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Isn't this also Miyamoto's/Nintendo's approach? Get the basic gameplay mechanics right by and play around tirelessly with basically nothing as far as 'productio

by mercer 9y ago

Isn't this also Miyamoto's/Nintendo's approach? Get the basic gameplay mechanics right by and play around tirelessly with basically nothing as far as 'production' work goes, and move on only when that's been achieved. I only did some level design back in the day, so I don't have much experience with games, but I find this 'prototyping' thing to be hugely valuable in web development and design work I've done. I often just try all sorts of shit (whether front-end or back-end or design), focusing on quick feedback and iteration, and once things coalesce/work/'click', I might just scrap the whole thing and start with a more 'formal' version. Especially with design stuff I've found that just getting something and then playing around with it works so much better than trying to go for a more formal approach from the start. And making a clear distinction between the 'playground' and 'formal' phase has also helped a bunch. Finally, I've all but stopped doing the 'Lorem Ipsum' and image placeholder work. If I'm going to 'prototype' a design, it can be a bit messy, but it has to be as real as possible.

doomlaser 9y ago
I think it's the most organic way to build a game, at least for my projects. It sort of becomes a fractal process as well, where I'll end up with a sandbox zone for each different segment of the game, which then evolve into the production stages for each different area.
brandonjm 9y ago
There is an interesting video series by Nintendo on the making of Breath of The Wild. In one of them [1] they talk about how most of the game mechanics were implemented in a 2D version of the game to see how enjoyable and effective they were before they spent the money to make the 3D version. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30jGWna4-Ns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30jGWna4-Ns
- doomlaser 9y ago
  Last year at GDC, Nintendo's Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Satoru Takizawa, and Takuhiro Dohta broke down the creation of the game in a full length session with video of the original top-down 2D prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyMsF31NdNc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyMsF31NdNc
  - rendaw 9y ago
    At 18:12: https://youtu.be/QyMsF31NdNc?t=1092 https://youtu.be/QyMsF31NdNc?t=1092

by mercer 9y ago

doomlaser 9y ago

I think it's the most organic way to build a game, at least for my projects. It sort of becomes a fractal process as well, where I'll end up with a sandbox zone for each different segment of the game, which then evolve into the production stages for each different area.

brandonjm 9y ago

There is an interesting video series by Nintendo on the making of Breath of The Wild. In one of them [1] they talk about how most of the game mechanics were implemented in a 2D version of the game to see how enjoyable and effective they were before they spent the money to make the 3D version. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30jGWna4-Ns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30jGWna4-Ns

doomlaser 9y ago
Last year at GDC, Nintendo's Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Satoru Takizawa, and Takuhiro Dohta broke down the creation of the game in a full length session with video of the original top-down 2D prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyMsF31NdNc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyMsF31NdNc
- rendaw 9y ago
  At 18:12: https://youtu.be/QyMsF31NdNc?t=1092 https://youtu.be/QyMsF31NdNc?t=1092