Begin Knowledge of Game design

Reviews of links –

The first link is the web page written by Chris Crawford and its is arguing the point whether Computer games are an art form, he provides some good points for his argument that they should be considered an art form by describing art as

“something designed to evoke emotion through fantasy”

which essentially is what computer games are. This was obviously written some time a go as he refers to Pac-Man when talking about games and how there is no art in games but in today’s market there is defiantly a lot of passion that goes into the production of a game and can give people the same if not more enjoyment than say music, theatre, film or art. His writing also compares games to sweets and comic books in the way they attract kids by the way they are presented. I think that times have moved on now and computer games are defiantly played by a large number of adults throughout the world.
The next website is the gameasutra explaining the role of “levels” in games and how they have changed. Originally levels were increasingly challenging as they got further through the game but now the term level involves designing maps scenery and working on missions to fit the level and make sure the game flows freely. Now the transitions between levels is virtually seamless in a lot of games where it is getting harder to tell at what point the game becomes harder to play.
The random terrain website is a good website for someone getting in the industry as it provide lots of feedback from other designers and gives lots of information in that field

Blog entry
Upon looking at the role of game designers in the industry I have come to the conclusion that there is really no such a job as a “game designer” this was prevalent back in the late 70’s where games such as pong and Pac-man were developed usually by a single person or 1 or 2 people. Nowadays though computer games are built with teams 20, 30, 40 people strong and it takes this team to produce a good game. Game play I feel is a term to describe, not to be too bland but how the game plays. A good game will have a good flow and will keep the player constantly involved in a game by not being to repetitive and just being downright awesome. The Design principles do differ between genres also, for example FPS’s should have a clear structure where the levels flow but it is also clear where to go by creating the levels with as little ability to free roam as possible as this will make the game very hard to control. Role playing games however have the ability to introduce some sort of free roam as this can enhance the game play. Simulation games have little need for game designers by way of story or levels as a lot of this is created by the users. Racing games should be clearly structured with levels clearly prepared to only allow users to go one way. Sorry about the rambling but I’m really not the best at structuring my writing lol.