Week 04 - Reading

This week, the reading developed the idea of questioning the process of making a game and questioning why a game is that way. 

The video (by LiveLessons on YouTube) is helpful in that it's visual. As much as reading is helpful, I'm a visual learner and the video seemed more realistic than a block of words. The pair in the video showed the process of making a game prototype. They say that you don't even need to touch code - just try and emulate it in your own life. They created a game of ping pong but their prototype included paper and several ping pong games in different variations. They looked into what they enjoyed and why they enjoyed it to incorporate into their game.

   (person playing a PC game with a green, lit up keyboard and green headphones, flickr.com)

The first article (by gamedesignconcepts.wordpress.com) discusses how if we pull apart the concept of a game, we find what makes it work. Designers describe the core parts of a game as the atoms because they can be dissected and described individually and as a stand alone component. I think this is helpful for big games, games released on consoles etc, but I don't think it relates much to the small scale games our course will make. Of course we want the fundamentals but they're not going to be as developed as a game that's been in production for 5 years with a team of 20 or 30 people. 

The last article (found at https://bit.ly/36TE3wL) discusses how we look into games to further them along. I didn't quite enjoy this article as I think the language is incredibly formal and I just get a bit of a headache because everything is explained far more complex than needed. I got the jist - research in several areas is needed and encouraged - but beyond that, it really is jumble to me.

                   (lit up keyboard, commons.wikimedia.org)    

Research is important, though. Like the video above stated, you have to find what works, what doesn't and why it does or doesn't work to truly understand the game you're making or playing.