Game Design Principles Part 4 : Creativity Jehee Lee Seoul National University

Creativity The industry have reached a peak of creativity in game design during 80s and 90s Nowadays, game design is a coldly mechanical process requiring little in the way of creativity

Tightly defined genres First-person shooter –The player blast bad guts as he navigates a complex 3D environment –He collects weapons and ammunition, sometimes solve puzzles Platform games –Space Panic in 1981, Apple Panic, Donkey Kong –A series of “Mario” games are still selling and successful

Tightly defined genres Role-playing games –Dungeons & Dragons in the mid-1970’s –Moria, Wizardry, Ultima I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, so on Only small changes have been made for the decades

Where Does Creativity Come From? How can “ordinary” people be creative ? –We don’t want to talk about a few geniuses One idea is just as good as another (?) Creativity is serious business –You don’t attain high levels of creativity by random daydreaming

Association and Analogy Our minds are associative –Many concepts in our minds are associated like a web –New ideas are generated by combining old ideas in novel ways –This combining process is not a simple additive one New ideas are often attained by observing analogical patterns in the web of associations –Similarity between post office delivery and network traffic routing

How to “Get Creative” Broaden your reading –Stuff your head full of concepts and all their associations –More concepts and associations yield better possibilities –DO NOT limit yourself around games Wonder as you read –An exercise in tightening up the web of associations Think and try to find answers –Help build overall creative foundation

How to “Get Creative” Originality when put familiar together in unexpected ways (Stephen King) Draw upon wide range of sources for inspiration –Movies, literature, opera, sports –Go beyond someone has gone before Keep many raw (unpolished) ideas in mind

Brainstorm What is a brainstorm ? –Drive the problem deep into your subconscious –Spend days and nights –The solution will leap out at you Great geniuses described their brainstorm experiences –A phase of intense emotional involvement –A quiescent period –The entire solution leaps upon them with suddenness

Creative Process A new idea doesn’t mean a good idea It should have “impact” –Is it really good? –Worth spending time and money on? –Would it attract attention? –Would it be fun? Sometimes, difficult to distinguish a great, yet unpolished idea from just mundane ideas

Creative Process Once you have an idea, keep polishing the idea –Great inventions often begin with rough, unpolished ideas Never design by committee –tend to compromise Pull the idea to extremes in your mind, and compromise its implementation