What’s the story?

[Anonymous]

While this site covers all the technical aspects of game creation, there is little or no mention (esp. in the skills list) of the non-technical skills that make great games great.

Maybe a Topic to cover some of these essential skills?

Creative writing:
Storyline(s), plot & sub plots.
Leading the player through a story, making him hunger for each new chapter whilst giving the illusion that he is making all the decisions.

Puzzle design:
Skill/Mental/Physical/Mystery (a la Crystal Maze)
Clever and original puzzles that give the player satisfaction in solving.

Map architecture:
Designing linear worlds that feel wide open. Using light and textures to give the illusion of depth. Using objects to imply more curves and greater diversity in maps without hitting on the FPS count.

Artwork:
Skinning & textures

You only have to look at “Devastation” (don’t bother) to see how a state of the art engine with ragdoll physics etc can be completely wasted on a game with no storyline or artistic input of any kind.
Devastation Demo (177Mb):
http://www.actiontrip.com/files/demos/devastation.phtml

[Anonymous]

i tried Devastation a coupla weeks ago and I have to agree…the story etc was rubbish…but the graphics were rockin….

Nic Ryan

[Aphra K]

Thanks Sir Random for your comments. We are pleased to add new categories or consider new angles if there are people out there interested in these subjects..

Aphra.

[Anonymous]

Whilst on the topic, a art section was mentioned.
Are there artists looking at this site?
A developers are going to get anything done without artists, and good ones! I’ve heard the good things about Ballyfermot’s animation department, are these artists reading this board or is it just developers??
Also games are in serious need of writers these days because most coders can’t write a decent story. Most will refuse to admit this fact but some are coming around to the idea now.

Is there anywhere in Ireland that deals with developing sound/music? The need for professional sound engineers/technicians (the term really has got to be defined for this role soon!) in games is really becoming apparent now.

So, are there people from all game development areas present on this board?

Damian

[Anonymous]

I’m a games artist and I check these pages every day!! I spoke to some of the grads from Ballyfermot this year too and I’ve seen some posts from them too.

[Anonymous]

I too am an artist, but have a finger in game design too. I did the Ludo course, so I know Max pretty well(or used to know it), and I did the first year of the game design course in Vancouver (http://www.artschool.com), so I know Maya too (better than Max I think).

Chris

[Anonymous]

Well………Both Max and Maya have their merits, just depends what you use them for.

[Anonymous]

none of them beats softimage XSI :-)

it’s a kind of religious thing I suppose

I know a bit of max, because i had to write an exporter for it, but everything in softimage seems so much more logical..

too bad it is also much more expensive

Willem

[Anonymous]

This is good to hear!
A word of advice to the developers out there – Get to know these artists!
I just completed a games course in a university that also has a computer arts course and its very hard to make those links with the artists to get into games.
Also, for developers, it is really up to you to get into the mindset of artists. Knowing the terminology of artists and what is required from the models you need is really important – knowing your max poly-count and such…

Damian.

[Anonymous]

there’s nothing more valuable in the process of making a game then a person who can communicate with both artists and programmers.

therefore, an artimmer is the holy grail of the genetical experiments i’m conducting now :-)

Willem

[Anonymous]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Don’t cross artists with programmers, it would be the ultimate abhorration of nature aaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!!
I’m joking of course, in our place both the species(!) get on like a house on fire.

[Author]

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