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"The Beauty of Modest Game Design"
When I was in middle school, my friend and I had a concept for a video game, under the working title Elemites. It was intended to fix everything we perceived to be lacking in Pokemon, which was, in retrospect, an overly ambitious endeavor for two people without drivers licenses to pursue. This was not the only aspect of the game's plan that was overly ambitious, however. The game was to feature countless capturable monsters, a complex combat system involving buckets of attacks, full voice-acting, an original soundtrack and 3D animations, all without any idea of how we could go about making any of this. Unsurprisingly, Elemites never became a real game.
As a designer who has now five completed games under her belt, the most important lesson to learn from this project was, "Curb your ambition." Game development is extremely demanding, much more so than more traditional artistic mediums such as prose or art. Even a small, modest game has many parts to consider: writing, visual, mechanics, sound design. Even small additions to a game can be deceivingly demanding to make real, especially if you are an independent creator with little backing.
Your first game doesn't need to be a AAA blockbuster. If you plan to make your first game a 30 minute visual novel with a single choice and two endings, you're on the right track. This isn't to say you cannot or should not make bigger, more ambitious games in the future--you should seek to make something special once you understand your craft! Yet, you shouldn't be afraid to make your first game modest.
A modest game is a game that is within your ability to realize. It is a game you can make real, and that makes it more beautiful than any game that is doomed to only exist as an idea in your head.
This has been first of my Game Dev Insights posts. I will be sharing plenty more of these with Subscribers on a regular basis, but it felt appropriate to give a free sample of this style of post. I've also included a fun piece of teaser art from my new game Dramireth's Dungeon, drawn by my good friend Angelique Black. This is Mimosa, an imp and devious merchant who loves leading adventurers astray.
Dramireth's Dungeon is now available for download for all of my Subscribers. Click here for a link to the upload post. Thank you all for your support!
As a designer who has now five completed games under her belt, the most important lesson to learn from this project was, "Curb your ambition." Game development is extremely demanding, much more so than more traditional artistic mediums such as prose or art. Even a small, modest game has many parts to consider: writing, visual, mechanics, sound design. Even small additions to a game can be deceivingly demanding to make real, especially if you are an independent creator with little backing.
Your first game doesn't need to be a AAA blockbuster. If you plan to make your first game a 30 minute visual novel with a single choice and two endings, you're on the right track. This isn't to say you cannot or should not make bigger, more ambitious games in the future--you should seek to make something special once you understand your craft! Yet, you shouldn't be afraid to make your first game modest.
A modest game is a game that is within your ability to realize. It is a game you can make real, and that makes it more beautiful than any game that is doomed to only exist as an idea in your head.
This has been first of my Game Dev Insights posts. I will be sharing plenty more of these with Subscribers on a regular basis, but it felt appropriate to give a free sample of this style of post. I've also included a fun piece of teaser art from my new game Dramireth's Dungeon, drawn by my good friend Angelique Black. This is Mimosa, an imp and devious merchant who loves leading adventurers astray.
Dramireth's Dungeon is now available for download for all of my Subscribers. Click here for a link to the upload post. Thank you all for your support!
