Game Design: From Blue Sky to Green Light [Paperback]

Deborah Todd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 156881318X | ISBN-13: 978-1568813189

From the initial blue-sky sessions to pitching for a green light, Deborah Todd uses creative exercises and examples from classic and contemporary games to highlight different aspects of the game-design process: the decision and brainstorming phase, story and character design, content creation, testing, design documents, and flowcharting. Many of the game industry s brightest professionals share insights on key elements in game design and their analysis of what makes a game a blockbuster hit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Deb's pulled off a remarkable feat: she's produced a book that's both inspirational and practical. Listen to her and the other video game industry experts she interviews, and save yourself years of forehead-slapping. " --Corey Bridges, co-founder and Executive Producer, Multiverse

". . . a remarkable insiders' look into the exploding, often chaotic world of video games, from blue sky to green light to the final boxed game on the shelf. Game Design is an invaluable resource for beginners and established pros alike!" --Matt Costello, GXB Interactive

"Read this first! If you want to break into the business, this book will help you shorten the long, hard road many of us have traveled." --Christofer Sundberg, President, Avalanche Studios, Just Cause

About the Author

Deborah Todd is a veteran award-winning designer, writer, producer, and director in the interactive arena, with 14 published games and 20 published titles to her credit since 1991. She has worked with some of the industry s top publishers and Hollywood studios, including Disney Interactive, Disneyland, Fox, DreamWorks, Discovery Channel, MGM/UA, Columbia, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, The Learning Company, Humongous Entertainment, Broderbund, Mindscape, Houghton Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Random House, and Steven Spielberg s Starlight Foundation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: A K Peters (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156881318X
• ISBN-13: 978-1568813189
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind the Scenes in the Game Industry, March 16, 2008

By 

Katrina Black "aka Kat Black of Touchstone an... (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Game Design: From Blue Sky to Green Light (Paperback)

This book won't teach you how to design games, but what it will do - and what it does very well - is to give you an insight into what the Games Industry is really like. The lifestyle, terminology, how it works, how it's changing with the sudden mainstreamification (yeah, I know that's not a real word!) of Games.

By various measures, the Games Industry has or will soon overtake the Film and TV Industry in terms of turnover. And yet, the infrastructure, the job descriptions, the career paths - all of these are just evolving.

Issues like the increasing age of the average gamer (around 28) and the impact that's having on games design are discussed by a wide variety of experienced Industry veterans.

Appendices include real-world examples of flowcharts, storyboards, case treatments, status reports and other everyday documents that will really help a newcomer to the Industry not feel completely clueless on Day One in the office. For all they teach you in a Games Development course at college, this is the kind of practical information that is often overlooked.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone considering entering the Games Industry. It will give you a really good insight into what it's like to work in this crazy, rapidly growing field. And then, when you hit your first 'crunch' time and end up working 18 hour days and sleeping under your desk - you can't say no-one warned you ;)

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any college-level collection strong on games development needs this., June 9, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Game Design: From Blue Sky to Green Light (Paperback)

From the initial blue-sky sessions to pitching for a green light, Deborah Todd's guide uses exercises and examples for all kinds of games to build a working knowledge of the game design process, from brainstorming and character design to content, testing, and flowcharting. Interviews with top game producers supplement the author's position as an award-winning designer and writer, with exercises and a puzzles checklist at book's end for maximum learning and reinforcement. Any college-level collection strong on games development needs this.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deb's the Best!, June 7, 2007

By 

Susan J. Maunders "President, Interactive Mas... (Mill Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Game Design: From Blue Sky to Green Light (Paperback)

Deb Todd has been a leading force in game design for 15 years (or so) and this book echoes her profound knowledge of it. The recent explosion in interest in game design has brought many parvenues to the field. This book is the opposite: solid advice from a proven expert. She also interviews many key people whose advice is valid and worthwhile.