Customer Reviews

Game Design: From Blue Sky to Green Light

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 ;)

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.

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.