STAGE: Pre-production – Game Design and Promotion
KEEP DRAWING AND BONING UP ON JS…
Mon 15 Dec – Sun 21st Dec
Focus of the week: the pre thing and the website and the promo – from the reading, playing and planning…
Mon
- Reading and analysis
- https://www.raphkoster.com/2025/11/03/game-design-is-simple-actually/?utm_source=gamedevjsweekly&utm_medium=email
Take aways
A lot of the definitions of games, or even the mens of wanting to codify it, I am not sure I agree with. Seems like a solution looking for a problem? My question is: what do I like? What would I want to play. And those questions have always been a lot easier to answer.
“When confronted with these tough-to-define words, I generally take a very broad approach. If it might be a game, I’ll call it a game.” (Smith, 2024, p. 2)
Smith, T. (2024). Anatomy of Game Design (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003346586
I like this approach to defining ‘games’, ‘fun’ and ‘mechanics’ – if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, its probably a duck… But, then Smith goes on to define some stuff. Oh well… Dunno about games having to have a ‘winning’ condition…
What do I like?
- I like to explore
- I like to savour a moment and a mood
- Yes, these things can co-exist – for example – going on day hikes near Piha –
- Within my capabilities… there is always the knowledge of having comfort at the end, be it food or shelter. I am truly a simple creature…
- I like making sense of the world
- I like things that are made and hewn by hand or foot
- I like desire lines
- I like things that are special to those that make them ,and then those that use them
- Things I don’t like are – unending chaos…
- So, it seems that it is chaos within a set o guard rails. A storm in a tea cup perhaps…
What would I want to play?
- Well, refer to the list above – lots of interesting options
- Defined commitment
Interestingly, the process of making pixel assets and coding the whole thing in JS fits into the category of ‘unending chaos’… But, its like eating an elephant…
Tues
- Project work 1
- Ok, lets work on ROCKS – for that first opening scene…
Wed
- Game play – continue with current game and notes etc.
- Play for an hour – make notes
Takeaways
Thu
- Project work 2 – Pre production –
Fri
- Project work 3 –
Sat
- Finish off tasks or, if done – start another task…
- do the tutorial
- icon/logo – design to work at small scale…
Sun
A quick catch up session
Takeaways
The doing…
- Hour 1 – document and update log of things done (this page)
- Hour 2 – add tasks to the next one… (include a link to it from here…)
HOUR 3 and 4 – Tutorial/learning thing – do that tute in the GBStudio world building book
Lesson for the week –
QUESTIONS
keep adding them, and keep rolling them over…
- develop initial style guide as a starting point – develop a starter style guide – link to pinterest
- set up pipeline – 1. work on local machine – using VScode 2. commit to gitlab – 3. posted on site
- mockup intro cutscene in aesprite
- tidy up the game design doc
- create icon for discord etc. – a shape that reads properly
- examples of multiple ways of accessing game world data – not necessarily the SAME game rendered for different devices and platforms – but ways of accessing the game world using different APPS on the SAME device/platform…
- looking at ways of interacting with the gameworld – via handheld devices – what are some solutions from different games?
- how could i incorporate paper mechanics and cutouts?
- build in 30 mins of drawing activity every day please! and then, on to watercolour etc.
- add in a place to capture questions/tasks that need to be investigated/done and can be added to the list every week…