Andrew and Ernest have compiled a wonderful book for both potential and experienced gamers alike. The best part about this book is the worksheets that appear in almost all the chapters. They enable you to stop and consider various game design questions even before starting your own design questions such as "What process is the player going to manage?" "What actions will the player take in managing that process?" and "Who is the central character in the game, the players avatar?" Here's what Will Wright (creator of The Sims and SimCity) says about the book: "A very useful book for anyone working in (or hoping to work in) interactive media. Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams approach the topic with very practical advice for both new and experienced designers."
We hope you like it, too. Please send me your thoughts.
Lisa Thibault, New Riders (lisa.thibault@newriders.com)
Andrew Rollings: This book contains our combined thoughts on the important issues that relate to designing games. We have chosen to address areas that we believe are important and under-served.
We offer a game design methodology intended to get your creative juices flowing. We discuss the central issues that every game designer must face, and pose a series of questions for you to ask yourself about the game that's in your head. The answers to those questions will move you along the path from idea to design. You are at the beginning of a voyage of discovery. The journey begins here.
Ernest Adams:
One day I received a letter from Andrew Rollings asking if I would like to co-author a book on game design. Andrew had already written the highly successful Game Architecture and Design with Dave Morris, so I knew he would be a good collaborator. It didnt take me long to say yes. We first met in a restaurant, and blocked out the chapter plan over dinner. Andrew would write the chapters on storytelling and core mechanics, I would write the ones on concepts and worlds, and wed split the genre chapters between us according to interest and experience.
Philosophically, we were very much on the same wavelength. We wanted to be definitive without being dictatorial, and comprehensive but still concise. We wanted to write a book that designers and students could turn to for specific advice. We dont tell you exactly what to do. Instead we tell you what to think about, identifying the major questions that every designer must face. We dont design your game for you; we give you the tools to help you design it yourself, including numerous examples from current and earlier games.
It has been a long, hard road. But we got there in the end and were proud of our work. We hope youll find it valuable.
From the Back Cover
A very useful book for anyone working in (or hoping to work in) interactive media. Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams approach the topic with very practical advice for both new and experienced designers." - Will Wright, creator of The Sims and SimCityHow do you turn a great idea into a game design? What makes one design better than another? Why does a good design document matter, and how do you write one? This book answers these questions and stimulates your creativity! Game design consists of four essential tasks: imagining a game, defining the way that it works, describing its internal elements, and communicating this information to others. This book examines each of these tasks and shows you not only what issues you will need to address in your design, but how to think about games and gameplay. After reading this book, you will have the tools you need to both design many kinds of games and to create a professional-quality game design document.Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design will show you:The key design elements of every computer and video game, and how to think about them.How to write a high-concept document, a treatment, and a full design script.The essentials of user interface design and how to use them to define your game's look and feel.How to construct and balance your game's internal mechanics to make sure the game is both fun and fair.The relationship between interactivity and narrative, and how to write compelling stories.The unique design problems in each of the major game genres.How to design multi-player games to maximize player interaction and minimize cheating.Table of Contents:Part I: The Elements of Game Design1. What Is Game Design?2. Game Concepts3. Game Settings and Worlds4. Storytelling and Narrative5. Character Development6. Creating the User Experience7. Gameplay8. The Internal Economy of Games and Game BalancingPart II: The Genres of Games9. Action Games10. Strategy Games11. Role-Playing Games12. Sports Games13. Vehicle Simulations14. Construction and Management Simulations15. Adventure Games16. Artificial Life, Puzzle Games, and Other Genres17. Online Games18. The Future of GamingPart III: AppendixesA. Sample Design DocumentsB. BibliographyThis book sets the record straight as to what "game design" is and why it's important.Tom SloperPresident, Sloperama ProductionsA wise future game designer would do well to read this before launching his or her career in the field.John FeilLevel Designer, LucasArts EntertainmentAndrew Rollings and Ernest Adams: On Game Design shows how to design great computer games in all the major genres, and it's useful to both students and experienced professionals. If you're serious about game design, this book belongs on your shelf.Chris TaylorCreator of Total Annihilation and Dungeon Siege"From basic technical considerations to questions of ethical and emotional content, Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams: On Game Design covers every phase of designing a product, while also maintaining a top down perspective on the most important aspect of any game - keeping it fun!"Bill RoperVice President of Blizzard EntertainmentFilled with insightful anecdotes and useful checklists, Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design gives you a rigorous conceptual foundation that will help you design better games. If you want to become a game designer, start here. Scott KimFull-time independent designer of visual puzzles
About the Author
Andrew Rollings (co-author of the highly successful book Game Architecture and Design) has a B.S. in Physics from Imperial College, London, and Bristol University, and has worked as a technical consultant spanning the games industry and the financial industry since 1995. Ernest Adams (co-founder of the IGDA) is an American game design consultant currently based in England. He has developed on-line, computer, and console games for everything from the IBM 360 mainframe to the Sony PlayStation 2. He is the author of the popular Designer's Notebook series of columns on the Gamasutra developers' webzine.
Ernest Adams is a freelance game designer and a member of the International Hobo game design consortium. He was most recently employed as a lead designer at Bullfrog Productions, and for several years before that he was the audio/video producer on the Madden NFL Football product line for Electronic Arts. He founded the International Game Developers Association in 1994.
