Things Learned At GDC - Part 1
Monday, April 02, 2018Main take-aways from talks I've been to at GDC 2018, at the end of all notes I will put up a list of talks I recommend watching on GDCVault.
This post contains:
1. Good Game Design is like a Magic Trick.
2. Immersing a Creative World into Useable UI.
3. Leadership at the heart of your team.
Next post will contain:
4. Bridging the gap between UX Principles and Game Design.
5. Character Development in Non-Linear Spaces.
1. 'Good Game Design is like a Magic Trick' - Jennifer Scheurle:
- Favour player/human perception
- Keep people's flaws in mind.
- Give the player what they never knew they wanted.
- Bioshock - a game that wants to keep the player engaged while having a focus on narrative
- The first shot from enemies always misses.
- Allows the player to orient themselves and plan their next course of action.
- If the player has more cash, the game would decrease the amount of items dropped, motivating the player to go to the shop.
- Gears of War
- New players trying multiplayer for the first time would receive a damage bonus to give them the perception that they were doing better than what they actually did.
- 95% of players who tried multiplayer for the first time and did not get any kills ended up not returning to multiplayer.
2. 'Immersing a Creative World into Useable UI' - Steph Chow
Research
- What is the visual culture behind your world?
- History, Nature, Subculture
Create sample screens based on:
- Pop-up silhouettes
- Colour and Texture
- Typography
- Shape Language
Research the visual details of movement, culture, museums, movies.
Exploration
'Variety is king.'
- How do you immerse your world into UI?
- Decide immersive UI ingredients.
- Skeuomorphic / Flat.
- Diegetic / Non-diegetic.
- What is the space you're creating for?
- Tablet, PC, Console, VR
- What is the level of complication?
- Information load.
Try different lay-outs based on the information you have.
Iteration
Finding the balance between narrative and UI/UX.
Both narrative and UI/UX need to enable and support the game, not distract from it. They should enhance a frictionless experience.
UI/UX reflects the games' world, it does not compete with it.
- Readability
- How is the info displayed and how are we treating info styling?
- Are we risking style over design?
- Personality
- Can I see the worlds' keywords?
- Am I using the keywords too abstract?
- Implication
- How is the balance between interactive vs. non-interactive?
- Interactions do not have to be literal to references.
- Scale
- Can I scale without breaking memory load?
Avoid generic looking UI.
Invest time into immersing your narrative into the UI.
3. 'Leadership at the Heart of the Team' - Nick Chilano
(Slight focus on animation, but applies to everyone.)
- Leadership can come from anyone.
- The importance of soft skills.
- How do I talk/work with people?
- Foster your culture.
- Pillars & philosophies.
- Create a formula that can be applied to a variety of projects/teams.
Philosophies
- Talk early, talk often
- What are we trying to make?
- Set intentions.
- By talking early and often you lower the risk of wasting resources and time.
- Context is key.
- Play your work in the engine, in its' environement. Not stand-alone.
- Why is something wrong? Why does something feel off?
- Context will make it easier to pin-point issues.
- We are the support class.
- We support the design/games' need.
- We do not change or distract from the game.
- What 'box' do we need to be in?
- We are Game Developers first.
- We always look at the game first.
- We have to be okay with making sacrifices and giving up on our own personal goals if it distracts from the game. (e.g. this really nifty animation I made, or this awesome VFX I put on a button, or the really in-depth animation of the character putting on their equipment, or this long-winded dialogue which is actually just getting in the way of me trying to shoot a hog.)
Pillars
- Camera
- Read from the games' camera position.
- Get a quick glimpse from how the player will see it.
- Understand the 'box' you are in.
- Gameplay
- Animation drives what the player can do.
- It should be responsive and intuitive.
- What is best for the game?
- Believability
- The animation should be believable for the world we have created.
- Do we have low gravity? Do characters have freakishly long spaghetti arms?
- Theme
- Movement is distinct to the characters, they bring life to them.
- Call them out quickly from silhouettes.
Application
- Trust
- Don't micromanage.
- Give ownership.
- Make it safe to fail.
- Asset Feedback
- Focused.
- Non-lateral.
- Hiring
- Consider your pillars&philosophies.
- Create questions based on your team culture.
- There are no wrong answers - these questions are intended to bring out someones thought process.
- Alignment
- Actionable career feedback. Feedback that has practical value for personal and professional growth.
- Listen and Wait. How do I approach a situation?
- Transparency. Be honest about your intentions.
- Leadership
- Set intentions as a leader. Example:
- Stay a small team.
- Have a large output.
- Be able to tackle any project.
Closing
- Lead by example.
- Believe in what you do.
- Succession planning.
- Lay a foundation for those who take over.
- Include your team in the process.
- What does your team want to do?
- What culture do we want to foster?
- Involve your team in decision-making.
People will rise to the occasion.
Trust, transparency and honesty.
If you believe in it and act on it, your team will follow.
Reiterate and repeat.
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