Two lessons learned by making a game in a month
Sisyphus as a game developer
Iāve been trying to make a video game for five years, and although perseverance has been mine, it hasnāt been enough. I havenāt been failing forward, Iāve been failing back to square one. Even the perseverant must break at some point, and I finally did.
Tired of trying the same thing and getting the same result, I decided to try something new, an experiment, to make a game from scratch in a month. I made a game called Ghostlight, and I learned some valuable lessons Iād like to share.
#1 Breakthroughs come at the breaking-point, or how deadlines give you clarity
There was a moment in making Ghostlight when I realized I couldnāt have everything I wanted; there just wasnāt time. Since I was committed to the deadline, tradeoffs would have to be made elsewhere. I couldnāt decide what to cut, so I started with what to keep. What was it that I was trying to do or say?
After reflection, I made a discovery. What I really wanted Ghostlight to do was express a personal insight of mine about my introversion ā the resentment I feel toward the people that take my energy and the revelation of the joy of giving it to the right people.
Now I had both a deadline and a vision. I set my focus on their intersection ā the narrow space where they were possible together. This made previously impossible decisions simple. For example, at one point I had to decide between putting more effort into the story or implementing the capstone level of the game. The game would be better with such a level, but if I tried to fit it in, I would have failed either in expressing my vision, or in meeting the deadline. The decision to work on the story was easy.
#2 A legible thumbnail is better than a mess of a painting
When setting out to do a painting, you first draw a bunch of thumbnails, tiny drawings where detail is impossible but where you can work on composition (the size, shape, and location, of your subject). If it works small, it will work big. However, if it doesnāt work small, it will not improve when you blow it up.
With my other project, Lost Bits, I had been working on a large canvas and filling tiny details everywhere. Once in a while Iād stand back and see that the composition was wrong, and all my āperfectā details had to change. Although Iāve been inhumanly persistent in my work, it was to no avail. My approach was wrong, so my experience was Sisyphean.
The concept of working broadly and then adding details makes sense theoretically, but I didnāt experience it in practice until Ghostlight. Partly it was because of my focus on the end goal rather than the details, and partly it was because of the deadline. There was no time to paint a masterpiece, only to fill in a working thumbnail.
Iām proud of my thumbnail. It's tiny package expressing my point of view as a game designer. Itās better than a mess of a painting; you can always return to a good thumbnail later and give it more depth.
Set a challenging deadline. This will force you to make tough decisions that will make your work better, and drive you to its conclusion.
My wife and I talk about the āfirst readā of something. It needs to look right at a glance before the details even begin to matter. So focus on the point of your work. Express that. Once you have a working thumbnail, you can execute it in higher and higher fidelity, bringing out all the wonderful nuances you can imagine.
I hope this is helpful to you. Good luck with your next project!
theartofmadeline
blakekathryn
titsay