Game Designer s Journey ABOUT ME Andrii Dotsenko

Game Designer’s Journey

ABOUT ME Andrii Dotsenko Game Designer at Ubisoft Kiev • 10+ years of experience in game design • Game Designer on PC version of Far Cry 4 • Projects for Microsoft, Gameloft, Nival, Bigfish

ME DESIGN IN UBISOFT KIEV • Big AAA-projects (Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, etc. ) • Huge teams (up to 800+ people and 10 studios for one project) • You are part of the big machine and design only certain features of the game • Game designer at Ubisoft Kiev worked on PC versions,

WHO IS GAME DESIGNER? “The role of all Game Design professionals at Ubisoft is to imagine and develop compelling and engaging rules for our games. From conception to release, they design high quality game systems and mechanics that are adapted to the audience and will enable players to live their own unique, fun and rich gaming experiences”. • Imagine and develop compelling and engaging rules for the game • Design game systems and mechanics and adapt them to the audience • Create unique, fun and rich gaming experiences for players

YPES OF GAME DESIGNERS • Game Designer Generalist (Mechanics/UI) • Level Designer • Narrative Designer • Lead Game Designer • Lead Level • Content Director • Narrative Director • Expert Game Designer • Creative Director • Game Director

HAT GAME DESIGNER DO? • • • Design mechanics and systems within the capabilities and constraints of the engine and tools Leverage a deep understanding and culture of all game genres and platforms to analyze, design and improve game mechanics and systems Use game data to tune and tweak game parameters in an iterative way in the engine or with prototyping tools to validate game mechanics and systems Develop knowledge of usability and learning theories to design gameplay features every player will engage with in line with the defined game progression Leverage knowledge of player psychology and motivation triggers to build game systems that will foster players' engagement Assess the efficiency of signs and feedbacks in the game and suggest solutions to design and optimize them Structure and distribute game information for the player in an efficient way to optimize player onboarding, workload and overall comfort Know and apply layout and typography principles to optimize the presentation of information on the screen Build economic systems that are adapted to the game systems and mechanics and that

T WHERE SHOULD I START?

USUAL WAY… • • • I’ve played so many great I know how the Now, games! games work! I wanna be a Game Designer! BTW, I have a great idea!!!

…DOESN’T WORK • They didn’t respond to my letter with so • many really great teach Nobody wants to game ideas me! • No formal education (or very expensive and doubtful)

ION: I WILL EDUCATE MYSELF! “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is”. (Isaak Asimov) I’ve seen an article/interview about game design, so people can learn it somehow! I can do this too! …and that’s where our journey begins

FIRST TRIAL: ENGLISH Game Design knowledge in English vs. not in English (not an actual data) IN ENGLISH NOT IN ENGLISH • Learn English • Think globally and focus on the international market • Set a high quality bar from the very beginning

O ENGLISH = GAME OVER

CAN I FIND THE KNOWLEDGE? • Google it! (thanks, Cap. !) • First 10 pages of Google/Youtube search about “Game Design”/”Game Design Book”/”Game Design Blog” contains 80% of the necessary information. • Not being lazy!

HAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR? • Fundamental knowledge (how people think, act, make decisions, perceive • Post-mortems (look for information, etc. ). best practices) Technologies change • fast; people change De-construct existing very slowly. games (fundamental knowledge will help you) • Learn how to systemize

THE SECRET KNOWLEDGE • Google it! (Game Design/Game Design • gdcvault. com Book/Game Design Blog) • gamasutra. com • coursera. org • academia. edu • gamedesignersvault. co m

EADY! I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS! • I’ve read 10/50/100 game design articles! • I’ve even read a book about game design! • Now, I certainly know how the games work! • With all this knowledge, I have even more great ideas than before! • Now, they will answer to my letters!

NO.

IDEAS SUCCESS RATE 3000 Raw ideas 300 Ideas for consideration 125 Small projects 9 4 Developments Major developme nts Launch 1. 7 ed 1 successful product Creating of something new is hard: • 3000 raw ideas originated • 300 ideas submitted for consideration • 125 are translated into small projects • 9 become developments

AD TRUTH ABOUT IDEAS • Only 1 idea out of 3000 is successful • First 50% of your ideas will be obvious • The most part of another 50% will be not practical What to do: • Generate MORE ideas • Use Extended Effort Principle

GOT AN IDEA? PROVE IT! Ok, let’s assume that you have really good idea…and then you suddenly realize that nobody believes you! Prove your idea! • Mods • Game prototyping tools • Non-commercial projects

DESIGN IS NOT ABOUT IDEAS IDEA ≠ GAME The game appears only after the player starts to interact with the game rules. The only way to prove that you idea worth something is to make it interactive.

U MIGHT FAIL MANY TIMES • 52 nd (!) Rovio game • Hundreds of failed prototypes • Before Angry Birds, Rovio was close to bankruptcy • Sometimes, you have to fail many times before real success

D TRIAL: YOU’RE NOT ALONE You will need other people to make the game (programmers, artists, management, business, etc. ). Learn to communicate with all of them.

OMMUNICATION TOOLS • Word/Excel/Powerpoint are your best friends. Master them. • Learn how to write well • Learn how to speak well (also in public) • Basic artistic skills – draw your idea. Pencil and paper work surprisingly well.

CLARITY EXERCISE *Google “Elevator • Write your idea in four short sentences. Or less. Imagine that you have ~30 sec. to say them. • From these four sentences, the essence of your idea should be clearly understandable. • If you cannot write it

EY DON’T LISTEN TO ME! • They criticize my ideas every time! • They want to implement their own ideas instead of mine! • They do everything in their own way! • I’m a DESIGNER, why don’t they listen to me?

HE LAST TRIAL: YOUR EGO • Game is collective creative process • You have no creative • You cannot know monopoly everything • Learn to listen to your team, they all have different life experiences, play different games, learn how to use this

HOW TO LISTEN • Every member of the • team has a voice You are “listening hub. ” • Look for “integrated decisions” that should include ideas of your team • BUT. Focus on the *Google TED video “How to player experience manage for collective creativity”

E DESIGN IS HARD TO LEARN Game Design requires from you developing of very specific mindset. Usually, you need at least two years and some amount of failed projects to develop such mindset. You need to learn how to craft and communicate

FIND THE ENTRANCE In many cases, you will not start you career, as a game designer. First thing that you need to do is to find the entrance to the industry: • Find modding/noncommercial projects communities where you can get basic skills

AME DESIGN IS PERSONAL All the game design methods do not work without you. In many cases, your success as a game designer depends on personal qualities. Especially, on the early stage of your career.

GAME DESIGN IS RISKY Game Design is the hardest and the riskiest career path in the game industry. Sometimes not very rewarding. In the most cases, much more boring than you expect. Follow this way, only if you

Thank You

OR THOSE WHO ARE LAZY Game Design books: • Jesse Schell, The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses • Brenda Brathwaite, Challenges for Game Designers • Raph Koster, Theory of Fun for Game Design • Scott Rogers, Level Up! Useful links: • Google it! (Game Design/Game Design Book/Game Design Blog) • gdcvault. com • gamasutra. com • coursera. org • academia. edu • gamedesignersvault. co