Langstroth Game Design

Yes you read that right there will be a lot more content appearing on here in the coming days and weeks. This is because I have my degree show coming up and I have a lot planned for it.

So over the next few days you are going to see the following things appear as certain deadlines to do with show come up:

• My portfolio work over the whole length of my course (more on this further down)
• Videos! Demonstrations of my prototypes for the Hunter of the New Dawn and Superman: Man of Steel game designs. Also videos of my various presentations and game designs over the past three years.
• More design focused reviews and posts about other games. I have a post for Diablo III in the works currently with the aim to get it done and up by the end of the week.
• Other stuff as and when I come up with it!

This website is going to be a focus point for my stuff for the degree show. I will have it displayed on my laptop at my area and on my iPad to show people I’m talking to. It will allow me to quickly display at showcase all my work in a nicely presented package. It will also hopefully show people that I mean business!

The portfolio work is going to be posted in oldest first order as and when it is ready. With a final master post containing all the info and links about it. So if there is some elements of confusion when it comes to portfolio work it should all hopefully make sense….eventually. I am planning on making the older work posts more reflective than showcases of the best of my work. This is because….well a lot of it is not up to my current standard and quality of work. The decision to take the time to look back at it all should be interesting for me as I will be able to see how much my ideas and design process has changed over the past three years. 

The planned videos should also work well with these portfolio posts too and will hopefully act as accompaniments to the written posts about the various designs and projects. They will also hopefully lead people who follow me on Tumblr over to my YouTube channel and people who follow me on YouTube over to Tumblr. I’m sneaky like that you see.

So yeah that’s the plan so let’s see if I can get it done in time! My first major deadline is getting the prototypes cleaned up and ready for this coming Wednesday this includes at least recording the video footage I will be using to showcase them to people who visit this website. Everything else then has to be ready for the 11th which is moderation day which is a tad nerve racking! Then the actual show itself starts on the 15th and runs until the 30th at the UCLan Preston Campus. (I’ll post the final details closer to the dates). It should be an interesting experience.

I will leave you with this:

This is the design for my banner which will be accompanying me at the degree show. The top two boxes are some of my work from this year, Superman and Hunters of the New Dawn, while the bottom one is a mix of work from the length of my course. 

It’s gonna be quiet around here for the next week or so for two reasons:

1. Diablo III
2. I’m going away for a few days (My fiancé is taking me to LEGOLAND!!!!!)

Yes my life is awesome! :D

But I will endever to post a couple of things if I can while I’m out and about.

Now that the major parts of my degree are over and done with it is time to step things up a notch on here!

Let’s start things off with a list of awesome game design, game design theory and smart game journalism websites that every would be game designer needs to check and use regularly.

These are some of the sites I use regularly and if you have any more suggestions please feel free to mention them in a comment or note on this post or by dropping them in my Ask Box. I’ll have a look at them and then add them to the list. The plan is that I’ll repost the list every couple of months with new additions and updates.

So let’s begin!

The Game Design Tag on Tumblr

Our quite little corner of Tumblr is slowly growing and every day I am impressed by the ideas and quality of work on display. From people showcasing their work, to people posting links and production images from games both old and new. The game design tag is always an interesting place to check out. Hats off to you guys! Seriously, I mean it.

Game Pitches

A website my tutor shared with us all. It may not be updated regularly but when updates do come they are usually really good. Pitch documents, presentations and game design documents from some of the industry’s most well known games and franchises. Go check it out and loose a day or two reading all the documents and presentations!

Game Development StackExchange 

It may mainly be a haven for games programmers and the more technically minded among us but game designers need to have at least a passing knowledge of programming and how it works to get by. Just spend an hour or so every week exploring the StackExchange and you’ll be surprised how much you’ll pick up.

The Psychology of Video Games

Not a website I check regularly but when I do they always have some interesting articles on how games and certain game systems effect the player and their engagement with a game. It will give you some major food for thought both on mechanics and the morals of them and game systems in general. Well worth checking out.

Gamasutra

This is one that everyone should have bookmarked already. The key here though is not just to check out the Design section. Explore the whole site; Programming, Art, Audio, Production and Biz/Marketing all impact on game design. Keeping up your knowledge of these areas even on a basic level is a must.

The Brainy Gamer

Michael Abbott’s blog is always a good place to go for higher level discussion and discourse about the games we play. Some great recommendations on books to read and other places to visit. It is also now home to The Smart Game Catalogue which you need to check out.

The Escapist

It may be a big news site but The Escapist’s contributors constantly throw out interesting points of discussion. If you just go their to check out the videos you are missing out on loads of interesting articles and content relating to game analysis.

Game Informer

If you live outside of the USA like I do the Game Informer website is a godsend. In the past year or so they have started putting up more and more content from and related to the monthly magazine. (WHY NO INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS?!) The area of the site that has the greatest interest is the Monthly HUB pages that tie in with the big focus, Cover Stories, of the latest issue. These are more than just slowly teased out previews. There is always a lot of content related to the game’s production and design process. Game Informer is also home to this wonderful piece of inspiration by Ken Levine from 2010.

Edge Online

The online arm of the UK’s game industry focused magazine. Lots of content from the magazine, lots of links and news articles that are actually relavent and lots and lots of job listings!

Penny Arcade

I cannot stress the growing importance of Penny Arcade as a hub for all things gaming enough. The team that run the various elements of the business know what they are doing and do it extremely well. It is not just because you have video series like Checkpoint and ExtraCredits finding their home on PATV. Or the brilliant webcomic that started it all. You also have things like the slowly growing PA Report which is quickly becoming my new favourite gaming news and discussion site.

So that’s it from me, for now. So do you guys have any suggestions that I can add to the list?

This is the Master Post for my Honours Project - DD3992 - For the Game Design Enterprise Course at the University of Central Lancashire

Production

Related Blog Posts: (Oldest to Newest)

• Honours Project Proposal (First Draft) (October 5th, 2011)
• Project Superman (October 9th, 2011)
• More proof that I need to design a good Superman Game! (October 12th, 2011)
• Project Superman (NowGamer Thread) (October 13th, 2011)
• DD3992 – Honours Project Proposal Form (FINAL) (October 13th, 2011)
• Scheduling…..it begins! (October 18th, 2011)
• Video Posts for the Time Travel Game: One, Two, Three (October 19th, 2011)
• DD3992 – Honours Project Deliverables (October 26th, 2011)
• Project Superman Pitch Presentation (November 9th, 2011)
• Weekly Update (January 16th, 2012)
• Weekly Update (January 23rd, 2012)
• Weekly Update (February 6th, 2012)
• Weekly Update (February 13th, 2012)
• Weekly Update (February 20th, 2012)
• Weekly Update (February 28th, 2012)
• Updated Honours Project Deliverables (March 5th, 2012)
• Weekly Update (March 23rd, 2012)
• Project Superman And The Gaming Changing Prototype (April 8th, 2012)
• Weekly Update (April 10th 2012)
• Superman: Man of Steel Update (April 16th, 2012)
• Superman: Man of Steel Update (April 17th, 2012)
• Updated Honours Project Deliverables (April 18th, 2012)
• Time Travel Game and Project Superman Update! (April 18th, 2012)
• Superman: Man of Steel Update (April 20th, 2012)
• Time Travel Game Update (April 21st, 2012)
• Uni Projects Update! (April 25th, 2012)
• Time Travel Game Update (April 29th, 2012)

Documentation

Time Travel Game:

• Pitch Presentation 
• Time Travel Game Wiki 
• Time Travel Game Wiki Process
• Prototype (made with UDK January 2012)

Visual Design Document and Game Wiki Comparison 

While the two design methods used in my honours project are vastly different and have their own major selling points and downsides. The conclusion I have come to is that both are good for the game designs being presented.

The Visual Document suits the Superman: Man of Steel idea perfectly and allowed me to showcase the design in a larger than life and colourful way. It allowed by its very nature the inclusion of all the image files used in the document that add to the overall look and feel for the game design. The document itself flows from one section to the other and presents things to the point and with the minimum of complication.

The Game Design Wiki suited the Time Travel game perfectly because it allowed me to take the time to explain the more complex ideas and concepts behind the game design. The document itself is presented in a way to easily explore and navigate.

The things is I can not actually come to a conclusion as to which method is better. I think in future, now that I have perfected the Visual Design method I will be able to generate contented for such documents at a much faster rate. As for the Game Design Wiki I am comfortable with editing and organising them now and the merits of presenting the design in an ordered maner make it stand out.

I think in future I would try to use an amalgam of both methods to present a perfect game design document. With the visual aspect covering the spine of the documentation and delivering the key information and the wiki giving you the finer details of the game design.