Learning Game Dev Principles.

No two ways about it, I royally fell off my project this time around. You know what though, I am very happy with it regardless. I’m further ahead than if I hadn’t attempted this at all, some of the things I’ve learned I’ve already used to view an event through that new lens, and most of all it has shown me what I need to do in order to be successful next time. I knew going in that this would be on top of other endeavors I was attempting but I never realized how reactive it would make my efforts when I added it to my list. Honestly, my efforts didn’t have an sense of deliberate action to them. Additionally, I realized I’m very bad at doing a specific task that I’ve set without taking it seriously as well. While I wanted the project to be regular, I found myself compelled to make the most of that time to the detriment of my enjoyment. I will be working on putting the enjoyment back into this area when I take it up again or perhaps setting aside a space where I can explore a given space with no expectations. Even though I didn’t see it through I’m very glad I started this and I will definitely be continuing this as I work on the issues which made my project inconsistent.

Videos I watched after last entry: The Challenge of Cameras | Game Maker’s Toolkit ~ Great video that highlighted the many choices and consequences that go into what type of game camera is used. Making Your First Game: Practical Rules - Setting (and Keeping) Goals - Extra Credits ~ Full of great tips which are also very prudent for those who might have fallen off their project as well… yup. I felt that one like a shot to the kidneys.

Day 18: (Feb 10) Complete

Summary: Watched a great video on puzzles that hit many great points and was quite thought provoking. Adjustments worked well.

Reflections: Started late today but also had trouble sleeping. The adjustments and binding of my DK30 to a morning routine action proved excellent and mutually beneficial for both tasks as well as separating my work space slightly. Definitely going to just keep on doing that.

The first part made me wonder if it’s possible to have a puzzle game based on figuring out what the goal is as the core mechanic and not have it dissolve into a confusing or hyper constrained mess. Is there a way of doing that without having point and click adventure game frustration or is it impossible by the vary nature of the activity? I personally think it’s probably one of those things that if you do that, it is all centered around that choice to make it work. Then again, each time I start thinking about it I can feel the razors edge I’m trying to walk along so maybe it’s not.

Content Notes: (last two post didn’t keep to my intent for this section. Sorry about the confusion) Structure of puzzles (and video)

• Clear mechanics.
• The catch
• The revelation
• The assumption
• The presentation
• The curve

Further tips:

• Clean and minimalist puzzles make for a much greater experience if done well.
• Make sure there is clear feedback to the player while they are working through the puzzle
• Heavy playtesting is required. Far more than most other genres.

Square Enix’s criteria for organizing level difficulty:

• Number of Solutions.
• Number of steps required
• Number of options
• Which mechanics is the player familiar with.

Video(s): What Makes a Good Puzzle? | Game Maker’s Toolkit ~ Spoiler warning: This video has spoilers to puzzles from many games but I will say that it was very well done. Each game only has a single puzzle taken from it and shown so no matter which game you might have not played, it is not going to ruin your experience. Also, as far as I can tell, most of those puzzles aren’t very deep into the game such that it will ruin the arc. That said, some of these puzzles were considered more clever puzzles that illustrated something very well, whether it be great lateral thinking or a frustrating mechanic so do go into it with that in mind. Puzzles are also shown in incomplete clips so if that also bothers you be warned there is a lot of that. I’d list the games spoiled but they are over about 10 or so different puzzle games shown. This video was excellent for looking into the nature of puzzle games. Really well done and clear structure and advice to the exposition. Given the length, the depth and pacing made for a thought provoking and engaging view.

Day 17: (Feb 9): Complete

Summary: Watched two videos from Extra Credits to get me back on track. Focused on just doing it and getting past my hesitation to dive back in by updating past post and following up with immediate action. Videos were less focused on concepts and more things to do to improve yourself, which actually was excellent for me to come back to.

Reflection: After this push where game development learning becomes regular for me, I definitely want to take time to apply what I’ve learned as well as dive deeper with a course such as Will Wright’s Masterclass. I think that would be a great follow up to what I am learning here. First though building my own (incomplete) games and just examining games as a designer as suggested by Extra Credits would be more prudent. I think I really needed the video on “the joy of making” as too many of my attempts have been tainted by my desire to have my work build into something more. Because I want to move forward into this area I don’t let the things I make be awful. I feel like any time I set aside for game dev should contain things of good quality that I can be nothing but proud of and show potential … probably to avoid seeing something flawed looking back at me due to my own lack of confidence in my work/progress. That’s not healthy and it’s actually one of the key things holding me back. A self fulfilling prophesy from perfectionist though patterns. I knew I needed to let things go and have them be awful but I think I kept missing the fact that I needed to replace that behaviour with something else. Easy but simple rule to forget. If you have a bad behaviour, you need to replace it with a good one or you will keep sliding back. (generally) Here I kept trying to stop aiming so high but I never tried to just enjoy it and aim for something that makes me happy and is for nobody or nothing else.

Content Notes: Playing Like a Designer - II: How to Analyze Game Design - Extra Credits. Another excellent video and continuation of another video I watched a few times. I might have forgotten to note that I did watch this one before as well in my gap of work last post. Focused on how to learn with solid and actionable steps to enact said learning of design. Non-Professional Game Dev - The Joy of Making - Extra Credits Focused on perspective of what it means to make a game and why. It gave great tips for keeping your efforts focused on that as well as opening you up to just enjoying it more by being deliberate about why and how.

Video(s): Playing Like a Designer - II: How to Analyze Game Design - Extra Credits ~ Excellent video. Great advice and perspective on things. Definitely will rewatch to remind myself to do/work on certain things. Does have some information but generally is more focused on things you can do to improve your understanding of game design yourself. Non-Professional Game Dev - The Joy of Making - Extra Credits ~ While not containing any huge game design concept it was a great video for giving perspective to what it means to make something and what it is you are making when developing a game yourself.

Day 5-16: (Jan 28 - Feb 8 ~ Posted Feb 9th): Incomplete

Summary/Reflection: Well, I fell apart on this one but I’m not going to let it end here. Was already trying to do work on myself in a parallel project and when that fell apart, so did this one. Also, generally I found that since it was so easy to do it was actually equally easy to procrastinate it out of relevance. Moving forward I am going to be very specific about what time I will do it. For me that will be at 6:15 am when I get up and have breakfast. I already have other things at that time it will tie into nicely. Further, the limit of 7 am will force me not to go overboard on updates or ruminating on ideas. Further, I also need to separate my work area, although that has been an ongoing issue for me, I think I might have a solution in this case. No matter what, I’m going to just dust myself off and reapply myself. Focus on the single inputs I know I can do and then work from there. I have videos I know are good so I will stay with those for now.

Content Notes: Of the videos I did watch during this time, the Game Maker’s Toolkit was more thought provoking than informative though it definitely had that aspect to it as well. The challenge to the idea that fluid movement is strictly better was something that definitely should give pause for thought. I think there is something to be said for movement mechanics that engage and challenge rather than being smoothed out in favor of getting you to some other more interesting mechanic. This is something I want to take more time to thoroughly consider later as this examination definitely felt incomplete. More specifically I want to connect this idea more deeply to the experiences I have observed with speedrunners such as covertmuffin as there are some experiences that they engage with in that format that aren’t really utilized elsewhere. I’ll be keeping my eye on that dynamic moving forward now. I also rewatched Extra Credits - Playing Like a Designer - I: Examine Your Experiences a few times as that one kept reminding me that I still wasn’t applying the parts I was weak on. But I wasn’t being the most deliberate about it either. Nothing really to note about learning there except I’m still sinking back to old habits without deliberate effort to move me elsewhere. The one other thing I did watch that isn’t quite in the realm of the project but was definitely beneficial was Day9 playing Supraland. Several times he stopped and really delves into some great topics that you can see in action. Definitely worth pausing and thinking those over with a game design lens if you do watch it now. Personally I found the impact of the large world and not segmenting into biomes of having something visually distinct was far more of a problem than I would have thought. Also, love the blobs of interesting and self contained experiences. Really view of how areas can be broken down.

Video(s): The Mechanics of Movement ~ Game Maker’s Toolkit ~ Good video. More open ended than others I have seen but does look like an earlier work of the channel. Really great and worth thinking on what is presented. Day9 Playing Supraland ~ Obviously not learning focused material but has many great points talking about game design aspects. Obviously a spoiler playthrough of the game.

Day 4: (Jan 27 - Posted Jan 28) Incomplete

Summary: I was struck with a very strong feeling of sickness with digital interactions or motion of things suddenly. Not sure what was the cause but knocked me out of commission for most of the day. I suspect it is related to my corrections to my sleep and trouble from that.

Reflections: Nothing to do about it. Just had to take care of myself. Was a little frustrated that I couldn’t do anything but self care has to run its course.

Content Notes: N/A

Video(s): N/A

Day 3: (Jan 26 - Posted Jan 28) Incomplete

Summary: I was really struggling with my sleep in trying to get it set properly and this day didn’t hit anything right so I didn’t do anything this day on project. I just let the whole day become a wash to save myself some sanity.

Reflections: Not much more to say since I needed to address underlying problems to get back on track.

Content Notes: N/A

Video(s): N/A

Day 2: (Jan 25 - Posted Jan 28 ) Complete

Summary/Reflections (can’t separate today): Today was very interesting. I watched for longer than I should have partly out of the feeling like on of the videos was a waste of time. (Namely, The Design of Everyday Games - GDC) However, in going through that video I clarified what I wanted from the videos I wanted to watch. Namely, I don’t want general and abstract rules listed off about general design or content not properly explored with relevant context. While I do appreciate that these are good rules to know I don’t have the time right now to take them and ponder figure out how they might work in practice. Even beyond having the time, I’m not inclined (for once) to try to figure out it myself when I’m just starting when there have been many who have already thought it out and can show exactly what each rule typically looks like when applied. While my normal behaviour has been to try and discover everything myself, it seems I’m finally learning to focus on covering what has already been laid for me first and then expand that knowledge out later. Honestly it is the more efficient way regardless despite how rewarding the other path can be. Also, it is worth noting that I have already taken a course in college about general design principles so it wasn’t really anything I hadn’t been exposed to once already. Further, I found myself wanting the type of connection between the abstract and concepts discussed put into a more active way that is actionable. While doing this yourself is itself a skill that I do wish to work on, it can be found in the way content is presented as well. Passive knowledge exposition such as just stating key dates and events in history verses presenting it as an interconnected significant flow of event. Same content, different interaction. Though I completely own my need to learn that skill of taking the abstract and turning it into actionable items similar to how Day9 himself does though that also takes more time than I am currently giving these topics. I’ll think on that more later. Honestly though, the biggest failure was not the video. It was myself letting myself become passive and sitting through the whole video even after I found myself unhappy with what was being discussed. I just kept thinking it will shift to games any moment but it never did. What I need to do in future is skip through the video when that happens and seen what the pace of the discussion is and save myself that time. That said, I found what I was looking for in the next videos from Extra Credits in the Playing like a designer. This was awesome and thought provoking. The observing yourself part while playing and being critical of that was particularly relevant given what had just happened and in general I am bad for letting myself not be critical enough of what I’m doing and just letting myself experience everything no matter how bad it gets. Can be useful but more often than not, it is wasteful. Definitely going to have to rewatch these another time. Wrapping up things, the “Affordances and Signifiers - Game Design with Michael” video was interesting but mildly so. The signifiers new to me and was probably tainted in that I already knew all about affordances. That said, it did sound a bit like I was getting a very short second hand retelling of second hand knowledge. While it might sound like that’s exactly what I’m looking for in all these videos. I do want topics to be proper tellings of that knowledge or at leave very grounded and well supported. This one felt like I should have just read the books they referenced. At the same time, not every video is going to be a winner. The key will be to spend my time more wisely and also admit that some of this will be just going through stuff I already know. The one bright side is that each retelling might give me a slightly different look at it or at least help me remember that much clearer. Also, as this typing up has shown, I need to work on how I reflect on these things. Still struggling with taking it seriously but also processing the inspiring or introspective aspects properly. Probably should do elsewhere and then just actually try and summarize here instead. I’ll work on that.

Content Notes:

Video(s): Affordances and Signifiers - Game Design with Michael ~ Good but short and felt a little like a poor second hand telling. The Design of Everyday Games - GDC ~ No direct connections to games other than they are good general design principles to not forget. Playing Like a Designer - I: Examine Your Experiences - Extra Credits ~ Excellent and thought provoking as usual. More actionable advice than principles with this one but still great presentation as I’ve come to expect from Extra Credits. I’m good at some of it but others I really need to take to heart. Definitely rewatch later. Playing Like a Designer - II: How to Analyze Game Design - Extra Credits ~ Continuation of above. This one had some more specific tips and knowledge. Introduction to some new terms for me but solid again. Very clear, relatable, and actionable knowledge. Definitely rewatch later.

Day 1: (Jan 24 - Posted Jan 28) Incomplete

Summary: Completely forgot to do this the day off with everything that was happening this day.

Reflections: While doing my project first thing in the morning will help, my ability to do this requires I keep on top of the rest of the things I need for balance.

Content Notes: N/A

Video(s): N/A

Day 0: (Jan 23) Complete

Summary: Rewatched video at higher speed and got a little bogged down in details but corrected and adjusted. Did mid to late afternoon. Will try and watch another one later if I can.

Reflections: I put watch speed back up to 1.75x and started making notes on Two Types of Randomness video and realized that I’m extending things way too much and consuming more time being thorough at the cost of engaging with the content. Thus, I’m going to stop taking notes. I will allow myself to note key words or things to explore further but no more actual notes. I want to expose myself to a lot of different things and occasionally reflect and turn things over in my mind. Currently I’m instead dissecting and reassembling tiny indistinct pieces formally on paper which isn’t going to do my future self any sort of service despite my feelings. I have all the content noted so it’s more effective anyway to just rewatch it later if and when I wish to solidify that knowledge. Simply summarizing the main concept of what I watched here from memory only should be enough encourage memory and engagement with content.

Content Notes: “Two Types of Randomness” is a really great video that I appreciate much more on rewatching it. I also completely missed that there were some great resources at the bottom of the video that I definitely want to look into more later.

Video(s): The Two Types of Random | Game Maker’s Toolkit

Day -1: (Jan 22 - Posted Jan 23) Complete

Summary: I mostly looked for other sources of content beyond the channels “Game Maker’s Toolkit” and “Extra Credits.” I found a few more that seemed to fit and either bookmarked playlists on youtube or followed the channel itself. I added: Extra Credits Game Maker’s Toolkit The Game Overanalyser Game Design with Michael GDC And these videos I added to a playlist on youtube: DK30 Playlist I already had Sean Bloom’s channels subscribed but are worth noting and contain a lot of top tier talk while playing games. (which I’ve sadly neglected until now): Play By Play Network Sean Bloom Youtube I also added these pre-made playlists to my resources as well: Game Maker’s Toolkit playlist ClassPlaylist - Game Design Principles And while all of Extra Credit’s game dev content is on my watch list, these two playlists stood out as first picks. Extra Credit’s - Game Genres Extra Credit’s - Game Design Highlights

I’ll note more as I find them and maybe update here for a complete list at the end but that should give me a lot of content to work through without much more effort and hopefully you will find useful as well.

Recommended to me: How looting sounds are made - Thanks to Chaiinchomp for this

Reflections: I did project work last minute and it was a struggle to do at the end of the day like that. I will need to adjust things and do this earlier in the day or first thing to ensure that procrastination or simple life doesn’t get in the way. Additionally, I found the approach I have here tends to a more casual learning experience and yet I found during my searching that I was still approaching this mentally as if I was studying the underlying subjects, learning basic principles to build on in later lessons. Honestly, I think I have to adjust that both since the content I found on youtube isn’t really there for that or that this approach isn’t really that useful for something as flexible and vast game design. Thus, going forward I’m going to focus on just learning interesting pieces and counter that tendency by stating in my mind that I will solidify this knowledge later. I have to let this be more of introduction to the key or interesting pieces and figure out how it all fits together later. No matter what the order of learning, they will be useful tools in themselves that I am adding to my toolbox for understanding game design. Finally, I have found that some of the content I’m exploring has the high risk of containing critical game spoilers. The one video I started to watch featured the ending of Half Life 2 after stating the opening sequence in the discussion. While I’m fine with images here and there, that type of complete spoilage is not something I am alright with. going forward I’m going to have to be vigilant to set aside those creators or videos featuring content I don’t want spoiled. I’ll do my best to state videos with anything more that random video shots but be warned that I might make mistakes. Games I’ve played in particular won’t raise my ire so might make it through when I post videos.

Content Notes: N/A

Video(s): Contains Significant Spoilers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8AT01tuyrk ~ Decent content but had significant spoilers (to me) for half life 2 that I wasn’t ok with. Also, while I stopped half way, decent advice the video is short and made shorter with almost 2 minute intro with ad in a 10 minute video.

Day -2: Inspiration struck me while watching the video for today that this would be an awesome 30 (or 33 :P ) day project. Took 30 minutes after reflecting on the content for about 10 minutes. No notes done today but really enjoyed the exposition into distinguishing randomness and considering how it shapes the experience in a nice level of detail. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwI5b-wRLic