What It Takes to Make a Real Game

To make a game that looks professional and has a chance of selling well, you must combine the essential elements of a successful game in unique and creative ways.

First, your game must have decent graphics. That does not mean it requires photorealistic 3D images with all sorts of special effects. In fact, such elaborate graphics can actually detract from the game. For example, if your game is focused around solving logic problems or puzzles, 2D graphics will be fine. However, they need to be done well.

An example of innovative 2D graphics is the game Yoshi's Story, which was produced for the Nintendo 64. Although this is a 2D game, the characters are all created in 3D and rendered into 2D. The backgrounds and scenery display a wide variety of unique looks. On the first level, for instance, the sky, clouds, and other scenery look as if they're sewn from denim. It looks surprisingly good and is completely original.

When you do the graphics for your game, you need to make it visually interesting. The denim look to parts of Yoshi's Story gives the scenery greater texture. I have found in my own artwork that people consider texture more visually engaging than color or even exact shape. The artwork in older games used lots of solid colors; it looks primitive by today's standards. Adding textures to graphics makes them look much more engaging and professional.

The second essential game element you must use is sound. The most important thing to keep in mind is that players expect the sonic experience of a game to be as sophisticated as the graphics. The dinkitydink sound of the music in games of yesteryear is no longer sufficient.

As I mentioned in chapter 8, "Sound Effects and Music," you can get decentsounding music out of bandinaboxstyle programs. Nevertheless, you must select your music carefully. Music must be appropriate to the action. A slow, mellow jazz tune should not be used for a level in a highspeed arcade game. Likewise, you would not expect highoctane chase music in a game like SimCity.

A game's music must also be appropriate to the audience. A game for preschoolers is not the place for your favorite industrial death grunge tune. By the same token, a Bombermanstyle arcade game is probably not the best place for your favorite Mozart sonata.

The third essential element of a great game is the gameplay. For fastpaced games (I call them "twitch games" because they require fast eyehand coordination), the player must feel that the game responds immediately to input. There is nothing more frustrating than hitting the button to fire at an enemy and experiencing a delay.

Gameplay also includes the difficulty of the game. Can the average person play the game with minimal training? Or does the player have to be really experienced with the kind of game you're making? Players become upset if they die fast when they start the game; they must feel that they're making some progress at first.

The final essential element of a hit game is superb design. This does not require the game to be complex. For instance, a Rubik's Cube is a superbly designed (noncomputer) game. However, it's also very simple. Likewise, the game Tetris is an outstanding piece of game design. It's simple in concept and takes almost no time to learn. However, people have found it addictive for nearly 20 years.

An example of a more complex game that has outstanding design is Myst. This is an older game, but one that I think every game developer should play through. Myst has a complex story that is very freeform. You can play the game in any order you want. You can wander around, examine everything you find, and learn the object of the game as you go. Myst uses a very nonlinear style to tell a story.

Other examples of excellent game design are Microsoft's Halo, Oblivion's The Elder Scrolls, Blizzard's Warcraft, and Electronic Arts' The Sims. They all provide a rich game experience. None of them require the player to be a hardcore gamer to be successful. Each has its own innovative design elements that map well to its style. For example, Halo puts the player in a world of constantly shifting alliances. The Elder Scrolls provides one of the most freeform universes you'll ever see. Warcraft combines fastpaced fighting with strategic planning and allocation of resources. The Sims gives the player surprisingly engaging social simulations.

The point is that when you design a game, your game design must be innovative and distinct. You can't just crank out a slightly better version of someone else's game.

Saying that you've got to be innovative is all well and good, but how do you make that happen? To find out, the next section of this chapter examines the design process in more detail.

Note

I've mentioned this before: a big clue is how you describe your game. If you say, "It's like Quake only better," don't bother making it. You need to be more innovative than that. If you can describe your game as, "It's like a cross between The Sims and Atomic Bomberman," you might have something worthwhile. Those are such radically different games that combining their gameplay styles might just give you something unique.