Hi,
say I have this ugly prototype:
Clearly there is no UI, no assets except cubes and cyllinder. I feel like the game mechanics are not 100% finished. I have learned that you really should make a prototype before game. Should I continue like this until I’m satisfied with game mechanics? I have a feeling that searching for assets, models and sound will draw me away from making the core mechanics interesting.
What is you workflow when prototyping?
Regards
I have the same problem, it’s a problem because for me it’s like
But I think, all that is needed to break out of this vicious circle is a game design doc. - or at least a plan that contains everything, which will be needed in production. for me it’s absolutely about avoiding feature creep.
If you have a prototype with simple graphics, no sound etc. but it’s already FUN to play, you are blessed.
Absolutely. or go and start with a new project / prototype. A second version, third…etc.
I know this approach perhaps would not work for larger projects (not that simple), but for a smaller game, my advise would be Yes focus on interesting game mechanics, then stick to your already working game and make it better (add visuals, add sound).
I agree. Continue to focus on the game mechanics, making it fun and “feel” right. Then add the eye and ear candy. You can do this in an iterative process; you shouldn’t need to start with a fresh project, just gradually replace this box with a model, add some particle effects there, throw in some sounds over here, etc.
Consider this a single point of view from the many ways you could look at design. I’m sure as many people will disagree as will agree.
I like Kotaku’s interview with Matt Hall. Among his design rules is “make your game for one person.” As @JoeStrout suggests above, “Continue to focus on the game mechanics, making it fun and “feel” right.” How do you know when it’s right? As soon as the mechanics are truly fun for that one person even without final art. Otherwise you could spin your wheels forever tweaking the mechanics.
There was a good discussion about this a few months ago here: From prototype to actual game - Industries - News & General Discussion - Unity Discussions
Thanks for the nice article.
Lots of great responses. If I’m working a 12 week project, a rule of thumb might be: 2 weeks for prototype, 4 weeks to finish gameplay, 6 weeks for polish/release. Finishing & polishing used to take much longer than I expected, until I began planning for it. The time didn’t change, only my expectations of it.
Gigi
Generally the purpose of prototyping is to test out the basic game mechanics, I certainly don’t think it is a good idea to spend too long on it though. You’re going to be tweaking everything until the last day anyway (whether it needs to be tweaked or not!) so once I had something with any kind of fun factor I would add some intermediate art. Basically build a pipeline and skip over whatever takes the longest in the art process (for me this is texturing) and you’ll probably find it gives you more motivation and even helps inform the gameplay a little bit.
A big thing for me is to not leave any part of the development process too far behind, as it feels like your momentum goes to nil when you finally have to get around to it.
