Your favorite game is probably a lie. Its probably not true that it was designed by a passionate programmer who wanted to make exactly that kind of game because he wanted to. This article talks about how commercial game design is different from how you probably think game design should be.
Amateur vs Commercial Game Design
We all love playing games. We all love programming and game development. But then again, we are blessed by the fact that we are amateurs. The second we cross the line into commercial game design and development something happens. The passion often disappears into this vague gray mass of marketing and an unswerving obedience to the almighty dollar.
We make games because we want to. We want to improve our game programming skills and make that game we've always wanted to play. It is indeed, a great hobby. If it turns out that you are the only person who plays your game, no big deal. You just take what you've learned while making the game and start on your next latest, greatest masterpiece.
Commercial game developers do not have this luxury. Selling games is a matter of survival. If they do not sell games, they wind up unemployed or at least working at a less desirable tech job (or bargain-bin game company). Keep this in mind. You may find what you read leaves a bad taste in your mouth as continue on. Its a harsh business. You shouldn't blame the developer, you should blame the market.
When choosing games to make, as amateurs we choose what we are interested in. If we've always wanted to make a first person shooter crossed with a skating game, we can do it. There are no consequences if we fail. Well, maybe someone will flame us on a forum.
When choosing development projects, commercial game developers focus instead on what will sell. They choose not what they like, but what the market demands. And this is where game design for professional game makers begins —- a need to be filled.
Let's assume that there is a group of people who think that current racing games are too slow. They want fast, hardcore driving action that leaves them with the constant feeling that they are skating the edge between success and failure. The commercial game developer first looks to see what competition they have in this market and if they stand a chance against it. If they think they can sell more games to the "on the edge racers" they take the next step.
They do research on their audience and find out exactly what it is that they like or dislike about the games they play. They also conduct surveys to get a general idea about who their audience is and their general likes and dislikes.
If you pay close attention, most games feature characters that are stereotypes of the players who are the market for the game. These characters are not the work of an intuitive artist expressing meaning, but the results of the market study. The market study guides (and sometimes forces) how these characters look.
Here's how an analysis of a market survey might be interpreted and use to create the characters.
- Death cheaters
- Enjoy the feeling of being one short step away from death. A song "The Grim Ace of Spades" is well known among them. This song is said to be representative of their viewpoint and outlook on life.
- Elitists
- Enjoy being the best at what they do. The danger heightens their sense of superiority and perfection.
Taking this, we can easily make suitable characters that will appeal to the market.
- GrimAngel
- A high-energy risk taker who appears as an dark colored angel with a large Spade symbol on his chest.
- 733+3
- A perfect robot capable of making no mistakes.
And there you have it. To sum up :
Amateur game design starts with what an amateur game designer likes. There is no pressure to sell games.
Commercial game design starts with market demands and is developed from a market survey. This is done to increase the chances of selling games because it makes the difference between success and failure.
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| Categories: Articles : Character Design : Game Design |
The so-called experts in every media industry believe that they can figure out better than anyone else what will sell. In fact, all their research generally does is lead to lots of cookie-cutter copycat products based on what did well in the past. Then they try to make up for this with lots of expensive marketing aimed at telling consumers what they want.
I believe that an indie gamer would have as much or even more chance of coming up with a new, original idea that would be a blockbuster. The only problem is that the indie gamer doesn't have the resources to produce the game as it should be done or the industry connections to see that it gets distributed and marketed.
Start small. Make iphone or flash games.
— hartnell