Designers Playing Games
-----ROB-----
Do
you think you would enjoy games more if you were not a
designer?
There is probably a similar
relationship between being a critic or
movie
maker and watching
movies.
-----JOE-----
Astute
question. I'm not sure I'd enjoy games
more,
but I'd certainly enjoy them
differently
if I wasn't a designer.
Games are a
tool for learning, a special kind of bicycle for the mind. They let us practice
and experiment in a safe environment. Most games don't know what they're
teaching, and often we don't know what we're learning, but that doesn't stop the
education from happening.
As a
designer, I play games at a level removed from the player. Instead of asking,
"How do I fight this monster?" I ask things like, "Why is the monster designed
this way? What is the player supposed to be learning? What can I learn about
game design from this monster?" And then the monster kills
me.
Mostly, game designers have played
a lot of games. When a new game fits into the patterns of a game we've already
seen, we tire of it quickly. It has nothing to teach us. We've seen plenty of
cut-scenes, and they don't motivate us -- learning new stuff does. And fresh
ideas are hard to come by in the game industry nowadays. Good games have at
least one new idea. Doesn't sound like it's asking for much,
huh?
Despite my whining, City of Heroes
and World of Warcraft each had several innovations. They had stuff to teach me
-- just not enough for me to pay for a second month.
Filed Tue - May 30, 2006, 06:10 PM in
Return to: |