Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

C H A P T E R 5
TM: How do you capture and grow an audience for delivery of games via the Web?
AO: I think that people constantly strive for recognition of their success or the success of things that
they have created, and the online community really provides you with an opportunity to work this feedback
into your games. High scoreboards certainly provide a basic form of this, but I am more intrigued by
providing players with tools to build levels, create character texture maps, etc. The Internet provides a
lot of collective time and energy, and if you can get it on the side of your product, I think that can be
very powerful.
TM: What restrictions do you face in building games for a younger audience?
AO: Parents don’t like their kids talking with strangers, but the Internet is a great tool for communication.
So, how do you allow players to communicate without telling too much? This issue becomes particularly
frustrating when you’re dealing with preteens who are constantly using Instant Messenger and
e-mailing, but then you often can’t allow them to have the same interaction in your games.
As for this question in relation to games as a whole, I think a lot of the “restrictions” that people
think of as necessary for games for kids are things that really should apply to all design. You shouldn’t
make the keyboard controls simple and intuitive just because the game is for kids who might have
problems with the complexity; you should make them simple and intuitive because that will make for
better gameplay for all groups.
TM: What do you like the most and the least about building web-oriented game content?
AO: One of the things that I like most about building web-oriented game content is that it’s still
something that can be done by creative individuals without the backing of some huge game publisher
and distributor. Some of my favorite, small-scale games online have been completely crafted by a
single person and provided to people around the world to play for free.
The short timeframe of online games also allows you to work on quite a variety of content without
as much pressure based on time or budget. A downside of these short cycles is that you don’t always
have much time to invest in brainstorming new types of games, so a lot of what I have seen produced
is very derivative.
TM: What would you say is the future of large-scale web gaming?
AO: I think that web gaming as a component of purchased CD-ROMs will continue to grow as you
get mainstream examples like The Sims Online. As for server-delivered games, I think the future of
that is harder to predict.
I’m not sure what the future of online entertainment in general holds. While completely online
subscription services such as fantasy league sports teams have been successful, I don’t know what new
business models will arise to provide for outlet opportunities for more games.
TM: How does your background in radio, TV, film contribute to your work approach?
AO: One thing that was always stressed to me in my production classes was that the time you
spend in preproduction will save you a great deal more time during actual production. So, I’ve tried to
take that to heart and be sure to develop flow diagrams, use case studies and other guidelines that
not only help me consider possible failure points but also make me think more in depth about the
game experience as well as be able to better communicate to engineers and artists the creative and
technical details of the game.
TM: What advice would you give to those interested in pursuing any form of game development?
131
Design by Genre