.:Out-of-the-box:.

I’ve started evaluating Unity 3D. It looked like a cheap start for Indie/Hobbyist experiments, that’s why I’ve chosen it. After a couple of hours of my play with the tool set, I still have some concerns regarding its potential. I’m pretty sure though, that it’s really great app for prototyping. I started with open terrain generator. Standard project Unity provides, named Islands, is also based on open terrain. Default project reveals beautiful landscapes with nice props thrown in various locations, birds flocking above you and other game elements pretty common in areas like that one, already designed. I closed default project and started my own, also with terrain as a starting point. I was amazed how easy and intuitive tool they have provided. Implementing LOD based terrain generator is not hard task to do. That hidden lore had been explained very well at the end of 90-ties with all possible algorithmic variations, I did implement my own at that time too. To have the engine complete WYSIWYG editor is natural next step tool  for real creation.

Above picture shows Unity’s toolbox for terrain generation. It has options more similar to Sim City rather than game development from programmer’s perspective, which is cool by the way. I raised and lowered terrain, did some smoothing with the land’s texture. Adding material works as direct painting on the landscape. With palette of “grass” billboards and tree geometries, I can fill up terrain with some flora and other props (rocks, etc). Nice tool, effects of my 2h long work still are far from a game, but it proved itself very effective in unblocking creative thought around a story.

If we think of classic adventures and especially role playing games, story is often if not usually bound to some map. Every enthusiast of fantasy books and fantasy games should love maps too. It is so amazing to trace what your heroes did, making a virtual travel painted with your finger on those maps. As I said, I clicked here and I clicked there. I raised some mountains, I dug some holes to fill them up with lakes and seas. And started walking around and imagination triggered even on such a primitive example. One stage of my work is exposed below:

From top-down view I copied map like looking image to a painting tool, just to think a little bit more about as a storyteller. “If there is a land what landmarks it hides” was my thinking. So I started putting some dots on the map highlighting areas like below example:

With Tolkienian, classic-fantasy approach to the setting, I separated some details.

I have a hilly land in the middle of the map, surrounded by land I filled up with trees (North-West). South reveals coastal area with two bays, connecting probably to some bigger sea or lake. Northern-east brings big desert or any other kind of desolated area. Southern-East brings big mountains.

Naturally middle is crowded by Men. Forest filled up with elves, mountains with dwarfs. Classic fantasy world works for me. Desert brings only death and forgotten lore. I started adding some details there. In hilly area which cuts that desert, I added some place for some serious villains yet to be designed and figured out. In the middle of sand I put a marker for an Oasis with nomads and many opportunities for adventure.

There is a road ending up near that desert. I put there some small town visited often by merchants and travelers who want to cross the desert to reach some other country on the other side. No road goes to the land of elves for a reason, part of an emerging setting I’ve made. In the middle of the Country of Men I left big, flat and empty space. Good to place there biggest city in the area with city walls and other medieval details. Rest of the hilly country can be used to design some farmlands. Farms on hills remind me Ireland, and their rocky borders between each farm. Could be nice to put those there (Medieval economy was mostly based on farming, plenty of them should be spread around, looking gorgeous) . On the coastal area we have more civilization to describe. Big cliff with only one route to reach the top looks good for a castle construction. Big fortress for a local monarch. Maybe not a king, land seems to be too small for a kingdom, but some local duke who keeps the colony on the borderland between elves, dwarfs and who knows who lives in that dusty desert. Near the castle I added second, small town that feeds its citizen mostly from the water surrounding it. Fishers, smugglers, many different moods for adventure I believe that you can imagine in that area.

Summarizing, from simple point and click map generation I’ve got:

1) A royal colony, far, far away from the country. Ruled by local duke who keeps the land for men in very difficult neighborhood of elves, dwarfs and other unnamed villains.

2) In this very dangerous, yet very interesting area,obviously economics is based on farming and trade. Skilled merchants have their connections to kingdoms of dwarfs and those held by Elves. Most risky business of them gave a birth of legends that very rich country with ancient and high culture lives on the other side of desert. Dwarfs and Elves know more but say no word about that land.

3) Country of Men has several interesting landmarks: Royal Castle, Big city, small coastal city, small town (outpost) near desert, farms and I added some hermit hut near the shore too, just for fun.

I have already defined details, that can help to start thinking forward on the real plot, a reason why would you like to put main, player character in the middle of that land.

Some triggers I’m giving as a summary:

Idea 1: Questioning a ruler of that land. Why would you like the be there as a duke. Just ruling and nothing happens? Boring. Maybe that duke was sent there for exile. King is happy that he’s far away not troubling him. How to use that for an adventure?

Idea 2: Duke is an  adventurous conqueror with no mercy to his enemies, who dreams to build his own fiefdom powerful. He found himself stuck on a small territory and strong neighborhood that resists. How about helping him to win against elves and dwarfs. How about tricky intrigues merchants make to block it or push it. If country conquer succeeds, some will loose their connections and business can be at risk. From the other hand, war always equals to profit, so another powerfull clique or complete merchant guild supports that war with resources and politics. If so, then maybe duke is not a conqueror but a naive and weak Muppet playing in somebodies game. How would you put that on stage, when the player character is added to the dramatis personae.

Idea 3 (supplementary): Lets assume that the only connection with the core country is sea. It is obvious, that many of the trades merchants would like to make behind the scenes, illegally. Answer to that is smuggling, gangs and local crime world. Hidden, not so legal guilds, thieves and intrigue can set up adventures and plot. How those guilds and secret organizations will handle the situation. Is that intrigue left only on a street-level murder and assault or maybe involves tricky politics on the court too?

I’ll leave above concepts as an inspiration to you. Story has just begun, but it started simply.. from the map.

After a short break, I'm presenting last part of  the thoughts I had shared with students in December. Speaking of design in games I can hardly avoid a feeling that in near future we will reinvent already known wheel but in very new creative way. This is true to all community and Indie game development initiatives. Platforms like generic Web, Facebook, Mobile phones, Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network give an opportunity to look at the past successes in gaming from early to mid 90'ties. 16 and early 32 bit blockbusters come back now utilizing modern graphics and propose new game play but in details. Generally 2D scrolling platform game isn't anything new we know, yet example I like to give – game called Braid is damn new and fresh indeed. I have more examples of those that keep me even stronger in evolutionary approach to game design.

This is good lesson for wanna be game developers, just starting creators going through the "Indie games" scenario. Many of these guys try to be another Jonathan Blow. Many create great games but also many fail for one simple reason. They start with very high expectations to the project like "a game like none other was before in every aspect". Then some get stuck with  creativity, some find themselves making the perfect engine forever and so on. Evolutionary approach is one of the solutions for this paradox. I found good example of this on web pages from one of American colleges. I don't remember its name, I found it on "Games Career Guide". Case is, that teacher in that school had given simple task to his students. Task was: take a game you like, look at it with criticism, find 5 things in that game that you dislike and propose changes (features) that would help this game been even better. Genius in that task is that you immediately leave way of thinking like "I'll make the best strategy game world has seen" and no details as your vision scope. Results of that training were published so I'd seen classic "Lemming" with a new lemming type who was building a cannon and firing other lemmings. Very drastic alternative for bridge already featured in the game. Many ideas coming from that approach were crap like nothing else in context of game play, but that's okay. I think this is very best way to think and learn what good game play means.

I believe that technology in modern platforms allows to make any possible kind of game with amazing visuals and other technical aspects of the title. We can choose from casual platforms where these visuals might have not yet been so important and in every game beside some geeky hardcore players market demands unique experience while playing. Thinking on ideas big and small should be first while considering games development. Technologies and business models already exist.

From titles like Braid, Flow and Flower to big blockbusters, I observe that emotions in games take bigger role.  From shooters like Halo and Call of Duty, through racing games like Need for Speed to real adventure and role playing games I see that having a story is part of the design decision making. Need for Speed Most Wanted in this case was very surprising to me. Racing like many other released already by EA, you can like or not. But between every major race (a checkpoint in the game) you have a movie alike story to watch and listen which is not bad and quite close the Fast and Furious narration. It's not important for the race winning and totally non-interactive but adds some adrenaline too. Emotional and story driven approach in many different types of games are already highlighted by industry's legends. Peter Molyneux has major impact on evolution in classic RPG genre where you interact in character growth not only counting his levels but also understanding periods of his life from childhood, getting adult, romances, marriage, betrayals. RPG and adventure game is where that should be strongly visible first. Interesting thing was said by Cliff Bleszinski for the British Magazine – Develop. Cliff stated that the future of current shooters is role-playing game. If you take a look at GTA IV, Bioshock examples it's really hard not to agree. Future of adventure games I all the time see in Fahrenheit and upcoming Heavy Rain. Sense of drama and way these games show narration is amazing. This is the potential that was not fully utilized in Mass Effect's dialogue system.

For casual games and massive multi player on-line games social networks should the core element. This is especially true in the Facebook era. If you can create a game where really huge and active community is your key to success, evaluate and test your ideas for that argument and condition. If features you designed can trigger that viral messaging to join the community and play, that's good. In social gaming, it is important to share the experience, to create an atmosphere for conversation, to extend that geeky culture of gamers to the masses. We already know that as for movies and music. When you visit your friends at pub you feel free to mention movies and music you watched and listened to recently. Mentioning games might be still considered geeky and nerdy depending on the company you spend time with. Designing games that will definitively break that stereotype will be a major milestone in casual, social gaming. People like to talk about things that bring positive emotions in their life, use that knowledge.