H

arlan Ellison might scoff at the idea of trying to explain where ideas come
from. Certainly, if you are a novelist having trouble coming up with ideas, it
may be time to wonder if you have chosen the right profession. Similarly, a
good game designer, at any given moment, will be able to come up with no less than five
solid ideas she would like to try to make into a computer game. There is no shortage of
ideas in the gaming world. Aspiring game designers often think they can sell their idea
to a development company. They seem to be under the impression that game develop-
ers are just sitting around waiting for a hot idea to come around so they can spend
several million dollars to make it a reality. On the contrary, selling a game idea to a com-
pany is so rare that one should consider it an impossibility. Almost all of the challenge in
game development is not coming up with a good idea, but in following through and
being able to craft a compelling game around that idea. That’s what the rest of this book
endeavors to explore.
In the arena of computer game design, the process of coming up with a game idea
that will work is complicated by a number of factors fiction authors do not need to worry
about. In part this is because computer game ideas can come from three distinct, unre-
lated areas of the form: gameplay, technology, and story. These different origins are
interconnected in interesting ways, with the origin of the game’s idea limiting what one
will be able to accomplish in the other two areas. So when a game designer starts think-
ing about the game she is hoping to make — thinking about it in terms of gameplay,
technology, or story — it is important that she consider how that initial idea will impact
all aspects of the final game.

Starting Points ................................

Perhaps a quick example is in order. Say a game designer feels the need to create a
game based around the specific stories of Greek mythology. This would be starting
from a story. Immediately this limits the type of gameplay she will be going for. Chances
are aCivilization-style strategy game is out, since that sort of game really has nothing
to do with the classical stories of Zeus, Heracles, Ares, and so on. A real-time strategy
game is out of the question as well, since it is not good at telling stories involving only a
few protagonists. A high-end flight simulator is probably not going to work either. The
designer could, however, still pursue it through an action game, a role-playing game, or
an adventure game. Similarly, the technology is limited. In order to tell the story of the
Greek gods, the designer will need some way to communicate a lot of back-story infor-
mation to the player. Thus there will need to be technology in place that can allow this.
Furthermore, if the designer chooses the technology to be employed by the game at
this point, this will have still further impact on what type of gameplay will be possible.
For example, choosing an isometric 2D engine will best lend itself to an RPG or an
adventure game instead of an action game, unless one plans on being deliberately
“retro” and opts for a 2D action-adventure in the spirit ofCrusader: No Remorse.Ifa3D
technology is to be used, in order to tell the story of Greek mythology properly it will
need to support both indoor and outdoor environments, which immediately eliminates
a lot of 3D game engines.

Chapter 3: Brainstorming a Game Idea 41