GDC-1.1-Game Design Curriculum Deathmatch

by Mary Flanagan, Tracy Fullerton, Justin Hall, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, and Eric Zimmerman

// NOTE : This is possibly one of the most important sessions of the Conference; reference this often!



// Every speaker (there are 4) gives 3 answers to each question.

Q: What would you like to use now?

· Technical Mastery
· Collaborative Teamwork / Communication
· Creativity
· Aesthetic Expression
· Iteration, Iteration, Iteration
· Critical Thinking
· Risk Taking


Q: What are the most important classes to have?

· Risk Being Wrong
· Systems and Systems Analysis
· Listening to Player Feedback
· Communication


Q: What games should be referenced for Game Design?

· Chess*
· Space War
· Magic the Gathering
· The Sims*
· September 12th
· Halo (Halo 2)
· Knights of the Old Republic
· 4 Square (?)
· Flower
· Mafia / Werewolf / Witch-Hunt
* The game was referenced repeatedly.


Q: What are the top readings in Introduction to Game Design classes?

· Rules of Play
· Persuasive Games
· Designing Interactions
· Game Design Reader*
· Pilgrims in the Microworld
· Houizenga
· Game Design Workshop*
· Some Paradoxes on the Definition of Play
* The book was referenced repeatedly.


Q: What is the single most important quality for a Game Designer to have?

· Think Systemically
· Compassion
· Communication
· Collaboration


Q: What are problems new Game Designers have?

· Scope!
· Team Conflict
· “I just want to tell stories”
· Why isn’t it fun?
· “They aren’t playing it right”
· Ideation derailment
· “I want to order others around”
· Balance
· Technical approach
· “My ideas are brilliant”


Q: What are the mistakes seen when starting a Game Design educational program?

· Focus on technology
· Taking semi-quasi classes (padding it out)
· Trying to do everything (need more specialization)
· It should be in a typical department
· No paper
· No iteration
· Focus on AAA
· Don’t connect with local game industry
· Not enough passion
· Catering to stereotypical gamer culture


Q: What should students do in school to get jobs?

· Intern (for pay!)
· Have 1 or more games made and performed well
· Work with others on games
· Take risks
· Read everything and travel!
· Document making processes
· See many unusual things in uncomfortable situations
· Find what is meaningful to them (not a jack-of-all trades)
· Communicate as a designer
· Have a portfolio up online, displayed well, and shared
· Meet people who can teach you things
· Play with people you don’t know / make games for

GDC-1.0-It's Raining New Content: Rapid Test Iterations

by Benjamin Seifert ( QA Lead - Riot Games )



Look for analysts, not testers.

QA must be ready to commit no matter the project.

QA pick-a-path: Subject Matter Expert (SME), People Management, and Project Management.

                QA should be committed to pick-up on any of these.

Automated testing will catch things such as FPS drops.

Test things to see if it is fun for players.

Feedback playtesting comes in the forms of company play, intra-team, and inter-team play.

“Is the cool new spider monster engaging?” // this is a question on the Twisted Treeline map

QA starts by giving feedback on character concepts.

Challenges: Continual training and innovation along with a lack of documentation.

Strive to reach a 0-bug build.

‘Pain Score’: Each bug has this; if the score is low enough, a build is released.

Content is the lifeblood of LoL.

4.1.13 - A Fury Void Update

The last time writing was indicating that Team Fury had moved Fury Void from Alpha-phase of development to Beta-phase deployment.  Since then, a massive collection of advancements have allowed Fury Void to stride to a final release in the coming month.

To refresh the reader of what Fury Void is, it is a frantic, top-down space shooter combining the random madness of Asteroids with the fast-paced blasting of a ‘bullet hell’.  Over the course of the past seven months, a team of 4 students has put together one of the most successful games of the Dakota State University Game Design program; steps to completing that success are as follows.

Major tests have been conducted on the behalf of the game.  The first one of note was during a presentation at March’s start.  This presentation exposed major gaps that may be included in the design of Fury Void; optimal destruction meters, planet labeling, flavor text inclusion, and further elaboration on the capabilities of the ship were not apparent/were wanted by the audience.  Much more was discussed, but Team Fury would encourage all to attend the monthly presentations to garner what Fury Void is doing.

Later, Fury Void was exposed to the local Game Design group established by Dakota State University.  From that, much feedback was recorded as well as the event was a mark of the first time that Fury Void was mass-tested under the supervision of the entire team.  The main points of feedback consisted of the game being addicting, there needs to be a bit of context given to actions, the Xbox controller needs to support axis aiming, and instructions need to be given to the player.  Lastly, an optimization gauge should be added to judge when a player can move on from a play space; this feature is now on the top of the development list.

Fury Void has been proven to be a fun and addicting game, but it is still a fallible game.  Thus, the following bugs have been handled as-of-late: There was text pixilation of filler and intro messages, but that is corrected; The ship body no longer is ripped from the ship when a black hole is created; Enemies are on the minimap; The intro cinematic text is centered on the screen; Xbox controllers support any axis shooting; and, music and sound plays everywhere.

The final bit to cover would have to be minor features being added or tweaked in gameplay.  The Difficulty option available to the player has been moved to the Ship Switching screen.  Enemy weapon shots have visible light trails added to them.  Enemies now have the code structure to be randomly spawned in-game.  Any text option that is selected is visibly highlighted.  A ‘warp zone’ has been added to identify where the player can go to change solar systems.  In closing, a smaller arena has been created ( a feature added that was lost at some point in the version control software ).

To come, here are some of the features on the development list.  First, time orbs in the liking of the energy orbs are to be implemented; they would add time to the clock so the player could play longer.  An optimal destruction gauge is on the top of the creation list; this gives an indication as to when the player has done their duty in the given system in destroying enough of the solar system they are in.  Additional customization options should be given to the player; ship speed, health, agility, and damage are to be included.  Context to what the player does and why they are doing it is of utmost importance; this feature will require a bit more thought.

Before the next report, there will be more playtests and even some professional advice given on the game at the Game Development Conference.  Please pay attention to the changes to come, check-out Fury Void on Facebook, and play a beta here.