A single book you should purchase and read regardless of what I teach.
What’s the goal for this series
The goal of this series, just like my channel, is too open the door for everyone
who is interested in learning game design and game programming as a solo game developer.
We live in a great time, perhaps the greatest time.
The internet has provided so many opportunities to learn for free and avoid the issues of the
past where knowledge was given only to those who could afford it.
Let’s face it, making games is expensive.
You must buy a computer, buy some courses, and even perhaps purchase a ticket to a
conference to learn the latest trends in game development.
Then you need to buy software, and if your project is serious; hire people,
outsource work you cannot do, and eventually the cost skyrockets.
All these things cost money and shut the door for some people on even attempting to learn how to make games.
I just want to provide free videos, where all you need is a computer,
perhaps the Godot game engine installed, and most importantly ambition.
In a sense, let’s start our journey together!
Now who is this series for?
It’s for everyone!
More importantly, it’s for those who wants to start learning game design with no experience,
basically absolute beginners.
Even though I target absolute beginners, I believe this series is great for people who are experienced
as it offers alternative viewpoints on specific topics, perhaps reinforces existing knowledge,
or opens the door to debate where everyone can learn and better themselves with.
Game Design Basics Series Topic Outline
I will be going over the following in the game design basics series:
Turning an idea and testing it out without costing too much money. Basically, a way of quickly answering questions through prototyping.
Game design
Level design
Combat design
Player psychology
Story structure
The hero’s journey
World building.
How to plan out the development of your game
Basics on the general pipeline of artist, animation, and music
Tips on hiring freelancers
How the game industry works
Basics of pitching your ideas
Basically, I’ll be going over things I wish was taught to me when I started out rather than learning
through trial and error.
Expectations for this series
The expectation for this series is to have an open mind, because game design is an artform that truly has no answers.
As a matter of fact, I personally believe that game design is the art canvas in which game programmers can paint in.
As with anything that is related to creativity and art, there are no correct or right answers.
Some game designers follow game design theory to a fault and make lots of money.
Some game designers, such as Hideo Kojima, throw away all the rules of game design and make lots of money.
Game design is amazing because there are no right or wrong answers, however there are proven frameworks
and theories we can use to provide a game that is enjoyable for people who happen to play our game.
Like most things in the realm of art, theory is provided to beginners to let them know about constraints.
However, once you’ve understood the fundamentals, you can basically bend the rules more and more until you bend the rules to the point, they don’t look like the fundamentals you started out with, but you are still using the fundamentals in some sense.
Lastly, I only want to inspire and share knowledge with those who are absolute beginners in game development.
I do not promise or make any promises in regard to becoming the next Michelangelo of video games.
The third edition recently released in 2019, I personally purchased the second edition when it recently released.
I haven’t had the chance to read it, if you are able to purchase it, I would point you to that as it’s the latest edition,
but I read and learned from the second edition, and it’s still relevant in today’s day and age
outside of VR and AR technologies which Jesse predicted would not happen in our lifetime,
but it did and continues to accelerate.
The reason I recommend the Art of Game Design is because it introduces exercises that get you
thinking about games, which is an important skill to have as a game designer and game developer.
How homework works with the series
There will most likely be a homework assignment at the end of every episode.
The homework’s purpose is to get you thinking about a specific topic in the realm of game design.
The homework’s don’t have any right or wrong answers,
they just ask you to think of something about games you’ve probably never externally asked yourself before.
Basically, the aim of homework assignments is to activate your critical thinking skills when it comes to the games
you’ve played.
Most people who play games only passively think of games and its internal structures,
but as a game designer you need to actively think about how the games you play work.
First homework
Here is your very first homework for the series!
Think of a game, it can be any game.
Then think of three things you liked about it.
Afterwards think of three things you did not like about it.
Take your time when answering these questions but answer each question with as few or little words as possible.
When you pick three things you liked and three things you disliked like; ask yourself these questions.
Do any items in your like list reinforce other areas inside your like list?
Do any items in your dislike list reinforce other areas inside your dislike list?
Do any of the items on the dislike list help reinforce or support the things on your like list?
The purpose is to see what drew you to that game and what the game lacks from your perspective.
The goal of seeing if things you disliked reinforce the things you like is there to show you why sometimes your game can’t have everything you do enjoy.
The opposite of something you disliked, is something you may like.
Again, there are no right or wrong answers, just try your best.
By the way this homework assignment, you should be doing this after every game you play because as a game designer you need to borrow from other games to help your own.
There is nothing new under the sun, and all we are trying to do is innovate on methods and techniques that are already established.
The three things I liked were the fantasy of being the world’s greatest assassin, the environments, and the choices of how I could tackle each mission.
The three things I disliked was that it’s a slow game, lack of an emotional story, and no leveling up.
The level environment of the Hitman game supports the idea that there are multiple ways to tackle a mission.
Here is food for thought, if you are the world’s greatest assassin, is there a reason to level up your character?
Transcript
Godot Tutorials is not sponsored by or affiliated with the Godot game engine.
Welcome to the game design basics series!
My name is Josee, and I will be your guide for this series.
In this episode, I will go over a high-level view of what I will be teaching in this series.
I will discuss the following:
My goal for this series.
Who is this series for?
What I will be going over
Expectations for this series.
How homework will work for this series.
A single book you should purchase and read regardless of what I teach.
My episodes will be in written form, eventually, on my website over at Godot tutorials dot com.
Please feel free to check that out if you are interested in the written form.
The goal of this series, just like my channel, is too open the door for everyone who is interested in learning game design and game programming as a solo game developer.
We live in a great time, perhaps the greatest time. The internet has provided so many opportunities to learn for free and avoid the issues of the past where knowledge was given only to those who could afford it.
Let’s face it, making games is expensive.
You must buy a computer, buy some courses, and even perhaps purchase a ticket to a conference to learn the latest trends in game development. Then you need to buy software, and if your project is serious; hire people, outsource work you cannot do and eventually the cost skyrockets.
All these things cost money and shut the door for some people on even attempting to learn how to make games.
I just want to provide free videos, where all you need is a computer, perhaps the Godot game engine installed, and most importantly ambition.
Since my courses are free, I know how hard it is to make paid educational material, and so I don’t want my courses to shut down other people who make paid courses and I will recommend paid courses and resources as well, because I also pay for them.
This course is free, and if you believe that making games is something for you, I recommend tons of free and paid courses and mentors you can find in the Go Doe game engine community and in other communities as well.
In a sense, let’s start our journey together!
Joseé: Now who is this series for?
Well, it’s for everyone who wants to start learning game design with no experience, basically absolute beginners.
Even though I
target absolute beginners, I believe this series is great for people who are experienced as it offers alternative viewpoints on specific topics, perhaps reinforces existing knowledge, or opens the door to debate where everyone can learn and better themselves with.
I will be going over the following in the game design basics series.
First, I want to go over a way of turning an idea and testing it out without costing too much money. Basically, a way of quickly answering questions through prototyping.
Then I will go into the following in no specific order:
the basics of game design, level design, combat design, player psychology, story structure and the hero’s journey, and basics of world building.
On top of that some ideas on how to plan out the development of your game along with some basics on the general pipeline of artist, animation, and music along with some tips on hiring freelancers if that is the route you choose to go into. Lastly a little bit on how the game industry works and tips on pitching your ideas to publishers or even family members.
Basically, this series are things I wish I knew before I started out.
The expectation for this series is to have an open mind, because game design is an artform that truly has no answers.
As a matter of fact, I personally believe that game design is the art canvas in which game programmers can paint in.
As with anything that is related to creativity and art, there are no correct or right answers.
Some game designers follow game design theory to a fault and make lots of money.
Some game designers, such as Hideo Kojima, throw away all the rules of game design and make lots of money.
Game design is amazing because there are no right or wrong answers, however there are proven frameworks and theories we can use to provide a game that is enjoyable for people who happen to play our game.
Like most things in the realm of art, theory is provided to beginners to let them know about constraints.
However, once you’ve understood the fundamentals, you can basically bend the rules more and more until you bend the rules to the point, they don’t look like the fundamentals you started out with, but you are still using the fundamentals in some sense.
Lastly, I only want to inspire and share knowledge with those who are absolute beginners in game development.
I do
The third edition recently released in I believe late two thousand and nineteen.
I haven’t had the chance to read it, if you are able to purchase it, I would point you to that as it’s the latest edition, but I read and learned from the second edition and it’s still relevant in today’s day and age outside of VR and AR technologies which Jesse predicted would not happen in our lifetimes, but it did and continues to accelerate.
The reason I recommend the Art of Game Design is because it introduces exercises that get you thinking about games, which is an important skill to have as a game designer and game developer.
There will most likely be a homework assignment at the end of every episode.
The homework’s purpose is to get you thinking about a specific topic in the realm of game design.
The homeworks don’t have any right or wrong answers, they just ask you to think of something about games you’ve probably never externally asked yourself before.
Basically, the aim of homework assignments is to activate your critical thinking skills when it comes to games.
Most people who play games only passively think of games and its internal structures, but as a game designer you need to actively think about how the games you play work.
Think of a game, it can be any game.
Then think of three things you liked about it.
Afterwards think of three things you did not like about it.
Take your time when answering these questions but answer each question with as few or little words as possible.
When you pick three things you liked and three things you didn’t like; ask yourself these questions.
Do any items in your like list reinforce other areas inside of your like list?
Do any items in your dislike list reinforce other areas inside of your dislike list?
Do any of the items on the dislike list help reinforce or support the things on your like list?
The purpose is to see what drew you to that game and what the game lacks from your perspective.
The goal of seeing if things you disliked reinforce the things you like is there to show you why sometimes your game can’t have everything you do enjoy.
The opposite of something you disliked,
is something you may like.
The purpose of this exercise is to start working your game design muscles. Even if you can’t see anything, that’s ok. There may or may not be any connections in your list.
Again, there are no right or wrong answers, just try your best.
By the way this homework assignment, you should be doing this after every game you play because as a game designer you need to borrow from other games to help your own.
There is nothing new under the sun, and all we are trying to do is innovate on methods and techniques that are already established.
Joseé: For me I pick the hitman game from 2016.
The three things I liked were the fantasy of being the world’s greatest assassin, the environments, and the choices of how I could tackle each mission.
The three things I disliked was that it’s a slow game, lack of an emotional story, and no leveling up.
The level environment of the Hitman game supports the idea that there are multiple ways to tackle a mission.
Here is a food for thought, if you are the world’s greatest assassin, is there a reason to level up your character?
That is all I have for you in this episode.
Thank you for joining me.
Thank you for liking and subscribing to my channel.
I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.
Have an amazing day!
Is game Design Formulaic?
It can be, but that doesn’t mean it has to be.
Game design is all about how you want to guide the experience of players.
What’s with the change in voice?
Apologies in advance, I’m not comfortable answering that verbally or in written form.
There is an answer if you look hard enough, I promise you that.
Sadly, I won’t verbally answer, but again it’s there.
Regardless, I’ll do my best to release articles that release soon after the videos release on YoTube