Garriott on Game Design

What an exciting time to be a game developer and student of game design! The amount of great information available is increasing faster that I can read it.

Richard Garriott at Austin IGF (photo from Gamasutra.com)

Specifically, today’s speech by Richard Garriott to the Austin Independent Games Festival. The full article is here at Gamasutra, but I’ve pointed out a few highlights that I like.

Follow up:

• Research your game designs.
• If your goal is to do something worthwhile and make a name for yourself and make games that are remembered and make some money for yourselves… You guys need to think independently. And that’s an opportunity you really have.
• IP Iconography: The shapes that show up on screen must be “not only identifiable, but more importantly, imprinted on your brain.”
• IP Terminology: “I commonly see games that make huge mistakes in terms of using words or phrases that are difficult to pronounce or understand, and are therefore unmemorable.”
• IP Numerology: “Human beings always try to simplify the world around them and put it into a simple construct. One of the great advantages of a game is: you can actually make it a simple construct. Unlike the real world which has so much complexity that, in spite of humans desire to simplify it, it resists.”
• Game developers need to make games that they are excited about, in genres that they play. Correcting the mistakes of the games you’ve played is insufficient.