Game Development Giant

If it is sold directly, what about the decline in brand value caused by poor reputation? But if we go back and redo it, what about the R\u0026D expenses spent on it?

Neither of these issues should essentially be considered by a game designer, but rather by the boss of a game company.

But Jester still asked this question, because he knew very well that the designer was responsible for the quality of a game, not the boss of the company.

A qualified game designer must be responsible for his own work.

Seeing everyone still speechless, Jester continued to smile and asked the next question.

"Then let's change the direction of discussion and look at this problem - why do we have to wait until a game is almost 10% completed before we know that this game is just-so-so, when we made it before Can’t you find it?”

These words made the more than 30 Mars Entertainment designers' eyes light up. It seemed that they had thought of something key, but they couldn't grasp it for a while.

"perhaps……"

Mark Saini deserves to be the original creator of this theory. After hearing Jester’s provocative questions, he also had some ideas of his own.

However, this theory is the result of his nearly 20 years of game development, the development teams of Sega, Universal Entertainment (Vivendi Games), and Sony Entertainment, and the accumulation of experience in the development of countless games. Now, he is far from it. later levels.

He only said the word 'maybe' and there was nothing more to say.

Like everyone else, he seemed to have touched the doorrail in his heart, but it would take a long time of game development experience to break through the thick layer of window paper.

This is why Mark Saini’s ‘Saini Theory’ was so popular after it was first proposed, because his theory explains how to make an excellent game in an almost methodological way.

For those designers standing outside the door, open the door that can lead them to success.

So, Jester continued his speech, and everyone listened in silence. They were indeed attracted by Jester's theory.

"We continue to deepen this issue. When we were designing, we thought 'this idea is great' or 'this gameplay is beautiful', but when we programmed them, we found that it was actually 'just average', so I asked how far into the game we had to go before we realized that our initial assumptions were wrong: this was not a great thing, but a piece of shit."

"How much of the game's content does the core elements of a game account for? Take my "American Cube" as an example. I dug out all the unnecessary background patterns, matching electronic music, and some players may After removing the text without even reading it, and only retaining the core gameplay of this game, which is to eliminate seven different randomly appearing blocks, how much capacity is left in this game?”

As he spoke, Jester stretched out a hand, but he retracted his thumb.

He raised his palm with four fingers exposed and shook it at everyone, and then said his answer: "Forty percent."

Then, Jester said the three most important of the four core points of Seni's theory.

"For a game, a designer must have a concept of a pre-product. This pre-product must be the first releasable trial version that contains all the core gameplay of the game by the designer. I assume it will be called Alpha. Version."

"In addition to embodying the core of the game you want to ultimately make, the alpha version must have a quality that can be released, rather than a simple patchwork of fragmented game content - so I call it a releasable version."

"Then, by understanding whether players buy into this "first releasable demo version" trial, we can assist and optimize our development process."

"In other words, we were right when we first imagined it."

“As game designers, the first thing we need to understand is that it’s not whether we think it’s a good thing to do, but whether the players want it or not. I asked you earlier whether you have the mentality of making or designing a game. To make a game, this is actually a very interesting question. What we produce is a commodity - so should we also use the mentality of making a commodity to do it?"

Jester said it very seriously. He has experienced the explosion of games in later generations, and his audio-visual enjoyment far exceeded that of the current pixel era. At that time, games were called the ninth art. Making a game was no more important than making a movie. It's much simpler, but now, probably no one except Jester has the idea that games are art.

"This is how a teacher at UCL explained art when he was talking about what art is."

"This is what he said - 'Art is a very subjective thing. What I think is art may be considered by others to be just a piece of shit, so there may not be an exact and standardized definition of this subjective thing. But I think art should be when someone puts something together in order to create a response in a certain group. If this is the case, then when we make games, are we also putting something together to create a response? What about trying to generate a response in a certain group?”

Seeing some people nodding their heads, Jester continued to say with a smile.

"Facing the previous problems, everyone can have a different mentality. I personally think that I am not just a game designer, I am an artist. I am passing on my thoughts to the players who play my games. I want Get their response, their feedback.”

"So, games are art in my mind."

"But the essence of a game is a commodity. It needs to be sold. It is completely different from the works of art that are generally considered to be just for appreciation. It does not need to be unique or self-admiring. It needs to be popular, universal, and can be used by ordinary people. People accept it - so I think we should use the thinking of designing artwork to create a product."

"But at our core, we are artists who want to incorporate our ideas into our work, not just designers."

"A game without a designer's ideas will never be successful."

After Jester finished speaking with a passionate expression, the audience suddenly burst into thunderous applause. Everyone clapped their hands vigorously. Jester's words were enough to make them deafen.

Then, Jester seemed to be still unfinished. He raised his hands, pressed them down, and continued to say with a smile: "Then let's have a real brainstorm. I have a game type here, and you can start it." As a game designer, you have the brain to help me improve this game. It must be special and unique, so that people can take a look at it, or even just know such a gameplay, and they will be interested and have such an idea - I Let’s play this game!”

Looking at the people below who were eager to try it, Jester smiled maliciously and said his topic: "Let's play one that you have all played, Richard Garrett's "Genesis". I think you You all should know that my topic is RPG, please help me improve this type of game."

RPG, role-playing, is the most popular game type and has a wide audience, but it is very difficult to do it well.

"I think we can make the plot more touching!" someone said.

"I think we can design a powerful treasure that will make players desperate to get it!" someone else said.

"I think we can establish a growth system so that players can feel that the heroes they control are constantly growing." Someone else said this.

Jester's ears were filled with various opinions. He just smiled without making any comments. Then, after everyone's opinions were almost finished, he said: "Well, let me change a game and give you an example. Example, and then you think about how to make an RPG innovative in gameplay, for example, what is the core gameplay of my "American Cube"?"

"Eliminate!" someone answered immediately.

"It's the sense of accomplishment that comes from rising points!" someone else answered this way.

"It's the feeling of superiority that comes from defeating others!" Some people say this.

"It's that Easter egg!" As soon as he said this, someone immediately retorted, "Even without that Easter egg, "American Cube" is still fun!"

"It's elimination, but it's not just elimination." Mark Saini, who had never spoken at this time, suddenly said, "To be precise, this game is essentially a puzzle game, and what players like is It’s not difficult but it’s an endless process of considering the elimination. Every time a block falls, he needs to keep thinking - what should I do. As for points and Easter eggs, they are additional things, as Jester said before As in, these are not the real core gameplay of this game, but just some fragmentary content."

Jester applauded. He was not surprised by this. Mark Cerney is the kind of designer who can understand the core of a game.

"Then I will continue to redesign several games using this core gameplay of 'elimination through a not difficult but endlessly changing consideration process'. For example, there is such a game..." Jester's face showed a thoughtful look. Look, he has played many elimination games in later generations, and just finding a few of them is enough for today's designers to worship them.

"This is how I set the rules of this game."

"Suppose there is such a 10x10 square, and there is a gem in each grid. These gems come in many types and colors, maybe seven or eight. Let's not discuss this first."

"What you can know is that there are no three identical gems connected to each other, whether horizontally or vertically. What the player has to do is to arbitrarily exchange two adjacent gems, either horizontally or vertically, to achieve three identical gems. Connected - and as long as such conditions are met, these three gems will be eliminated, and the vacant positions will be filled by the gems above them in turn, and new gems will fall to fill the vacancies at the top. If these gems can form a new trio when they fall, they will still be eliminated..."

"I set three modes, one is the normal mode. In this mode, players can continuously eliminate gems in the square until the gems cannot be eliminated - of course, elimination of gems will be scored. The more you eliminate in one operation, the higher your score will be."

"The second is the time mode. When the player performs elimination, a countdown bar will appear. This countdown bar is very slow at first. Players can supplement the countdown by getting rewarded time by successfully eliminating it, but as time goes by , the countdown will get faster and faster, players need to eliminate as many gems as possible before the countdown ends, so as to get more points!"

"The third is the competitive mode. This is no different from the time mode. It is just a game where two people play the time mode separately. Whoever ends the game first will lose the game."

As Jester briefly talked about the idea of ​​"Bejeweled" designed by popcap company in 2000, the eyes of many designers in front of him lit up, and they all heard this simple idea. The incredible playability contained in a game like "American Cube"!

You must know that even in the past two thousand years, "Bejeweled" caused a sensation after its release, selling 25 million copies on various platforms, and two years later, it was selected into the Video Game Hall of Fame sponsored by IGN. There are only two elimination games selected, in addition to "Bejeweled", there is also "Tetris".

This is enough to show how good this game is, let alone in a video game desert like 1984.

The impact Jester had on them was indescribable.

And the way they looked at Jester became different. Originally, some people thought that he was able to create "American Cube" just because of luck and an idea, but now judging from Jester's performance, it was not the case at all. So one thing.

Otherwise, how could he casually come up with such a crazy game idea just like drinking water and eating? And it also has the elimination style of "American Cube", which is completely comparable to "American Cube", but the gameplay is completely different from "American Cube"?

Then, in order to deepen his impressive image and status among these designers, Jester continued to talk about the design ideas of "Zuma" and "Bubble Bobble", two equally excellent elimination games, and even more Let these young designers pay homage directly.

Each of their faces showed an expression of extreme fanaticism. The way they looked at Jester was as if they were seeing the god of game design. He seemed to be able to say something in just one thought without needing to think. Game ideas they wouldn't have thought of anyway.

And these ideas sound so fun!

Even Mark Saini looked at Jester speechlessly, and then he sighed deeply, feeling so ashamed.

However, Jester's face did not show any proud look. Instead, he still had that faint smile, and he continued to talk about the question just now.

"Then, now you use another angle, just like the way I just analyzed the core gameplay of "American Cube", to design a completely different game, but one that can make people's eyes shine and make them want to play it. Playing RPG games.”

Then, just after Jester finished speaking, everyone fell into deep thought.

Just now, Jester's process and ideas of designing the game based on "American Cube" had a very, very big impact on them. They seemed to have come to a door. As long as they pushed the door open, they could enter a completely different field. Go inside.

It was as if they saw the future.

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