game’s content, he is able to exert absolute control over every nuance. Solo game
development is typically not something at which one can earn a living these days, but I
know of a few who manage it. Of course, the fact that a game was created largely by one
individual does not assure that the game is going to be focused. If that individual is scat-
terbrained and unfocused himself, chances are good the game will not be very focused
either. Even if he is a more sane, organized person, if he does not keep track of his
game’s focus over the course of the project, his game may end up being just as
unfocused as the most uncoordinated, over-budgeted, fifty-developer game.
If you are working as a designer on a game with a team, it is essential to make sure
the other people on your project, whether artists, programmers, or producers, under-
stand the nature of the game’s focus. Without a strong focus to guide their actions,
programmers and artists may have a misunderstanding of what the game is supposed to
accomplish, and may be thinking of some other type of game as they work on yours.
Through no fault of their own, their work may deviate from what needs to happen for
your game to become a reality, and you will be forced to say, “No, that doesn’t fit, redo
it.” If the team has a focus to follow, a focus they have signed on to, then they are far less
likely to create work that is inappropriate for your game. Having a strong focus does not
get you out of keeping a watchful eye on the artists’ and programmers’ work, of course,
but it will save you the trouble of having to redirect them too frequently.
Fleshing Out the Focus..........................
Once the team is enthusiastic about the project, has signed on to the focus, and has a
clear understanding of what the game is supposed to be, you can proceed to more fully
flesh out your idea through a complete design document. You may even want to make
your focus the beginning of your document, as a sort of summary of the nature of the
game that people can read quickly. (The nature and creation of design documents is
more fully explored in Chapter 19, “The Design Document.”) The design document
should take the game suggested by your focus and expand on it, detailing how the goals
in your focus will be accomplished by gameplay and precisely how that gameplay will
function. You will also be sketching out the flow of the game, what the game-world will
be like, and what sort of entities the player will encounter. Of course, while you are
working on the design document, there will be countless points at which you have to
struggle to come up with the correct solution to a given problem. Should the control
system use method A or method B? In what sort of environments will the player be
interacting? What sort of challenges do the enemies present? A properly designed
focus will allow you to refer back to it to answer many of the questions you encounter
during the design process. As these elements of the game are fleshed out, you should
continually refer back to your focus to see if the additions you are making match with
that focus. Through the focus, you can carefully consider if you are adding gameplay
that takes the game in a new direction. It is important to identify which additions to
your game cause it to deviate from the focus, and then to change or eliminate those
erroneous elements.
You want to avoid having your game become too bloated with features, components
that may be “cool” in some way but that do not support the game’s main focus or that
distract the player’s attentions. Using your focus as a tool, you can prevent this overex-
pansion by cutting away the chaff in your game design to leave only the core gameplay
78 Chapter 5: Focus