GAMES DESIGN / WEEK 05
01 Game Design lecture
This talk mainly focused on how game developers find creative ideas, manage project scope, work with teams, and make decisions during the uncertain process of game development. Unlike the previous two lectures, which mainly introduced how games are made, this talk focused more on the practical challenges of game development.
The lecturer also used several games as examples to explain his points, including Wilmot’s Warehouse, Hohokum, and I Am Dead.
During the talk, I learned that a smaller game does not mean a lower-quality game. Keeping the project scope manageable can actually help developers focus on the core gameplay and create a unique experience.
Game design is also a process of exploration and experimentation. Developers do not need to have all the answers from the beginning, as many good ideas are discovered during development.
The talk also highlighted the importance of teamwork. A good game does not depend entirely on one person’s vision, but comes from the ideas and contributions of different team members.
Another important point was to start playtesting as early as possible. Even if the prototype is unfinished, letting other people try it can help identify problems and gather useful feedback.
Developers should also avoid making every decision too early. Some problems need to be solved immediately, while others are better left until more information is available.
Maintaining a healthy and sustainable development process is important. Thinking, resting, discussing ideas with others, and exploring other games are all part of game development, not just the time spent actually making the game.
I think they are useful references and have given me more to think about for my future game development.
02 Pitch deck jam
As the Game Design project was coming to an end, we started preparing for our upcoming presentation. We began organising our design process and development progress, and thinking about how to clearly introduce our games to others.
After understanding what we needed to cover in the presentation and the requirements, we each started preparing our own presentation scripts. We organised our game design ideas, core gameplay and development process, and thought about how to clearly present our games within the limited time.
Gameplay video
03 Playtest session
In this class, we will carry out further playtesting of our game prototypes and collect feedback from other students to understand what still needs improvement. We can also record the playtesting process and use these records and feedback as reference materials for our future blog posts.
Through this playtesting session, I also received quite a lot of useful feedback. It helped me notice some problems I hadn’t realised before and gave me a clearer idea of what could be improved.
Feedback
1. Were there any moments during your playthrough when you felt confused, lost, or frustrated?
- There was no tutorial, so the instructions were unclear.
- I wasn’t sure where the story was going.
- The feedback from mixing drinks wasn’t clear enough.
- None.
- There were issues with going back to previous dialogue.
2. Which part or mechanic of the game did you enjoy the most, and why?
- Being able to add ingredients freely.
- Being able to go back and try different reactions.
- The drink-making process.
- The dialogue interactions were quite good.
- Getting feedback.
3. Which part of the game did you like the least? If you could, what would you remove or skip?
- Not being able to fill the cup completely with ice.
- None.
- None.
- Finding characters was complicated.
4. Did you feel that the choices you made or the actions you took had a meaningful impact on the outcome of the game?
- No, I didn’t feel that my choices had an impact.
- Yes, I could get different reactions.
- Yes, the responses were good.
5. What is one thing that you think is in greatest need of improvement?
- Write more story content.
- Make the bartending feel more interactive.
- None.
- Add memorable features to the character sprites.
Additional Suggestions
- Add a satisfaction meter and a secondary storyline, as well as an anger meter.
- Improve the feedback system for bartending.
Use of AI Tools
Google translate
Youdao translate