One thing I’d like to do in the distant future is to achieve mastery in the art of game design. I pretty much consider it a requirement. Now before you can even do that you have to realize a number of things I imagine. Things such as where you are at now and where you need to be to continue towards the next step on the path toward mastery.
For one thing you need to have the required knowledge to become a master of anything. So the first part of my goal requires learning, lots and lots of learning. Its tricky with game design as I find myself disagreeing with individuals that have an insane amount of experience in making games. And I think that is completely normal because games are supposed to be fun and you are supposed to be creating this fun. Simply put its hard to label something as fun because what is fun for you might be boring or even agonizing to me. A perfect example is Trivia games and games that require you to be loud and possibly take part in embarrassing scenarios. I hate them. Well maybe hate is a strong word, I refuse to play them because I dislike them so much. They don’t interest me, they make me angry and I don’t want to embarrass myself. Its not fun for me to play those games but that is not to say that those style of games are not fun.
However, It is important to note that knowledge can never be enough to achieve mastery over a form of art. Experience is a requirement and probably the second thing you need to seek after knowledge. You need to actually put your knowledge to the test but that isn’t to say experience is more valuable than knowledge. This can be traced back to the individual and how they process information and gain knowledge and experience. While one person can think extensively in theories others have to actually just do it. Personally I love to create theories and play them out in my brain or with notepad or pen/pencil. I know others prefer to just start making stuff but it really is rooted in the way your brain absorbs this information. Either way the truth is you need experience and you need to make games. It is important to every game designer though I prefer to think creating your own theories will play an irreplaceable part in learning the art of game design.
As you gain knowledge and experience you are also struggling to achieve efficiency. This is one thing that pisses me off to no extent. I know that if I had just a bit more knowledge and just a bit more experience I would be able to shave hours off each project and use that extra time to contribute in other areas. I absolutely despise re-doing work and I can’t stand the fact that after I do something I found another method that would have saved me time. Though I know these experiences ultimately make me more efficient I just wish there was an easier way to achieve this than screwing up. Wasted time sucks not only for you but for teammates. To achieve mastery you have to be efficient in every sense of the word.
After you gain these things I would imagine that you could possibly master the art of game design but really when is that? Will there ever be a time where you know you’ve mastered something? And really is there more to mastery than knowledge, experience and efficiency? There has to be. Creativity has to mean something and of course natural talent also will be meaningful.
Kind of strange, I have only started my career as a game designer and I am trying to figure out how I can master the art. It is almost like starting a new game. You’re the newb and you’re trying to find the best way to become a high level character. I imagine it might have a similar progression line as it would leveling up in a game. You gain a bunch of levels at fist then later you start leveling up much more slowly and you also have to work much harder at it. I really don’t know, this is all speculation.
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If game design is like an RPG, then this summer is just one, giant Fed-Ex Quest for me. I’m heading to Staples soon to pick up notecards, paper, colored pencils, rulers… the WORKS, all for some new paper prototypes. Don’t really know what I’m going to make yet. I have an idea for the first one, but the final execution is what counts. Actually, I was just thinking about it, and realizing that I better get cracking on the design or it’ll never get done. =O
But yeah really the only way to get good at something is to practice. Right now my game portfolio is severely lacking and I feel mediocre at best. No idea how to translate that to a level, because it’s hard to determine when you ding as a game designer. I guess you could say I leveled up when we got people to have tons of fun while playing SS (which is getting a couple new features this week). The difference between leveling in an RPG and leveling in game design is that you don’t level yourself; other people level you. And since no one game is going to appeal to everybody, you need to make a bunch of games, each of which appeals to different kinds people if you really want to be a master. Heck I’m even making a kid’s game this summer. So keep that in mind because that’s really the only way to hit the level cap.