Analyzing Games

          What does it mean to analyze a game? It could mean several things, actually. Most commonly it just means examining how a game operates on its mechanics and dynamics. It’s also helpful to know what makes a game terrible and what makes it great. This is crucial to game design and even when reviewing games. 

          For designers, it’s good to know how to analyze so you can figure out how a game works. The best way to do this is to take any game you own and just play it. If you’ve played for a long enough time (in my case since I was barely 4), you can spot things that can break a game. I’m not referring to glitches or graphical errors. I mean certain mechanics that do not entertain you or something redundant. An example: in Twilight Princess, rupees are a type of currency. Thing is, you may only carry up to a certain amount. The game gives you way too many rupees to work with and most of the time you end up losing out on getting rupees simply because your wallet is full. Fortunately, the developers did try to combat this, but did a poor job of it. There is a suit of armor that supposedly grants the best protection. As you wear it, your wallet is drained of rupees. This was meant to combat the excessive amount of rupees lying around, but it drained so fast that within minutes I was broke. The worst part is once you have 0 rupees, the armor inhibits your movement. It’s a terrible piece of armor and this issue could have been fixed by simply making rupees more scarce or possibly making items cost more.

          Another example is taking an existing game and making something that could arguably be a clone of it. I’m not saying “copy this game.” I just mean look at a game and see if you can come up with something better. Galactic Café did this with Freedom Planet. They made a game clearly based around Sonic with similar mechanics and dynamics, but it ended up being a lot better. As revered as Sonic may be, the biggest problem I had with that game is being forcefully slowed down. The point of that game is to zip through levels at high speeds. The thrill of being in control of something that powerful is what made the game franchise amazing. Then they throw these obstacles that stop your movement completely and the worst part is you can’t see them coming because the screen is moving so quickly. Freedom Planet did away with that and let you run as fast as possible. They also threw in explorative level design and added a timer that counted up rather than down. You could take as long as you wanted on a level, but that timer just let you know how long you’ve been running around. It was a fantastic game thanks to those changes.

          As for a game critic, you analyze games mostly for their entertainment value. You may have to give some feedback on the aesthetic and graphics quality, but the most important part is the gameplay itself. Should the game prove to be boring, a critic’s job is to point that out and explain why it’s boring. This can be subjective based on the critic’s skill at games overall and if the game is meant to appeal to a certain demographic, especially if it’s a children’s game. Providing feedback on these games is helpful to game developers as it tells them what they did wrong and how they can make improvements in a future title. 

          The best way to improve in your analyzing skills is to, of course, play as many games as possible. It’s even better if you vary up the genre. What if you don’t have a games console? That’s alright. You can learn a ton about game design just by watching people play. You just have to know what to look for. Look at gameplay for a big mainstream title that didn’t do so well critically and compare it to an indie game that ended up being a hit. The differences can be mind blowing! Compare simple mechanics to complex rules and you will notice a difference. Good games do not have to be expensive to make nor do they have to be overly intricate. Just try to make something fun and understandable to start off.

What is Game Design?

            So what is it? Is it like Fashion Design in which you make some spectacular clothing? Or maybe it’s more like Interior Design where you pick out some nice wallpaper and arrange furniture? This is where many people get the term “game design” incorrect. It isn’t so much about the artwork. That’s Game Art or Concept Art. Game Design is the writing of the rules and planning out how the entire game works. This may also include a story if the game calls for one. Anyone who writes rules and documents for a game is known as a Game Designer. That is the main reason many of us are here at SAU pursuing the Game Animation and Simulation program: to make some games!

            Sadly, as of this post there isn’t an emphasis on the design aspect. It’s all about the artwork and programming. Both fields are still important to making a game a reality and can still net you some jobs, but are not necessarily what we may all be looking for. There is speculation that a minor in game design will be added to the program and there is a class about making games called Game Design Management, but what do you do until then? Personally, I’ve been doing research. Research and a bunch of writing of articles to show what I found so far. As a three year student here, let me offer some advice on learning game design.

            First off, you don’t have to make video games. Game design applies to non-digital games as well. If you have an idea for a board or card game, write it down. Write any idea down, really. That idea, whether it be good or bad, might just help you out in the future. It may become a game or it may inspire another idea for some other medium. For example, I had an idea for a multiplayer version of Five Nights at Freddy’s that was inspired by watching some people play a gmod of the game. Someone built a replica of FNAF in Garry’s Mod and it looked fun. I planned a video game document around it, but then it turned into a board game idea. It’s still a work in progress, but ideas take time to realize. They may be built quickly or they might take years. If you keep at it, your work will pay off. 

            Or maybe you don’t want to go for board games. That’s fine. Video games are a lot bigger and more difficult to make. Plus there’s this pressure of either making your own game by yourself like Jonathan Blow did with Braid or finding a little niche to carve out for yourself. I feel like I HAVE to make a game doing all of the artwork, all of the programming, all of the sound and music, and especially the writing just to prove that I’m adequate at game design. It does not have to be that taxing, though. As a designer, you only need to know how to write and design a game. Having basic knowledge of creating artwork and computer programming is a plus, but not essential. In my case, I kind of have to know how to make artwork so I have things to show off on a portfolio. 

            Which brings up an important point: portfolios. Artists have portfolios of their greatest works, but what do game designers have? Pretty much the same thing, but with pitch documents. If you have a good game design document, post it on your site and let potential employers see it. I wouldn’t post the whole thing as someone might try and copy it. As long as the idea sounds interesting enough to develop, go with it. Having worked on a game in the past is an even better option. If you helped someone make their game, just state your role and the game you worked on. An example might be someone who was an Item Designer for Mass Effect. That person had to calculate values for each weapon and how much damage they did. Maybe you designed a level for someone in which case you would be a Level Designer. Super Mario Maker is a good game for learning how level design works.

            Now what about the story? There’s at least one person who establishes a story and possibly the entire world (or the universe!) of that game. The Lead Designer will usually be in charge of establishing the setting, but sometimes a team of writers will do that for him. Maybe you went into this program hoping to write for games without having to design them. That’s great! Creating scripts for games can help improve your writing skills. By scripts I don’t mean code. I’m referring to film script. Many segments of a game need a film script to describe the events that go on. Think of it as planning for a cutscene: you set up the camera shots, direct where the action is going, input dialogue, and stuff like that. You could also do storyboarding for games which lets you organize how the story goes in picture form.

            But what if you don’t want to do ANY of that, but still want to work in the games industry? The only thing I could think of is being a games critic. They don’t make games, they don’t do any artwork, no programming, and no story telling. They look at a game, see its flaws and mistakes, and points them out. They are not payed to insult a game, but rather to constructively criticize it so developers know what went wrong and how to improve upon it better in a future title. I’ve written my fair share of reviews and since pursuing this program, I can spot glitches and faulty textures much more easily. Most critics judge solely based on gameplay and replayability rather than art assets.

            Hopefully this advice helped clear up what game design is and isn’t. It’s all about the way the game plays, but not about what the game looks like. Designers do not have to do any coding (unless they are pretty good at it), no sound direction, nor music making. They make games for the sake of making games.

Portfolios

          This is something that is mentioned a lot by professors, but there hasn’t been anyone telling us exactly HOW to make a portfolio. It’s always “You need to build up your portfolio so you can be hired by companies looking for talented individuals. True, a portfolio website (as well as a physical portfolio of your work) is vital to getting into any industry involving creations such as writing, artwork, and even games. 

          A physical portfolio is easy enough to make. Simply make a collection of all of your absolute best work and keep it in a place where you won’t lose it. However, potential employers can’t see your physical work unless you post pictures of it in an easy to access place. That place being the web, specifically your website. That’s where the online portfolio comes in.

          Online portfolios are a little harder to make, but are a lot more convenient for everybody. If you specialize in making digital work, you can simply upload your content to your website and whoever happens to be browsing around can see it. Trouble is, web design is a required skill in creating one’s own website and not everyone can do that. I personally am a novice at web design (and scripting in general). Fortunately, that may not be necessary. There are several websites that let you build your own portfolio website out of templates and drag and drop interfaces. Look here for a detailed guide on how to set one up. One of the things it mentions is that your domain and hosting are free. If you want people to take you seriously, you will need to go ahead and opt to pay for both. A paid domain name will not have “weebly” in the URL and paid hosting is a lot more reliable than free hosting. You’ll likely pay an annual fee, but it’s a small price to pay for entering the professional world.

          As for what kind of portfolio website it is, that’s up to you. What are you good at? Really think on what you’re best skill is. It could be writing or drawing, but those are broad categories. Maybe if you’re a writer, you are more of a film script writer or if you do drawings, maybe you classify yourself as an animator or concept artist. The more specific your skillset, the easier it is for employers to classify you as a type of worker. That way, they know exactly what they are looking for.

          Once you know what you’re good at, what do you want to do? If you’re like me and you find out you have a knack for writing, then you can see yourself in a variety of positions. Personally, storyboarding and story writing are more my thing. Naturally, to show this I would need to make storyboards and stories to add to the portfolio. If you really want to be an animator, make some animations. They don’t have to be incredibly long, but they have to be good enough to show off. If you feel it’s your best, then stick it up there.

          What about voice actors or music makers? They have portfolio sites, too. They put up samples of what they sound like and possibly a scene from a cartoon or movie they provided their voice for. More music, providing songs you have made is a good idea. The best advice I can give for this is to look around for people with portfolio websites and take some notes. Know what you want to do, then look for people who do the same thing and study their sites. They usually have a home page, contact info with their face (if necessary), and a section just for showing off work. As for additional help:

Here is some advice on what to do and NOT do for a portfolio.

A few examples of portfolios:

David Shaver here worked on Titanfall.

Jay Baker is a storyboard artist with some neat stuff.

David Mattock has some animations as well as the programs he used to make them.

Pearl Hewitt does voice acting and has several video examples of her speaking for ads.

Hopefully this helps you all make a portfolio properly and gets your name out there.