Many people will have ideas for games, the first step on the path to that idea becoming a reality is to undertake some basic research and development in order to expand the idea into a robust proposal. There are several ismple considerations that the designer can make in order to turn the idea from a whim to a solid concept. A word of warning - it may be tempting to jump straight into designing characters and levels and icons and other details. This is best avoided, as if the game changes in the early development stages such work will be wasted. Good practice is to spend a relatively short but valuable length of time at the outset of making sure your idea has the potential for development.
Look at games similar to the one you have in mind. Usually there will be something comparable in the same genre. If there is nothing truly similar out there you may have a new idea. Look at themes and mechanics. Keep notes about the good and the bad, not just one or the other. What games fail to deliver the promised experience, and why. Have other people’s reviews of the game noticed the same thing? You can build upon your own game by asking the right questions and questioning the philosophy of not only what makes the game work, but what doesn’t.
Re-using the same game engine for many different game titles is not entirely unheard of. The engine is the unseen code which drives the visual game action on screen. Within the engine are rules to the way the game world works; and how objects and characters behave. It is a fairly simply task to remove the visual aspects of a game and replace them with other visual and model data, to create a new game which is very different. Due to the fact that a game’s code is usually very expensive to develop, the starting point of working with an existing game engine makes excellent financial sense for a game developer. An example of this is the re-use of Valve’s Source engine for Day of Defeat; more famously used in Half Life 2.
A strange but efficient way to begin the design process is to ask several important questions to answer, to give your concept form as a game and avoid a poorly defined idea.
Can you describe your game? Can it be described in one paragraph? When selling an idea you need to grab attention and a good description will include the premise of the game, any unique features and it’s potential market.
Can you summarize the story? The story is different from its description. A story summary should be a short paragraph which captures the essence of the story and allows others to appreciate and enthuse about it.
Which platform? Is it more suited for consoles or is it PC exclusive? They may be specifically designed for hand held games consoles, or even mobile phones. It would be best to focus on the platform the game would feel most natural on, rather than stretching it to fit everything.
What’s the target audience? Does your game appropriately target the audience, and would there be any compromises in your game if you had to change it in some way so that it was?
Does it fit a genre? Can it be categorized, easy to understand?
By listing description, story, platform, genre and target audience in a concise document you will compile a quick reference tool with which to answer questions arising during development about the game should be - and what it shouldn’t.
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