Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
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U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
in the gameplay bug category. Testers offer many suggestions. Quite regularly, they
offer far more suggestions than any developer can address. Here’s a critical point: it’s
very important for game designers to watch for patterns in these suggestions.
If testing feedback is starting to show that several testers are having problems with
level difficulty, navigation, puzzle solving, item location, order of events, and so
forth, it’s time to take a closer look at the feedback from a design perspective. You
must always pay attention to the fundamental problems players are reporting. This
does not mean comments from testers such as “I wish his armor had more blue in it”;
rather, look for comments like “Every time I reach the hydro facility section of the
map, I can’t find my way back out” or “I can’t get 25 percent of the way into level 2
without dying several times.” These are potential red flag issues.
Just like the game audience, testers vary in game skills. It’s best to have a diverse
test department staffed with extremely advanced players, semi-advanced players, as
well as relative newcomers. Remember, as the gaming audience grows, the widening
gap of game exposure and skill level grows accordingly. You want to give your title
the chance to be enjoyed by the widest range of players possible.
You must build a good relationship with your testers and rely on them. Designers
usually aren’t good tester candidates, even if they came up through the test department
and know how to test a game. They are too familiar with the idiosyncrasies of how
their game plays, and often assume that others have a similar level of familiarity (but
they don’t). Also, their ego is often attached to the content and they will look over and
play over parts of the game that others might find problematic or even bothersome.
Technical Support
Part of your design planning extends as far in scope as technical support issues. For
console titles, the publisher will request information (for example, cheat codes, level
walk-throughs, and so forth) from the developer to assist players that may call with
gameplay-related questions. For PC titles, game patches and updates will require
web support and release control. You may also be asked by the publisher to extend
the title with expansion packs, including new characters or vehicles with new abilities,
weapons, and environs.
Part of maintaining a good relationship with your player base involves providing
useful and timely information to support your game titles (such as regularly updating
1-800 player counselors, and offering solid web support). If you plan to add features
and functionality to a game post-release or predict that you may be asked to do so by
the publisher, then don’t forget about the impact that your design choices will have
on technical support requirements.
Maintaining solid customer relations helps insure a future audience for your game
titles. Many developers and publishers are known by their recognizable game titles, so
players should not be left stranded for information once they have purchased a game.