Proof of Concept

This month’s IGDA meeting saw us discussing the various issues from productivity and globalization to personal advancement. One of the key points that came up in these discussions is the creative nature of our industry and the constant changes that are done during all the development cycle of a game. The two main questions that were asked are: Are we too creative, and, When do we stop being creative?

Comparing to the movie industry, a game is not fully scripted prior to its creation, the vision can sometimes be in flux and things can end up simply not working in a game due to conflicting features. But movies aren’t infallible. Sometimes a shot simply doesn’t work, a script has to be modified or conditions just aren’t right. As we are often comparing both industries, I’ll continue giving a side by side look.

The first thing to consider is the nature of games, they are interactive mediums compared to movies which are completely linear. The second is that the real world already has content and quasi unbendable rules that it follows. Just with these two points we see a major difference between both as you have to create your own laws, content, intelligence, etc. Interactive content must also anticipate every action that players might take and create a proper response that fit their game.

So is it plausible to think that a game can be completely scripted or the design documents completely created in such an environment? I don’t think so either, but one thing that can be done is to create a quasi-complete vision of what you want to do in your game, the script of the gaming experience and the adventure (the main quest or activities) in which the player partakes. This is already being done by certain people and then it’s up to the Creative Director or Producer to ensure that the vision is maintained throughout the development of the game.

But that’s not always how a game is designed due in part to how a person defines a game. The fundamental question here is: Are games Toys or an Entertainment Media? By entertainment media, I’m referring to the more artsy field of movies, books, music, events, etc. If a person sees it more like a toy, they’ll create it based on technology. If it’s a media, then the emotional experience and story is more important. Two different approaches with visions that differ.

The original question was how to deal with creativity during the development process? Well do you add creativity to the game, do you modify the game to take it into account or do you subtract elements to concentrate on the newest ideas? Considering that people have worked long and hard on what is already integrated, you ideally want to try and add new elements, but that’s not always possible. If a new idea comes into conflict with another feature or affects your entire world in a way you didn’t expect, sometimes you have to decide if it’s not better to just cut the feature completely. Also, supporting too many features or overcomplicating a game isn’t a good thing either. If you have an overlaying vision with a person leading this vision, the answer to this problem becomes much easier. Looking at the movie industry, the director is the one that maintains the artistic direction and decides what works and what doesn’t.

Should creativity be curbed at one point? Well, the best person to judge this is again the Creative Director or Producer. At one point you have to deliver, even Walt Disney had his brother Ron tell him to stop making changes to Snow White and just release it, so don’t take it personally. Creativity flows much more freely from the entire team when the vision is based on a toy approach compared to the media approach, but the toy approach makes it harder to tell when enough is enough since there’s always something shinier and faster to create.

In the end, it all depends on the vision of the game which should be properly defined at the beginning of any project. Whenever something new is presented, the Creative Director has to ask himself, will this make enhance or reinforce the vision, while the Producer has to ask himself, is the return be worth the investment? If a vision is never properly defined, that’s almost always a sure sign that your product will be late or never ship at all.

Well that’s my two cents on the topic.