Things I Learned on My First Game
Vložit
- čas přidán 24. 01. 2023
- Offset your carbon footprint with confidence on Wren--the first 100 people to sign up will have one month of emissions offset for free: wren.co/start/extracredits
Are you a Junior Game Developer that wants to know more about what you should expect when designing a game? Do you want to know the best ways to innovate something or understand where the best places are to spend your limited amount of time? Then have a seat as we hear from a Junior Developer and what he's learned while working on his first game!
Thanks for participating in this week's discussion!
Check out our community guidelines so we can have MORE high-quality conversations: www.extracredits.site/extra-c...
Want to support the people who make this show?
Become a Patreon Member & get 24-hour early access to videos! bit.ly/EHPatreon
Or show off your fandom with our merch! extracredits.store/
Want more Extra Credits? Subscribe and follow us on social media!
Extra History: / extracredits
Twitter: bit.ly/ECTweet
Facebook: bit.ly/ECFBPage
Instagram: bit.ly/ECisonInstagram
Twitch: bit.ly/ECtwitch
Tiktok: / extracreditz
Website: extracredits.site/
Interested in sponsoring an episode? Email us: extracredits@standard.tv
♪ Intro Music: "Penguin Cap" by CarboHydroM - bit.ly/1eIHTDS
♪ Outro Music: "Extra Extra Life" by Tiffany Roman
#ExtraCredits #Gaming #GameDesign - Hry
Developing new ways to offset your carbon footprint? Then why not try our sponsor Wren?! If you go to wren.co/start/extracredits you can offset 1 month of emissions for free. Boom! Just like that. * Thanks so much for watching! *
Hey, awesome episode, this got me thinking, knowing what to look and watch out for when starting out in a game dev company is great, but you first have to get in there, not all countries have such a large pool of studios as the US does, for example here in Latvia you pretty much have to have a pretty impressive portfolio or friends already in the industry to be even considered as a candidate, and positions are few and far between, so my point is, what about true beginners, folks that have made a few tetris clones and 2D platformers, that stuff is nowhere near the projects that would be needed to be a candidate, what would you say to someone that wants to tackle a solo project that's a bit more ambitious, what would be the pitfalls and how not go over ones head and lose the spark
carbon offset is a losing strategy in the battle for climate change; it ultimately puts capital as its driving factor, and capitalism is a game designed to output profit for its shareholders; anything else gets warped and contorted to fit that mold, like a game infested with micro-transactions. Services like wren only exist do deflect the responsibility of climate change away form the rich minority, and onto the consumer.
A successful program would take away these companies' ability to operate in an environmentally destructive way, without relying on the power of capital to succeed. Even if a company was serious about climate change, they will inevitably be overtaken by a company that can provide a better "service" because they are willing to cross moral boundaries to make a better profit. The only services that come out unscathed after the game of capitalism, is a compromise with the status quo to not be as bad as they could be if they weren't incentivized to care about PR.
I’m Aidan! That’s me! Big thanks to the EC team! Surreal to have my name on an episode after watching EC for the past 8-ish years.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a fantastic script for us!
thanks for giving your insight in this video!
Hey Aidan, loved your insight on... insight I guess 🙂
That was very well written Aidan. Thanks for being a part of the industry!
Stay safe in design land, hope you don’t end up falling into the dreaded development hell
I rode a horse once.
That aside, I’m just happy you guys aren’t ending Extra Credits. I think this channel split will be good in the long run. It’s just a little sad the original show is the one that got pushed to a new channel.
I think they said once, that the names will change to extra history and extra credits once again? So it might be a new channel, but at least with the original name?
Agree
@@KelMindelan That’s true. But either way this will still be the new channel. I dunno. As someone who’s watched for more than 8 years now, it’s just a little sad to me when I think about it.
It sucks as a viewer as to me it essentially says "We care more about our other project than the one that lifted us up in the first place." Though I guess that's just what happens when money and analytics get involved in the content creation process.
Personally I never really cared for much of the content other than the main EC releases and at times I did consider unsubscribing due to all the unwanted content in-between the episodes I enjoyed. So I guess I'm getting what I want anyway and which channel it appears on means little to me so long as it's the same interesting topics with the time put in to make them worth engaging with.
@@NerdSpeak I mean that's what happens when you only ever post the history content, can't get fans of the gaming content if you don't bother making/posting any that often.
That “where to innovate” bit was a HUGE load off my chest. I’ve been so concerned because my game ideas don’t shake things up across the entire genre I’m working with, but instead just go “this would interesting to see in this genre, can it make for a better experience?” The idea of knowing _where_ to innovate seems like a skill that’s much more feasible to learn!
The segment of iterating reminds me of the “fail faster” and “fail better” videos you, and honestly… that’s a really good feeling, seeing my ideas be solidified. I’m currently in the process of getting feedback on combat in my game, and I realized that I can VASTLY improve the control scheme because of it; it was great to realize that, especially early on.
As a gamer, so long as it is fun... don't worry about the innovation issue man.
Innovation is not the most important thing.
It can help to drag people in and deliver something new, but it is not necessary and can even backfire(e.g. the combat system in Kingdom Come: Deliverance; A great game, but most people hated the combat system).
Another example would be Final Fantasy before X-2/XII that had a similar combat system aside from minor changes(ATB in FFIX, pressing combinations for different attacks in FFVI just to name two). When XII came out people felt very differently about the new combat system and many just wanted "another game like the ones before", just with different story, settings, characters and so on.
Innovation can be interesting, but it's not necessary at all times. It's just important to see what frustrates people and what people enjoy. Can be something big, can be something like the menu being easy to navigate.
That bit about design thinking getting into your head is so real. I’ve found a few common real world design issues, like ambiguous doors, that talking about them seems like beating a dead horse to me. But when I mention it to a friend who doesn’t have design on the brain, it’s like a light goes off when they realize why they hate that door
I don't think I've ever been annoyed by a door... Do you have any examples?
Reminds me of what Arkane Studio designers who made Dishonored 2 said about consistent level design and used as an example doors which they said should be consistent and emblematic (like closed doors having bars and locks around the surface to say it's not an interactive element while open doors are plain)...
@@nathandts3401 you approach a door, and by instinct, push. You nearly faceplant into the glass, as the door remains firmly in place. You look down at the bar on the door that clearly invited you to push, and see a tiny sticker to the side that says "pull".
And that's just the ones where they clearly did the handles backwards. The really frustrating ones are the kind where the door doesn't have any signals for you, and one of the double doors is locked, and that's always the one you try first.
@@DennerBob I don't think I've ever experienced that.
I can only think of doors that have visible hinges, are forced to open in a particular way for space reasons, signpost the direction clearly, are automatic or have vertical/horizontal handles which aid a specific direction.
The only door I dislike is the revolving door. Too little space, ambiguous amount of pushing needed and your pushing having an effect on someone in another compartment of the door.
If I were to hazard a guess as to why my door experiences are designed so well it'd probably be down to contractors having wheelchair accessibility on the brain, in the UK.
@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 Sort of necessary nowadays. The alternative in the past was just to use a low res texture for it, but they'd look out of place with graphics how they are now.
As someone just starting out in a new junior design adjacent role I really appreciate this kind of perspective. It's sometimes very easy to get caught up with thinking that design is all about the big centrepiece that everyone engages with. But sometimes it's the little details or even the process improvements that can really drive a games design forward. So whether you're tidying up those wiki docs, cleaning up some old neglected scripts or simply strapping some armour to a horse it's all a meaningful contribution to the greater whole! Don't forget that!
Seeing iterations in games can be very interesting, especially if you know what it was iterated from. Take the horse, it was the first thing caught on a moving picture, and know we can see it gallop across multiple different franchises, each having their own take on horse travel, that often continues through their series.
And are mostly awful because people aren't used to the drop in agility. Give me a horse that turns on a dime, please.
One example of a mistake in horse design is in Skyrim, where instead of working out the physics of being half-moon, they simply play a cutscene for mounting and discounting. This may have simplified the design, but it makes horses a pain to use. Also, the movement and turning controls are non-intuitive.
You should totally make a video about the history of horses in gaming. Some of them feel frustrating to ride and others are a joy to explore the world on.
That little girls laugh when she read the Horse sign made my day, haha, so incredibly wholesome, thank you for that
This is really good advice honestly, I have tried many years to make a game and I grasped the concept of iteration really late on this journey, and many times I found myself deep in development but thinking to myself "what if did this differently?" and going back a few steps just to try something different without knowing if I would like it or not, so it really is better to get that early in the development process and not too late
It's only really relevant if you've got a team that can only do what they're doing after confirmation from you.
If you want to try something new then back up your code and play around with whatever you want, even if you don't know you'll like it.
I love the power of storytelling in games! It's incredibly daunting, though; like a horse with so many different pieces, all designed to make it run; but at any point it could all fall apart. My invisible hat is tipped to all you designers for what you do. And a big thanks to Extra Credits for all your work helping teach new game designers. It's appreciated, y'all!
Glad to be here on the new channel, been following this channel for ages and love it, definitely backed the right horse
I used to horse around with game design a little. Your programs make me think it might be worth exploring further. But even if I never do, I've still learned something useful for my other design endeavors. Great stuff. Keep it up!
Glad to see this horse keeps running. Extra Credits is one of my favorite gamedev-related channels and I love that you give the gaming part it's own space. Thank you! :3
I would love some episodes from designers with diverse backgrounds sharing lessons they've learned
Learning how to design has 100% rewired my perspectives on how I approach daily life, and those revelations are what makes and keeps it all fun. It's really exciting tuning my mind to random things like the functionality of various horse stable layouts and using that analysis to inform how I block out my own.
Part of the fun of designing things to start is to learn to horse around and see what works and what doesn't! Thank you for this insight into junior dev work!
This is one channel that helped me fully jump into game dev when i first came across it definitely earned a place in my first game credits when released
I'm glad you guys did this video, because with all the videos for experienced devs, it seemed like one was putting the cart before the horse. Great video!
I’m all for seeing perspectives from different devs at different levels of experience.
Horse I’ve spent years watching the channel grow and expand and as a fan on history I’m glad to see it the old saying goes those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it so keep on teaching the world both the good and bad of history we love u guys
The whole process of creating a game is something very meticulous.... you must see what came before, and then imagine how you can move forward while making it distinct enough to be a winner.... similar to breeding a specialized horse, some would say.
Man, thinking about the past few years, Extra Credits has never failed to keep me entertained while teaching me. I love the game design side, but the history side of Extra Credits has always been my favorite. Afterall, it was the Genghis Khan series that introduced me to the adorable derpy horses you guys draw.
Really excited for the new channel. Hope you guys have a good time horsing around on this channel. and just in case that didnt count horse lol
This is a really great video, and really great insights from Aidan. In every profession, it really is the small things that can be innovated/itterated on that make a huge difference, and it is always important to make sure to look at all the options before choosing one. Really have to make sure to not put the cart before the HORSE.
thanks for the great videos both past and future, Horse
I loved watching you guys horse about in the video on the other channel! Now I shall spend time learning while entertained!
Loving these videos. Makes me want to just jump on that horse and learn more about development.
Moving to a new channel after so many years was a bold move I wish all the best for everyone at Extra Credits and hope you are all galloping like a fast horse soon.
I like the history stuff, but it really did seem more prevalent than the game stuff.
These tips are all really good, and applicable to so many places. I think I've come to similar conclusions from writing, but (ironically) never phrased it nearly as clearly as you did. Thanks Matt! Now it's time for me to quit horse-ing around and put these lessons to use in my own projects!
I came here from the other video! I always thought EC and EH should have been different but intertwined channels. It's nice to see that the crew realized that they would be better separate. Of course, I don't know how things works behind the scenes, so there were probably more too it than I know. Congratulations on the big move!
Also, I went to school with horse ;)
Ahhh this video made me reminisce about my first endeavours into game design and how quickly I also realised how important iterating is. For some games I worked with a group of friends on a project and everyone came up with their own gameplay ideas. When pitched we soon realised that our first ideas weren’t that great but through iteration and the combination of different ideas we came to something fun. Communication and collaboration in creative work is so valuable, but thats a horse of a different color. :D
I don't have a horse in this race, but it's always fascinating hearing this advice.
This video was cool to watch. And the one that led me here? Very, very cute. I initially came to see the phrase, but then the endermen statue and the charm of the kid, the cute horse and well it was delightful. Glad to see this channel beginning, hope it grows big and strong like its original!
Feeling a bit hoarse and under the weather but these videos never fail to make me smile!
Man its been a bit since I last watched one of the gaming videos. I'm excited for all the new, potentially *horse* full videos!
This is actually very interesting to see cause it allows me to see a glimpse into another industry. What he was also talking about can apply in other fields in the arts. Though I did enjoy watching this being a student at SCAD and possibly working with game designers if I go into conceptual illustrations even as I work through comics. Also horses are very interesting as well.
It's great to see the new channel off to the races and coming out strong like a thoroughbred horse.
This is really good advice. Techically I am not a designer but I have an amazing idea for a boardgame. Suddenly I realise I have run off into a million ideas instead of just working on the core mechianic until I can absolutely nail that.
Yeah horses in games tend to just get a lot more love from me. Not sure why but I do love them, from Epona all the way to Torrent!
Iteration vs innovation is such an important point not just for game design but for several fields. I send my voice horse talking to teams and colleagues about the best way to improve efficiency in the workplace and with projects.
damn i needed to hear this rn. working on my first big game and damn i am in the weeds.
thank you for reminding me that game development is just hard sometimes. i can finish this game! and you can finish yours!
learning about and applying game design does indeed change our perspectives, as it did for me
When I first designed a horse riding mechanic, it was harder than I thought it would be, but I learned that you should plan things ahead but you still can try things out on the fly
You guys really guided us like a horse to this new channel
I always liked the game horse. It can be done in so many different ways, like in bowling, golf, and of course basketball.
More more, please! 😁 Also, will you move all the old videos over? I think it would be beneficial. You could post them as a 'legacy' series. Or just re-post the best performing ones (evergreens) as a 'throwback tuesdays' 😊
Also, tying the old videos together with this channel using playlists is also a popular (and the only one still working) way to make CZcams understand that there's a connection between this and that content.
Martin's laugh is pretty adorable. and her minecraft world is lovely. a lot of the ones I run into are just filled with horse play and fragmented vision, but there is a lovely consistency in hers.
Nice video - not a video game designer but have dabbled in non-digital game design in my spare time and it seems like a lot of the minutiae is very similar.
Also I would love to see more about the Horse.
I've looked after a horse once in primary school
but aside that, this is really good to learn and listen to while designing and drawing new or redesigning old content
Not going to lie, I was straying from diving into my game design career. This has been really reassuring and inspiring. Now to go work on my game once I get home from work!
Horse, love what you do. keep inspiring people
As someone just entering the industry, I'm really thankful for this perspective! Also, as a programmer, please, please iterate your ideas before handing it off to the artists and programmers. Can't overstate how important that is to preserving the flow of the creative process and using time efficiently. Thanks again for more great content!
Holy Credits! This is exactly the same feelings i’ve had in music and composition!
I've always loved the way that Extra History's illustrators draw horses. They're so chubby and derpy and adorable. Truly, the form of a horse is a beautiful thing.
I LOVE how in almost every shot the final Abilities panel is different. LOVE artists are just like YAY we love to iterate as well. ... they must have been horsing around ... OK OK enough of that clue!
When you horse around with game development tools you gain a greater appreciation of games in general and all the work that goes into them.
I love these videos so much and want to see the next generation of game designers. I just hope they are allowed to take it seriously and not just horse around with the idea.
While having the ability to horse around and create something new the things that already exist often have great value and starting there can really give better grounding and direction as you go.
Just came from the other video-- It's so cool that kids still horse around on Minecraft to learn design skills! When I was in middle school, all I had was Minecraft: Pocket Edition, and I remember wanting a pink sheep SO BADLY and you couldn't dye them yet. You could only randomly spawn them from eggs. So I spent a solid 45 minutes just throwing eggs and removing the extra sheep until I got one.
Iteration is so important. When I first started singing, I sang myself horse. But then I realized that I had to practice smarter rather than harder, especially if I ruin my voice.
Thank you for the video. I wish I had all this tips with me when we tried to make a minigame with a horse and a cowboy in class.
I didn't watch many of the game videos until recently. Reminders that this channel exists will be nice for those, like me, who came for the history and horses.
The first 2 minutes give amazing tips that would've saved me a decade+ if I'd heard them when I started my journey (still no game, but I never give up). Well, better late than never & great for those younger (in game dev years) than me to hear.
I like the part about the horse. good video!
that was the cutest Minecraft video I've ever seen, the two of you horse-ing around in creative was great
Great video! By the way, I’d love one all about the Horse!
Some of us enjoy jumping through spreadsheets and hacking away with functions. Others love design doc desert, sprinting about on the back of an Arabian horse, while many enjoy dreaming of the possibilities in the mechanic space...
Thanks for the video and the tips.
It's like in an MMO the starting NPCs giving you your first Horse to help you travel the world. :)
While I'm by no means a junior, I still lacking many experience. And this video helped reminded me of doing iterations. Everything else in the video are all true. I'm currently the main designer in a small team and I still do some grunt works for things that detailed and crucial that can't be given to the junior designer. I started by doing the grunt works too. While it sounds uninteresting, I found that after doing lots of grunt works, I started to understand the way my seniors are thinking. It helped me understanding reasons behind many of decisions (many were not easy to understand back when I just started). And now, I'm the one who are making those decisions.
And believe me, you ARE GOING TO see a lot of good and bad design decision from many products (either physical or digital). Lamenting the weird layout of a pop-up, protesting an extra 2 click when it could be just 1, wondering why a very important menu hidden inside 2 layers of other menu, praising a subtle yet useful info in a store, etc.
When you started, you need to actually do many works so you can learn well. At one point, you will have enough experience to keep learning even when you are not working. That's both a gift and a curse. Good luck on your journey, fellow designers! We're still far from our El Dorado!
The amount of standard basic physics and gamefeel combined with very specific innovation in a certain physicality of the game makes Superliminal an exceptional example and a game people should check out! Also beating the proverbial dead horse here.
Great way to show new insights of game creation from someone new to it. Horse.
This isn't the Bojack Horse-man content I was looking for!
Loving the videos guys
When I was a little kid I loved to "horse" around with Minecraft and with the free version of RPG maker. I had no idea what I was doing but they inspired me to take a closer look at video games as a whole. One day I'd like to take what I learned and make my own game. Hopefully I can remember this video when I decide to sit down and do it.
With these tips I shall embark on my next blockbuster project, Horse Simulator. Great video EC!
I'd add that when it comes to the innovation pitfall as a new designer is that even if you have a bunch of good ideas, you may not have the experience to communicate them effectively to your players or balance them properly by themselves or against other the features. Still, don't ever let it stop you. Sometime bad ideas can turn out good and there is always much more to learn from failure than success. Like in anything if you don't ever fail, you are probably not challenging yourself enough.
This reminded me of a classic joke about a horse. The one with the bartender and the "why the long face" but the punchline was that the horse didn't talk.
Designing is a lot like writing, in that sense. First drafts and other drafts and grunt work abound.
As the saying goes "don't put the cart before the horse" innovation is good but as you said it takes time and time is a very precious resource in game development.
Can confirm that you feel like a work horse when the grunt work comes, especially if you don't iterate enough at the start to avoid costly meandering later on.
My aunt loves her horse.
I do want to add that you can get a bit of this with just a little bit of experience doing this. I've tried my hand at weapon design, item and character 3d modeling and very basic coding thanks to The Unreal Engine and it has not only helped me to better understand the amount of work that goes into making a game as well as being able to see things that could be "fixed" in a game. As an example I recently played Metal: Hellsinger and the final boss was really tough and I think the reason for that is that there isn't really a good signal to the player when damage it taken and this lead to me taking a lot of damage from attacks that had a blast radius when I thought that they had missed.
Instantly clicked on this when it was uploaded, I'm a beginner game designer and have been running into difficulties. Hope this video helps!
Gotta love Martin's horse!!
Great advice I like variation and innovation in horse and other riding controls (not a lie)
really cool to hear from aidan
My favorite part of the other video was the Horse sign laugh. So cute!
All the mentions about iterations reminded me of a comic from Toggl Goon Squad, it illustrates how to build a horse in different programming languages
Horsing around and making my first game was a great experience, I don't remember much of it because I was very young though
My son's moved on from Minecraft designing to full on code work in an online design engine. He's had a few that didn't work out, but each time he gets back on his horse and tries again. Some of them have been pretty cute games for his age.
I think in regards to working on and learning to creating your first game you just have horse around with certain settings and get familiar with your creation. From there you can grow attached to your project, as I have to my own.
I have no plans to be a designer, but I'm always interested in peeking behind the scenes of my favorite horse media.
So yeah! Beginning game design is like learning to ride a horse or a bike. It takes time, lots of efforts, and when you get done it feels great!
Been wanting to make games for a while now, but I just haven’t had a clear idea as to what I want to create (Been jumping between ideas). Seeing videos like this gives me motivation to get back on the horse again.
One of the things I struggle with when trying to come up with an idea for a game is trying to be more original. A lot of styles of games start to feel like you're beating a dead horse because of how often they've been done.
One random idea floating about my head regarding "where to innovate" is this: say you have a videogame setting with multiple playable species. In most games like this, each character's "species" is ultimately cosmetic -- yes they tend to have unique abilities or "kits" but they'll mostly just "play the same". So I've been wondering: what if for a game like this, each species literally *plays different?* Where something _fundamental_ (control mapping? movement mechanics? vital UI elements?) is actually different between species?
Or to make the metaphor easier: consider the fundamental difference between "steering" controls (accelerator+steering, as in any racing game) and "tank" controls (dual throttles, like in _Katamari Damacy)._
Talk about little points of innovation that make a massive difference, it was SO important in (everybody's favorite game from last year) Elden Ring that running and riding your horse across the open world didn't cost stamina. Could you imagine what exploring would have been like if you would have to stop every five minutes to feed Torrent raisins!?
Great points, Aidan! Thanks for the letter! Let's hear it for the new Extra Credits channel, too! Woo-hoo!
Martin laughed so hard when she saw the horse sign lol
Really enjoy the starting of the episodes where they all just horse around in "design land"
One thing starting game devs should do is start small. The 8 Bit Guy recently uploaded a video of him porting Xixit to the X16. Porting small games, old or new, might be a great way to get into developing games.
Stories like Tunic, Hollow Knight, and many others that I missed are inspirational. You also need to be patient and strong-willed to never give up when developing your own game, which can take years and years to develop. The end result could be a game that will be beloved or just as long, if not longer.
I remember the first time I rode a horse, was an appaloosa, he was such a lazy horse but was very comfortable.
I have been liking the less scripted companion videos on the original channels. The kids laughter at the horse sign was so joyful.