Famous Game Designers 1 What game designer have

Famous Game Designers 1

What game designer have you heard about?

What backgrounds do game designer have?

Will Wright • • Maxis, Inc. Raid on Bungling Bay, 1984 Sim. City, 1989 Sim. Ant, 1991 The Sims, 2000 The Sims Online, 2002 Sim. City 4, 2003 The Sims 2, 2004 4/58

Will Wright on Design • Making dynamic models • “put the player in the design role” • “large solution space” -> “much stronger feeling of empathy” • Creates “interactive toys” 5/58

Shigeru Miyamoto • • Donkey Kong, 1981 Super Mario Bros. , 1985 Super Mario 64, 1996 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 1998 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, 2000 Pikmin, 2001 Super Mario Sunshine, 2002 6/58

Shigeru Miyamoto on Design • "A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever“ • Inspiration from childhood memories • Exploring wilderness and caves (Zelda) • Attacked by dog on chain (Chain Chomp) 7/58

Sid Meier • • Solo Fight, 1984 Sid Meier’s Pirates!, 1987 Railroad Tycoon, 1990 Civilization, 1991 Colonization, 1994 Sid Meier’s Gettyburg!, 1997 Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, 1999 Civilization IV, 2005 8/58

Sid Meier on Design • “be able to play the game and understand it as quickly as possible” • “If a player feels there is something they would like to do that the game is not letting them do then that is a failure of the game” • “a series of interesting choices” • most acclaimed games were inspired by board games designed by Francis Tresham • 1829 (Railroad Tycoon) • Civilization (Civilization) • Spanish Main (Pirates!) maybe • “one more turn” 9/58

Chris Crawford • • • Eastern Front (1941), 1981 Balance of Power, 1985 Balance of the Planet, 1990 Storytron (Erasmatron), 1992 -2006? Suggested Reading • Crawford, C. The Art of Computer Game • Crawford, C. The Art of Interactive • Crawford, C. Chris Crawford on Game 2003. Design, 1992. Design, 2002. Design, 10/58

Chris Crawford on Design • • “It’s easier to learn from turkeys than from masterworks” “Accept full moral responsibility for the games you design” “Always delete clever ideas that don’t add to the design” “The logic of the game dominates; pick a topic to fit it” “Lose the storyboards” “Conceptualize your design in terms of its challenge, not its topic” “Keep the player on the razor edge of failure, but don’t let him fall” “Those who would build the future must understand the past” 11/58

Peter Molyneux • • • Populous, 1989 Powermonger, 1990 Theme Park, 1994 Magic Carpet, 1994 Syndicate, 1993 Dungeon Keeper, 1997 Black & White, 2001 Fable, 2004 The Movies, 2005 Black & White 2, 2005 12/58

Peter Molyneux on Design • “interfaces are paramount” • “designing a game in not thinking up a storyline but about what the player does and sees while playing your idea. ” • “Next time we will do it right” • “There’s no democracy in game design, just inspiration” • “Idea has to come from one person” • “Focus on elements that cannot be seen elsewhere” • “Make it like [game X] but better does not work” • “writing design documents is stupid” • But Fable II’s design document weighs in pages at 1, 000 13/58

Gary Gygax • • Dungeons & Dragons, 1974 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1977 Mythus, 1992 Lejandary Adventures, 1999 • Suggested Reading • Dear, William C. The Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III 14/58

Gary Gygax on Design • On Games • “interesting diversion from everyday life” • “chance to excel” • “… and if you're playing in good company you don't even mind if you lose because you had the enjoyment of the company during the course of the game” • On Dungeons & Dragons • Variation on medieval small battles because the guys got tired playing the original • “Even when you're playing miniatures, there's still some roleplaying aspect” 15/58

Hideo Kojima • • Metal Gear, 1987 Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, 1990 Metal Gear Solid, 1998 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, 2001 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, 2004 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, 2008 Among others. . .

Warren Robinett • Adventure, 1978 • Part was spun-off as superman game… • First Easter Egg 17/58

Roberta Williams • King’s Quest I, 1984 • King’s Quest II, 1985 • King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity, 1998 18/58

Janet Jensen • Gabriel Knight Series • Sins of the Fathers, 1993 • The Beast Within, 1999 • Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, 1999 19/58

Steve Jackson • • Ogre, 1977 Car Wars, 1981 Illuminati, 1983 Toon, 1984 GURPS, 1986 Illuminati: New World Order, 1997 Suggested Reading • Schuessler, N. & Jackson, S. Game Design – Volume 1: Theory and Practice, 2005 (1981) 20/58

Steve Jackson on Design • “the more factors are explicit […] the less playable [the game] will become” • “Don’t just proofread – PLAY” • “There is no excuse for failure to playtest a design thoroughly before putting it on the market; it indicates either gross ignorance, total egotism, or an absolute lack of interest in giving the gamer his money’s worth. ” • After playtesting, do blindtest, “new playtesters are exposed to the game without the benefit of advice from the designer or other experienced players. ” • After blindtesting, do proof playtesting, “an extra stage of blindtesting and another round of designer playtesting … using only “proof copies” of the finished rules, maps, and charts. ” 21/58

Richard Garriott • • • Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, 1981 Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, 1982 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, 1985 Autoduel, 1985 Ogre, 1986 Ultima VIII: Pagan, 1994 Ultima Online, 1997 City of Heroes, 2004 City of Villians, 2005 Tabula Rasa, 2007 Suggested Reading • King, B. & Borland, J. Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic 22/58

Raph Koster • • Legend. MUD Ultima Online, 1997 Star Wars Galaxies, 2003 Ever. Quest II, 2004 • Suggested Reading • Koster, R. A Theory of Fun for Game Design, 2004. 23/58

Raph Koster on Design • • Fun is "the act of mastering a problem mentally” Games are teaching patterns Create a flow experience About UO • “players don't care about what you wanted there, about what the dreams were - they only care about what they have in front of them, and then they proceed to do things you never imagined” • About SWG • “launched too early from a game design point of view” • “most systems in there were first-pass at best” • “A large chunk of the blame lies with me, for being over-ambitious with the design” 24/58

Greg Costikyan • • Toon, 1984 Paranoia, 1984 Star Wars: The roleplaying game, 1987 Paranoia XP, 2004 • Suggested Reading • Costikyan, G. I have no words and I must Design, Interactive Fantasy magazine, 1994. 25/58

Grey Costikyan on Design • “Games GROW through innovation. Innovation creates new game styles […] but it’s over now. ” • “Achieving a goal is meaningless if it comes without work, if there is no opposition” • “Whenever multiple players are involved, games are strengthened if they permit, and encourage, diplomacy” • “How can you tell a good game from a bad one? The test is still in the playing” 26/58

Ken Rolston • • Paranoia, 1984 The Lost Island of Castanamir (D&D), 1984 River of Cradles (Runequest), 1992 Paranoia, 5 th ed. , 1995 Something Rotten in Kislev (WFRP), 1999 Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, 2002 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, 2006 About retiring • “… and play stupid paper-and-pencil RPGs” • joined Big Huge Games to do a new RPG 27/58

John Carmack • • • Commander Keen, 1990 Wolfenstein 3 D, 1992 Doom, 1993 Quake, 1996 Doom 3, 2005 Suggested Reading • Kushner, D. Masters of Doom: How Empire and Transformed Pop Culture, House Two Guys Created an Random 28/58

John Romero • • • Scout Search, 1984 Commander Keen, 1990 Wolfenstein 3 D, 1992 Doom, 1993 Heretic, 1994 He. Xen, 1995 Quake, 1996 Daikatana, 2000 Hyperspace Delivery Boy, 2001 Area 51, 2005 Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, 2005 29/58

John Romero on Design • “We developed our games in a pretty non-disciplined and non-organized way because so much of it was R&D” 30/58

Warren Spector • • Toon, 1984 Car Wars, Ogre, Illuminati AD&D, DM’s guide, 2 nd ed. , 1989 GURPs, 3 rd ed. 1992 • • Send in the Clones (Paranoia), 1985 Underword: The Stygian Abuss, 1991 Ultima VII, Part 2, Serpent Isle, 1993 System Shock, 1994 Thief: The Dark Project, 1999 Deus Ex, 2000 Epic Mickey, 2010 31/58

Warren Spector on Design • “Learn to program” and “get as broad-based an education as you can” • “Become an effective communicator” • “Make games” • “giving players power to make choices enhanced the gameplay experience” • “attaching consequences to those choices made the experience even more powerful” • Gargoyle episode • Sequals & Adaptations: Get used to it! • Safe bets • Free marketing • Fan buy-in • “cool sandboxes to play in” 32/58

Sandy Petersen • Call of Cthulhu, 1981 • Runequest, 3 rd ed. , 1985 • Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game, 1986 • DOOM, 1993 • Quake, 1996 • Age of Empires: The Age of Kings, 1999 • Call of Cthulhu, 2004 • Worked on • Civilization • Sid Meier’s Pirates! 33/58

Sandy Petersen on Design • “Be familiar with all types of games, not just computer games” 34/58

Frederick Raynal • Alone in the Dark, 1992 • Infogrames took over creative control • Added Cthulhu mythos • Little Big Adventure, 1995 • Little Big Adventure 2, 1997 35/58

Gabe Newell & Mike Harrington • Half-Life, 1998 • Half-Life 2, 2004 • Suggested Reading • Valve. Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar 36/58

Mihn Le & Jess Cliffe • Counter-Strike, 1999 • Counter-Strike: source, 2004 37/58

Jane Mc. Gonigal • • • I Love Bees, 2004 Cruel 2 B Kind, 2006 World Without Oil, 2007 The Lost Ring, 2008 Superstruct, 2008 Top Secret Dance Off, 2008

Bill Roper • • • Warcraft: Orcs and Humans Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Starcraft Diablo II 39/58

Bill Roper on Design • “You can’t get good at making games unless you make games” • “tear apart boardgames to prototype your ideas” • “most importantly, never stop playing” 40/58

Richard Garfield • Robo. Rally, 1994 • Magic: The Gathering, 1994 • The Great Dalmuti, 1995 41/58

Marc Le. Blanc • Ultima Underworld II, 1993 • System Shock, 1994 • Thief, 1998 • Suggested Reading • Online articles on Aesthetics Mechanics, Dynamics, 42/58

Marc Le. Blanc on Design • • “Have a critical eye for games” “Learn to program” “Play lots of games” “Design the game for [millions of people], not for you” 43/58

Dr. Ray Muzyka • • • Baldur’s Gate, 1998 MDK 2, 2000 Baldur’s Gate II, 2000 Neverwinter Nights, 2002 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, 2003 • Based upon the roleplaying game (d 20 version) • Jade Empire, 2005 • Neverwinter Nights, 2006 44/58

Dr. Ray Muzyka on Design • “Be passionate, but self-critical” • “never compromise on quality, but do realize that there is a point of diminishing returns” 45/58

Bruce C. Shelley • Railroad Tycoon • Civilization • Age of Empires 46/58

Bruce C. Shelley on Design • “Play a lot of games and analyze them” • “Think in terms of entertaining a large audience, not a small one” • “it is okay, even encouraged, to borrow from great games, but be different at the vision level and innovative at the gameplay level” 47/58

Starr Long • • Ultima Online Bioforge Wing Commander: Privateer Ultima Underworld 2 48/58

Starr Long on Design • “play every game you possibly can” • “then analyze them carefully” • “finding inspiration from outside of games is extremely important” • “if you are not having fun making your game, then your customers will not have fun playing it” 49/58

Lorne Lanning • Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee • Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus • Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee 50/58

Lorne Lanning on Design • “The best ideas will not come from areas that have nothing to do with games” 51/58

Scott Miller on Design • “Learn from other games and designers, but do not copy them. ” • “must invent something unique and compelling (one without the other in not enough)” 52/58

Josh Holmes • Def Jam Vendetta • NBA Street • NBA Live ’ 98, ’ 99, 2000 53/58

Josh Holmes on Design • “Think of the consumer” • “Fun first” • “whenever you have a choice between realism and fun, go with fun” • • • “Always strive for balance” “Think Big” “Remember Pacing” “Play Bad Games” “Look outside of games” 54/58

Ron Gilbert • Maniac Mansion, 1987 • The Secret of Monkey Island, 1990 55/58

Swedish Game Designers • Dan Glimne • Drakborgen • Martin Walfisz • Ground Control • Andreas Roman • Midtown Madness 3 • (Battlefield: Modern Combat) • Mikael Emtinger • GTR • Tom Söderlund • Botfighters • Erik Svedäng • Blueberry Garden 56/58