[Steve Ince]

I've been posting on my blog quite regularly.

The latest Developing Thoughts column has just been published for those interested:

http://www.randomville.com/article/8/145.html

[bigjko]

Great article, as always.

Makes me wonder what a pain it must've been to develop the Metroid games.

[Steve Ince]

Thanks.

All games have aspects that are a pain to create/develop. It's like anything creative, you have to work through the boring/tedious/difficult stuff to end up with something that's much greater than the sum of its parts.

[Henke]

Originally Posted by Steve Ince

I've been posting on my blog quite regularly.

The latest Developing Thoughts column has just been published for those interested:

http://www.randomville.com/article/8/145.html

I really understand you in that article. I'm writting a game now and I also wake up in the middle of the night with a certain problem I just realised or I am sitting talking with friends when I suddenly get an idea and I runs off to write it down.

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by Henke

I really understand you in that article. I'm writting a game now and I also wake up in the middle of the night with a certain problem I just realised or I am sitting talking with friends when I suddenly get an idea and I runs off to write it down.

The curse of a creative mind.

Or are you like me and get a real buzz when it happens, particularly if it helps you with problems you have?

[Henke]

Originally Posted by Steve Ince

The curse of a creative mind.

Or are you like me and get a real buzz when it happens, particularly if it helps you with problems you have?

When I come up with an idea or a solution to something then I really get in a good mood and I feel good about myself. But if I stumble on a problem I sort of panic and I tend to get rather cranky. My mood is there for like a rollercoaster when I write.

[Steve Ince]

Panic can be a problem as your mind goes in ten different directions at once and suddenly you think that you were stupid to even believe that you were up to the task. However, you do get to the point where you have more confidence in what you do and your abilities to work through the problems. The trick is to step back, mentally, and give your mind the space to get to grips with a solution.

I was recently asked to come up with a game idea from scratch. After wracking my brains for a couple of days I still had no idea what I was going to do. So without divine inspiration, I set about thinking through the problem by starting with a character. What was this character like? What was their situation and why were they in it? What were they going to do to get out of it. Who/what was going to stop them? And so on. Suddenly I had the idea I needed and the proposal is going well.

The key is to break down the problem and deal with it as a series of smaller parts. Bypass the panic.

[Henke]

My biggest problem though when I do something (no matter what it is) is that I always aim to high. I don't think "simple" exists in my vocabulary.

To break down the problem and to step back mentally and maybe look at it in another way (my view on things tends to get pretty locked at times) sounds like a great advice and that is something I should try to do when I stumble upon something that seems like a dead end.

[rtrooney]

Originally Posted by Steve Ince

The third in the series has just been published:

http://www.randomville.com./article/8/126.html

Very interesting.

However, it appears to me that you are essentially stating that game development requires a business plan. That's nothing new. And, you're not stating it coherently.

In fact there is an equation, which I probably can't do well here, but I will try.

The equation is: MS/BP=FP+MP+OP/FPT

Translation: A Business Plan equals a Financial Plan plus a Marketing Plan plus an Operations Plan in support of a Mission Statement over a fixed period of time.

That's how games, as well as new products at McDonalds get developed.

And they all are developed with the hope a profit will be turned.

Tim

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by rtrooney

However, it appears to me that you are essentially stating that game development requires a business plan. That's nothing new. And, you're not stating it coherently.

Wow, I don't see that as the article's focus at all. I guess if that's what how you interpret it, no wonder it doesn't seem coherent.

I read this article strictly from the perspective of design. A much different read that way.

[rtrooney]

Originally Posted by Jackal

Wow, I don't see that as the article's focus at all. I guess if that's what how you interpret it, no wonder it doesn't seem coherent.

I read this article strictly from the perspective of design. A much different read that way.

It may have been written from a design perspective, but every bit of it was also written as a way of marketing the game to a prospective publisher.

Ergo, my take on the missive.

Tim

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by rtrooney

However, it appears to me that you are essentially stating that game development requires a business plan. That's nothing new. And, you're not stating it coherently.

I agree that the development of any game needs a business plan to succeed, howerver the column was looking from a purely design point of view and how the design vision will act as a guide to the other members of the team, the publishers, etc.

Of course, the design vision also becomes part of the business plan as it also functions in this respect, too. And a good vision helps the business plan by not only making a clear statement of the intent of the design, but also keeps a tighter reign on the design and development process and reduces the chance of the project going off track.

While I realise that much of what I write may not be new in the grand scheme of things, I hope that I'm able to give a perspective that puts these subjects into the context of designing and developing games.

[oerhört]

A question of mine, Steve:

During the development of Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, was it intentional to not put too much of the details of the worked-out story into the actual game? I know I felt the story was a bit thin at times, throwing in loads of different concepts (egyptian mythology, the sword in the stone, the knights templar, the voodoo lady and so on) without really tying them enough together in a credible way.

I know I was really hoping for a more fascinating, in-depth background than Broken Sword 3 provided. For me, the game's story was more about entertainment than fascination. I had hoped for both.

Any insight in the proceedings of this matter would be great.

[Steve Ince]

The intention was to give enough details that the player realised what the story was about, but not too much that the exposition became tedious. Perhaps we got the balance wrong if you feel that elements weren't as clear as they should have been.

[Steve Ince]

The latest in the the Developing Thoughts series has just been published:

http://www.randomville.com/article/8/149.html

[Steve Ince]

A new column is up for those interested:

http://www.randomville.com/article/8/155.html

[oerhört]

Interesting, as always. May I ask, by the way, how you got the job at Revolution in the first place? What references are needed to qualify for such a job?

[Steve Ince]

I started out as an artist and my portfolio and a good interview got me the job. I then moved over into a producer role for a while and then into writing and design. These days, you really need to demonstrate that you have the skills in the area you are trying for. It's much more competetive.

[Mattsius]

Unfortunately I've never played In Cold Blood, but the situation you're describing in the column seems hilarious. Humor is indeed a thing that's seriously missing from many of today’s games and it's a real shame. I mean people like to watch comedy movies and read funny books like Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, so why not play humorous games also?

[Steve Ince]

I'm hoping to redress the balance.