What kinds of topics would you enjoy in a game design podcast? I listen to lots of podcasts, I like teaching, and game design is my thing. So, I’d been giving a lot of thought to creating a game design podcast.
Then, a few days back, I was out cycling with my wife. I nervously told her all about my ideas. I was a bit afraid she might think it was silly - a crazy waste of time. So, then I hesitantly asked for her thoughts. Of course, right then, we rode up to a narrow part in the street, so I fell behind to let the cars go by. When we were finally clear, I pulled up next to her, and she paused. She observed that Christmas is over 4 months away, so there’s no reason I couldn’t put out 6 episodes before then. Six! And like that, the gauntlet was thrown, once again.
Now, I have a quest. I upgraded my recording equipment, then spent a few days deciding on a first episode. My wife suggested going with a topic that I know REALLY well. That would let me focus on learning how to podcast, without also having to research a new topic. And of course, the topic I’ve been talking about the longest is the Paradox of Choice - plus, it is practical, has great impact, and has lots of great stories - including being a playtester for Rift. So, I designed it, wrote it, and recorded it. Then, I did more research, sat on it for a few days, and re-recorded it. And, though I’m nervous as heck, I’m also having amazing fun!
It’s an exhilarating combination of three things I love: helping others, speaking, and game design. It’s all I can think about! And, for episode 2, I think Designing for Feedback, and maybe for ep 3, Breaking Into the Industry. After that though, it’s a wide open field. So, I’m reaching out - to see what you’d enjoy hearing about in a game design podcast.
The slightly cheap answer would probably be any of the topics that Extra Credits mention can’t be done in a six minute video (or just scratched the surface).
Difficulty and asymmetric balance should be good topics for an episode a piece.
How to craft a compelling game loop. There’s all sorts of ways it can be done, granted, but I’m sure you could get at least an episode or two out of just that.
story & mechanics & how best to achieve balance so that each support the other without destroying that balance. And how to convey/drive story without long cutscenes &/or text walls please.
Crafting a compelling story in bite sized chunks for mobile gaming that can maintain interest over a long story arc (like a comic book sort of thing, 5-10mins, satisfaction from that bit of story, but part of a larger whole that may lead to 3-4hours of your time over the course of the story arc).
If you have any notes from the iterations of games you have done it would be interesting to cover the design cycle through iterations to cover it from the initial concept to where you ended up & why.
I am looking forward to hearing this, very much so.
Want some topic suggestions, okay here’s what I’d love to hear:
-Learning how to Learn Game Developement.
-Hiring Help.
-Getting a Job in the Industry.
-How to Localize Your Game.
I would suggest getting someone else involved as well, as two people will have different views on things and how to approach, it would keep it interesting and fresh.
If you can set up a QA system for your audience, I suggest talking about micro-transactions and having people ask about their ideas for monetization. You’ll be surprised how many people think it’s a good idea to let players pay for convenience or game speed instead of working that into the game options.
So many great ideas - monetization, transactions, retention, game loops, getting a job, learning, story, story-arcs, mechanics!!! Love it - you guys rock!
I think a podcast on the using social pressure to create a good game as a designer, and how best to use social pressure to create a good gaming experience. Remember, the reason the original Zelda on the NES had so many secrets that were “Guide Dang It!” moments, was to encourage people of the pre-Internet age to talk to each other and swap locations of secrets.
I liked this article on design anti-patterns that @AndrewGrayGames pointed out in another thread, but I couldn’t understand half of it, because I don’t play the games he’s referencing and don’t even know what all the acronyms mean.
So, you could read through that and expand on those anti-patterns (or others you may know of), and explain them in a way that listeners can understand… there’s enough material there to take you halfway through next year!
Thanks for the reminder. That is one of my fav LoL posts of all time! If you google, it’s also one of the few times that Anti-patterns are discussed in more than a casual way. Could be a fun topic :).
Yeah, I post that one because I find it useful. I’ve seen games with those anti-patterns being used in ways that are counterproductive to the game in general. While I need to up my game, at least that list gives me ways to avoid completely sucking. Only generally sucking.
I wouldn’t mind some heavy news of the moment stuff in an insightful way. Unity’s forced switch to WebGL for instance and what that really means for the industry, the developers, and the existing content.
Translation:
Anti-patterns are game design patterns that impede the flow of the game, instead of helping. That being said, while anti-patterns exist, sometimes they can provide fun; many games actually use them when it makes the game more fun.
Anti-Pattern: Power Without Gameplay
Mechanics that are fun, typically require conscious thought from the player, otherwise the benefit of the mechanic isn’t properly appreciated. (This has to do with the whole “Active vs. Passive Voice Thread” in no small part.) This can be recognized by an overly-passive mechanic having to be buffed in order for players to see the value of the mechanic. A proposed solution is to keep passive benefits small, but pair them with some active component, like Sona’s Auras in League of Legends.
Anti-Pattern: Burden of Knowledge
Noob designers typically require the victim of an ability or mechanic to know all sorts of things about the ability, in order to play around it effectively. Typically, this does not work, because it’s counter-intuitive. Now, all abilities require knowing something about the ability. It’s possible to help the player by giving good “salesmanship” to the ability (make the effects work intuitive), and obvious options to counter the mechanic.
A dimension of mechanic design, is the ratio of “gameplay” to “amount of knowledge required to exploit said mechanic to its fullest.” The first “number” should be bigger than the second.
Anti-Pattern: Unclear Optimization
Pretty much, mechanics should make it clear whether the usage of it succeeded or not. When you don’t give good enough feedback, or when the actual impact to gameplay is convoluted enough that a player can’t tell if they made a good play, you’ve bumped your head on a mechanic that provides unclear optimization.
Anti-Pattern: Pattern Mismatches
Mechanics should support the packages that they’re delivered in. If you have a Knight in heavy armor, with a sword and bow, it does not follow to give the Knight the best magic spell in the game; everything about the knight telegraphs to the player that they’re a durable warrior with limited ranged abilities, not a spellcaster. In short, things need to make sense.
Anti-Pattern: Fun fails to exceed Anti-Fun
No one likes getting smacked, but there are ways to create mechanics that makes the consequences go from being an inconvenience, to actually irritating. Mana Burn mechanics are great examples, as they make you less able to fight back, due to draining a resource. Players, according to this designer, need to have options and recourse, until they actually conclude the series of choices given to them, for whatever reason. (I’m not touching the “What is Fun?” minefield. Oh, no.)
Anti-Pattern: Conflicted Purpose
Mechanics are tools, and as such should have a clear use. When you have an ability that could be debated to be ‘correctly’ used in a large enough number of situations, you may have a tool that’s too complex. Typically players feel creative when they find neat applications for a simple mechanic.
Anti-Pattern: Anti-Combos
A key part of choices are when you have multiple possibilities, each with their own drawbacks. An Anti-Combo occurs, when the player’s ability to compete diminishes due to poorly thought-out interactions between abilities. For instance, a crowd control ability that breaks itself, or a character mechanic for the Heavy Knight that prevents his ability to be a good fighter, as a result of fighting. In short, abilities are tools that need to be productive, not counter-productive.
Anti-Pattern: False Choices A: Deceptive Wrong Choice
A mechanic is a tool that solves some situations. A deceptive wrong choice is a mechanic set up to appear to be a valid answer to some problem, but that no entity in their right mind should ever get affected by if anyone with two brain cells to rub together sees the mechanic in action. The tool in short is actually always wrong, but attempts to pass itself off as valid.
B: Ineffectual Wrong Choice
Similarly, an ineffectual wrong choice comes from a tool that against masquerades as being useful, only to be completely unrewarding. This pattern most often directly leads into the Unclear Optimization and Anti-Combo patterns above.
Anti-Pattern: HAHA UR A N00B LOL!
Insulting the player is just childish. Sure you may laugh at it, but you’re still a dick.
Anti-Pattern: Non-Reliability
Mechanics are tools to help players solve problems. When tools are unreliable, they become frustrating, or good things to simply ignore in favor of more reliable alternatives. To compensate, you - again - have to over-buff the mechanic to be useful.
