Paper Planning and Kip Katsarelis Lead Producer Stone Librande Lead Designer Spore Galactic Adventures, EA/Maxis

What is a Game?

Benefits Quick and cheap.Quick and cheap. Important questions answered up front.Important questions answered up front. Stresses pre-planning skills.Stresses pre-planning skills. Imagination not hindered by technical limits.Imagination not hindered by technical limits. Less time wasted creating unnecessary assets.Less time wasted creating unnecessary assets.

Spore examples

Workshop Exercise Pick a subjectPick a subject  Keep it simple. Select a topic you teach to your students.  Examples: Life in a bee hive, how a bill becomes a law, how proteins are formed, etc. Fill out the templatesFill out the templates  Remember that you are designing a game. Transfer your work into SporeTransfer your work into Spore  (Time permitting.)

Paper Planning Tips What To DoWhat To Do  Keep it high-level.  Use your eraser! It’s rare that you will get it right the first try.  Keep the paper around during implementation. Use it as a checklist and to keep yourself on target. What Not to DoWhat Not to Do  Don’t worry about art. Stick figures are fine!  Don’t worry about text. Keep the sentences short and to the point.