Author Archive for Arshak Ardeshir

24
Feb
10

Other ways of rewarding and punishing

By Arshak Ardeshir Leave a Comment
Categories: 7. Reward and Punishment

New ideas sometimes shed new light on old problems. I have been reading a a lot about player types these days. I am talking about Barles  player types and the other types that have spawned after his.  And even though they are (achiever, explorer, killer and socializer) mostly aimed at MMO/MUD players their usage don’t stop there.

In regular single player games it can be hard to discern player types as single player games seldom allow freedom of personality, and because they guide the player through a predefined rule-set. Having a pre-defined rule set brings (most often) with it a defined rule set for reward and punishment. And since most singeplayer games are about progressing they would have a punishment system based upon that. Which also seems to be the main way we talk about the notion of “punishment vs reward”. We use hardcore vs casual dividing, which really is a crude tool if you think about it.

Continue reading ‘Other ways of rewarding and punishing’

01
Dec
09

I think most of us nod our heads in eagerness to fill the mold of a good designer.

By Arshak Ardeshir 2 Comments
Categories: 4. Iterative Design

The general consensus among developers is that working by iterations is good. I think most of us nod our heads in eagerness to fill the mold of a good designer.

The iteration production process is a way of tackling the issues of not really knowing the problems the team will face during production. In other words making to rigid decisions early on in the project can be difficult as we have little knowledge about the problems we are going to face later on. Therefore we: Idea, make, test, and re-make. On paper this sounds fair and easy, but is it really? And what does it all really entail?

This article is a list of slightly ironic questions we face when working iteratively. The list is somewhat personal and unscientific; it is a compilation of problems I often ram my head against. I will not try to answer these questions. Instead I hope raising the questions will get your head juices flowing.

Continue reading ‘I think most of us nod our heads in eagerness to fill the mold of a good designer.’

30
Oct
09

Are we capable of portraying engaging subjects in games yet?

By Arshak Ardeshir 4 Comments
Categories: 2. Social responsibility of Game Designers

First I would like to state that everybody in society has social responsibility, basically a set of rules, norms and guidelines that should govern how they interact, influence and allow themselves to be influenced by other people. Social responsibility is not only the responsibility of the creator of a work, it does also fall on the consumer not to misuse or abuse it. Basically everyone must be responsible for their own actions and their own wellbeing. No person should be allowed to waive that responsibility. Eating too many burgers is your own fault and no one else’s. With that said, I would also like to point out that a party in power of spreading their beliefs to a larger audience should be aware of the message they are spreading. Basically with great power comes great responsibility.

Continue reading ‘Are we capable of portraying engaging subjects in games yet?’

16
Oct
09

There are too many barriers to cross

By Arshak Ardeshir 3 Comments
Categories: 1. Can a good game designer design any type of game?
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Can a good designer design any type of game?

The question posed is a very open one and thus has many different ways of approach. Are we talking about one good designer in charge of the design aspect of a new genre he hasn’t worked on before? What criteria is the finished product being judged by, is a “good” designer making a “good game” enough, or are we talking blockbuster titles? Is the question focused on the swiftness of a designer to master a new genre, or are we talking about a designer’s ability to quickly jump between genres?

I would like to answer Yes to this question, but ultimately my instincts tell me No. The reason for this is that a good designer can probably make a good game, but I am not sure that is enough in today’s competitive market.

While I do believe the general skill set involved in making different types of games are transferable. I do not believe that the skills of making a successful FPS game can be directly transferred to making a successful realistic racing game. There are too many barriers to cross.

But then again, a good designer probably has enough experiences to quickly understand what is core in different titles; he is also a very quick learner and a good researcher. This gives him the tools needed to change genres if he wishes. But there is still a learning curve to each genre that everybody must go through, even the best designers.

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