A trip through the fantasy worlds I enjoy
Published on September 17, 2012 By DerekPaxton In Elemental Dev Journals

 

Stardock's Art Director, Paul Boyer, will be working as a Game Designer on one of our projects.  Paul has been around forever and has a ton of experience.  At Stardock we believe that "everyone is on the design team" so just because Paul was the Art director before didn't mean that he didn't contribute to the design of every game he has worked on.  He has been a great asset to me and is second only to Brad in people I ask for feedback on FE design ideas.

 

Evaluating ideas

But it has left me thinking a lot about the role of a designer, and particularly how I can help Paul make that leap from "here is a cool idea we should think about adding" to how that idea affects the rest of the game.  What is the effect the scope (as an Art Director Paul is already very familiar with this process)?  Is it fun?  And how does it affect the rest of the game?

That last question is the hardest one.  In strategy games every piece affects every other piece.  There are the direct results, we raise spell damage and monsters seem to be too weak.  We make monsters tougher and spells seem underpowered.  But the indirect is more difficult.  If we have monsters lairs give good loot and xp, why bother researching the techs to unlock quests which offer similar rewards?*  By itself having lairs give xp and treasure is fun, but a game designer has to see the whole picture.

So I tend to review all ideas with the following criteria in mind:

1. Does it match the games focus?  The core experience of Fallen Enchantress is building, leveling your units, leveling your cities, designing units, building things.  Features and ideas that follow this progression are ideal to building a complete theme and feeling for the game.  Much like how lighting, music, set design, etc, all work together in a movie to reach a common goal all of the game mechanics should have a common feel that cause the games theme to resonate with the player.  (this is why cities having enchantment slots and city types worked so well for Fallen Enchantress)

2. Does it solve a problem?  The tendency of designers, including myself, is to create too much.  So once I'm beyond the base core of the game mechanics I have to force myself to ask if new ideas and mechanics solve any existing problems.  If not, why add it?

3. Does it solve multiple problems?  It's usually easy to solve a specific problem.  But as I mentioned above, in strategy games every piece affects every other piece.  If all an idea does is fix one problem, then it's probably not worth the effort and I usually hold out waiting for a solution that fixes multiple issues at once.

4. Does it have drool factor? (ie: if I tell a player about it will they be excited to try it).  I'm less eager to spend development time on things that players won't be excited to try (or as a business guy would say, "doesn't sell copies").  Sometimes we need to spend time on the unexciting parts of the game design, cleaning up screens, polishing graphics, improving performance, fixing bugs, or adding fundamental tools which support gameplay but aren't sexy (I don't think anyone checed out FE and thought "A game with a tax slider?!?  I love tax sliders!  I'm buying this!").

5. How difficult is it to implement?  Now the producer part takes over.  Even given all the above the implementation cost could be too high.  I love the random maps in Fallen Enchantress, but I don't know if it was worth the considerable implementation time it took to create them.  The game is definitely better for them, but we could have created 100 hand crafted maps in a fraction of the time and had all that extra time for other features.

6. How will we provide feedback?  A lot of gameplay is feedback.  How will the players interact with this mechanic?  Will they enjoy it?  A lot of mechanics die because there isn't a good way to show the player they are doing it right or wrong.

Let's go through an example.  A few weeks ago Brad suggested having cities that weren't connected to your capital suffer a penalty.  In his mind he wanted a reason to connect your empire with outposts.  He enjoyed doing it, as many player do, but there wasn't any mechanical reason to reward the behavior.  So the idea was evaluated.

1. Does it match the game focus?  Yes.  It allows the player to build his empire much as he builds his units, armies and cities.  This is empire level customization.

2. Does it solve a problem?  Yes.  It rewards players for building contiguous empires.  Perhaps more importantly it give a player a reason to chop his enemies empire apart by taking key cities (or a reason to be angry when an enemy does it to him).

3. Does it solve multiple problems? Yes. One of my lingering problems was that unrest was too low.  You build a few buildings and it doesn't matter anymore at even moderate tax rates.  I didn't want to simply raise the base unrest rate and force the player to build more improvements, I wanted the player to have more ways to deal with it.  So in came this mechanic to increase the amount of unrest and a new ways to deal with it (building the outposts to connect the empire).

4. Does it have drool factor? No.

5. Is it easy to implement?  Yes, it was nothing to implement.

6. Does it provide good feedback? No.  You see it in tooltips, but it’s a micro-mechanic.  It isn't important enough to take up main UI, so it lurks in the details for players that love those details, and ignored by players that don't care.  That isn't ideal.

Overall it’s a good mechanic so we added it.  Few (if any) mechanics answer yes to all the above questions (especially that "is it is to implement" question).  But 4 out of 6 is pretty good.

 

Types of Game Designers

I tend to think that there are two types of game designers.  System designers and content designers.  System designers love making systems, calculating the way all the widgets and gears fir together and turn.  I haven't asked him, but I think Jon Shafer is a system designer.  System designers love board games (especially if they get to change the rules to them) and are more impressed with Monopoly's option to remain in jail or pay your way out, then they are the "You have won $10 in a beauty contest" community chest card.

The other type of game designer is a content designer.  Content designers are interested in building narrative into game mechanics.  This comes across as a focus on detailed design, each aspect beyond the game function of the asset is considered.  Where a system designer would look at a champion and make sure it fit the mechanical criteria (we need a champion with water aptitude because that’s unrepresented, we want someone who would make a good defender so let's make him Krax and give him a shield), a content designer is interested in more.  His backstory may include a story about being beaten and left for dead by an Ogre.  His shield is battered, nearly destroyed.  He once had a powerful sword but the ogre took it from him.  Then as a rare monster lair sometimes there would be that ogre with that sword.

I'm a content designer, I suspect Paul will be one too.  His art background is all about creating narrative and those small details (Paul is the guy who fights hardest to fill our cities with pedestrians so you can zoom in and see them working).  I believe that the "You have won $10 in a beauty contest" is a more inspired mechanic that if you can stay in jail or not.  It creates fun each time it is drawn.

Of course the world needs both types, and both types do the others job.  I do plenty of system design, Jon does a lot of content creation.  But we usually start in our strong areas.  When Jon and I talk about game design he is usually excited about large scale mechanics and the potential of ideas.  I almost immedialty go to the details of it, "That's a great idea, with it we could have a unit that does A, a spell that does B, etc".  It doesn't really matter what side you start at, you just have to get to the other side.  You have to link the overall mechanics to the detailed implementation.

 

3 tips for Content Designers

So I think my best advice for Paul is probably to watch out for the same sort of stuff I have to watch out for.  I offer the following for content designers like us:

Games that are fun to design, aren't fun to play.  The first production system planned for FE was going to use population and citizen types.  There were workers, craftsmen and farmers, different things could affect how many of each you got in this intricate spinning top type of system that I loved for the flavor of it.  The only tiny disadvantage to it was that it didn't work at all.  It required perfect balance to function and any little wobble in the mechanics and the whole thing can tumbling down.  I'm embarrassed by how long I thought it was acceptable to have production times be estimates because the amount of production a city produced changed turn after turn.

But it looked so good on paper.  Brad played with it and played with it and must have passed me a dozen different design ideas that we went back and forth on trying to find a way to make it work before he suggested linking the rates to the city levels instead of directly to population.  The saddest part is we had all the tech to do that already (and implementing the citizen system was a pain, sorry Sarah).  In the end we ended up with a system I love, but I always have to remind myself that games that are fun to design, aren't fun to play.

Watch out for stairwell design.  This is the primary reason I'm distrustful of any idea that only fixes one problem.  In my experience every change leads to another issue.  If you then fix that issue, you get another one, and on and on until you are left making changes that you never would have considered at the start of the process (note: I'm talking about design changes here, not bug fixes).  Always remember what the purpose of a system is, because designs tend to grow and once they are in areas they shouldn't be it becomes hard to recognize them.  Cities are the resource inputs for your system.  They provide the money, research and production for you to do the things you want.  Having maintenance on improvements was contrary to the purpose of cities in the first place and we killed it as soon as we were able.  Addressing the problem by adding improvements that reduce maintenance costs was stairwell design.

The game should be fun without any flavor at all.  This is what those system designer types say all the time.  But they are right (as much as I hate to admit it).  Content designers have to force ourselves out of the mindset of the narrative.

"It would be so cool to start a game and have a massive black dragon perched in a hill within sight of your starting location.  You spend the whole game in fear of him, slowly building up until you can finally gather an army, rush up the hill and defeat the dragon that has been looming over you this whole time."

No.  It sounds kind of cool played out in a very specific way.  In truth it doesn't work out that well.  What about pacing?  At what rate would a system designer feed out challenges to a player as he opens up and explores the world?  What is the impact to a player exploring a world if the first thing he sees is a really cool dragon, then a troll, and a spider, and a wolf.  Take out the story, view it as gears and numbers, you will make a better game.

 

I hope this is interesting to those of you who enjoy thinking about game design or the job of a game designer.  let me know what you think or if you have any specific questions about the process.

 

* Origonally the only way to get good champion equipment and experience was through quests, so players that didn't research the techs to unlock them would never have good champions.  But getting equipment and leveling your champions through other things was fun, so we changed the design and removed the tech requirement from quests (which were also fun, but didn't offer any rewards unique or consistent enough to be worth spending valuable research time).

 


Comments (Page 1)
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on Sep 17, 2012

Thanks for post great to read about game design and other behind the scenes stuff. 

on Sep 17, 2012

This forum is weird. All these out of context posts all over the place.  Sometimes it's hard figure this place out.  I for one don't see how this a dev journal of E:FE.

on Sep 17, 2012

Grats Paul!

Excellent post, very astute criteria.  Any tips for a systems / UI designer Derek?

 

Ps. Sleep is good.

on Sep 18, 2012

Nasarog
This forum is weird. All these out of context posts all over the place.  Sometimes it's hard figure this place out.  I for one don't see how this a dev journal of E:FE.

Fair enough.  It's intended to be some behind the scene stuff that goes on as we consider ideas and mechanics (if you ever wonder what the process is behind the scenes).  But if you came looking for news about new things being added to the game I can see how you would be disappointed. 

 

cardinaldirection
Grats Paul!

Excellent post, very astute criteria.  Any tips for a systems / UI designer Derek?

Ps. Sleep is good.

For a UI designer, yes, work with Brad Wardell.

Brad and I are almost exact opposites when it comes to UI design (meaning Brad knows what he is doing and has built a company on UI design and I own a book called "Designing with the Mind in Mind" that I have partially read).  I like function UI, make the most common things big and easy to access, perculate up the important data.  It is all functional and rarely pretty.  It is the [insert reliable but boring car here] compared to Brads [insert sleek and beautiful car here].

So I'm the wrong person to ask about UI design.  Maybe Brad will chime in and help with that question.

My advice to system designers (as a content creator) would be to make sure your game has a soul.  Think about the flavor themes of your game. FE has a theme of Ruined Beauty, so when I made the monsters I tried to make sure they all had a broken aspect to them.  Butchermen, Scrap Golems, Plaguestalkers.  If we were going to spend time on a model I wanted some of the theme of the game to come through in it.

As I mentioned Jon is a system designer.  He helps make sure he has soul in his game by working closely with Dave Stern (the author we contracted with for FE).  I didn't really put it together until now but Jon likes to use Dave when working on various game designs, who better to help supply the narrative link to game mechanics than in having an author to help mold and create ideas.  It's probably why a lot of system designers like to set their game in known worlds (so they can tie into a lore they don't need to create).  I always though that was skipping the best part fo game design (again my content design preferences coming through).

 

on Sep 18, 2012

Derek Paxton
It's probably why a lot of system designers like to set their game in known worlds (so they can tie into a lore they don't need to create).

Guilty as charged. I can get my design fix through the little details that need to be created to fill in holes with the lore. Besides, you get an already developed fan base that is predisposed to like the content assuming you provide a fun game.

on Sep 18, 2012

Thanks for this great Original Post, Mr. Paxton !  This is some  Heavy Stuff ... and I mean that in a good way.  I like learning more about game design (in the world of PC's).  I'm old; and I used to design some great warfare-type board games in my younger days.  That subject has always interested me (along with history, geography, and resource allocation decisions); and this Post sheds more light on how individuals (and teams) go about designing complicated games, in the radically different media (world) of computers. 

One comment: With all due respect, I think your ambivalence about the worth/effort/reward of implementing random maps is misplaced.  I think they add a huge element of flavor, and potential immersion, to the game.  For those of us who just play the games (not design them) this is one way we can experience the fun that you guys, as Content Designers, get to have. 

We can make a game our own (and get more invested in it) when we can make a map of our own.  Random maps (and I can generate a 100 of them in an hour - even if I can only see a small portion, at the start-up) are a step along the way to taking the maps and making them our own.  And then (it seems to me) we can press for the next step, which is to have a user-friendly Map Editor utility, which really gets us into the business of taking ownership.  From there, we can flesh out some of the other elements as well, so as to create what are essentially Scenarios, of our own Design.  I already enjoy creating the back-stories of my Custom Sovereigns, and kingdoms/empires.  (Also, I still enjoy doing this sort of thing in Civ 4.)  In any event, I think random maps (not a finite number of pre-designed maps) would be infinitely preferred by many of your potential game-purchasers ...

Incidently, I will be interested to see what the Hard-core Modders say in response to this Post.  That will be one more way for me to peer into this business/obsession/fun of game design ...    Thanks !       

on Sep 18, 2012

You all think too much.  Make your game and let the chips fall from there.

Just give us what you've got.

That may just spoil a couple of my many/few days, and some for others, but...

I personally think its about time to stop asking questions.  Throw this thing out and be righteous with it.

"This is a bad ass game and..."  let the chips fall.

 

edit

(I have to apologize.  I just want this game out now!  Things can be fixed in the future.  I do appreciate the information though.  Any business advice is good for any business.  You can learn how to mold it into what your trying to do.)

on Sep 18, 2012


Great read. I've been waiting for a behind the scenes look of why particular elements are chosen and why things were scrapped along the way. On this side of the fence, we don't see all the reasons why you added something or chose to do something. We mostly have to deal with the results and say if we like it or not and sometimes I feel we can't give appropriate feedback on the new feature.

Keep up the good work and continue to produce a quality product with good story and background.

Random is a good thing and possibly my favorite aspect of any game that is produced. That is one of my major features I look for in buying a game. It's a huge drool factor as you put it, in fact I sell these games to my friends and random strangers on that feature alone.

on Sep 18, 2012

Always enjoy reading these journals!

on Sep 18, 2012

First, let me say I literally adore reading about game design. Whenever you feel sharing intuitions or structured approaches, please do it, you'll make me happy for the rest of the day - so post early morning please

I have a couple of questions/comments



1. Does it match the games focus?  The core experience of Fallen Enchantress is building, leveling your units, leveling your cities, designing units, building things.  Features and ideas that follow this progression are ideal to building a complete theme and feeling for the game.  Much like how lighting, music, set design, etc, all work together in a movie to reach a common goal all of the game mechanics should have a common feel that cause the games theme to resonate with the player.  (this is why cities having enchantment slots and city types worked so well for Fallen Enchantress)

2. Does it solve a problem?  The tendency of designers, including myself, is to create too much.  So once I'm beyond the base core of the game mechanics I have to force myself to ask if new ideas and mechanics solve any existing problems.  If not, why add it?

1. I had the impression that tactical battles were also quite important in the game. You do a lot of them, and winning or losing them is often crucial to winning or losing a game. Most spells are used either in tactical battles or for tactical battles (strat buffs), and building cities and units is done so to be better at... again, tactical battles. I understand that you are trying to reduce the time spent in battles in order for players to enjoy other parts of the game, where arguably most of the time is spent. But the tension is towards the upcoming battles. FE is not CIV (which I like a lot, don't get me wrong). Heroes, spells, loots, all of them add to the RPG part, and a large share of it involves...

2. Point 2 seems much broader than just "does it solve a problem". Looking at the example, it seems you're asking also whether it introduces new mechanics for the player (having to connect cities) as well as decisions (cut enemy connections, prevent them from cutting yours). Actually, i suspect the original problem (point2) that this mechanic addressed was unrest, and the side effects (point3) were to introduce new mechanics and decisions for the players...

on Sep 18, 2012

derek, thank you, you have helped to finally explain WHY the few games I wrote back in the late seventies, just did not gel for me, they worked BUT there was no fun in them, and then I migrated to utility/application programming where fun is NOT wanted.

harpo

 

on Sep 18, 2012

I started wondering about this part:


 
* Origonally the only way to get good champion equipment and experience was through quests, so players that didn't research the techs to unlock them would never have good champions.  But getting equipment and leveling your champions through other things was fun, so we changed the design and removed the tech requirement from quests (which were also fun, but didn't offer any rewards unique or consistent enough to be worth spending valuable research time).

Can you explain what do you mean that quest tech requirements were fun? Do you mean fun to design? Because I don't see how they would seem fun from a player's perspective.

on Sep 18, 2012

There's a tax slider?

*goes nuts about this game*

on Sep 18, 2012

Derek, a funny part in your post-

As an example to bad designs, you gave us population specialization, like in Master of Orion, and maintenance cost for stairwell problem.

Both of these examples are/were used in pretty popular and good games (Civs, MoM, MoOs and more), while you decided to scrap them.

While the population wasn't entirely scrapped, but morphed to the city levels (Agreeing or disagreeing not for this post), maintenance is not placed correctly. Money is used for armies, and rushing buildings. I personally find it a bit lacking, taking into account it's one of the main resources, right behind Mana.

on Sep 18, 2012

Thanks for the bit about why the citizen types were scrapped, I've been wondering about that for quite some time. Too bad you didn't get it to work properly, it could have been the thing needed to make FE's economy a bit more interesting. Of course, had you implemented it the way I suggested it would have worked perfectly

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