Articles On Video Game Design

[Midivar]

Hiya. In case the developers missed it, there\'s a headline plus discussion over at Slashdot pointing out four articles about RPG design, written by professionals in the field. I thought it might be useful and could help provide some good insights.

\"Ok all you arm chair game developers, listen up. Over at RPG Codex there are currently 4 articles, written by professionals in the industry, on RPG design. There is A Christmas lesson in CRPG design [1] by Timothy Cain, Thoughts on RPG development [2] by Leon Boyarsky, Hand of Gosh Darn Good Design [3] by Chris Taylor, and Treatise on Combat to Pink Floyd [4] by Gareth Davies. All of them are a great read, and you can join in the discussion with the authors and see how your ideas stack up. What do you think is the key to a great RPG?\"

[1] http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=16
[2] http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=19
[3] http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=20
[4] http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=21

[Vengeance]

The best place to read about professional game design that I know of is at http://www.gamasutra.com (free registration required).

I read it religiously.

- Venge

[Midivar]

I think what can be a major plus for Planeshift is that Planeshift does not have to sit on the shelf and sell. A commercial game has to win back some of the investments made and while the developers of Planeshift surely would like to get something back from their investments, it\'s not necessarily money. They are role-players themselves and just want a cool game. They don\'t need to target a big market and make the game appeal to large masses. The gaming community, in cooperation with the development team, can decide what is a cool game, without making too much compromises to appease the gerneral masses. In the end, this should enable them to make a better game.

Don\'t you think?

[Kada-El]

Very nicely put Midivar, I completely agree with you - I think you\'ve summarized one of Planeshifts major advantages, it\'s rare that we would ever get to have an input into a games development from such an early stage - exciting times are ahead of us

[Vengeance]

That is true, but we have to balance that with the notion that many features in popular games are really necessary for functional games, so you can\'t just leave out whatever you want.

Other than that, I certainly hope the game is popular.  I haven\'t been busting my ass for a year and am not looking to bust my ass for another year for 10 people to play this...  ;-)

- Vengeance

[Silverblade]

Well look at all the fans Planeshift has now, and it\'s not even at an alpha stage yet! That has to be some kind of record.

[Jessyn]

silverblade makes a good point.  besides, when it\'s finished, sony/verant is going to HATE us, coz we\'ll be taking away all their customers,  

Jessyn

[Link]

Originally posted by Jessyn
silverblade makes a good point.  besides, when it\'s finished, sony/verant is going to HATE us, coz we\'ll be taking away all their customers,  

Jessyn

That\'s funny

If you are refering to the ammount of people signed up on the boards and In game, keep in mind like 1/500 of those stay here, the rest all leave because they want a totally finished free game.

[Midivar]

Well, look at me. I\'m not a regular on the forum, but I sporadically check back on the site and forum to check up with the game development status. I am a fan of RPG and fantasy, so I want to see this succeed. I *will* have the patience to wait it out.

[Keldorn]

Link is absolutely right, just look at the members page. That\'s like 45 pages, but only on the first three pages or so do you find the ppl that are the most loyal to the game even though it isn\'t even finished.

The amount of ppl that have never posted is enormous!
But i guess loads of them will start comig back when this one hits the shelves .... er download page.

[Silverblade]

Dont forget, there are hundreds of Planeshift fans that havent signed up on the forums. I speak to people all the time, that are big PS fans, but have just never bothered to post. The forums is not the only indication of the number of followers.

[Xolon]

Yea, SilverBlade is right. Most ppl dont even bother posting in a forum for a future game, they rather wait till its there and then spent there time devoted to the game.
Ppl just come to see the website, say \"aaahhh\" and \"ooh\" and will memorize the url for when the game is out.

But i can asure you, that when ps is \'playable\' we will have a lot of fans...

-Xolon-

[Vengeance]

Here are my personal favorite articles on game design, for those of you who are seriously interested:

The Fourteen Kinds Of Fun
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20011012/garneau_01.htm

Behavioral Game Design
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010427/hopson_01.htm

Basically, it isn\'t innovative to say \"Like Game X, but cooler\".  That\'s like saying \"Like the Empire State Building, but 6x as big.\"  Game design is more like cooking--it is the art of picking and choosing ingredients wisely, then combining them and handling them in interesting and tasty ways.

Good luck,
- Vengeance

[Elentor]

Dont forget, there are hundreds of Planeshift fans that havent signed up on the forums. I speak to people all the time, that are big PS fans, but have just never bothered to post. The forums is not the only indication of the number of followers.

Indeed, and I know many of those. There ar emany people that is wanting the next release of PS but don\'t even look at the forums.

[LirainIzar]

I think a lot of us who have only posted a few times are doing just that: waiting.  There\'s not much to discuss about the game itself right now since everyone\'s waiting for the newest release.  In the meanwhile we pass the time waiting for Link to flame some idiot.   I think there is going to be a huge fanbase for this game when it is finally past the beta testing.  I know I\'m doing my best to send all my friends to the PlaneShift site because this is such a sweet game concept.  

~Lirain~