Skip to content

Tag: myself

Working in a competitive market

Published by Paolo on 21/11/2022

Working on a game that will have to enter a very crowded market, the so-called red ocean, involves a certain degree of challenge.

When you enter a market full of competitors on one side it means that there are customers willing to pay. But it means that it is necessary to solve some problems to have a chance of success.

The alternative is to look for virgin markets, blue oceans, but very often this is because some genre in question does not move much interest. We can create a first-person platform for mobile devices since none are in top200 grossing. There aren’t any because people don’t care. Sometimes it’s better to go to already populated markets, especially if we have an idea of ​​what to improve.

Take the case of Royal Match, a top-notch match-3 that was released when the puzzle market felt overcrowded.

  • The game fixed key UX issues, shortening the load times.
  • They came up with a brilliant system of level design.
  • It implemented the renovation feature very without the need for dialogue.
  • They designed very simple and clear graphics.

The result is an agile, fast game, perfect for mobile. It doesn’t matter that he entered a red ocean market, he made it because he understood his audience well.

Many teams choose to remain followers. They study a market and copy here and there, hoping to secure a piece of the pie. In the process, they don’t even understand the reason for some choices. Years go by, goals are not achieved, and people are fired.

During the job interview, you must inform yourself well about the projects.

My path for the next future

Published by Paolo on 17/11/2022

In recent months I’ve been deciding about my professional path. On the one hand, I like working as an advisor for companies. In fact, you learn a lot more this way.

When you work for an important corporation you learn to work in that context. When you work like a warrior-mage level 20, instead, you learn the hard way.

But, it’s a very stressful lifestyle. Sometimes hard times add up with 2-3 clients and it’s not always easy to manage.

So when I get a tempting offer I choose to try to enter the selection process. These are long and tedious, made up of expectations and many uncertainties. Doubts and insecurities come out and block part of the rest too.

This is my rant for today.

15 years in the Games Industry!

Published by Paolo on 14/11/2022

I realized that I am turning 15 in the video game industry this year. Not bad, considering that the average time is 7 years. I have doubled the average, and I am satisfied.

There have been times when I haven’t found a job in my industry and I’ve dedicated myself to something else. I have been a QA tester in a cybersecurity company. I was a data scientist at a robotic automation startup. All these experiences have enriched me.

I am very happy that I was able to stay in the industry. Despite the various blows received, I always got up. Thank God I wasn’t too impressed, although I bear the consequences.

Nowadays my job is part of my identity as a person, and I’m not sure that’s always a good thing. Many people work as game designers, I AM a game designer. People appreciate my designs, they always reveal a passion for the projects I am involved in. I have serious difficulties relating to the lack of professionalism, though.

Personal challenges

When I see a roadmap based on “best practices” without reflecting on “whys” and with no connection with the Players of the game, my blood boils.

I can’t accept the use of KPIs as targets, a huge mistake that is very common in the industry. Direct efforts to improve indicators and your game become a means of justifying investments. Not a means to deliver a great playful experience to people. I understand that we talk about KPIs with investors, it is a way of selling. But transferring these discussions to those who have their hands in development is deleterious.

I always think of all references and edge cases and it is an activity that engages my mind a lot even when I am in front of a book in the evening. And if I see the solution being replaced for no reason, I already know that I will spend a sleepless night out of anger.

My love for game design

I love to define everything in detail. In a self-respecting team, some more visionary people manage everything and make decisions. I like to help these people land ideas down. I like to support them in their decisions.

Someone has to do the dirty work! Prepare documents, wireframes, and flows. Square all the numbers in a spreadsheet. They are long and difficult activities. For some, they are also boring. I love doing them! I’m a game designer, it’s not that they pay me to do it. I do it for love!

My goal for the next 5 years is to improve my relationship with the profession. And my next full-time gig should start me in the World of leadership. I have seen a lot of things, now it’s time to take part in the strategy too!

In the meantime, happy anniversary to me!

The value in silence and resilience

Published by Paolo on 03/11/2022

Every so often I ask myself: what am I doing and why? It’s something that comes in handy, makes me put things into perspective and sometimes leads me to swerve on the path of my life.

I went to an event last week where I met a lot of friends and also alumni. It is amazing the amount of talented people that exists in the video game industry. Every time I go to these events I am surprised. Since the fashion of the home office began, unfortunately I am less in contact with so many people. There are very few people who, like me, decide to share the little they know online.

On the other hand, there are many people with exceptional talent who do their work in silence. They will not be known, they work for big companies very often diluting themselves in the mass but making millions to the corporations that are so lucky to have them in their ranks. Or they’ve been working on their own independent game, maybe for years. I really admire this resilience, even though I can’t help but notice the enormous risk of doing so.

However, life is one, and therefore I always ask myself: what am I doing? Probably the answer is: the right things to find my way.

From the idea to the prototype

Published by Paolo on 27/10/2022

This week I am prototyping a new narrative system for a puzzle-renovation game like Lily’s Garden. I generated lots of ideas and then I selected the best ones. Now it’s time to translate those ideas to a prototype.

Goals and features

Before of starting sketching a flowchart for our Twine prototype, it’s important to understand why to prepare a prototype in first place. A prototype is not something ready to go out. It is not a product. A prototype is useful to:

  • Persuade the stakeholders that this step is necessary and invite them to think in its ROI
  • Align the vision of all the team members that will work on the feature
  • State all the assumptions, useful to prove with data and analytics the feature’s success
  • Inspire roadmap updates to fix the feature’s development in the pipeline.

I have very few time to do a proper prototype, I am doing this exercise for “ikigai” (= to do something I enjoy for the sake of it). I need to put some limitations, so that my prototype will feature:

  1. Only 1 event to show how the Player’s journey changes meaningfully thanks to the feature
  2. Player’s development across the journey
  3. Maximum 3 valuable binary choices, in order to avoid too many outcomes. In fact with 3 choices we will get 2^3=8 endings.
  4. The prototype should not be minimum. I am against minimum viable things. The prototype should show all that’s necessary to truly unleash potential, instead! That is why I will use the main idea and the two secondary ones described previously.

Prototype definition

Important for this kind of games is to keep things very linear and straight. Those are not RPG games full of options. The only options that the Player has at every moment is either to start a new task or play a new level.

Glossary

  • Lilys: the new feature will be called Lilys. Lilys are a resource that the Player accumulates based on creating special tiles (combining 4+ tiles) and/or getting and using power-ups, which are special tiles at the end of the day.
  • Lily Branches: every Day has a set of choices. Some choice are cosmetic, those are already present in the game. Some other choice can be meaningful story branches. In order to take some of the options, the Player should use Lilys.
  • Choice Points: Every time the Player makes a choice gets Choice Points which are useful to unlock extra rewards at the end of the day.
  • Variable Rewards: every time the Player completes one Lilys branch, there is the chance of getting a power-up. Variable rewards are useful to foster engagement. The Players in this way will have reasons to make Lilys Choices.
  • The Player can choose to Play a level or start a Task
  • During the Level, the Player will get and use power-ups
  • At the end of the Level the power-ups and special tiles will be counted and converted in Lilys
  • During a task, the Player will have to make a meaningful choice
  • One of the branches will involve the use of Lilys
  • All the branches will give choice points, useful for the end of the Day to get extra rewards
  • if the Player uses Lilys, a random reward will pop-out: 30 minutes infinite lives. It is important that the Player feel that there is a random factor there.

Now I can proceed in developing the proper prototype!

My learnings on leadership

Published by Paolo on 19/10/2022

I am thinking on my past with the lens of “why that thing didn’t worked out?” those days. It is an useful exercise to do at times. I have a diary and I like to take old entries and read them with my new point of view.

Finding a good leader is a gift from God. Very often we have to deal with creative leaders that are not creative at all, managers that repeat your job and in general people that want to impose their (often wrong) views.

Enabling others

A great leader almost never says “no”. Best leaders you can find out there, in fact, are capable of taking any of the proposals and discussions from the team and use it as an opportunity for the growth of the entire team. Let’s say I am working on Super Mario Bros 4 and I have the “brilliant” idea of putting long dialogues between level and level. That’s clearly wrong, right? Why is it? A good leader can reason with me simply making me describing well the idea. Then is myself that can realize “ok, not a great one”. The same is valid for very tiny questions.

A bad leader believes that the job is “know when to say no”. When you meet someone like this, believe me: this person will probably make the whole project fail. No one knows when to say no, in fact. The no from a leader is a way of shut down a communication and gives no opportunities to grow. What are the best assets for a company? Teams are! Do not cut them off with a NO. Never.

Being honest

A good leader recognizes when the house is on fire and try to put the focus of the whole team on the problem. The team or part of it must extinguish the fire. Otherwise the house will. It’s very important maintain the calm but being honest at the same time. In case of fire, every member should participate or at least stay aware of it. Try to burn the smallest number of people.

A bad leader shows that everything is great at any meeting. The important thing for them is to stay positive. That person is not interested in the team and the product at all. That “leader” is just interested in taking the salary each month and having the title on the resume. Saying that is all good, until everything falls down. Then they will have the perfect excuse: the project was great, but the company shut down. Not my fault. New companies will see their resumes and see that they were in a leadership position for a while. Someone will hire them again, probably.

Why I do like stories in games

Published by Paolo on 13/10/2022

I am completing this week the fall edition of The Narrative Department, by Susan ‘O Connor. Each Wednesday we have a writing prompt from her. I want to share with you the result of yesterday’s writing prompt.

Prompt

Write about why you like stories in games! You can talk generally, talk about a specific game, talk about what you like about writing, etc. Think of it like talking with a friend who shares your enthusiasm.

Text

I like stories because they make me connect with the activity that I am doing while playing. Every game, also Tetris, tells a story to me. But when I see a written story I can appreciate the dedication of human beings behind that craft. I appreciate that because I admire other human beings like me at the end.  I believe that these abilities are Gifts so that make me connect more with God and all creation.

When I see a bad story or a story badly delivered, somehow I am happy that the story is still there. For example, in the mobile games that I play often I skip dialogues entirely and I feel that I lose part of the story somehow. That feeling can be a little frustrating, too. I do it anyway, but with the sensation that something is missing from my experience. Which tells me that the story is still important to me.

I am playing Horizon Forbidden West now. At the start I followed all the branches in dialogues with NPCs, now I want to complete the game so that I am skipping most of the optional dialogues. I have to say that part could be improved a lot, because the dialogues do not add too much to the experience. I like more when a dialogue has a meaning and delivers me something apart from just more context. Often it is better to deliver a story with less words, to me. Also if I imagine that there is a type of Player who likes to read everything and hear a lot. I respect that, but still I think that there is a margin of improvement. 

I like when the game is delivering you a story, because oftentimes you are not interacting with the game during the delivery itself. In dialogues, cutscenes and so on. It’s a way to distress my brain, and I like to have that moment of breath. A game to be memorable should offer many levels of intensity at any moment. 

I remember in The Last of Us the feelings that I had moment to moment. Appreciating all that work was great, made me love even more video games. Made me feel more engaged with the team that made that game.

What if mobile AAA is possible?

Published by Paolo on 12/10/2022

Today I woke up with this simple question. Maybe it’s just me wanting to work on something different than simply think in engagement, retention and monetization mechanics. Which is typical in mobile free-to-play.

I am 40 years old now and I grew up with consoles and PC. Industry experts say that immersion is only possible on a sofa looking at a TV screen. I feel really immersed with my right hand on a mouse and the left one on WASD.

Teenagers today, anyway, have always a device in their hands: the mobile phone. They are immersed in social activities and networks and they spend almost 10 hours per day swiping, liking, sharing and so on.

I hear often that mobile players look for engagement, not immersion. Still I believe that great adventures like the games we play on console can be possible to achieve on new mobile devices.

What if the time is now? Maybe the average age of hardcore players is gone up only because teens prefer to interact with another device.

Or maybe it’s just me.

Designer VS Author

Published by Paolo on 10/10/2022

A game designer is the facilitator of the act of game design among a team. Everyone in a team participates actively to the design of the game. From the producer to the junior QA, everyone is making the effort of delivering a great experience to the Players. Which is to design a videogame.

A friend of mine made me this question today: what if you make a game alone? Are you still a game designer?

I answered him: no, you are not a game designer. In that case you are an author, which is different.

He insisted: but you are designing a game, right?

Yes you are. Making a game alone is game design, too. In that case, all the work is on you. You are not facilitating the act of game design among a team.

To be a professional game designer ready to work for companies you need a completely different set of skills. You should be able to:

  • Understand the business goals translating concepts like scope, budget, KPIs to the gameplay
  • Being able to inspire your team analyzing and breaking down other games and by preparing specific proposals
  • Create and maintain well written documentation so that the vision will be the less ambiguous as possible
  • Run playtests and undestand the pain points of your game. Being able to translate that insight to all stakeholders.
  • Be present in a lot of meetings often facilitating creative workshops.

All of those things are different when you are making a game alone. Which is why I differentiate a game designer from an author. An author is a game designer, but can be a bad teammate. A game designer is a facilitator, but can have not the right talent to make a game alone.

If you want to work for a company as a generalist game designer prove your ability to work in a team. You will unlock a lot more possibilities!

For juniors, with love

Published by Paolo on 06/10/2022

If you are Picasso, you can share just two lines on a blank page and the people will feel the meaning of your art. I ask you: are you like Picasso?

I write this because junior game designers willing to join the industry often do this: they share uncompleted things or just some capture with a game engine opened and two blocks in the Scene. This is NOT how you show your talent to the World out there. This is noise, ego and insecurity.

I know you are struggling because it is very hard to get a job as junior. Believe me, I lived the same years ago. You want to get noticed by recruiters and maybe managers and CEOs. Sharing the first draft of a level means that you opened the engine and you put blocks in a scene. Just this.

  • What’s your reasoning behind that level?
  • The beat sequence?
  • What are the design goals?
  • The mechanics involved?

I can see nothing interesting in those posts.

The worst happens when social challenges like Blocktober appear. I am completely in favor of those challenges! I took those challenges in the past and I will probably take them in the next future who knows. But the results of those challenges are not something worth sharing on a professional network nor on your portfolio. Those are for you to improve, not for the others to see. If you are junior you should work hard everyday on your talent. Do not complete tasks just for the sake of showing off.

I did the same, years ago. It meant nothing. Believe me.

With true love,

Paolo