In class on Tuesday, we listened to Mark Barrett’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to Rapid Prototypes. It was really interesting to hear his perspective on this subject, as he discussed things I never really thought about. Barrett talked about game jams (creating a game in a short amount of time) and how they’re a good way to learn more in both the game industry and as a human.
Barrett discussed setting goals, which are something you desire that motivate you to do certain things. He discussed the differences between Urgent and Important goals. Urgent goals are more immediate/current and an important decision is a more long-term evolving decision. He resists his urgent goals and instead tries to creatively control them so they don’t prevent him from his long-term goal. I think this honestly isn’t only applicable to prototyping, but can also be applicable to everyday life. He brought into play how important it is to write your goals down in game design.
It was also super interesting to see how, even without any coding or drawing for the art, he was able to create a solid draft of his dog rescue game. He used google images and photoshop for the art, and he used an online tool to create the testable game prototype. This way of prototyping is extremely useful and really puts into perspective how you can effectively create a prototype at such a low-cost, meaning anyone can do it! Not only this, but you also don’t even need to know how to code, design, or draw. This is definitely useful in game prototyping and for our future endeavors as students. The fact that it truly is that easy to make a testable game is super cool.
The other point I found intriguing is when Barrett discussed the core mechanic and how it is the purposeful mechanic that occurs most frequently. He initially stated the core mechanic for pacman is eating, but then said it’s actually moving. That really made me think about most games I’ve played. It seems that almost every single games’ core mechanic is moving. When we think of a first person shooter game, even though shooting is a large mechanic, you need to move in order to not get shot, and you also must move to find other people. This notion definitely had me thinking deeply about core mechanics in the games that I play.
GDC. “Hitchhiker’s Guide to Rapid Prototyping.” YouTube video, 25:49. Sep 6, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYWkiv1hTPM
I agree that he really made the idea of creating a game much more plausible. That game with only art he found from google really means that anyone can be creative and make a game with the resources.
Also it is interesting that the main mechanic of Pac-Man isn’t eating. Maybe that’s more of the end goal. A game where a block of cheese eats ghosts is based on moving, but technically if it was made differently, Pac-Man could be stationary and is fed ghosts by the player. This would be quite unconventional. However, I bet with the right secondary mechanics, the game could work.
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I like the point you made about the core mechanics of a game and used his Pacman example. It also made me think about all of the games I played and how I understood the core mechanics to be something different than they actually were. As players we take the simplest mechanics for granted even though they are the foundation for all of the games we play. yet, they go unnoticed.
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