk about ways to create and use worlds in interactive settings.
(These speakers allowed for Q&A during his speech, so I will have various Q&A through out it)
Notes: Start off designing a game by finding a premise to your story. Premise is what the world spins off of. Unless you want to create one, big epic story, don’t build it around one premise because once that objective is reached, your game ends. People like Tolkien and Lucas created a whole universe, much of largely fan generated, just by leaving the premise’s a bit open ended.
Don’t think about the story, think about the setting. Setting informs a lot! It informs about the conflict, what to wear, what to eat, where to go, how to talk and what to do. Setting is key!
Q: When making a game to show in your portfolio, is it better to create something that fits companies style, or should you showcase your own style?
A: It depends on the studio, but keep in mind that they are hiring you for your unique abilities that you can bring to the team. When you do create something though, create multiple things. Show that you’re not just a one-hit wonder and can reproduce your own work. The best thing is to create something that looks like is has a vision. Never start off with “My game is like (insert game) but is different because (insert difference here).” This is death.
Q: How do you solve the issue of adding too much or too little in the world?
A: Think about it this way. It’s not what you can put into the world, it’s what you can take out. Your imagination really is the limit when it comes to stories and games, so it’s tiring to think about all the things you can add and if it would work or not. Even then, why limit yourself? If you’re making a fantasy game, anything is possible. Just focus on what you can take out and all of the things that follow suit from that in the chain effect. Also keep in mind that everything in your game has to serve a purpose. If it doesn’t, leave it out.
Another A: I find games like Oblivion, that try to add depth by adding it books you can read, a bit funny. Like who wants to play an FPS game and then stop to read an in-game book? When I find such a thing I think to myself, “Well what can I do with this book? I’m not going to read it, so can I sell it?” And then all the time that you have taken to write a history behind your game isn’t read in the first place and just sold to some NPC store.
Q: What do you think about open worlds?
A: They are different. The story isn’t so linear, and that can cause problems in and of itself. MMO’s have trouble keeping it fun with boring and repetitive quests and the same old difficulty scaling (the damned hit points + damage scaling. That’s not all difficulty scaling is about!). Also, with it being linear, what is keeping the player playing? What progress or impact are they making in the world? If the story/game is too open, what exactly are they suppose to do? Stand there?
If there was one area that I think up and coming game developers have a hard time with it’s with core game mechanics. Game mechanics help you interact with the world, but sometimes it’s also the other way around in that the world itself is a game mechanic of sorts. It’s a tradeoff.
Bioshock for instance had small, enclosed spaces. The mechanics for that game worked fine in that setting. But imagine if the setting changed. Things would be different.
The unreal engine has a hard time with open spaces.
Assassins Creed is a very good example of having a core set of game mechanics but allowing those mechanics to operate in many different environments, and it AC’s case, time periods. The same mechanics of stealth and assassination work in medieval times as well as the renaissance. They did a good job at not limiting there IP (Intellectual Property) just because of their core game mechanics. They can take that series anyway and still have it be interesting and fun to play.
If you are going into game design, have a thick skin. You may think your idea is the bomb, but someone else may think it sucks. It’s reality, so try and take something away from the critique of other’s and maybe you can make your idea even more amazing. If not all of it can fit into one game, fine, there’s always another game to design/development. You don’t need to put it all into one game.
Talk to everyone. Artists think differently than programmers do. Get the team together and behind your idea so that they are happy and comfortable and most importantly, motivated. If you’re not listening and trying to implement or consider other’s ideas, then you’re not doing your job.
Tips and Tricks to being noticed!
Panel: Steve Derrick, Ryan Oddey & Stone Perales
Overview: Tips and tricks from professionals in the game industry including the importance of portfolio’s, job specializations, personality, titles and roles in the industry, and what entry level really means. Also, this session addresses the portfolio expectations from both the employer and employee perspective.
(This session was mainly Q&A, so my notes will be sort of random)
Notes: For some people it’s better to specialize in something, and for other’s it’s better to generalize. If you’re an artist who also likes to program, then that’s great. You understand that workflow and understand what sort of needs need to be met. For other’s being a jack of all trades is confusing. Don’t waste your time.
School is a great place to fail safely and get to the bottom of who you are and what your good at. Seriously, try as much out as you can, even if you don’t think you’ll be good at it or like it. You can’t experiment with this as much once you get out of school, get married and have kids.
Don’t be afraid of failing at things either. Navy Seals are purposefully given exercises that are meant to fail them. This get’s them used to it and also helps them recognize how much more than can do when they work as a team.
Getting negative critiques is okay, it’s good. It means someone is paying enough attention to you work to give you some feedback. What you really need to be aware of is the simple comments such as “It looks good.” You may think it’s a compliment, or that you are giving a compliment to someone, but real artists are blunt and give an explanation passed a three word sentence.
Commit to going the distance once you do find something that you want to do. If someone challenges you to a treadmill race, die trying or wait for the other person to get off first.
Entry-Level is Q&A. It’s answering tech support questions. 9 out of 12 of 2K Boston’s current designers came from Q&A. It’s a good way to get in, but so is modding. Q&A does not provide insurance and is low income.
Join a professional community such as Polycount, CGSociety, Game Artisans, ect. Check out gamusutra.com. Linkin.com is a great tool to find out where people are currently at in the industry. Once you’ve been in it a while, Linked In is a very helpful tool in finding a job through an old contact you might have.
When it comes down to if DVD Reels or Websites are better to send into a company, I would say websites are better. Let me paint two different scenarios for you:
DVD: “Fred, just got an awesome DVD portfolio from someone. When you’re done with lunch come by my office and check it out.” Twenty minutes later. “George, where is that DVD you were talking about?” “Crap, what did I do with it? What color was it again?”
Website: “Fred, just go an awesome portfolio in from someone. I’ll forward it to you, so when you get done with lunch, it will be in your inbox ready for review.”
Which one sounds easier and more reliable for everyone involved? That’s not do say we discriminate against DVD Reels, I’m just saying websites are easier. Plus, when we hire someone is goes through many different people before someone actually gets hired. If we have to physically pass a DVD down to everyone, it can get annoying.
You have 30 seconds tops to catch my attention when reviewing your demo reel. Your demo reel can be longer, but the time it takes to hook me to watch the rest of it is 30 seconds, if that.
Put your best stuff first. Show that you can reproduce it. Show a variety and mastery through out. It’s good to show your own style because you are being hired for your uniqueness, but it’s also important to show that you can reproduce other artist’s style and work within an art style. If you can do this, you will last longer than just one game.
With websites, do not use thumbnails! I hate it when the image gives you an incredibly small sample of what it is, or just a random spot on the image. It doesn’t help me at all.
CGSociety has free web hosting for your portfolio. You can have 5 images with the free hosting. If you want more, it’s $30 for a year.
My question to them was: “If an art test is very lengthy, is it reasonable to ask to be paid for it. Also what sorts of rights do I own to my own work once I submit that art test?”
There response is: No, you don’t get paid for your art test. And once you submit the test, that artwork is theirs.
(However, I think this answer isn’t completely true. I have talked to Polycounters in the past that have been paid for an art test AND have had companies sign a note saying that the artwork is still the artists. I will try and bring some clarification to this soon.)
The current art director for 2K Boston got noticed in school by doing something unique and funny. In past assignments at his school, everyone used grayscale when drawing their images. Well the art director went against the grain and made a color image. Amongst a board full of gray images in the gallery, his was the only color one. So the next day, the director knew what everyone else was going to be thinking and that they were all going to follow his idea. So for the next day, he switched back to grayscale. So on a board full of color images, his was the only grayscale. He was hired! They could see that he knew what stood out and that he could predict would others were thinking.
Never resubmit the same art to a company.
Working at a studio is like working inside of a clan. At first you may not get any respect. You need to earn that respect by pumping out some awesome artwork and most importantly, getting along with everyone. Once you get that respect you will be accepted. You could be the absolute best at what you do, but if you don’t integrate well with the rest of the team, expect to lose your job fast.
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Analyzing Level Design: From Broad Concepts to Measureable Quantities
Matt Bromley
Senior Level Designer
Kaos Studios
Overview: Although Level Design is far from an exact science, broad concepts can be indentified, and then broken down into composite parts. These composite parts can be dissected further into measurable attributes. Such a tool, examined across many levels from similar games, can tease out information regarding similar traits and maybe even reveal advantageous design characteristics.
Notes: Okay, basically this guy led a HUGE study inside of Kaos Studios that collected tons of interesting data about game design trends across the market. It was very interesting, but he mainly talked about how he collected the data and not the results themselves. This was due to the fact that he wasn’t legally allowed to share too much.
He went through his slides very fast, so I had to write fast and sloppy. I still have to go through this section and try and remember all he talked about. I will post more on this later.
"If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants" - Isaac Newton
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