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Get more done in less time for lone wolf developers, hobbyists, large teams, and everything in between. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #026

In this expansive episode Brian and Ike discuss the dream, tech, design, best practices, and market strategies of virtual reality for game developers. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #025

In this first Metroidvania discussion Brian and Ike define the popular gameplay style, discuss its history, cite game examples, and explore player motivations. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #024

How to use the “Lean Startup” method for game development. A discussion and exploration of how and when to use it for your projects. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #023

An exploration on using physics as the core mechanic as opposed to just a supporting simulation system. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #022

Brian and Ike dive deep into different ways to monitize your games, and how to tie your monitization strategy with your brand. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #021

In this episode, Brian and Ike dive into puzzles and how to implement them in your game design. They compare games using puzzles as their main gameplay or as a feature thrown into the gameplay. They’ll also discuss how they go about using puzzles in their own games. So, enjoy! Today’s Developer Diary Brian has starting using Notepad ++ instead of MonoDevelop and Unity Visual Studio because it’s so light and fast. It’s a totally free, tiny little program that he changed all the colors to look like Unity and trained it to get all the key words in there. It’s just fantastic! Ike has taken the opportunity to step back and put a couple of patches on the three games he has in the store after taking some of the feedback he’s gotten. He also has a fourth and fifth game in the works! Brian explains that even though Fenix Fire hasn’t released any games this year, they have a lot that is being incubated so they’ve had a really busy year and it’s been the work for hire that’s been able to keep them going. Brian and Ike also discuss the totally different approaches their companies have to releasing games and the importance of having your game featured in the initial launch. Puzzle Design As a starting point, puzzles should include a couple of key traits: It should be very clear what the puzzle is  – For example – With a jigsaw puzzle you know exactly what you’re supposed to do, fit all the pieces together It should show progress as you’re solving the puzzles – Jigsaw example – As you join more pieces together, not only are you building a larger cluster but you’re also filling in this picture which is satisfying There should be some sort of a pay off when the puzzle is solved – Jigsaw example – The joy of seeing the picture all together gives a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of completeness Puzzles in Level Design The puzzle should be obvious with clearly defined rules. In games like Metroid and Zelda, the camera takes over and points the player to where they need to go. This gives the player a call to the puzzle and also shows the player the ingredients of the puzzle. The most common are a torch, a totem, a door, or a lock and key. You can be innovative as much as possible when designing your game because you have the amazing opportunity to design a brand new game and can do whatever you really want in it so why resort to something that has been done a million times before? But, be careful since it’s very easy to lose the player the more you innovate. You’ll still need to have a lot of conventional game design elements because if the game is too weird or out there then people won’t be able to understand it.  Puzzle Games – Match 3 In a puzzle game, the call to the puzzle is the game itself and it’s just a matter of learning what the mechanics of the puzzle are. Candy Crush example. Familiarity in games –  some players want something new but in a way that they understand it immediately Feedback Loop – the faster a path to failure is identified, the better it is Having clear, constant feedback is good – like a jigsaw puzzle trying to match pieces Sounds are very important – having satisfying sounds when making progress Effects are very important – Puzzle and Dragons example Having a tiny bit of input gives you tons of positive feedback – makes you feel great Prime demographic of match 3 games is women over 40 –  coincides with slot machine games Every Game is a Puzzle Anything that requires strategy, which is almost every game, the puzzle is defined by the fact that you have to make choices. Starcraft – The puzzle is how to win the war.  You have all these tools at your disposal and there’s a constant change in strategy. Clash of Clans – The puzzle is when you go to attack a village which of your pieces do you put down and where. Gears of War – The puzzle is being in a large open space and shoot all kind of enemies. The AI is a puzzle and the level layout, level design is always a puzzle. A puzzle is something that needs to be solved. A way to declare you’ve beat a games is by saying you’ve solved it. There are puzzles through out the game but the game itself is a puzzle that needs to be solved whether it’s with skill or strategy. Arcade game example- Robotron 2084. Different Categories of puzzles and Different levels of puzzles: The puzzle game – geared toward the strategy vs the skill Puzzles that are very obvious Puzzles that very subtle Entire game being some kind of a puzzle Using Traditional Puzzles in Game Play The motivation for sticking a traditional puzzle in a mostly combat game like Gears of War might be to break up the monotony of the action. Sometimes people loose interest with having too many puzzles in a game because they’ve played so many games where they couldn’t solve a puzzle and got stuck. The challenge is how do you progress the level design of your puzzles so that you progress the difficulty. Recommend for games that aren’t puzzle games, like an adventure game with a puzzle thrown in, make that a supplementary experience somehow. So if the player can’t or doesn’t want to solve the puzzle they don’t have to, but it would be better for them if they did. Mobile Games Almost every huge hit on mobile has been a puzzle and there’s some elements that are very popular in the genre of a puzzle game but they’ve added these different elements like action and physics based. Taking the puzzle genre and doing more with it Different degrees of solve-ability and rewarding for more mastery – if you could solve the puzzle in a more perfect way, that is then score-able Angry Birds example Solving Puzzles  The mark of a great puzzle is to encourage the player to try a lot of different things especially if there’s a lot of different actions they can do and then give them feedback that’s appropriate to how they’re trying to attack the puzzle. The Boss Fight Been around since arcade games Got all your basic mechanics that you’ve learned throughout the whole level Then you put them in front of the boss The key to a good boss – the character design is good enough to see what it is you’re supposed to do Zelda example  Hidden Puzzles Some games have unlock-able doors that you can only unlock later in the game because you haven’t been given the game mechanic yet to open that door. It becomes a challenge of how do you communicate to the player that they’re supposed to acknowledge that that is a puzzle but it’s not yet their time to solve that puzzle. You want them to see it Want to bait them Lets you create other chapters in the game Do want to acknowledge it The powers that you unlock to the player  – be very clear in what actions they do Source and Puzzlin’ Pieces: USA Brian talks about his game Source and the color coding puzzles they’re using and the challenges of making a Metriodvania game. Ike talks about his game Puzzlin’ Pieces: USA and why he put in the hot and cold mechanic in the game. Review This topic of puzzles is something that we’re just scratching the surface of and it might be worth breaking this up into sub-categories. Remember to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and leave us a review of your thoughts on iTunes! Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #020    

Brian and Ike discuss the practicalities of how to get a company off the ground and rolling. If you’re looking for work-for-hire, then this episode provides some useful ways to obtain client work and how to build up your business development. Today’s Developer Diary Ike is back! He is fresh after working at iD Tech Summer Camp where he taught high school students game design. It was fun to show them how to make games and by the time they left the camp in two weeks they had their own prototype working on their own phones. Ike also rang his “game release” bell! Puzzlin’ Pieces: USA is now available on iTunes, Android and Amazon. His daughter helped develop this new game about learning about US geography. If there’s any Windows 8 Microsoft people listening, please reach out to Ike. He wants to release the game for Windows, but keeps on hitting road blocks. So, if anyone can help please reach out to Ike! Brian just got back from Seattle! After doing his very first talk at Unite 2014 –  High End Mobile Development – highlighting his game Gates of Osiris. During the talk he spilled some tips and tricks on how they’re going about the art of the game, a lot of the effects and how they’re building the terrain. Was what really awesome was during his introduction when he mentioned he was a co-host of the Game Design Dojo, people clapped! And people also clapped when he mentioned their responsible for the Tuscany World Demo for Oculus VR. Our listener Vinny came up and talked with Brian. Thanks Vinny so much for coming out to the talk! Contact Work/Work For Hire The secret to Fenix Fire’s longevity has been balancing work-for-hire with their own IP. Brian has been an indie for the past eight years and was in AAA for the previous six years. So, he’s actually been an indie longer than he’s been in the friendly confines of being an employee. He owes this primarily to work-for-hire by getting good contracts and doing good business development. General Thoughts About Work For Hire: It’s a balancing act – you don’t have control over your clients needs and timetables and you’ll have to work around their deadlines as opposed to yours Repeat business – is the most efficient way to get get more contract work Making your own games – can yield a lot of opportunities Have at least one game shipped – really important and brings credibility Where do you begin to try to get Work For Hire? For the purposes of this episode, Brian and Ike use the scenario of a start-up company either with a team of 2-3 or a lone wolf who has all the skills needed to make a game. So, how would you go out and start landing a steady stream of clients for full service game development? Approach #1 – Try doing pro-bono work Go to a bigger company and offer to make a game for them for free. You’ll make the game for them, they’ll share their IP and you’ll market it. If you have the ability to pull this off: You’ll be getting a game on the shelf to then go and show other people When you go to those other people, you’re showing the work you did for a big company You might actually get numbers because that big company is going to be able to do a lot of marketing This is something that’s recommended to do for your first project, you shouldn’t do it more than once. But it’s a great way to get your name out there and to build some credibility. Approach #2 – Make your own IP Coming up with your own IP and putting it out there does yield opportunities. Brian has had experience of this first hand when he released his game Roboto. Approach #3 – Target a category of companies Once you’ve targeted a category of companies that you’re interested in, come up with a prototype or a demo that they can play on the device that you ultimately want to launch it on and show it to them using their brand. When they see it playing in the device, it will make it a much easier sell for them. Make sure it’s something that you can expand upon yourself or it isn’t so specific to one particular company. The term used is: speculating or spec work – where you make something in the hopes of getting a contract behind it The business world is really tough. Nothing is a done deal until the contract is signed and you have the deposit check. It can fizzle at any point up until that moment. You should have at least five people you can show the prototype to or would be interested in it. It’s important for them to see their own IP in it but always have an exit strategy. Approach #4 – Website Put together a solid brand for yourself and make an awesome website. You should include a great trailer for your game and a services page. Using a Word Press theme is recommended. Once you have that website going, you can start emailing companies you’d like to work for. Approach #5 – Work with local businesses and companies Make sure you don’t overlook local businesses and companies around you since it’s really easy for them to tell you to drop in and being able to walk into someone’s office is very valuable. Brian had had experience of this by being in the LA area. Location is key. Approach #6 – Know, Like and Trust People like to do business with people they know, like and trust. They’ll KNOW you – if you’ve put something in the market place, built a name for yourself and/or have a really nice website with a great presence. They’ll TRUST you – if they start talking with you and you start working with them, also doing spec work for them will build a lot of trust They’ll LIKE you – if you’re someone they enjoy doing business with who delivers on time and over delivers Face time is absolutely vital for any sort of real business development. Regardless of what your personality type is, start getting used to inviting people out for coffee and then talking to them there. You have to get used to that face time, it’s going to pay off later on even if it’s a problem to start with. Rule of Thumb – 20% of your clients give you 80% of your revenue and the other 80% of your clients only give you 20% of your revenue. Once you start getting clients, it becomes a fun game to see who are your best clients and then being able to turn away from some of the other clients. The Importance of Networking Your ability to get business is 100% based on your relationships. The more relationships you have, the stronger those relationships are and the value of who they’re with can give you a lot of staying power with your company. A teacher explained to Ike that you’re ability to network has more to do with your success after school then the actual skills you learn in school, like math and science. Developing a good strong network: Answer emails Be responsive Get on LinkedIn Talk to your friends Get out to meet ups Network yourself around What’s really enjoyable about the game industry is it seems like developers have other developers back because they all know how hard it is being on the bleeding edge of technology. Get used to being a sales person. Even if you’re an artist or a programmer at a big company, you’re always in some way shape or form a sales person. You’re always selling yourself and selling what it is you’re making whether it’s in a big team or by yourself or as a representative of your small company. Keep in mind, nobody likes it when you’re like the used car salesman and you’re trying to push something on someone. Everybody is much more comfortable with a conversation so just be sincere and pure to yourself. Brian and Ike provide an example of successful networking which basically results in: Making sure your friends in your network get business Opening yourself up to more questions later on and eventually might be asked for something you can actually do Creating like and trust Why do all this Business Development? Ike’s numbers on a small mobile project range from: $20,000 – on the cheap side $50,000 – moderate to average size $100,000 + – something pretty fantastic Big companies are looking at games as advertising and as a marketing expense with a large marketing budget that they’re used to throwing that money away. It’s a blue ocean opportunity. Nowadays everybody needs a bunch of apps and all of these big companies are dinosaurs to this. Game developers can use what they’ve learned and by applying it towards a major brand, it can be extremely lucrative. Brian’s numbers for Fenix Fire: $50,000 – Starting $80,000 – $90,000 – Median up to $150,000 Negotiating Option one: Start by figuring out the man month – if one person is making X amount of $ per hour, then how much are they making per month Then you figure out how much work you can do if you’re working on it full time including the total cost of each one’s man month Option two: A better way especially if you want to balance your own IP with work-for-hire Look specifically at what your client wants to do Figure out how long it’s going to take to do all those features based on your hourly rate Add it all up Pad it a little bit by like 20-30% (because at Fenix Fire they like to over deliver) And that’s the number you come up with for the project Some general advice about negotiating: Suggest getting some sort of deposit Be aware of royalties – can be challenging to get that money Sometimes companies will say, “That’s above our budget we can only afford this and it this does well, we’ll get you on the next one.” – this can be a hit or miss Deciding to Work with Somebody – The 3 Main Criteria Is this a project that will get me either rep

Brian and Ike talk about death in video games where the character dies or vehicle explodes at the end of the game loop. They discuss what death brings to a video game and why it may be important to include it your game. So, get ready for some great insight! Today’s Developer Diary Brian is extremely excited to announce his own Twitch TV channel! Here is the link to check it out: Fenix Fire Twitch TV and if you haven’t caught wind of it yet, now would definitely be a good time. It’s become a tool in the indie game dev by using it to broadcast the making of your game while making the game. It’s a pretty awesome way to connect with fans! Brian’s mind is blown by just experimenting with it. He says the good thing about Twitch is just how raw it is and that production value is considered a bad thing. People who watch want to be a fly on the wall and want to see what makes the game tick, what makes the designer tick and all the decisions that are being made. There’s no post production and really no pre-production. It’s just a matter of hitting play and performing. Ike is heading to downtown Denver to teach some young budding high school kids how to make video games. He’s really looking forward to it. While he’s away, we plan on having some guest hosts on the podcast so stay tuned for that! Death in Video Games Death doesn’t have to be a morbid topic, in the case of death in video games it’s a really interesting topic. Death in a video game is the ultimate point of feedback in your feedback loop. You have to have a carrot and a stick to get the full range of emotions out of a player. But as a player, it feels awful when you die. So why have death in your game? Well, if you take death out: It remove conflict or friction in the game The mastery element gets thrown out the window There’s no desire for the player to learn a new skill Rewind the Clock Back to the Arcade The one good thing about mobile games is they have heart again and some skill going on all of a sudden which is great to see. Reminds us of where video games began….in the arcade. The entire coin-op industry throughout the 80’s were all about mastery. Atarti made a bunch of coin-op games about mastery like: Pong, Pac Man, Missile Command, Pitfall, Space Invaders, etc. All these games were hard and they were quick. It was a bite sized game. In order for it to be a game, you had to die and that was part of the business plan to throw in more quarters and play again. Before internet and Twitch TV, you would go to the arcade and just watch someone play since it was a skill based game and be amazed by his abilities. Not only did you have to know the game, but you had to know your specific arcade since all the machines were different. Mastery is a huge part of all of this that started the video game craze. It’s a feeling that males as opposed to females really strive for which is why it became a male dominated sport. It was high technology and at the same time brutally difficult. All of this stuff was really hard core and that’s where video games were born from. It’s important to acknowledge that. Death in Video Games – The Discussion Brian and Ike go through many different scenarios and ideas of what death can bring to a game as well as some good insight into this interesting and important topic. The dreaded loading screen: Mostly found in Console and PC games After you died, the game had to re-load and that was a penalty in and of itself Death was painful not because you had to put another quarter in but you had to wait An example of a game without death was the game Planescape: Torment  where you’re this immortal character and you didn’t “die” you would re-load in your spawn point. The whole game was built on the concept that you don’t die and there was no loading.  The need for conflict:  In a game, there almost needs to be a back and forth Like the old saying goes, “Distance makes the heart grow fonder.” People need some conflict  – not only to appreciate the good portions but also to learn and to grow Very similar to relationships Death has been the go to as an instrument by a game designer, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s time tested, but not the only solution. Death in games today:  In the free-to-play model, death gives the game designer a monetization point Somewhat like the original arcades where you had to drop a quarter in when you died, that all of a sudden is a real tactic today A direct correlation between the free-to-play and the arcade games Expect the arcade games didn’t have the internet and couldn’t save progress If used properly, free-to-play mobile games can be fair to both sides People now don’t want to pay for anything which is totally different from the arcade market In multi-player games death is a great tool to give finality to the game, as opposed to just a point system. When death is involved it makes the game finalized with a declared winner – the one that didn’t die. The concept of Permadeath: When playing a game, you’re advancing on and something’s killed you and there’s no way to resurrect you – you’ve lost everything In Dungeons & Dragons, permadeath was part of the rule set and because of that everyone would be glued to the situation To see what you’ve invested all go away was catastrophic In the free-to-play market you see permadeath all over the place and it makes the player respect death and play to that. On top of that, they have to pay if they want to keep their character alive. The direct relation between time and emotion: If your character dies and you’ve invested 2 weeks in him or her, you will be upset because of the time that you invested – you might not be emotionally upset RULE – You’re not emotionally invested unless in addition to all that, you customize the character in some way When you create a character, you’re giving life to something – a reflection of you, an alter ego – and you wind up loving this character MODIFIER to the RULE – how much social sharing have you done with that customized character that you’re invested in Players can become so attached to their characters in the game that they actually experience the 5 stages of loss. The last stage being acceptance. And in this case acceptance would be deciding to play the game again and to re-build and re-make new characters. Video games are very magical because you can have a new beginning and a clean slate. With death, the player has to feel like there’s a decision they made that caused the death. Otherwise, the death is just maddening. The Theory of Trial and Error Gameplay: You’re put in a difficult situation, you try something, you fail, you restart and stay in that loop until you discover the one or two ways to pass that area – in a nutshell This is gameplay is mostly in adventure games and in Dungeon & Dragons The Swiss army knife of actions Not a very favorable game design method when dealing with death If the player doesn’t know what to do, then they’ll just turn the game off The use of trial and error might be more effective when the player is not dying but trying to solve a door puzzle to see what levers and switches open each door, for example. Is Death in games necessary? Without death, will there be enough conflict or friction? Are there other ways to put in friction? The Next Gen Shooter games at E3 have hit points and to re-heal yourself you just need to get out of that situation – kinda makes someone feel g0d-like There’s a delicate balance Have a hard time with games that allow you to survive regardless Clash of Clans example Building a real life snow fort example Review Death in video games is a topic that we’ll talk about many times. It’s something that finishes the game loop and it’s a powerful thing in a video game. If done right, it can draw a lot of emotion out of the player. But if done wrong, it can derive a lot of anger out of the player and have them leave the game and never play again. It’s a double edged sword. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and leave a review of what you thought of this episode in iTunes! Thanks! Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #018    

We received an inquiry from a fan and it inspired us to discuss how to use music and sounds in video games. Brian and Ike tackle this topic with great detail using some of their personal experiences. So, enjoy! Today’s Developer Diary Ike’s watching movies and Brian talks about his experience at E3. This was much different than PAX which was all consumers, so you’re audience and players and you can see that they really are interested in what you’re doing. But the main difference at E3 is it’s more of everyone sizing each other up, more of a competition. It’s basically media and industry professionals at E3. The fact that the game is made by just a two person team is getting some attention. The One Room Schoolhouse had been busy and getting pretty close to launching another education game this year and doing some contract work as well. He does contract work during the day and at night works on his own stuff just to have enough fuel to get through the day. Game development involves a lot of momentum. We just want to thank you because we’ve received a bunch of great reviews on iTunes! “Keep on killing it guys! It’s like Christmas opening up my podcast app and seeing a new episode.” Thanks so much! It means a lot that we’re resonating and hope to live up to your praise. Sound and Music In Video Games Many of you may not know this, but music is Brian’s first love. Before he was an artist, programmer and video game developer he played the guitar and music is in his blood. He’s currently playing in a band too!  Brian’s love of music certainly shows in his games and trailers as he uses it as a centerpiece. In the film industry they say score, but in the video game industry it can be broken up into two sides: Sound Effects:  Put onto a jump, a bullet shooting, button sounds in your UI – those are usually a one off, you just play this and it plays a sound file and of coarse there’s some tricks to the trade Soundtrack: You can do a lot with it like have different soundtracks for different levels like classic Super Mario Bros. or blend from one soundtrack to another like Journey did and make it very composed. Music and Soundtracks in the Mobile Market When people play games on their mobile devices, there is more of a tendency to play covertly and the player might not want a ton of sound and music. So how much effort do you put into your sound on a mobile game if a lot people are playing it silently? Keep in mind people can play with headphones on and there is something to the sound. It would be a huge mistake to not give your sound the attention it deserves. Obviously you wouldn’t give it as much attention as art because that’s visual and how you get your foot in the door. So, you’ll want to get your art style down first and then make sure your sound can support it. Ike remembered the game EverQuest and how the game had a sound when you leveled up that was the most satisfying sound on the planet. Never forget how impactful sound can be. It can do so much for your production and if you put the effort into it, it will just pay off ten fold.  Putting Sound in Your Game It’s really part of the basic core feedback to the player. If you think about a game mechanic, there’s three things to think about as far as your core gameplay mechanics: A visual of the gameplay – show the actual mechanic There’s a sound to go with it – put a sound to it A visual component in the UI – somehow draw attention to it in the UI as well Brian shares his experience when he worked at High Voltage Software with the lead audio guy. He said after the game was prototyped and they’re ready to start putting sound in, he would look for anything that looks like it would add some sort of a sound like if something moves would be the first thing he would look for. If it moves, does it make a sound, then let’s get a sound in there for it. So, if in doubt put a sound in there for it. Another interesting thing the lead audio guy would do is ask the Dev team for early video footage of the game and based on that he would put together all the kinds of sound he thought that would be happening. Brian explains this with the game he worked on Hunter: The Reckoning Got awesome sounds – guts spilling out, blood splatters, etc Layered them on top of themselves and made that musical He put that in 1st along with a bunch of weapon sounds – sword slashing, axes slashing, guns firing He created this composition of all the sound effects and pitched them – made them musical in and of themselves Then only after that part of it did he approach the soundtrack He found that the mid-range pitches (in the musical spectrum everything has a certain pitch to it) and a lot of the high-range pitches were all being handled by all the sound effects so he was looking to fill in the sound spectrum with the soundtrack to give everything a nice pulse to it and keep everything moving. He arrived at a kinda of techno/goth beat that fit the style of the game and it worked out perfectly. When the sounds for the hack and slash started coming in, it really made the game! Visualize It If you were to visualize it on the art side and put nothing but green in your game, there would be nothing for your eye to play on and there would be nothing to identify what’s important or not. Then, if you throw a splash of red on the screen that’s probably really important. It’s similar in the musical world – fill in all the action, then you know what you’re missing so you can fill that in afterwards. Same idea exists with visuals. You can take any image, bring it into Photoshop and look at it’s histogram and it shows you it’s visual spectrum – how much light, how much darkness, how much mids. They say you want a nice balanced spectrum and there is a bit of a science to it. If spectrum look bad, then it’s probably a bad image. There’s a correlation. When you Don’t Have a Sound Guy How do you get that polished sound when you don’t have a sound guy and you’re trying to make something that works? Being a game developer makes you really sensitive to stealing other people’s stuff whether it’s online or not because so much gets pirated. So, if taking things make sure it’s either public domain, follow the licensing rules. Start with grabbing truly free stuff Then create sounds based on about two or three sounds that was grabbed If picking up a pick-up, might add a chime, a boom or a hit of a drum On top of that record your own voice – saying “yeah” or some kind of a tone Then combine all together – creates something that doesn’t sound like just got off the internet Brian goes to websites. About 95% of the sounds he gets comes from 3 different websites. One he uses for sound effects specifically is Soundrangers.com and this website has a bunch of videogame sounds. They have it set up where you can play each file right there before you buy it and the cost ranges from $2-$5 for each sound. You’re going to want to give yourself about a half a day to listen to all the sounds and you’re going to want to batch it. Get your game to a certain point and then get a batch of sounds. Pick out the ones that you think will work and then pick out a few alternatives because you never know until you get it in the game. A spreadsheet can be helpful especially if doing a bigger project and to have a list of what you intended to use each sound for. Have Fun With It Ike likes to look for sounds when he’s eating. It’s a good activity when you have something else you’re doing, like the equivalent to flipping through a magazine since you don’t necessarily know what you’re looking for. It’s kinda fun being the audience for a minutes instead of creating and putting your essence out there you can sit back and listen to a lot of different things and think about how they would work in your production. Another thing that’s a lot of fun is to try to create some sounds for the effects that you’re looking for. You can make a lot of sounds just from sitting at your desk using: ceramic jars, keys, bells, chotchkes, a coin and a bottle to make a coin drop. With a simple little microphone you can get pretty far with a lot of these sounds and it might not be 100% professional grade but it’s lots of fun. Brian wanted a certain sound for his game SOURCE but couldn’t find anything that would fit so he went over to his cheap old Casio keyboard and used it as a MIDI controller and plugged it into his Mac through the USB. Then he used the program Logic Pro and was able to create the perfect sound after doing a bunch of takes. It was really fun and brought everything to life! When to Add Sound Effects Ike suggests putting them in pretty early, at least for the core game loop. He finds that it also helps set some landmarks. Having about 20 basic sounds like button clicks and bullets, even if they’re not great, can highlight key game play things very early is probably really helpful. We’ve talked about the core gameplay loop, prototyping that core gameplay loop and adding the UI around that so that you really have a continuous experience – That’s a perfect time to add the sound. When you add sound at this stage, something magical happens and suddenly the game feels more finished. Even if it’s not the perfect, right sound put it in anyway. Another landmark or beacon as Ike like to call it, is before you hand your game over to someone, get some sound in there. The general consumer expects it and can’t overlook it. The Video Game Soundtrack Brian’s game SOURCE actually came from the soundtrack and that’s what really guided the artistic direction

We received a Facebook question from our friend Bradley Erickson asking us “How do you finish and ship the dang thing after months(or years) of iteration and work?” after we published the episode ‘How to turn an idea into a game?’. So, we got together and recoded this episode to answer his question. Enjoy!  How Do You Know when a Game is Done? This brings up the question, “Is it ever done?” Well, at the end of the day you need to just ship it and get it out. This episode will give you some insights on how you can tell when you’re ready to rap it up. Creating the Minimum Viable Product Ideas are everywhere. An important skill to develop is taking an idea from start to finish. In general it is good practice to finish what you started. Finding a way to create a minimum viable product and getting that out in the world will do wonders for you and even hopefully earn you some money. What Does Minimum Viable Product Mean? From a gameplay perspective: You can feel the meta loop – the core game loop You’re able to replay that loop in the right amount of time and have a continuation of where you left off The whole system is working for you Social Media – perfectly acceptable high level meta loop or meta game If you can get that short term, medium term and long term loops in place that’s a good indicator that you’re close to being done No Bugs It is extremely important that as your playing in all three loops of your game  that you’re not coming across any bugs or errors. The worst thing you can do when launching a game is get a bunch of 1 stars for something you had control of. Soft Launch Launching to a small market first avoids the disastrous results if there are any problems with your game. Analytics Find ways to get as much feedback as you can. Seeing how people are playing your game can be a safety measure to catch problems really and make sure there are no road blocks. Using achievements is a cheating way of doing analytics. It works based on what achievements the player is getting you’ll have some analytics. Brian used Flurry Analytics with his game Roboto and put a hook in the beginning of each level to gauge how people were playing the game. What Corners Do You Cut To Get Your Game Out Sooner? It is really hard to hand something over to someone when you know it had flaws. At some point you have to make the decision that this is good enough. But what do you give up on? Monetization On free-to-play games, you can shave (not cut out) on monetization and focus more on player retention so they are more likely to play the game and stay with it; then over time you can introduce more areas to monetize like more in-app purchases. How about an in-app purchase that takes the ads away, for instance. Amount of Assets Visual polish is more favorable that the amount of assets. Instead of making six worlds for your game, you can put all your focus on worlds one and two and make them absolutely amazing. Determining When Your Game Is Done  Create An Amazing Experience Your experience can be shorter and better. Keep in mind, the game doesn’t have need to be the everything game that does all kinds of stuff. Players are going to move on to a game that has a different kind of experience – go in understanding that. But, the experience you’re making is so special and so different and so unlike anything else that they only get it when playing your game. So, take that one thing that you’re doing so far and you’ve presented it in such a brilliant way  that it’s going to be unique and fresh and that’s why they’re sticking with it. Working Through the Half Way Point When working on a game, about half way through the game, you want to start working on the next game. Don’t. Finish that thought (remember, it was once a brilliant idea) and then move on to your next game instead of trying to turn this game into your next game. It could be a tough pivot. Make all your pivoting early on. It’s not the time to pivot when all the features are in and everything’s working, it’s time to wrap it up. UI is Super Super Important Spend a lot of time on UI: Making the graphics Piecing it all together Changing the flow Adding options for different platforms Can’t cut too many corners It’s all about how you’re handling UI buttons for tablets and phones: Are they fun to press? Do they have little noises and sparkles that come out of them? Do they slide in really cool? Is the frame rate on these sliding UI panels really sharp and clean? Are all these elements super slick? Is it fun to navigate though menus? These points are super important to consider for App games.  Features – To Add Or Not To Add A skill that is learned at this point of game development is knowing which features to put in and to keep going on in the development and which ones to not include and be thinking about wrapping it up. Ask yourself: Realistically how long will it take to put in and be flawless? Does it solve a problem you have in the game? Does it solve your short, medium or long term game play loop? Is it needed for the meta game to make the experience fun and interesting? Does it address the minimal monetization needs that you have? Is it needed to understand more of what your players are doing from an analytics standpoint? Identifying whether or not you need that feature to fit the core basic needs of the player is how you would evaluate it at that point. Let’s say you’re a year in, the game has zero bugs and you’re determining if you put in a new feature – Stop innovating, no more creativity.  Look at other games to see what they did and take innovation off the table. Why re-create the wheel when there are plenty of mechanics that people already accept and know. Deadlines – Respect Your Own Give yourself a firm deadline! Treat deadlines seriously even if they’re artificial and stick to that timeline. People generally work to the amount of time given. Think of it this way: if you want to get better at running, sign up for a race. The real pressure will help motivate you. Hold yourself accountable and do whatever mental trick works for you. You have to learn what buttons to use to motivate yourself and see what works as far as timelines go. Knowing When Your Game Is Done You’ve made sure: To fit the core needs of the core game play loop Have a hint of a monetization model – you can fill out more as time goes on You’re deadly serious there are no bugs – can cause permanent damage It feels fun and it doesn’t have to be long winded What you show is extremely polished – especially the UI It’s heavily themed The visuals don’t detract from the experience These points make up your minimum viable product. Thank you again Bradley for asking us this question, hopefully we helped out with getting your games out into the world. Good luck! Keep the questions coming! Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #016    

There’s a million ways you can spend $10,000 but what would be the best way to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck? Brian and Ike discuss a few different scenarios on how they would handle a big chunk of money. Today’s Developer Diary Ike launched his game Rhythm Friends on iOS and Amazon! Although it’s technically his second game he’s shipped, it’s the first game he started and finished this year living up to the New Year’s Resolution of “Ship It”. Rhythm Friends is a rhythm tapping game intended for 6-8  year old’s. Ike worked with his 6 year old daughter who just started taking piano to help her improve on the feeling of the notes rather than just knowing the counts of each note. He goes into some detail about the gameplay and challenges he faced but all in all this was a great experience and if nothing else a great memento working with his daughter. We wish Rhythm Friends luck and be sure to pass it along to anyone you know with kids in that age group! What Would You Do With $10,000? We decided to challenge ourselves a little and think about what we’d do if we had that kind of money and had a game we were working on, how would we spend that money? Since it depends on what stage you’re in and where you want to go next, we explored a few different scenarios. Scenario 1 : The 1-2 Person Programming Team We can break it up into categories: Marketing Key Art Points – Character Store Front Presence For the programmer heavy team, it would be wise to spend your money on art and hopefully you’re not making a game that is too character heavy but more of a puzzle game like Doodle Jump. It is really important to have good looking promotional screens, a landing page and an icon because it can give people a vibe of your game. With that said, we would put about $2500 towards getting all the promotional art and marketing materials including a video. An artist can polish anything indefinitely and in the world of art, the saying goes “It’s never truly done, it’s only abandoned.” Here’s a breakdown: $2500 – Marketing Materials $500 – Music and Sound Effects $3500 – Characters and Effects $3500 – Backgrounds and Props How do you squeeze the most amount of the highest quality art as possible with the amount of money? Focus on monetizing. In the free-to-play market you want to drive the player to purchase by trying to figure out how to get money in a way that is rewarding for both sides (you and the player).  So focus on the up-sell art that gets the consumer looking it and wanting to have it. How much art should you expect? An artist can ask anywhere from $20-$100 per hour. Seasoned Artist – $50-$60 per hour Mid-Level Artist -$30-$40 per hour Junior Artist – $15-$20 per hour If you find an artist that charges $35 per hour, $3500 will get you 100 hours or two and a half weeks of work. It will take the artist a day or two to get acclimated to the style unless you provide them with a style guide with color palates and so forth this helps the artist to not go in a direction you don’t want them to. Keep in mind you’re probably going to have some lost work. It’s really hard to have a game almost 100% done and then plug in the art and it all works perfectly. Some of the work will get lost, called art waste. It also depends on how much business vs art orientated you are. As well as your inspiration and goals. More Art: the game is done when  say it’s done – can end up spending more money, not having it out as soon but have an amazing game More Business: This is the game – have it all gray boxed in, put in final art and when we’re done with the budget we’re shipping it. If does well, maybe invest 10-20% back into the title Platforms There is always an expense related to every platform that you launch on, usually a couple hundred bucks. You might have to purchase devices during your development. Brian likes to purchase the older models simple because you develop for the lowest common denominator and the widest user base. Once you have your game running on an older model, you can push the graphics on the newer machines. Scenario 2 – The Generalist You’re working a job not related to games and you want to start making a game. You’ve downloaded Unity to your computer, gone through a few tutorials and have an idea for a game. What’s the next step? The best way to spend the money is to invest in yourself by taking a look at your own skills and deciding  what you’d like to get better at. Then go through some tutorials, look at the asset store and find some starter packs and then modify from there. The important thing to remember is the always keep it fun for yourself. It has to feel like your down time and it has to stay fun and interesting. Scenario 3 – The 2 Artist Team Most likely if you’re a working artist, you don’t really have a lot of time to devote to making a game so you might have to outsource the programming and most of the design. It is really tricky to hire programmers since they are smart people with business smarts and may want to become your partner. Try to find the programmer/designer type to help put the art together and run with it. There are tools that artists can use as game making apps: Unreal Engine Torque 3D and Torque 2D Unity Scripting is relatively easy and since artists are good at adapting like chameleons because they generally have to learn so many high end programs so jumping into Unity is basically easy. However, opening up a scripting file might look confusing to a lot of artists which is why some use visual scripting tools like schematics. Brian used to use Vicious Engine by Vicious Cycle. Everyone Should Be Knowledgeable There should be no more just artists or just programmers, everyone has to learn both sides. Artists should learn scripting and programmers should learn Photo Shop. In the 90’s programmers ruled because they had to write their own engine, but now it’s art that’s separating the men from the boys. Somewhere between the blurred lines of art and game design is the content and that’s the most important thing. A few insights: Be the composer – learn all the different skills Be smart – download rocks, trees, textures from the asset store – not your main character Invest in yourself – decide what skills to invest in Here’s some more: Marketing in the mobile space is an unknown quantity Most important piece of the marketing puzzle is the video trailer Video is king – if you can’t make a high quality video then spend the money People want to hear from the developers – be honest with yourself and with the people  A Hundred Different Ways to Spend $10,000 If you are fortunate enough to have $10,000 we suggest to focus your attention towards building your own skills and getting your game across the finish line. We wouldn’t take $10K and put it into a $200K game. Remember, anymore than 2 or 3 months of development and the risk profile of you getting your money back becomes a lot higher. Seasoned developers can go beyond that point but generally start with a small bite sized game and go from there.    

The first step to designing a video game is transforming an idea into something that is playable in three key gameloops.  Brian and Ike explain these loops and give examples. Today’s Developer Diary Brian and Ike are baffled about Flappy Birds popularity and the simplicity of the game. Perhaps, sometimes the simple idea is the best idea. Ike shares he had to take a step back from the games he’s been working on to try to make some more simpler games. Brian shares one of the most fun games he’s made was a super simple, addicting game for John Deere driving a combine. Most video game designers want to develop the best game they can, but 90% of their efforts are lost. Just like a Jazz musician that has spent countless hours learning scales and cords, but then Pop music makes a lot more money with just a catchy chorus. The only certainty that Brian and Ike can conclude about this discussion is your success is all in the execution. How to turn your idea into an Actual Game Once you’ve done the tutorials, know basic programming, and found a friend or someone that can do art where do you go with your idea? This has been a common question we’ve discovered through Facebook. With so many thoughts and questions running through your head about what to do, we can certainly see why. This podcast will give you the basics of where to start and what to do, ready? The Basic Game Loop The first thing is to prototype the basic game loop. The game loop is key. Most games have three main game loops: Meta Loop (Highest loop) – The overall game Level Loop (Middle loop) – Getting through the whole level alive Core Loop (Smallest loop) – Core mechanic The first place to start, even before the art, is to define and prototype the core mechanic (your moment to moment gameplay) and try to figure out how the person is going to interact with the character. You start with the Core Loop. Why? Since the story and overall background in the Meta Loop is something you can always be thinking about but doesn’t get implemented – you can think of it as the North Star guiding you The game can change frequently – the prototyping stage is a discovery stage If you wrote it all out, it wouldn’t be a game – it would just be a story Sometimes it can be good not to even think about the Meta Loop and overarching story and be ridiculous in your core loop then make sense of it later. It’s all about finding the fun in that core loop. You start developing, but it’s not as fun as you’d like it to be? The game needs to be satisfying. Developers always have the tendency or the impulse to keep adding more stuff of variety. Be careful. This could be a trap because adding variety will make it a more lasting experience but it doesn’t necessarily make it more fun. Keep going super deep in the core ability that you have. Constantly ask yourself and evaluate why you’re adding features and identify will adding it make something else more interesting. Brian talks about Gates of Osiris. UI Elements Try to limit yourself to 1 UI element that supports your Core Loop and the basics of what you’re trying to do. Brian explains a term in the art word called “Gesturing it in.” Ike shares a similar principle in the programming world. The bottom line is when making the core mechanic or core loop, “gesture in” the UI. Just toss it up there without worrying about the details and it might even be good enough to ship it that way. Starting to Feel Like a Game 30 sec experience – lets you know if the idea has any promise or not If yes, then you can move into a more complete thought Basically it will start feeling like a game when you have a bit of the Meta game with the level progressions in there and the basics of getting through the level. Even if it’s all just gray and the character is a box, it should still feel like a game. The Tech Demo The tech demo is something completely different, but there is power in it. You create something that is not a game by making one thing incredible. Like taking one character fully modeled, rendered and jaw dropping amazing to get people excited. But be careful. It could be a trap or as Ike puts it Fools Gold. If you’re trying to get game deals and they can’t visualize where you’re going with it, it becomes challenging and you might run into some road blocks. You can use the tech demo to try to build buzz before you can actually build your game. The benefit of that is people will understand what the game play will be like. It won’t be a game loop but more of a promotional thing, but it might help you in your development. You can have both of those tracks going simultaneously with one person working on the core loop and another working on a vertical slice of what the whole thing’s going to look like. Working on the Core Loop Go through many different prototypes Allows you to throw the idea out It gives you a place to evaluate and stop Failing fast You know you’re on to something when it might not look great, but people keep playing it. Ike shares about the rhythm timing game he’s been working on. Once you’re done with that core prototype and it’s all working, it’s a yes or no as far as if you can make it into a game. Then you’re ready to move into the production phase – which will be discussed in another show. Here are some basic steps to take: Gray box at least your Core Loop Once that’s working, do your Level Loop Play testing, get feedback Make an internal greenlight decision – invest more time or pivot Try not to get defensive and keep an open mind with critiques Polish and iron out issues before in the spotlight We’ll be keeping this conversation going. We’ve just scratching the surface of basically going through and taking a game from point A-Z, from idea all the way to completion. Please leave any comments or questions you might have for us on Facebook or Twitter, we’d love to hear from you!                  

Brian shares 15 tips from his experiences at PAX East 2104, the Indie Megabooth, and launching a Kickstarter campaign. Source is live and doing great on Kickstarter! So far it’s 16% funded after about 6 days. The game received an awesome response at PAX and now just waiting and hoping to reach 100% funding by May 11th. Source Kickstarter  PAX East 2014 – IndieMEGABOOTH Brian gives an inside, behind the scenes, detailed recap of what it was like showing his game at PAX East this past weekend April 11-13.  He includes his struggles with starting a Kickstarter campaign at the same time, working through computer glitches, and updating the build while in Boston to make the demo of the game go much smoother. So sit back and get ready to hear about the drama of being in the IndieMEGABOOTH. Getting Prepared First step was to submit an application with a video, a write-up and screenshots to the IndieMEGABOOTH. Then around January we received the email that we were accepted! After that it, there was paperwork to fill out and hats off to the MEGABOOTH for making it really easy to fill out the scary paperwork that PAX was requiring.  Next came ordering the prints and the buttons. All this was a good month to month and a half of intense deadlines while also putting together a Kickstarter campaign at the same time. The biggest reason why Brian and Anna decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign at the same time as PAX was to have a clear call to action with the audience. They didn’t want Source to become forgotten among the craziness of PAX. Of coarse, nothing can go as planned so the Kickstarter launch had some set backs.  Just when Brian though he could hit the green button to make the campaign live, he gets an email saying it will take another 3-5 days for verification. This is Thursday night, PAX starts in the morning! So, naturally he was really upset then wrote tech support a sob story email and by the end of PAX on Friday, the Kickstarter campaign was live. Can you sense the drama yet? Expo Tips Here are some useful tips Brian came up with to help your Expo experience go more smoothly. He elaborates on them in more detail, but here are the bullet points of each tip. Stick to one game  – we showed Source and Gates of Osiris, but really only focused on Source Bring your own hardware – this will prevent computer issues and crashes When you arrive at your booth, Don’t wait – seek people out or you might never get what your equipment or devices that you need for your booth Have a Call to Action When launching a Kickstarter campaign, go through all the verification one month before you want to launch – this will eliminate stress and worry if more verification is needed Have a quick pitch ready Wear neon orange shirts with your logo – this helps identifies who to talk to about the game Engage with people coming to the booth, interact with fans and treat them like gold The Build of the game should be tailored to put action up front – important to get people in the meat of the game quickly Make sure you have ability to make last second adjustments to the Build Have a bunch of hot key on the keyboard – reset, kill, etc. Have back-ups of your Build If you have a network game, be prepared to handle network problems unless you can get a direct connection Make the game the large banner going across your booth – it prevents confusion A side tip not mentioned on the podcast is to have hand sanitizer at the booth – people really appreciate this and it’s good for you to have too The Cost Brian gives a breakdown of the costs to consider: The 10 x 10 space with the base package includes 1 TV, 1 Computer, a table with 2 chairs, base carpeting with no padding and a wastebasket – $1750 Prints – 2 7-foot tall banners – $125 each Prints – 10 x 3 Logo Banner – $250 Buttons – 1,000 – $250 Travel – including hotel, airfare and a rental car – $2,000 Grand total – about $5,000 with food, etc. The Experience of PAX East IndieMEGABOOTH So the question is, Was it worth it? Well, Brian definitely wants to do it again! There were many benefits of showing at PAX like making connections with fans and play testing, getting new contacts with press and just being out there for people to see. We do have to give a shout out to Danielle that came up to Brian on Sunday and completely made his day! Thank you Danielle! It was great meeting and talking with so many interesting and nice people, just that alone was worth it.   Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #013    

Detailed strategies on how you can get publisher funding for your game or go the crowdfunding route. Complete with real world war stories from the trenches. Exciting NEWS!!! “Source” by Fenix Fire is live on Kickstarter! “Source” is not just another project to Brian, it is THE project. He gives some personal insight of the inspiration for the game and explains it’s all about exploration and life. Brian will be at the Indie MEGABOOTH booth 2 at PAX East in Boston April 11-13 2014 where you’ll be able to play “Source” live. So, make sure to tell your friends and help make this game a reality with a successful Kickstarter campaign! Funding Your Game In this podcast we drill into two primary ways to get funding for your game – Publishers and Crowdfunding. We discuss the proper etiquette to use when trying to raise money for a project and/or a studio. We also give some advice on certain things or behaviors to avoid. Publishers The #1 attitude you should have when approaching a publisher is the feeling that the train is leaving the station and it’s their choice whether they want to get on board or not. You want to let them know how their money will add to your project and how it will be useful for you if they jump in. Keep in mind no one wants to be a parachute for you. Investors want to be part of the success story. If you believe in your game, you’re going to find a way to make it. You don’t want to depend on money from publishers to make your game. Firs,t be able to show the core mechanic and the core game loop and then make a clear plan of what you’re going to do with hat money. Salesmanship Sales gets a bad rap. Here are some fundamental techniques and advice: The more you know who it is you’re selling to and the more more they know, like and trust you – the less you’ll need to do the hard sell, will be more conversational The less you know them and the less they know, like and trust you – the harder the sell, like a used car salesman Do not need gimmicks to sell Need to create  and build relationships Understand in the business world, sales are a very slow process and need to have a lot of respect NEVER Lie – always be upfront and honest, because it can easily backfire Meeting With a Publisher Like a resume, you want to ask yourself how do I get someone at a big company to pay attention to me? First, look for small victories for instance competitions, rewards, honorable mentions or Kickstarter funding. Try to build up credibility to give them reasons to trust you. Brain shares his experiences with publishers and touches on Mobile Publishers. A word of caution he gives, “If you’re trying to raise quick cash, any day in the game industry will not get you there.” It is a long road that takes a long time and everybody who’s successful in the game industry had to earn it. General Advice: The further your game is along, the easier and typically faster the sales cycle is going to be Don’t bend your design just to get get your game funded When they ask for stuff, then you ask for stuff – respectfully not confrontational They usually find you or send out a format to email back to them Work on your community before game is launched Move forward with the thought that you don’t need the publisher The Pitch Let’s say, you’re game has been identified as the specific kind of game the publisher is looking for. What happens next? Well, they will bring it back to a committee or group for evaluation. The #1 thing you can do is understand what that committee is looking for. Work with the ambassador to adjust your pitch. Also, the less amount of people you bring to a pitch meeting, the better. A 20 minute pitch: Introduce yourself and your company – talk yourself up Start a light conversation – pretend talking to only one person Don’t waste any time – pick up controller and start playing Introduce character, world, goals and details that make your game remarkable Be very passionate about your game Build to a cliffhanger – leave them wanting more Open up to questions Have money slide and market slide prepared Thank them for their time – always be courteous A great way to prepare for the pitch meeting is rehearsing in front of friends, family or co-workers. Once you get that awkward and embarrassing feeling out of the way, the real thing tends be much easier. Another tip is to talk in front of a mirror. It’s also awkward and weird but it helps you practicing good eye contact. If the pitch went well,  they’ll ask questions like: How much do you need? When’s your release date? What else do you need? What happens after the launch? If the pitch went bad,  they’ll ask questions like: What makes you think this game will stand out? What is special about this game? Remember to answer honestly and not to get defensive. Maybe there’s something not in the build yet but you have a vision for it. Try to answer as thoughtfully and as best you can. Publishers typically don’t say “no”, they just don’t say “yes”. There is never a finish line, it’s a marathon and a relationship. Crowdfunding Most of what we’ve discussed about publishers transfers over to crowdfunding. You want to develop relationships, build confidence and gain trust that you’ll be able to deliver. Instead of showing a demo of your game, you will be making a video that shows why your game is remarkable, interesting, fresh and unique. Brain shares his experience since he’s currently working on his video. An interesting tip on Kickstarter is to make your campaign a do or die situation – unless you fund us,  this project will never be made. This is different than a publisher because the game is going to be made regardless and it’s up to you if you want to jump on or not. See which approach Brian took with his Kickstarter campaign and watch his video!!!   Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #012

Crash course in how to set up AI for your game, complete with pro tips from our resident AI programming expert, Ike. GDC 2014 has come and gone, we give a little recap of our highlights of the conference. The most exciting part was after Brian’s speech at the Unity Booth fans from this podcast came up and talked to us. So just wanted to give a shout out to those that approached us, Thank you! In other news, Brian’s company Fenix Fire will launch a Kickstarter campaign for “Source” which will be available for Xbox 1, PS4, and Steam Greenlight for PC. We want to be as transparent as possible so you can learn from this experience. We’ll be showing and discussing the approach, marketing, press, social media, numbers and much more. This is an exciting an unmarked territory challenge and we’re looking forward to sharing it with you. Enemy AI This podcast is a beginner’s guide on how to set up a basic enemy character and how to organize basic functionality. Ike uses his 15 years of experience and gives some black belt examples and ideas while Brian keeps it on a simpler level so wherever your skill level is this will be a helpful podcast for your game development. 3 Key Elements of Enemy AI Goals Movement Responding to player Goals First split up behavior between unconscious decisions and conscious decisions. Separate your actions, behaviors and animations into which category it’s going to be in and understand the unconscious decisions take priority over the conscious decisions. A good exercise when starting out is to write down all the conscious and unconscious actions that you’re Enemy AI will do. Keep it at a high level. Conscious Decisions Patrol – trying to find the player, but not necessarily seeking them out Idle – waiting for something to happen Moving – to a specific location Attack – aggressively of lightly Give a sense of urgency  to each goal this allows you to swap in different animations later and when you have the character respond the same for starters it also gives flexibility later on. However, different states of urgency is more of an advanced feature, the next layer so to speak but it’s one that has to be developed early on because it’s hard to add later and it creates a more life like complex character for human behavior. Unconscious Decisions: Hit reaction – hit by bullet Falling – fell off a ledge Thrown on the ground Death Sequence The character doesn’t think about what’s happening to them, they’re a victim of the environment Step by Step in Unity Next, we go though a detailed explanation of diving in and creating an example using Unity. Here are some definitions and explanations of terms we’ve used: Pathfinding: Basically the study of how do you get from one location to the other when the direct path is unavailable. Character Controller: Certain kind of entity that you can put on to an object and it all of a sudden assumes and absorbs a lot of the nice functionality for moving characters around. Ray Cast: Imaging looking through binoculars or a telescope and you’re looking down a very pinpoint vision, a cone of vision but can see very very far and anything that is interrupting that can be sensed because you’re using a ray cast. Basically you pass in a starting positions and an ending position in 3 dimensional space and the first thing that it comes in contact with from the starting position you can get data on it. Switch Case Functions: A little bit different than an if then statement in programmer talk. Brian gives a detailed example of how he uses this with his Enemy AI Helpful Advice We’re big believers in tracking and recording the state changes of your NPC. Create a change state function and have all the state changes go through there then put it out to your debug window to always have it around. Because one thing with AI is it’s really hard to reproduce the same situation over again sometimes and it’s a really good idea to have that paper trail with the game time since it gives you a little sense of what’s happening to evaluate it later. Again it’s really hard to recreate a fluke thing over and over again. When you have multiple enemies on screen at the same time, you can put a debug widget that floats  above their heads. Color is a huge thing, can match the color with an action. Take a little time and put all that in so you can read what you’re enemy is doing because you’ll end up saving a ton of time in the long run. Help us Help you We only scratched the surface with Enemy AI, but for the future we’d like to hear from you about what you’d like to hear. Some examples are: Pathfinding Obstacle Avoidance Separating Enemies Out Flocking Top Down Space Shooter So, let us know what you think via Facebook and Twitter @GameDesignDojo and depending on the request we’ll either include it in the newsletter or make a podcast. You can sign up for our newsletter on our website. Thank you and have a great day! Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #011              

On this episode of Game Design Dojo, Brian and Ike discuss ways to capture the best screenshots for your marketing channels, and may also help guide your game’s production. It’s GDC (Game Developer’s Conference) week and we recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to go should most definitely go. Brian will be speaking at the Unity and Qualcomm booths. It is such an honor and really exciting! Check for updates on our facebook page for more details about GDC. Screenshots A screenshot should be how you visualize what your game should look like. It can be challenging to capture the essence of your game with just a screenshot. Do keep in mind a picture is worth a thousand words and at a glance someone needs to “get it”. 3 Key Elements for Screenshots: Does it have a clear action Can you see a puzzle Is there a clear theme Screenshots at a glance – What are they looking for? A good analogy is the back of the box. Remember back to console games when you would look at the back of the box to see what the game was all about. The front cover would usually be very enticing and the back would have a small screenshot of the game. Blizzard executed this well. When looking at a screenshot, the player should have a clear understanding in a nanosecond of what the game is about and what they’re supposed to do. One suggestion is while working on your game, take screenshots regularly, look at them, scale them down to a thumbnail, then look at the primary elements in that frame and decide if those elements come across in a clear way. Some things to consider with your screenshots: Needs to be some sort of an action – all games have action Working in 3’s is always a good idea Be careful with effects like fake motion trails because you can potentially mislead the player Have to be honest Using text isn’t always a good idea Video clips should be secondary Generally, the progression of the consumer is first they look at the icon, if that looks interesting then they go to the page, if the screenshots look good and there’s a video, then they’ll watch the video. There is an increase in time commitment from one step to the next and people typically don’t go straight to the video, which is why video clips are secondary to the screenshots.  The Conflict – What am I up Against? Puzzle and action work similarly. A puzzle has a clear indication like a jigsaw puzzle and is relevant in game design elements. With puzzles, it’s not obvious how you’re going to solve it, you just know you can solve it. You know you have the ability to solve it and feel like you can. This is an important feeling in video games to think you can win and at a glance say, “Hey, I can do that.” Another way to look at it is think of the cruise ship brochure for excursions. They highlight the end result like scuba diving and swimming with the dolphins, not the slow boring part of getting there. The same is true when putting together screenshots. Usually you have at least 5 screenshots. The first one is all encompassing and shows the very core of the core mechanics you have in your game. Then you expand on that from 2-4 with number 5 being a wildcard. Some more things to consider: Capture the ‘wow moment’ Give a little hint of something totally new Show what the action is and the progress of where they are with some sort of a puzzle Have key elements to fit your demographic Start showing screenshots to people for feedback and make adjustments The sooner you start taking screenshots of your game, the sooner it starts coming together visually Have a Clear Theme You want the theme to transcend through all elements of your game. Theme parks are so interesting because they create an atmosphere with the music, effects, sound, colors, graphics, locations, characters, buttons and so on. There is an encompassed theme that is consistent all the way through the entire experience. The best directors in Hollywood are masters of theme. Find a way for your environment to have a strong theme. Star Wars for example, always gave you the feeling that you were part of a bigger story. No matter how small your game is, you can take that lesson. Hinting to a world that is deeper than the one you can show and create a depth for the player. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #010        

Replay value is one of the most import aspects of creating a compelling video game experience that keeps players coming back again and again.  Brian and Ike explore three ways to pump up your game’s replay value for ultimate publishing success. A great outlet for video game developers are local meet ups. Meet ups are a great place to find somebody that can help you with your project or you can help out with theirs. As well as talk about challenges in your game development and gather feedback. With free Wifi and laptops you can meet up at a Starbucks or something. It’s a really cool way to meet other developers with similar experiences and skills you might be looking for. Help support Ike’s game Barnyard Bubble HD. It’s a fun game geared toward one year olds to help them say animal names by popping bubbles and listening to the animal noises. If you have a little one, check it out because they will LOVE it! How to Add Replay Value To Your Game Replay value is one of the most important aspects of creating a compelling video game experience that keeps players coming back again and again. You might have  a game that’s fun to play, but it there’s not a strong sense of replay value then they’ll only play it once and never play it again. That’s an issue. 3 Key Elements to Create Replay Value Are there alternate ways to play your game? Is there a desire for mastery? Is there a strong sense of progress? A holy grail for game developers is to have a game the player doesn’t want to set down and they want to keep going. All the best games have amazing replay value. Alternate Ways to Play In general, the player is given choices during gameplay giving the game alternate directions it can go. A great example is the game of Chess which has amazing replay value. Basically when you can come back to a game and it will be a different experience every time you play, you have replay value. Social Media is a way people can share what they’ve discovered during their gameplay and see what others are doing to bring alternate ways that you may not have thought of or unveiled yourself. Here are example of different games that demonstrate this key element: American Football – never gets dull to watch Street Fighter Grand Theft Auto Legend of Zelda – open map with some funneling, but still have choices Psi-Ops – can play the game all different ways Hit Man Those are all big budget games, but what about a one action game with infinite amounts of ways to play? Any game that has a procedural or random level design can lend itself to that where the player can take a different path. Some examples: Match 3 – pieces come out randomly Words With Friends – find a pattern or process that works for you Field Runners Temple Run Racing games The racing mechanic at it’s core has a conservative path that is obvious which will get you average to good results. To be great, you have to know where the shortcuts in the track are. Usually it’s high risk, high reward. Desire For Mastery Naturally, when you play a game you want to get better at it. We can’t think of a game that you don’t want to get better at. Even playing slot machines in a casino have people mastering it in their minds. The bottom line is people are always trying to get better at whatever game their playing. It’s one of the definitions of game, it’s something you can master. The best games have a strong sense of the ability to master the game. With fighting games for instance, you have to train to know and learn all the moves of your character. There is mastery of strategy and mastery of skill. Golf is an example that has both, part skill and part mental. Lessons From The Olympics The Olympics is a celebration of human mastery. With the winter Olympic games fresh in our minds, we can apply it to this concept. For video games make sure you can play your game over and over again and it has the ability for the player to really master it. And beyond that, think about how you can reward the player for mastering your game with tiers of rewards like a gold medal for instance. Include rewards and feedback into your game. However, if the gaps are too large I in the game for you to feel that progression of mastery, you won’t feel like you’re getting better at it and you want to avoid the player from plateauing too hard. The rewards have to keep progressing. The best competitions don’t happen all the time, which makes them special. An Olympic gold medal wouldn’t be as important if it happened every year. One strong desire of mastery is the competition and being able to demonstrate it publicly. In the Olympics the whole world is watching and that one moment makes it special. Competition is really important and it drives a lot of people. Progress Having the desire to collect, to progress with levels, collecting things, unlocking features of the game. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re any better at the game so it’s different from mastery. Progress is the idea of growing through your actions in the game and getting better over time. Showing and saving progress is very important, like Minecraft for example. The game gives a sense of progress you’re building. It’s also a great feeling to know that you’re not wasting your time on something. You can share it with your friends and don’t have to start back at square one. Evaluation of Games with the 3 Key Elements: Angry Birds Metroid Slot Machines A lot of the great games shows example of these 3 pillars – alternate ways to play, desire for mastery and progress. You don’t necessarily have to have all 3 but people will make them up and incorporate them. You definitely want to have replay value in your game and if you do it well, your game will be remembered. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #009

Happy 2014! It’s a new year and times are changing fast in our video game industry. It’s important to evaluate your skills and abilities in order to make smart, achievable goals to make your company a success. Packed with insights and examples this episode will help you get going in the the right direction. Hey everyone! We’re all rested up from a great holiday break and are getting back in the saddle for a great 2014. The word of the day: Ship it! Well, that’s two words I suppose. For both of us, 2013 was a transitional year as Ike started his new company and I incubated multiple original projects. This year, you can expect both of us to launch our own stuff and we hope that you each launch at least one game 2014. 5 Ways to Maximize Your Chances For Success People think of video game industry as gold rush. However, in reality it’s very rare to make millions, much like the lottery. The truth is that thousands of developers making games don’t earn a single dollar! Here’s some sure fire ways maximize your chances for success: Set goals to have more product launches or, in baseball terms, “at bats”. The more at bats you have, the more chances you have to get a hit. Look at having a long career in games, not just a flash in the pan. Over time the more you shoot, the more accurate you’ll get and the better you’re going to get at knowing your audience and your craft. Repetition in this cycle will create mastery. Planning Your Goals Using the Indie Game Developer’s Survival Pyramid One way to look at how to plan your goals is to find out where you are on the Game Developer’s Survival Pyramid. This hierarchy, modeled after Pavlov’s Hierarchy of Needs, illustrates how a developer can go from a single professional into a very successful business.  Let’s take a closer look. Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid Basic psychology from Pavlov: Bottom of pyramid – basic needs like food and shelter Next layer have some luxuries and so on Top layer – enlightenment In video game development: Level 1, Ground Floor – looking to earn money from video game development. Level 2, Lift Off – you’re working in the industry as an independent contractor or as an indie game studio doing work for hire. Level 3, Cruising Altitude – you have a steady steam of clients and have grown your staff.  You’re now launching your own original games. Level 4, Stratosphere – You no longer or very rarely do any work for hire and spend most of your time updating and launching games to your fans. Level 1 – Ground Floor The first thing you’ll need to do is to take a look at what skills you have. Then, you’ll need to find a way to either get work for your skills, learn new skills, or find other like minded partners that have complimentary skills to join you – either by hiring them or by partnering. Also, it’s important to get out and do some networking, since this stage is all about people. Here’s a short list of places that can help you find work and partners: Local Meet Ups – highly recommended GDC – Game Developers Conference Casual Connect College – perfect situation for networking Once you have a small group, what’s the next step? Get a website together and show the world what you can do. We suggest WordPress as a great template to build really nice looking websites very inexpensively. Look to the site to be a portfolio site that can clearly illustrate what skills you have and what types of projects you can do. Polish and quality are key here people!  At this point, look at these opportunities: Publishers willing to pay for a project At the point to launch a Kickstarter campaign Get some money because raised enough awareness through social media Another company sees what you’re doing and ask to do for them Level 2 – Lift Off At this point, you are working and making money creating art, writing code, or making entire games. Hopefully, you’re even doing it full time! You’re getting some fans on Facebook and you’re posting on Twitter to raise awareness for yourself. Congratulations, you’re well on your way. Besides continually building your skills, you’ll need to look to the next step: launching your own game. To do this you’ll need a long run way, or war chest, to weather the storm. Don’t assume you can finish a blockbuster game in two weeks, it’ll never happen. Plan for how long you think it will take and then double it, adjusting your scope as you go. Figure out how much money you’ll need to survive that long and then save for that amount. This will ensure you have a lasting career in games. Level 3 – Cruising Altitude Now that you have a steady stream of clients and a couple of games under your belt you are truly an indie game developer. Congratulations, you’re the real deal. To keep the party going, you’ll need to treat your clients like gold to keep them coming back. Also, look to grow your team but be careful about spending too much money, you’ll need that nice long runway you’ve built for yourself! Most importantly create games! We’ll talk about how to pick a project on another episode, but for now just focus on getting in there and getting it done! Don’t forget to share your progress with social media and the press along the way. Level 4 – Stratosphere This is Indie Game Dev bliss. You’re working on your own games basking in the glow of all your wonderful raving fans. We’re not sure what to do here, because we’re not at this point, but it sure would be pretty awesome to be here one day. Good luck, have a great 2014, and we’ll be pulling for you every step along the way! Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #008 Helpful Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/  

In this episode Brian and Ike discuss camera and cinematography with a focus on the various angles, styles, and uses in game design. How to choose a camera, iterate on it, and reference film cinematography are all covered in this jam packed episode. We got feedback! It’s such a great feeling when we hear back from listeners since we’re flying blind so to speak. Please keep it coming with your feedback so we can make the most out of your listening experience! We have been busy with our own studios, but enjoy taking the time out to make this podcast. 5 Ways to Consider Using Camera and Cinematography for Video Games Camera and cinematography in video games are similar to that of movies. There’s a lot to consider and sift through to keep the right amount of dramatic feel to your game. 3rd Person Camera Strategically use Camera and Handle Views Controls and Camera Relative Controls Cinematography 101 Camera Angles Getting Started with the 3rd Person Camera Using a 3rd person camera creates a more artistic video game with a cinematic feel as apposed to using just a 1st person camera. You’re able to do more story telling in your game design as well as identify with the main character like in the movies. The player can see just how cool the character looks and is going to feel like that character in a clear connection. This concept brought on more female characters in videogames as well – Tomb Raider example. Strategically use Camera and Handling Views For your video game you want to create a great experience for the player. A way you can do this is to use many different shots and angles during game play. Diablo example. Also you can relate back to acting and the difference between Movies and Stage Acting and apply it to game developing. The goal is to use the camera strategically. Views can challenging because it is a sensitive thing that needs to be done well since it is the eyes the viewer is looking through. A few things to consider are: How far back do I want the Camera How fast do I want the Camera to rotate How fast will the Camera move What happens when player goes around the corner What happens when an obstacle is in the way There is so much more with no specific answer, you just have to keep playing and testing your game. Sometimes the answers depend on your environment. Controls and Camera Relative Controls Remember every time you touch the camera, it will have an effect on the controls. It is a one to one relationship and when developing, it’s important to spend the same amount of time for both. You can use the camera in combination with the controls to help guide the player. (Rage example. Resident Evil example). Try to tame the camera. Think about movies and the restraint they use. The cameras are mostly still and subtle. Don’t make it about the camera, the player shouldn’t be thinking about the camera. You know you’re doing the camera right when you don’t notice the camera. Use the Camera as a tool in game design: Can have other influences or something interesting in the environment Use camera to guide them Hint the player where to go – softly Shadow of the Colossus and Journey example Cinematography 101 The Theory of Thirds is essential in video game development because you want your character not to be in the middle of the screen, that would be boring. So, first you take your frame, divide into 3 horizontal lines and 3 vertical lines like a tic tac toe board. The 4 points where the lines intersect are the most dramatic. (Examples of formula to create more drama. Gears of War example). It adds drama whenever you change how the camera performs. Depth of Field is another great tool to use in game design and development. (Source example). The camera focus is really important and needs to be used correctly. It acts as a soft way to lead the player since eyes naturally follow what’s in focus. Camera Angles Two camera angles to consider: When Camera Looking Down – player have a feeling of being more powerful/godlike than the character and in control of everything When Camera is Slightly Below Character’s Center – makes the character larger than life and gives the character a hero feeling Studying camera angles goes a long way to direct your audience in how to feel without telling them how to feel. When a camera is far away, it means you want to focus on the environment and it’s a great way to tell the player what to look for. (Mario Bros. example). When the camera is in tight, you focus on the character instead of the environment and when the camera pulls back it creates drama. (Journey example).  A little research with camera angles can make a big difference. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #007