trying to understand what game - design is . . .

so, been thinking over the word for quite some time, and overall have a difficult stuff even trying to figure what game - design even is, overall perhaps it's the core - mechanics // persistent loops, or not sure style, here's a few ways think people to tend arrive at video - games, or various content . . .

1. start with a story, setting - lore
2. start with a setting, for instance ' Forgotten Realms ', ' Dragonlance ', etc etc
3. start with a mechanic, or cool system, or player - system from a title, say ' wall-running mech // CQC '
4. start with a basic, quality, or ' cool ' design, or art - direction
5. look at what other people are doing, make a tribute, etc etc

the problem trying to make sense of, not sure, for me tend to start with a story, cool ' idea ', or perhaps setting, say the ' Lord of the Rings ' - setting, and then try and figure what type, or then style of game - play, loops, or also mechanics that ' fit ', or make sense for that, for instance if writing a story over air - force pilots, then the game - systems, or game - design is going to be over that . . .

anyway, there's a ton of emphasis on this stuff, or buzz - word called ' game - design ', and think overall could be more of a story - designer, or making characters, and perhaps game - design isn't that important for me, or it follows more, or less from the story, simple example is, suppose it's an RPG - setting, there are warriors, priests, rogues, or wizards, then there's going to be a spell - system, various progression, also the art is defined over the setting, the point here is not sure if ' game - design ' is important, or should learn more about the stuff, or it's better to just focus on stories, and not really care about the design of the game, or perhaps core - loops, not sure if it makes sense to work from other ways, or arriving at content besides game - design, ' setting - rules ', or whatever it is, think it's perhaps a bit confusing, however want to learn more about the stuff, also to be a better indie developer, or know also more over the industry, or the more important words, or topics in making anything, overall just a bit confused how important ' game - design ' is, or it also sounds important to make a GDD very early, all the other buzz - words . . . .

 

understanding comes from doing, not from pondering

 

uhhh, not sure it's perhaps good idea to get an overview of the industry, or how also most people work, it's just seeing a ton of videos over the stuff, there's people that say either game - design is important, or one should make a GDD, so bit trying to figure what it is, and if it perhaps make sense for a more story - teller, than someone that starts from either mechanics, or wanting to clone a genre suppose action // adventure TPS, or an MMORPG, wanting to make something in those genres is basically also starting from game - design, or perhaps a feature - review, bec. there are specific systems, or core - features in those, and it might make sense to build that first, or if one knows some mechanics, or systems, say an inventory - system then one could just start making that, etc etc . . .

the problem is more, as someone that starts from stories, or perhaps central - lore, or important characters, don't really know the systems, until at least the overall setting is defined, not sure some people start from other stuff, and everyone is different, and there are different ways of also making a game, or produce content, the #problem is more that it just feels akward to start designing systems before even knowing what the characters are going to do, or how // why the dragon is near a city, or various quests, or tropes, does that make sense, why code a dragon - system, or perhaps flight system, if one has got no idea there'll be various enemies, or encounters, not sure, it's more a noob question, never actually made anything, more trying to figure a few routines, or where to start from, perhaps story, an art - style, or also game - design, it's just a bunch of confusing stuff, and atm have no idea what ' game - design ' is, other than people tend to say it a lot, and it's very important in the industry . . .

 

Do you have a clear idea of what a "game" is? If you don't have a clear idea, then figuring out how to design one is going to be like herding cats. You need a clear target if you're going to hit it reliably.

I personally love variations of this one: "a game is an activity which can be won and/or lost which is defined by some set of rules". Based on that, then, "game design" is coming up with the activity, the win / lose conditions, and the set of rules. In turn those things include deciding on the player's goals, what resources they need to work with, tools, level layouts, etc. etc.

I also love this one: "a game is a series of interesting decisions". Obviously that's a very different definition! But it's useful because it gives me a different perspective from which to approach the design. Ok, so I have this level and players have to do X. What decisions do I want them to make on that journey? (From high level "what character build am I aiming for?" down to low level "what button do I press next?") And how do I make those decisions individually and collectively interesting?

There are also other definitions, and people will debate them forever. But it doesn't really matter if they're right, it matters if they're useful. Once you know what you want to make, then you can start figuring out and practicing the best way to make it.

 

yea, this is the confusion over the stuff, it's a very important buzz - word, however several people use it quite differently, think overall your way of thinking is a really good one, it's also important to think over how to make a buzzword, or almost gonna say it ' industry - trope ' into something useful, helpful, or that makes sense over getting A-to-B, etc etc . . .

overall been thinking, and this might make it more difficult to answer the question, however that there are also perhaps other things that are important for either finishing, or adding work to a video - game . . .

1. game - structure
2. game - purpose // functionality
3. game - design
4. game - rhythm // pacing
5. game - narration

think overall those are interesting things to figure, and then one perhaps also knows even why // for-what one is making a game, not sure it makes sense, it's the confusion over this, it's easy to make a mechanic, or core - system of a video - game, or one could simply buy the code, over sometimes the math, or difficulty of making stuff takes bit education, or a ton of tutorials, etc etc, the problem is this, why even make that code, or feature if one doesn't have a story, a setting, or even knows why // how to make a game, over writing, design, code, or direction, think overall people saying that the game - design, or GDD is super - important is a bit flawed, or perhaps it doesn't work for all the types of people that even want to make a video - game, for me it's bit more over telling stories, epic theater - structure, a setting, or then characters that make sense, or have a ' logical ', or sensible place in the world, as someone working more from the perspective of a classic writer, perhaps also theater - director it's a bit weird to start with the mechanics, or various systems, when all those things tend to be answered, or make a ton more sense over the writing, important characters, or then either theater, or setting being done . . . .

overall, just find it confusing, and want to learn more about what game - design is, also sounds very important over being stated over, and over, and one thinks it's important, or helps to learn the topic, or stuff -- #thx for also explaining these things, or that there are different definitions, and one could perhaps say it's not necessarily the best way to do stuff, however it's a very good, also respectable way of making video - games, it just doesn't make sense for everyone that wants to make a video - game to start there, or it should be seen in a larger sense, sort - of over the original post, where some artists, directors, or video - game makers start from more story, in other cases the entire thing starts from a very cool design, or ' art ', for instance a very cool sci - fi drawing, and then people make an entire game basically from art, or pre - viz, sometimes people start from a setting, for instance the classic DnD ' Forgotten Realms ', or the Matrix was another good example of a ' setting ', bit more over sci - fi, and then last sometimes people start from raw - mechanics, or wanting to make a clone, tribute, or fan - fiction over something else, say the MMORPG - genre, action, adventure, horror, and in those cases there is more an emphasis on starting to make the core - systems, or code - features as one perhaps could call it, overall think it's interesting, also quite important to debate media, culture, art, and also want to learn more about it, right now bit ' clueless ' over the word ' game - design ', and why it's seen as so important . . . .

 

Game design: designing games.

 

that's the problem, the word has different meanings, for some people it means all the stuff involved in making a game, for others is more an overview, and then it perhaps is also just the core - systems, or ' math ' - features, and for some people it's almost like the rules-of-chess, or really intricate card - stuff, or that's where they then use the word . . .

personally, think it's fine to use it for most things, at least in theory narrative - design, and also setting - design could be part of it, however the #problem is more that it's now an industry ' hot - topic ', or more a ' trope ', and think it makes sense so try and understand where it fits in the overall ' scheme ', or also structure of making content, fiction, or say also indie - games . . .

also, rather enjoy talking, debating, and even understanding culture, or current tv, art, or television, and think it makes sense to try and get a bit philosophical understanding of the stuff, or at least one could learn a bit, perhaps get a bit of awareness over the ' good ', ' bad ', or ' so - so ' of what the industry is doing // how the corporate media works, and also if one could do the stuff better, or add to a debate, or better figure what to do oneself . . . .

don't want an angry discussion, this was the right stuff, someone was wrong, more interested in debating art, modern entertainment, or theater for it's own sake, and perhaps try to get better at it, or have a few new ideas // topics, for instance if other people are doing stuff, does that mean then it's right for me, my ideas, or what hope to make from the media, or even what kind of artist to be, think these are also important topics, or worth learning bit over, also perhaps trying to be bit critical, and have my own opinions, or stuff prefer to work over . . . .

 

do you know why prey fish often swim in big schools?

It's not because the predator is stupid and thinks the school is one big fish. Its because if many fish all move at the same time, predator cannot focus on a single one to bite. Decision overload, so predator gets confused and gets nothing.

That's what you are doing. Focus on one small fish, and bite it.

 

alright, that makes sense, get to the ' doing ', skip most of the knowing, it's more that it's a very used word, and sounds like it's very important, or then almost having a GDD solves all your problems, and then it's right to making a small fortune // sure-succes, or at least also youtubers try to make it sound like the most important thing ever . . .

not really sure, however of course want to learn what it is given how important it sounds, and also debating, or then understanding culture, art, or the current industry is a good thing, or asking a few questions, getting a bit smarter over culture, art, or various production is only a good thing before even trying to make something, if nothing else it's interesting to learn new stuff, and also various debates, or questions, etc etc . . .

 

A GDD is more important when you have a large project with multiple people working on it. When you're paying peoples' salaries it is vital that you have a plan in place and that the plan is clearly communicated to everyone involved.

 

yes, that's where a GDD starts making sense, not sure to me, also as someone that more works over narrative - design, or creative // classic story - telling it's almost as if don't need to make the stuff, the story, or then usually setting define the stuff, for instance make a title over a biker - dude, then he moves, dodges, or uses cover like a biker, in other cases it's a more clean - cut hero, and then all the mechanics fit over that ' trope ' . . .

the #problem is don't feel even have to make a GDD as a very narrative - side indie // retro dev, however it's supposed to be really important, and wanted to make sure didn't have the wrong idea, or perhaps it was also a good idea to learn bit over the stuff, looking at it right now think story - telling solves 80 - 90 % of making a GDD, however it has to be more quality writing, also detailed character - bios, and then a sensible setting, and perhaps also topics, anyway that's sort - of how tend to work as a more classic writer, or someone from a ' newspaper ' background . . .

overall, been working on either very detailed settings, then also characters, and know exactly what want, have a good story, or ideas for making a story, in #theory have been working on a DnD setting, over sci - fi stuff, and have been focusing for a few years on writing characters, early - design, more classic // trope - rich settings, anyway it's more the way been working, having more fun over writing, or thinking over ideas, settings, or early stories, think have something really good, also original, and overall have a very clear idea of the entire setting, and that for me defines most of the game - design, however it being an important word, and it also being quite known from the industry, more wanted to make sure had an understanding of how // when to make the stuff, think perhaps it's a bit over - rated, however it's important to make one, or at least support the industry, or current ways of working, or also best-advice, or what most people figure after working for years on various projects, content, or even AAA - titles . . . .

 

here's another point, where my way of working bit makes having a GDD perhaps unnecessary, been thinking for quite a while over what types, genres, or trope - structure prefer the best, and made a list of four ' favorite ' types, or styles of video - games that think is best, or at least want to make . . .



the point here is have always loved the 2D // 2.5D genre, and also the more fixed-camera titles, then the early Tomb Raider for me are some of the best, also more charming in the series, and last the classic // neo - modernistic theater experience of stuff like the Baldur's Gate - series, or Path of Exile, mostly towards the isometric look for me are the ' classic ' genres, or stuff find interesting, or some of my favorite-ever genres, also various titles, so it sort - of allows me not to worry, or think much about game - design, or even writing a GDD, all those questions have been answered, suppose have some idea for a video - game, story, characters, or early - design, then instead of making something 100 % custom, rather make whatever want to make, or currently working into one of those four genres . . .

why, and isn't that bit over restrictive, yea, the #problem have found after trying to make video - games, is that it's 1. difficult, 2. takes a ton of effort, and 3. learning, new skills, and also at times personal investment, or setting six months, a year, several years, more, aside for making a project, so instead of just wanting to make everything // all-the-features in the engine, just focus on learning what it takes to make those genres, get good at those four ' styles ', or trope - settings, and then make whatever in those four genres, and not really try to learn more // endless-scope-stuff . . .

it's also bit over realizing one person only have so much energy, also resources, it costs money to make video - games, or there's also severe learning - curve stuff, for instance learning to code, write music, or writing, think overall my experience is that ' everything is a skill ', or ' takes learning ', and want to minimize that, if that makes sense, and one way of doing that is to focus on a few // in-theory-simple video - game genres, or styles, and after having learned how to make those, forget over learning more stuff in an engine, and then go-to-publish // look-for-funds, or otherwise supporters, it's also overall because my goal isn't to make anything, more random stuff, or no-story-content, it's specifically to tell stories, detailed settings, or various characters, and for that reason it makes sense to limit content, scope, also quality, and more focus on what currently want, not to learn the most weird code // AI - whatnot, or go crazy over indie - dev, however to get to the point mostly interested in faster // also, less effort, and that is telling stories, or amazing settings, also detailed lore, or then either characters, or cultural ' events ' in the setting, or fiction, for instance the king dies, new stuff happens, that's an ' event ', and that affects the culture of the game - world . . .

it's #specifically working from the perspective of a classic writer // ' newspaper ' editor thinking, and that's why been thinking if it's a good idea to make a GDD, or why everyone thinks it's so important, and make most-cool-ever videos, or praise the stuff almost like it's necessary, or the-only-way to make a video - game, that's why have all these questions, it almost doesn't make sense for me to make a GDD, however want to learn more about what it is, and also understand, and of course support what the ( indie ) companies are doing, or be bit over current industry - standards . . . .

so, what is my question -- 1. is game - design important, or perhaps crucial for all titles, or productions, 2. does it make sense for me, and 3. how to learn more about the industry, be supportive, or learn from the experience, and also resources other people make available, and perhaps overall get ready to work with the games - industry on a professional level, and that might take bit learning over what others do, or how people tend to work, add to various titles, or finish the bigger productions // tv - quality stuff, or media . . . .

 

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Liz England's Door Problem yet:

The Door Problem

 

if you haven't made an entire game before, there is basically no point trying to plan anything. You don't know enough to make any meaningful plans.

Make pac man or something like that - or maybe a few dozen small games like that, then you'll know enough so that planning actually becomes useful.

You are using too many words and confusing yourself. I dont think anybody can follow your sentences because you have like fifty thoughts in a single sentence. If you write out a checklist for a pac-man type game, like what mechanics it should include, and then you set to work to complete the game, you'll learn 1,000,000x more than you will thinking or reading.

If you wrote out an actual checklist like that for a very simple game that everybody knows, it would be a lot easier for anybody to take a look and make sure that it isn't missing anything. Then, when it comes to actually doing the work, you will be more focused because you have an easy to follow checklist to guide you.

 

#thx, more just trying to learn bit over something before jumping, it's a bit relative, or there are different ways of making content, and it doesn't necessarily involved game - design, or as someone that wants to tell stories, at least for me, don't want to ' design ' a game, more want to tell an important story, make amazing drama, or focus on the setting, overall the ' game ', or roll-dice side of things is something almost don't care about, or more want to create an experience that's perhaps modern theater, amazing direction, or superb story - telling, that's where my focus is, if at all anywhere . . .

anyway, that's why think engines are even fun, bec. they empower story - tellers, directors, or then people into classic theater, or various fiction, and having also tried bit over engines, learned Godot, and bit Cryengine think that overall of the as it were ' smorgasbord ' of what engines provide, having thought about it, there are a few things want, or to focus on, and for me the game - design, or feature - quality isn't really what interests me, it's more how good the engine is for story - telling, perhaps for other people it's more how good the engine is at showing art, or design, and for people that make rhythm // music - titles perhaps what they really want is just to add the good music, the point was more to make sense of how people are sort - of different, and that game - design isn't always important, or that people have very different goals when using an engine . . .

in that sense of things, my priorities, or how even make art // content is very different from other people, and ' every dev is unique ', or everyone ' has their own process ', or some call it path, journey, or experience, the point is more everyone says it's very important to make a GDD, and also agree, however the #problem is that for my way of making things, or as almost a pure story - teller // world - designer thinking in terms of game - design simply isn't something that's relevant, or not how tend to work, for that reason the word is a bit confusing to me, if anything work in these areas . . .

story - design
character - design // lore
setting - design
theater - design

and, from those some form, or other of ' game ', or roll-dice stuff appears, or it tends to be a copy - paste of some stuff, or seen somewhere, or some bare - minimum stuff that just allows me to tell the story, topics, setting, or theater, in my way of thinking never really making games, more creating ' experiences ', or classic // avantgarde - modernist theater, not sure that makes sense, and that's why wanted to ask what game - design was, and why everyone makes it sound so important, at least on youtube where everyone praises it, and says it's a must for any game, production, or almost anything ever in an engine, that's where disagree a bit, and also wanted to ask a few questions, get an idea of how other people work, and perhaps create a more nuanced, balanced, or bit sensible version of the stuff, or also to have a debate over culture, philosophy, the meaning, or substance of words, and learn bit what others think . . .

overall, the important thing is . . . .

1. people use the word different // that's legit
2. for certain titles, there's almost no GDD, say a walk - simulator
3. it's important in the industry, perhaps for most indies it's not
4. for certain types of artists, writers, almost doesn't make sense

think that's fair to say, however going to remain open - minded, also listen to others, and make sure understand the stuff right, also want to get better at what they do, or how they work in the industry, however it's a bit confusing . . . .

 

I'll start by quoting BTM, but this is not specifically directed to them.

When it comes to planning how to do stuff, I agree entirely. I do think it's important to have a clear destination, or definition of "finished". Whether or not you consider that to be a part of a "plan" is debatable.

One thing that non-game developers commonly don't realise is this: until you've tried it, you don't know if something will work. In most pursuits - building a house, filming a movie, painting a picture - the majority of the work is stringing together known things, with a relatively small degree of innovation somewhere along the way to make your own thing unique. When building a house, for instance, there are pretty standard ways to lay a foundation, build walls, put in a ceiling and a roof, etc., and the main way most houses are different is just changing the layout of those things, within some constraints which are also fairly well known. This can all be easily planned, because the people involved know step by step how to do almost every single thing involved. There's maybe 5% which is unknown from the outset.

That's not true of software in general, because we often need to solve new problems along the way, and sometimes we simply don't know if a given solution will work* for our users until we implement it and give it to them to try. This means that there's a comparatively high degree of unknown, which necessarily means our planning has to account for some iterative problem solving. Sometimes that's quick, sometimes it's not, and we don't know which it'll be until we get there.

It is most absolutely assuredly not true of games, because we don't just need it to function, we need it to be fun and engaging, which is a whole other thing on top of all of the above. We usually need a huge amount of time for iterative problem solving, prototyping, player feedback, etc. at various places throughout our design.

And until you have a bunch of experience under your belt at various levels of abstraction (concept -> activities -> presentation -> implementation) you can't meaningfully plan much of that. To start with, figure out what you want to make, keep it small, and have fun figuring out how to make it happen.

* Most of the time we can know that it will mathematically function, but that's only half of the story. It also has to integrate with people and how they do things, which is often much harder and, unfortunately, often overlooked or ignored by developers.

 

@angrypenguin

i agree. I think the biggest problem they are likely to face though is learning what they can actually create and manage. It is probably going to be a far cry from what they want to create before they understand what the actual work involved is like. So then time spent planning what they want to create would be wasted because 99% is just gonna have to cut or rethunk.

I do think that planning is probably the most important step in game development. Among most of the developers I've known, it is critically lacking. Like people are taking on massive multi-year projects and they are just winging it as they go. They don't have any clear vision what hte end product is meant to be. This seems to be the norm at least among developers I've known.

But for a person learnign how to make games, I think any plans before you've made a couple basic learning projects is just gonna be time wasted, and also probably just becomes a form of procrastination as the person pretends they are doing something meaningful in order to avoid tackling the real challenges.

 

I agree they often aren't going to get where they thought, but I don't think that time is wasted. Mostly, I find that having a plan to cut bits out of or rethink parts of is far better than just having an amorphous blob of cool ideas floating randomly in my head. Even if I don't achieve them, picking a thing from a plan to try to do today gives clear direction to my Google searches or whatever I'm up to in trying to achieve it.

To provide context, I think that "I'm going to remake Space Invaders following this tutorial" is a perfectly decent "definition of finished " for someone starting out.

 

there are some amazing insights here, for instance that making something should be fun, challenging, innovative, or then rewarding // engaging, or it's called trope - structure, immersion, or quality if it's a more atmospheric, usually either horror, or then drama - driven content, the point of making anything for ' entertainment ', relaxation, or also education is that it's enjoyable, watchable, make sense, or has important content, or topics . . .

it's not enough to just make ' something ', it has to be novel, fun, or usually challenging, or worth-playing, it's a good question what makes that happen, also that there are a vast amount of gamers, people that enjoy entertainment, or more use the media - channels for relaxation, or also education, that's one of the reasons have found four genres of video - games that at least personally find fun, start, to finish, and focus on getting good at those four ' tropes ', at least then know a few things 1. the genres have had critical succes ( at least, for others ), 2. it's fun, by my own standards, and also makes sense to work on, 3. it could add to important culture, as those other titles did, and 4. there's a chance it could make money, or otherwise modest celebrity, etc etc . . .



anyway, think it's also important to set individual, artistic, over-direction, or quality - goals for what one is working on, or stuff that could be challenges, or chances to learn, or other stuff, here are a few goals that are important to me as a dev, however the final consumer will not know about, or results . . .

1. learn to write ( classic ) stories
2. practice theater - direction // modern drama - setting
3. learn oil - painting // sketches
4. understand music better
5. learn to make effects
6. learn how to use software, musical software

those goals aren't important to the player, or final consumer, however they're important for the person making the title, and give a few things that are also important, esp. for an developer, 1. energy, 2. purpose, 3. practice, or 4. challenges, and all these make it more fun to make a video - game, or more ' any ' creative goal, or then endeavour, think it's important that it's at least rewarding to make stuff, and that the person making something, esp. if it takes years for one person, and then other people play the stuff for 30 - 60 minutes, and then either never think over the content, or even care // say anything at all positive about the content . . .

everyone is different, however find that making video - games is difficult, a ' brutal ' experience on the senses, mind, and even energy, and not just having the ' consumer ' // insta - gratification user in mind, that in a way entertainment tends to devolve into, or that's ' where the money is ', one could say it's a ' soulless ' business, that people making the content at least find a way of enjoying, or then at least purpose in what they work on, anyway not sure it's 100 % related to game - design, or feature - review, however overall think in the grand scheme of things, that there are other question, perhaps also more important, than just ' game - design ', or that it has a place in game - development, it's just that at least for me there are other, also more important questions, and the OP was more over how important it is to make a GDD, or what's really important, or nice-to-know over making indie - content . . . .

anyway, bit of a detour, the question was also more what was ' game - design ', why it mattered, or if it makes sense to even make one for at least certain titles, overall think it's important, and that having a GDD is one step closer to having a finished game, or perhaps an important factor, the question was more since working as a classic story - teller atm, and more, or less the entire GDD, if even going to make one, is defined by the story // what-makes-sense over the trope, or ' game - idea ', that perhaps don't need to make that, or it's perhaps mostly important when working on bigger titles, or so, where one needs to have a firm understanding over a ton of work, coordination, and either bug - fixing, or quality - stuff, it's just a bit confusing topic, and think have also gotten the answer, 1. that sometimes it's important, and 2. it has different meanings, or people see ' game - design ' as different things, and for certain types of work, the GDD tends to write itself, or be defined by other activities, say over the writing, lore - definitions, or then early - design // prototyping . . . .


working as a classic writer, and then making either lectures, dramatic youtube - content, or last video - games it's a bit difficult to see the point, or ' purpose ' of game - design, the questions over how // why the character does so, has this, or that ability, or inventory-system, or not, is mostly answered by clear, or ' defined ' writing, and then adding those features over what makes sense is more, or less the entire GDD, or what follows from the early - design, for that reason not sure why ' game - design ' is seen as so important, perhaps more for bigger titles, working on a team, or quality - issues, not sure . . . .

 

it might look bit weird // the original question was if a GDD, or ' game - design ' is important, and think overall the ' answer ' looking for here is not just what is important about the topic, however also what's important overall for making a video - game, that's #technically the topic, and so going into bit off - topic makes sense, or the idea is to get an idea of what's actually important when making a video - game, or electronic, then interactive entertainment, important drama, or fiction . . . .

that's sort - of the question, not just if GDD is important, however also what overall then is important for making a video - game, or any interactive media, or story - platform, or culture - content, etc etc, not sure that makes sense, also because don't need to think about ' game - design ' at all, those things are answered by the writing, then also character - design, or if needed any lore // setting - information that goes with the content . . . .

my way of working, is that of a classic writer, that then uses engines, or youtube to tell those stories, or content, that's why it's a bit confusing, or why it's apparantly very important ( industry - veterans half praise the stuff, then there are several definitions // figure-stuff ), and one of the more blatant // ' everywhere-what ' buzzwords over the last few years, and have almost no idea what the stuff is, or why it makes sense . . . .

 

alright, needed a few hours to sleep on the stuff, think overall there are two questions that perhaps weren't defined properly in the OP, it'd be these two questions . . .

1. what is ' game - design ', or why is it important​

2. when making a video - game, electronic fiction,
design, content, are there other things that are
important besides ' game - design '​

these are the two questions sort - of like to get an understanding of at least, to also better define what ' game - design ' is, and where it fits in the overall sense of making a video - game, finishing a project, publishing various content, or how-to-even make any video - game . . .

also, saw the stuff about having a defined ' content - finished ', or also ' scope - limit ' as one could call it, and that might help make something, and how one doesn't have a sense of the when-done, or last-detail-limit over making something like a video - game, where one could add endless features, code, or effects, and also something that's been bothering me, normally one thinks of a task as simple, easy, or ' limited ', and when one tries to say, goal == to make a video - game, or finish a title, or publish stuff, then one realizes it's not as simple as that, and one has to both learn a ton of stuff, and also effort to make anything, and that's where perhaps making anything in an engine has also surprised me, that one thinks it's simple, or one could make Skyrim in a few months, then one realizes a few things . . .

1. learning how to use 3D software // Blender, takes quite some time
2. learning how to code is a skill, takes practice, and also constant use, or re-learning
3. making music, effects, or theater all takes time, is each separate skills
4. making art is not only difficult, it takes practice, and various learning

that's where found this sort - of constant learn-new-things // art-is-infinite stuff, where for instance music is something one could practice for twenty, thirty years and still not be the best, know everything, or even be that good, or it's a mechanical skill that takes also practice, that's sort - of why have a bunch of questions over 1. how one makes a video - game, and 2. what's important to think of as a beginner, was sort - of thinking could have a perhaps cultural, also philosophical debate over what the important elements of a video - game are, and also what things are important for making a video - game, and where ' game - design ', learning other skills, or publishing-material makes sense in that ' dynamic ', and what really matters, takes extra - learning, effort, or sort - of the business of development works, or how one should think over the stuff . . .

( the question is, 1. why is ' game - design ' important, and 2. is it more important than other steps, or learning-elements, or practicing-skills over an entire video - game production, as a way of trying to understand what ' game - design ' is, if // how it's important, or when to even use it, or if it makes sense in all content . . . . )

 

yes i think that is probably the best way to start out. That way you remove the difficult creative part out and can just get to grips with the technical and organizational problems.

 

think there are various ways to get rid of the creative stuff, if one wants, for me it's more a matter of skill, also wanting to learn code, effects, and theater - writing, and also to limit scope // learning a ton of different creative, artistic, also musical skills . . .

1. limit resolution to PS1 - PS2 ( 180p - 360p )
2. use low - res textures, no filtering, either 16x16, or 32x32 pixels per m surface
3. use low - mid poly 3D models, PS2 quality, or at best PS3 ( can't be seen at low resolution )
4. overall, avoid going pro, ' industry - standard ', Quixel - stuff, or copy - paste succes stories

my main reasons are 1. don't want to spend to much effort either making, or learning art, effects, or AAA - content, and 2. don't want my first titles to be too advanced, take too much effort, or personal investment . . .

people are also different, some people enjoy making art, for others it's more making code, early - design, pre - viz, sound, writing, etc etc, and something people don't really understand is that it takes years, also various effort to even get good at something, various oil - painting, music, different instruments, say classic piano, then guitar, writing a soaring overtoure, or a rad - original techno beat, people think these things are easy bec. it's easy to load a game, or play a CD on the the stereo // get on sale, what one realizes after trying to make it is that almost - everything - involved in making a video - game is a skill, or takes effort, learning, or practice, and some people don't want to get good at art, code, music, or other stuff, and simply choose to by - pass, not learn, or focus on those things, buy code, art, or sound // effects from other people, or simply make content that doesn't have those things . . .

overall, there's no set way, or specific do-this for how to use a video - game engine, it's #technically a creative - platform, or a ' cultural - venue ', that one could use for anything from garage band indie - demos, to visual novels, to vast // advanced AAA - content, to almost anything, and given all that freedom it's almost more a question of how to limit that, make at least some sense of that, or finding what one thinks is cool, want to actually work on, think makes sense, or what one thinks could be at least interesting to learn, practice, or study, for instance learning art - school grade painting takes years, and to learn pro - guitar skills, if one wants to have a serious soundtrack // recordings, then one has to set 5 - 10 years aside to learn to get ( really ) good at guitar, people don't think that when they download the engine, or that one also has to learn pro - audio software to make good audio, for me that took also a few years . . .

1. realize that it takes a ton more to make a video - game, than to play one
2. everything is a skill // requires learning
3. art, design, pre - viz, or most sound has unique challenges, or artistic quality
4. you need to learn skills had no idea, for me it was figuring engines require code
5. there'll be 10.000 bugs, various errors before your ship-today // easy-fix idea works

anyway, the topic was bit over what ' game - design ' was, or perhaps what other things are as important, or at least as relevant as the topic, and overall idea was to debate over that, and perhaps also make sense of the word, or why it's so important, or people at least talk about it in the industry // pro - work stuff . . .