Game Design, Writing, & Videos: Extra Credits
Originally published at A Singularity. You can comment here or there.
So last time I posted an Extra Credits video, I explained how some of the skills talked about are applicable across not just video games but other creative fields like writing. The video below is the second part of that series and while it’s advice this time doesn’t apply to writing nearly as much, it does apply to a broad range of interactive game design, not just video game design.
The first advice is applicable to any creative art. No matter what your muse may be telling you, you can’t create in a vacuum. One of the most important parts of being a writer, game design, artist, etc, is sampling the medium you’re trying to create. Fiction writers should read fiction. RPG designers should play D&D, DFRPG, and other RPGs. Artists should spend hours wandering through Deviant Art or their local museums, etc. I feel the last section of the video, playing to learn, ties into this well. Use the observation skills from the last video while you take in other’s ideas.
Also when making any kind of game be it board, rp, video, etc, the F.O.O. strategies are still things you have to look for as well. Does the game break if I spend all my experience on strength and avoid the other scores? If I’m allowed to play two action cards a turn, will that let me get another card that will let me play an unlimited amount of action cards? Etc.
Break Points applies to not only games, but can also apply to writing. You have two major possible break points in a story, your narrative flow, and your world description. The first is obvious to most writers because, well, the story is what you’re writing. Forgetting that a character died three books ago and writing them into your newest book is something you generally don’t worry about… too much.
World description is a bit more insidious, especially for fantasy. Does it make sense to have large-scale ground wars in worlds where there are airships? How do small generic villages support themselves if there are huge wandering monsters between them and the places where they would trade their exports?
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