Customer Reviews

Swords & Circuitry: A Designer's Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games (Premier Press Game Development)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
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This book is focused on designing role playing games, but covers so much information about the game industry that it is applicable for any type of game. Whether you are interested in the subject peripherally, are in the industry, are a gamer, or a programmer, you will find this book to be an enjoyable read. It is not a technical book, but rather a marketing book, filled with humorous anecdotes from an insider's view of the game industry. The artwork was very professionally done, as were the figures. This book is just an enjoyable read overall. It includes a complete game design proposal (by one of the author's games) for an actual game that was accepted by a game publisher. The author designed games like Betrayal at Krondor, and many more, so he knows what he is talking about! Reading about what took place to bring many popular games to market was very interesting. Towards the end, there are several interviews with actual game designers (such as the designer of Ultima Online and others). This section was fascinating. The book does get into the details too, talking about assembling a development team, project life cycle, testing, and so on. Jam packed with tons of cool facts and information.

This book has been out for a few years, and unfortunately, it has never really received the attention it so richly deserves. From the title, you might infer that it teaches how to design role-playing games, which it does, but what might not be immediately obvious is that the information contained in it can be applied to games from any genre.

This book discusses everything from product life cycles, to plot design, to team roles, to world building, to gameplay issues, and much more. Each topic is covered in detail, with advice and examples. The book includes in-depth interviews with people behind some of the top role-playing games (e.g. Dungeon Siege and Neverwinter Nights), as well as copies of real design documents from leading games (e.g. the world layout from Fallout and the design document from Nox).

The Halfords' writing style is colorful without being condescending. Neal's experience shows through as he is able to back up all of his advice with real-world experience on major titles.

This is quite simply one of the best game design books on the market, and an entertaining read to boot. I give it my highest recommendation.

Neal's (& Jana's) book is not only comprehensive and up-to-date (which no small task in the game industry!) but it's also enjoyable as hell. His well documented history of the gaming industry alone is worth the price of the book, but Swords & Circuitry is also full of incredibly valuable information presented in an well thought-out manner, and with a sense of humor.

The book covers world building, game balance, effective team building, resource management, game proposals, design documents, user interfaces, game writing and much, much more. And, as a bonus, the second half of the book contains recent interviews with some of the hottest developers in the industry.

If you're a designer, or a would-be designer, do yourself a favor and pick it up. I can't recommend it highly enough!

Wynne McLaughlin
Game Designer - NCsoft

Neal and Jana Hallford, Swords and Circuitry (Prima, 2001)

A word to prospective buyers: Swords and Circuitry is not a book about coding games. If that's what you're looking for, Prima has a number of other titles you can go to. This one's about designing games, and there's nary a line of code to be found.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, this book does have a lot to offer both for those who plan to specialize in game design and those who are running (or trying to run) one-man shops. The Hallfords offer a good deal of advice regarding the whole process of game design, from defining what it is (and having others interviewed by Neal Hallford do so as well) to details of design documents, proposals, etc. The benefits for the aspiring game designer are obvious; to the one-man shop, reading this may help clarify some things that will help when programming time comes, or shed a different light on things that may not have been thought of in quite that way. Definitely worth checking out, but know what you're getting. *** ½

I think the Hallfords sold themselves short with the title of this book: I'd heard of it, but wasn't interested in reading it, because I didn't think it applied to the kinds of games I work on. I was wrong.

Highlights for me include the section on the different reasons different people play videogames and the section on difficulty curves. Both of these sections have ideas I hadn't come across before.

The interviews with designers are good, too: the interviewees are all players in the industry, and the interviews don't limit themselves to information that would only apply to RPG's.

The ratio of meat to fat in this book is quite high. The Hallfords know a lot, and they try to get it all on the page.

I really don't know where to begin in thoroughly recommending this book. If you have any interest in designing RPG games (or any game at all, for that matter) this is the best book for your bank. Neal Hallford lays it all right out in front. From story design to gameplay mechanics to writing your pitch documents, this book will show you the most important stages of game development. More importantly, this book is down to earth and easily digestible. The chapters and subsections were written in a very clear and concise manner. I've seen other game design books that failed to educate or even entertain.

Neal Hallford writes this book not only from the point of view of a veteran game designer (Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Siege, and others), but also from the point of view of a GAMER. It is from that point of view that really makes this title stand out. You can tell how much he enjoys his work, and his excitement for the focus medium (RPGs) is infectious as you read. He really helps you to craft a world in your own mind (and helps you think `outside of the box' as you design). Each chapter is complete with a handful of exercises to help the budding game designer expand the way in which they think about games

This title is also rife with interesting tidbits and trivia about past games and game development. Neal Hallford never forgets that, even though this is a billion-dollars-a-year industry, we make GAMES. Even though the process should be taken seriously, you should work very hard at both doing it well, and having fun while you do it. The process itself is, in fact, one of the strongest aspects of this title. Neal takes you through every step of the process including writing your design document (the game designer's bible, as it were). He points out critical features, and common oversights. Again, he does all of this in a way that is very easy to understand.

Finally, the appendix to this title is a treasure trove itself. Included in the back of the book are interviews with some of the top game developers in the business. And while many other books have included `fluff' interviews with game designers, this book actually focuses on the critical topic: game design. You learn about how different game designers work, how they approach certain problems, and where they get their inspiration. In addition to these interviews, you can also find sample design documents, descriptions of levels, and charts for gameplay mechanics.

I don't recommend this book. I demand that you buy it. If you have even a passing interest in game design, this book was written for you. Professionals should own it. This is even a great resource for mod authors who are looking for help in creating their own worlds within other game titles. You won't be sorry.

While Swords & Circuitry bills itself as "A Designer's Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games," the truth is that it's the best game design book on the market for just about any genre -- particularly for designers who want story and character to play a large role in their experiences.

Even if your project is more Survival Horror or Action-Adventure than RPG, Swords & Circuitry is the one book that covers all the topics most important to game designers: Story/Character Development, Gameplay, Scriptwriting, Proposal Formatting, Design Documents, and World Creation. (And if you're considering this book specifically because you want to design an RPG, there are plenty of chapters dedicated solely to that genre.)

If you're an aspiring designer who dreams of making the next Ultima, Baldur's Gate or Final Fantasy, this book is the perfect primer to get you started on the theory and the specifics of game design.

And if you're an industry vet who dreams of making the next... well... Ultima, Baldur's Gate, or Final Fantasy, this book is a great resource that offers excerpts from successful proposals and design documents. Plus, by reading it straight through, you'll fill in plenty of gaps in your game design education -- gaps you didn't even know you had.

This book provides a clear outlook of how to design an RPG though I wish there was a reference book to go with it. It even could be used as a text book for a class. It does everything it says. Includes other designers perspectives to broaden your perspective on design including designers from Might & Magic, Neverwinter, Star-Trek, and a few others.

This book was written when Dungeon Siege I and Neverwinter Nights I were in development, and thus lacks any information regarding their sequels, Baldur's Gate II, Diablo II, Titan Quest, Morrowind, and ultimately Oblivion. It briefly discusses UO and mentions both Asheron's Call and Everquest, the early mainstream MMOs. Don't expect anything regarding WoW, DAoC, EQ2, DDO, AO or Lord of the Rings Online. That's a lot of material that just didn't exist when this was published.

However, for what it contains, it's VERY good. It has a great introduction on the early development of RPGs. You'll find good information on the influence of Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings on CRPGs. The interviews at the end are excellent reading as well.

The book sets out to guide new RPG designers through the do's and don'ts of CRPG development, and give them a good background on why things are the way they are. It lays out what you need in your proposal and design document, with plenty of examples. It really does an excellent job in all of this. If you're looking for code, look elsewhere. You won't find ANY in this book. It's intended for designers, not programmers.

If you can grab it for under ten bucks like I did, go for it. Everything inside the book is still useful and the guiding principles are accurate even with all that's happened since it was published. I just wish there was a second volume that included all of the new stuff.

This book wasn't at all what I thought it would be, but I loved it. I finished it within a day.

Don't buy this book if you are expecting someone to tell you the steps involved in making an RPG. There are many better books for that. S&C doesn't tell you how to make a game. It tells you how to THINK when making a game. It also goes quite in-depth about what it's like to be in the role of a game designer.

So the two scenarios in which this book would be most useful are:

1. You have a game already designed in your head and just want to make it more fun or more professional.

2. You are considering whether you want to become a game designer as a career.

If you fit one of these two, buy this book right away. If not, it might still be worth a look. It's interesting, well-written, and you may just learn a thing or two.