Gamer
Designer
Writer
Graduated High School with a diploma in Computer Science and Maths. Hold a degree in BA Games Design and Art from University of Southampton, part of the Russel Group.
Present-day passions include writing stories and learning about environmental creation.
Games should be fun as well as narratively compelling, for without a story the motivation is gone.
This is the conclusion I reached over the many years of gaming. My university years only strengthen my belief, as I acquired a deeper understanding of game design and development.
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Games, no matter how small or big, lacking any sort of narrative will always fall short in motivating the player to finish it. I often find my interest in one hampered by a weak premise, even if it barely exists, as it will detract me from the objectives of said game.
Yet a story will fall short without a proper base to stand upon. Terms are so vague, yet interconnected. The story tells you what happened, narrative how it happened and the premise why it happened. These terms are loosely used between each other, yet they are different, but cannot exist without another.
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In games, they all exist and are tightly connected with all other elements. They are as important as gameplay and graphics. They are all necessary for the final product.
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When I design a game, I set myself the following steps for each element, steps learnt and developed from the university coupled with observations.
Research
It all starts with knowledge. The more information you possess, the better your starting point.
Art with reference images, a story with theme subjects and gameplay from other games analysis.
Create
The next step is the most obvious one. Use the knowledge to create your own world. Own art, game story and gameplay most suitable for your project. Do not copy, but re-shape, develop anew, inspire.
Feedback
The more feedback, the better the end result. It accounts from everything art to code. The step is probably the most important one as it shows the weaknesses and possible ways of improving it.
Iterate
Last step and most important one. Upon feedback, revisit and re-design of the asset is important as that bring about improvements. Doing this until feedback is consistent gets the asset to the best version.