Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

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UP
to this point, we’ve covered a sizeable amount of material in the practice
of building up game worlds. A large number of the elements discussed
so far will apply to building games across genres. Yet, every game genre has particular
design nuances and requirements combined with specific and unique challenges.
A thoroughly entrenched “genre-specific” game designer could write an entire book
on design specifics for any one of the major game genres, and in fact some have (for example,
Swords & Circuitry: A Designer’s Guide to Computer Role Playing Games,by
Neal and Jana Hallford published by Premier Press, 2001). I encourage you to explore
more deeply, in every way possible, the genres that hold a particular fascination
for you. As you saw in Chapter 4, even developers themselves are becoming more and
more genre-focused. Keep in mind that, regardless of genre, every game you build
will teach you something important about how to build some aspect of the next one.
Maybe you love RPGs or sports or simulations (sims) or shooters. Investigate. I
started out by writing text adventures and arcade-style shooters. No designer is an
expert in every game genre. Every designer/developer brings a collection of diverse
design experiences with them to each and every title.
In an attempt to provide you with the widest possible view, this chapter surveys
the major genres from a design perspective. I don’t include every known or possible
genre; rather, I include several of the major ones. We’ll look at the highest level, at
some of the factors that influence design particulars for each of the genres.
There are many game titles that don’t fit easily into any one-genre category. This is
for the best. There is nothing wrong with game genres having blurry edges, or games
from outside a traditional genre borrowing more genre-specific concepts or play
ideas and presenting these in new and engaging ways. I’m not a genre purist, and I’m
not an obsessive categorizer.
Normally, you won’t find me sitting around arguing about whether or not a title
can “truly” be dubbed an RPG, for instance, or whether it simply contains RPG elements
mixed with any number of influences from other genres. I don’t measure
games by categories. I measure the game experience itself, and nothing else. Mix it up
anyway that you choose—I’m only interested in the taste of the soup. For me (and for
many others, I suspect), it’s all about the game experience.
Simplicity is occasionally deceptive. Does it work and is it fun? Do I have that
warm game “buzz” feeling boiling over? Wonderful. Will I be stuck on the couch
playing until I hear the morning paper delivered on the doorstep? Perfect. Uh oh, I
need to run some laps.