(imseo = in my somewhat educated epinion) If you don't like reading, sry. AI did not write this or make the thumbnail. ————————————————————— Game design is like a complex chemical reaction with constant revisions as you go. (1) First step is to find something to build off of. if you have a journal of any random game ideas you've thought up (which u probably should), you can search that for something that sparks passion, creativity, or simply sounds fun as hell (idealy all 3). If you don't have this journal, make one and think. if you can't think of anything that fits those criteria (at that moment. Opinions can change so write your ideas down in your new journal, even if they seem dumb—even if they are dumb, maybe one day you'll see something in them), look at various games on scratch or any other site with games on it. If you can't find anything still, you could be tired, looking in the wrong place, or simply picky. If you're picky, that just means your games will be more quality over quantity which is excellent for a hobby but insefficient for a career. an idea (the one were talking about) does not define a game. an idea cannot be played. an idea is something small and/or vague that you like. (2) Now that you have that idea, second step is to build upon it untill it's genres can be labeled (maybe your idea is a genre already). often you want 2 or 3 genres so the game isn't too simple, as that can be boring. think about or research genres that combine well with the genre you built around your idea. generate a core game loop: what does the player do that could define what the game is, albeit simplified to what it will be in the future. work hard to ensure the quality of this game loop, as it carries the game. (3) at step 3, we enter the 2 step game design loop. the first 2 steps are (unless you didnt do them right) only done once, but these 2 make up a loop of adding and pruning. At this step you define and refine the core gameplay loop in fine detail and make/edit/prune smaller gameplay loops, like small eddy currents for the player to get sucked into for a bit. think of neat ideas to stick onto the main loop, but be consious of scope creep. scope creep is when you keep thinking of neat ideas to add to the game. if you're just a hobbiest with no one waiting on you, scope creep only poses the threat of bloating your game into a mess of side quests and forked paths, but only if you go very far and without thinking about the game as a whole, but if your game is anticipated or you're making games as a career, it poses the threat of delays, sometimes massive if you let it go just a little too far. (4) if step 3 is the "adding" half of the design loop, 4 is the "pruning" half. i like the word prune here. like a tree with dying branches, the game needs pruning. best way to find the dead branches is by playtesting them. this requires you actually code something that you might delete, but no other way is ideal. unlike real trees, you can save these branches for future projects, so they're not entirely lost. during this, or before, ar after, define your art style in a few words. coming out of that loop, you should have a game that people can enjoy playing. sometimes youll have commited to an idea and enter the loop, but your idea is flawed and it doesnt iterate well. just stay aware of the sunken cost fallacy, that and scope creep. after the game design, you polish, which means art and bug fixes. Art can vary in it's importance depending on the type of game you're making. Horror games rely on art for most of the horror. now you have a fully made game and youre famous and rich and have super powers cause your game is so good ＼( ^͜ ^)／
