▶Book Description
If you are looking for an up-to-date and highly applicable guide to game design, then you have come to the right place! Immerse yourself in the fundamentals of game design with this book, written by two highly experienced industry professionals to share their profound insights as well as give valuable advice on creating games across genres and development platforms.
Practical Game Design covers the basics of game design one piece at a time. Starting with learning how to conceptualize a game idea and present it to the development team, you will gradually move on to devising a design plan for the whole project and adapting solutions from other games. You will also discover how to produce original game mechanics without relying on existing reference material, and test and eliminate anticipated design risks. You will then design elements that compose the playtime of a game, followed by making game mechanics, content, and interface accessible to all players. You will also find out how to simultaneously ensure that the gameplay mechanics and content are working as intended.
As the book reaches its final chapters, you will learn to wrap up a game ahead of its release date, work through the different challenges of designing free-to-play games, and understand how to significantly improve their quality through iteration, polishing and playtesting.
▶What You Will Learn
⦁ Define the scope and structure of a game project
⦁ Conceptualize a game idea and present it to others
⦁ Design gameplay systems and communicate them clearly and thoroughly
⦁ Build and validate engaging game mechanics
⦁ Design successful business models and prepare your games for live operations
⦁ Master the principles behind level design, worldbuilding and storytelling
⦁ Improve the quality of a game by playtesting and polishing it
▶Key Features
⦁ Implement the skills and techniques required to work in a professional studio
⦁ Ace the core principles and processes of level design, world building, and storytelling
⦁ Design interactive characters that animate the gaming world
▶Who This Book Is For
Whether you are a student eager to design a game or a junior game designer looking for your first role as a professional, this book will help you with the fundamentals of game design. By focusing on best practices and a pragmatic approach, Practical Game Design provides insights into the arts and crafts from two senior game designers that will interest more seasoned professionals in the game industry.
▶What this book covers
⦁ Chapter 1, Introducing the Game Production Process, explores the basic machinations of the games industry, teaching you about various game design roles, responsibilities of designers, production methods, and development milestones.
⦁ Chapter 2, Game Concept, teaches you how to write a game concept and your responsibilities as a game designer in the process of doing so. Practical tips and real-life examples will help you create your very own game concept based on an original idea or an existing game.
⦁ Chapter 3, Scoping a Game Project, covers the concepts and relationships between the game's overall scope, its structure, and its content. We'll explore real-world examples and help you build an understanding of how to better document the size, complexity, and dependencies in your game, as well as help you estimate your tasks.
⦁ Chapter 4, Design Documentation, explains everything you need to know about writing game design documentation: from the tools and techniques to numerous pieces of practical advice.
⦁ Chapter 5, Adaptation of Mechanics, approaches the definition of game mechanics and will give you an idea of how to create your own game using pieces from existing games. This chapter also introduces the concept of dynamics and features as a set of mechanics that form a bigger part of the game.
⦁ Chapter 6, Invention of Mechanics, explores the theory behind game design and the creation of mechanics that are fun to play. You'll learn how a new mechanic is taught and how the core loop of a game is formed. Finally, you will learn about the roles of conflict, combat systems, game complexity, and depth.
⦁ Chapter 7, Prototyping, demonstrates how to prototype a game idea or concept. This chapter will cover both paper and digital prototyping, with all the pros and cons of both techniques. You will read about a practical example from a real-life scenario, easy to replicate as an exercise.
⦁ Chapter 8, Games and Stories, highlights the importance of narrative elements in games and helps you design strong characters, intriguing worlds, and compelling stories.
⦁ Chapter 9, Level Design, introduces you to processes and techniques used to create highly playable game content. You'll learn about creating believable spaces, manipulating light and geometry, and making the best of the available game mechanics.
⦁ Chapter 10, Characters, explains the different kinds of characters that populate virtual worlds and how to make the best use of them. In this chapter, you will also get a closer look at a practical character-design example for an existing game, from which you'll be able to get some inspiration to try and do your own character design, a great exercise for any game designer.
⦁ Chapter 11, User Interface and User Experience, outlines the complexities of input mechanics, camera systems, and effective game feedback. You'll then gain practical insight into the processes behind UI and UX design, helping you create interfaces and experiences that are informative, empowering, and delightful to interact with.
⦁ Chapter 12, Accessibility, dives into how to make your games more accessible, that is, easier to use, understand, and relate to. You'll then learn about usability testing and arm yourself with the expertise required to plan and execute your very own playtesting sessions.
⦁ Chapter 13, Balancing, combines the knowledge from previous chapters and explores the ways in which you can pace, structure, and adjust the rules and content of your games to create experiences that capture and hold the interest of your audience.
⦁ Chapter 14, The Final 10 Percent, takes you through the processes that need to take place before a game is finally released. You will also read about the difficulties and pitfalls of closing and be releasing a video game, and how to avoid them.
⦁ Chapter 15, Games As a Service, distills the knowledge required to turn your game into a successful service—.from monetization tips and live operations strategy to addressing game balancing, understanding analytics, customer support, and the tools required to run your games sustainably.
