Games design - Make it personal!

Games design is essentially everything that is needed to make a game work. The story, gameplay, characters, levels and the game “mechanics” are all determined depending on what designers have planned. This will begin with the creation of a design document. An in depth analysis of what needs to be made and how it is going to work. Without a structured plan on how a game is going to be made what would be produced would be a sticky mess of different ideas. No – something as complicated as a video game needs a plan, no matter if it is Pac-man or FEAR. This design document is crucial for a working and well-made game. Pac man could’ve been completely different if it was created now, using our latest software, however they had to create a game in a different generation with much less advanced kit, but would Pac-Man be so loved if it was created to the standards of games today? People love it because it is considered a classic game, it doesn't age as it isn’t based on having detailed and realistic graphics. It keeps to a style which suits it, keeping it popular in today’s era.

 So what about “Game Play?” this is a term used to describe the players personal experience when playing a game. Their connection to the protagonist, how they play a part in the games plot and the players interactions within this digital world. This term is not to be mixed up with the phrase “Game Mechanics” which is only a part of the gameplay. This refers to the set of rules that determine how the player plays the game. I personally believe that the game play is incredibly important to my experience when playing and how it affects my opinion of the game. For example, during 2012 I bought myself a copy of the much anticipated Assassins Creed 3. The latter games were some of my favourite with a rich plot and interesting characters. However I felt sorely let down by this newest installment  The gameplay was mostly good. The plot was quite exciting and the majority of the characters were also very interesting, however as soon as I was introduced to the main protagonist, Connor Kenway I felt myself disconnect slightly from the game. I had been enjoying playing as Haytham – a rich and interesting character, only to be put in the shoes of this boring husk of a man who really didn't have much of a personality.

 I feel Ubisoft tried to spice up this game with the addition of such options as hunting. This seemed successful at first as I was enjoying hunting down different animals with my small amount of tools, but this quickly became pointless as there was no need for money nor to sell the pelts throughout the game. I feel these two things were large flaws in the planning causing the gameplay experience to be ruined for me. However it did pick up a few brownie points with content such as being able to pet animals, which I happened to do every time I passed a stray dog or cat.

 

After reading up on Kevin Watford’s “Into The Transmission” I realized how he spoke of some people thinking themselves above and more important than others within a game industry. I feel like this separation between designers can have large implements on a game. Everything in a game needs to work smoothly, its great if the game has beautiful graphics but its story line is lousy? Chances are it’ll be a rubbish game.  

Everybody has different experiences when playing video games, everybody enjoys different things. Some love the beauty in the graphics, others love the soundtrack, some the characters some the story and the list goes on, but I believe the very best and most popular games are so popular because they are able to bring all of these elements together and make an all-around spectacular game.