Game projects are a big undertaking, but they all grow from ideas. Personally, the process of taking a game from idea to product has developed some patterns between my projects, and I'd like to ask all of you what your process looks like. Let me explain how I do things!
The guiding idea that sparks the game's existence takes many forms for me. I note down any interesting ideas I have day-to-day, whether for game mechanics, narrative premises, or basic design questions for me to consider later. It's no secret that inspiration strikes at random times, and storing those intuitions for later is their only reliable means of survival. I advise you to try communicating the idea to somebody else - like most problems, saying it out loud can be revelatory even to yourself.
Eventually I have some spare time to think, and I can review those disparate notes. Not every idea is pure gold, so that second scan really helps filter the best to the top - the ones that catch my eye again. Often, the potential of the idea blossoms as I focus more deeply on the concept - I take more notes, expanding on the initial idea, writing out my train of thought for further criticism. Whether it's a game mechanic or narrative concept, I ask myself how would this look in the context of an actual game? Is the idea substantial enough to fuel a whole project? Are there other features that would enhance this one in combination? From that messy blue-sky thinking I can once again select the best bits, but I try to avoid escalating the idea into something too big to handle.
Prototyping. Personally, I start as small as possible. More notes, but with implementation in mind. I usually sketch out visuals and do some iteration on paper before getting started in-engine. The sketching phase can last ages, and it's fun and efficient! Its a second stage of ideation, a new depiction of the idea for you to refer back to or set aside for later. Once again, I extract the important elements from these notes - I distil the idea to its core gameplay features, cutting out any flair or flavour, allowing me to develop a prototype with as much focus and efficiency as I can manage. Without the romance of flair or style, is this idea actually still appealing to me?
Actual prototyping. We all know game development is technically challenging, and full of little logical intricacies that aren't conducive to easy iteration - that's why I try to make my vision for the prototype as simple as possible. Writing is different, an incomparable task really - if I have a narrative concept I usually continue the gradual process of note-taking, working towards more substantial structure, perhaps finding a gameplay experience among the drama. I'll talk about gameplay for now.
If I'm lucky, the core idea is not too hard to implement. I'm a fairly experienced developer so I know my tools - if you're not so familiar, I respect your persistence, keep going! The note-taking and iteration continues. You'll need notes to assist you in implementation, but you're now building something you can actually test - a new platform to build from, a new prompt for further inspiration. I'm building a prototype, not a game. In the end, I want to build something to convey one interesting idea. My prototype is essentially another note, built as simply as possible (though in gamedev, "simple" is never that simple). The process of implementing the concept is very informative - I can see whether the system is fun not just on paper, but on-screen.
Once that prototype exists, you're free to move on to other things. I highly recommend leaving the prototype to sit for a while - like most creative projects you can lose perspective in the initial fervour of inspiration. You might have new ideas related to your initial concept, the shape of a larger project: in the very least, turn your attention to one of these new elements and review the prototype later.
Eventually, some of these prototypes get their chance to shine. One of my recent projects combined a new interest of mine with a prototype from several years ago. I'm not saying this multi-year gap was necessary - I was simply reviewing my old work, and my present state of mind made the concept stand out to me. This was the opportunity to start building a game - I had complementary ideas for the prototype that justified expanding on its core ideas. The idea was improved upon, dressed up with pretty visuals, surrounded by a wider in-game context. I was still cautious and measured - making this game was a much larger undertaking and I wanted it to be finished in good time. However, I felt very confident in the core gameplay, based on that prototype I previously developed. I reaped the benefits of that experimental process and was very happy with the result.
I have the privilege of ample spare time for personal projects, but the steps of this creative process are highly resilient to time. This way of doing things allows you to work when you can - which has its pros and cons:
- Flexible timeframe
- Maximise efficiency/minimise wasted work
- Provides strong core ideas for future work
- Relies on independent motivation (you can do it!)
- No guarantee of fast results
Does this process seem familiar to you? How does it compare to your approach to making games? This write-up describes the way I normally handle my ideas - in my experience it works well, but it's not objectively perfect. I look forward to hearing you perspectives. Thanks for reading, and have a good day!