Hi! I'm Nathaniel. Among other things (nerd, occasional guitarist), I am a game designer, currently working at Obsidian Entertainment. I'm starting this blog to talk about general game design thoughts, not necessarily related to things that I've worked on at Obsidian, though I may reference back to the game's I've worked on as examples of broader points.
I don't actually have a great reason to start this other than trying to solidify, clarify and write out my point of view on Game Design. Developing it has been a pretty organic process, so there are some things that I know I believe, others that I believe but can't articulate, and things that I probably think I believe but upon closer inspection don't, really. I'd like to sort those out into some general statements on Game Design. It might be helpful to me and if it helps (or is interesting to) anyone else, then that's great!
I'll apologize in advance for the quality of my writing. The "point" of this blog is to get the ideas down in, hopefully, as clear and concise a way as possible. I tend to ramble, so please excuse any rambling. If an entry sucks or is confusing, leave a comment saying so and I'll try to fix it.
I enjoy reading the blogs of the real developers. People who have been there and done it. I'm looking to get into the industry (just like thousands of others!) but have no idea really where to start. It really is a benefit to people like me to be able to have insight into how you've done things, what works for you and how it compares to others in your position. Thanks for taking the time to do this and I'm looking forward to reading more!
ReplyDelete@SamJermy: Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement!
ReplyDeleteahh, the contemplation of beauty as an aspect of fun. Hmmm, being the ignorant person I am, I don't know exactly what Aristotle or Plato would have said about the intersection of the two. But I suspect it would be informative. (At least as informative as wikipedia. :-) )
ReplyDeleteBut wouldn't the idea of learning also be a part of the experience? Education? The journey from innocence to experience. Or is that more the province of pleasure? or perhaps the province of theology. Perhaps "fun" is a fruit of the process of eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And should fun inspire contemplation? Does the game cease when I cease giving inputs? IF I contemplate how best to win the game, how best to kill the boss, a mental activity done perhaps while reclining in bed, is this an aspect of "fun", of "gameplay"?
What, after all, is the purpose of an inquiry into a philosophy or aesthetic of fun and games? Is a game merely another materialist expression of the ongoing conflict between Capital and the proletariat? Should a game designer (or publisher,) as a matter of self-interest, enlightened or otherwise, merely seek to maximize profit for the owners of the means of production of a game?
In Sidney's the Art of Poesy, he says that the poet, (or game designer, for isn't a game designer a type of poet,) can not only "hold a mirror up to nature," but can create a type of golden world, creating a world more perfect than any game poet has ever directly experienced. "Nature never set forth the earth in so rich tapestry as divers poets have done." In this, the game poet imitates the Original Game Designer, who, having made humankind, "set him beyond and over all the works of that second nature." But having affirmed the game poet's creative powers, Sidney recognizes the human/fallen limits of those creative powers, for "our erected wit maketh us know what perfection is, and yet our infected will keepeth us from reaching unto it."
I raise these musings not to criticize in any pejorative sense, but to contribute an even broader context to such an endeavor. Perhaps a game should begin with an invocation to a muse? "Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story . . ." Perhaps a game's role should include the assertion of Eternal Providence and should seek to justify the ways of God to men.
Such a context would put the role of games in the most important of places.
And I still think Hamlet would make for a great game.