Game Design reports and market data
3,357 documents·56 writers·968 charts and tables
Documents
Game Developers Conference59 min
The Animated World of 'Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart'
The development of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart represents a concerted effort to bridge the gap between interactive gameplay and feature-film quality animation.
- Insomniac Games achieved high-quality animation for 'Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart' by fostering deep cross-departmental collaboration between writers and animators, allowing for creative storytelling that remained within budget constraints.
- The animation team utilized a 'previs' (pre-visualization) process entirely in 3D to plan cinematic sequences, bypassing traditional 2D storyboarding to better align with the game's technical requirements.
- To manage the production of content equivalent to two or three feature films' worth of cinematics, the team prioritized early in-game implementation to identify and resolve conflicts between narrative needs and gameplay mechanics.
Game Developers ConferenceNov 2022
Extra Credits9 min
Can Tetris Treat Trauma?
Research into the use of the video game Tetris as a preventative and therapeutic tool for trauma focuses on disrupting memory consolidation, the process by which the brain solidifies experiences into long-term memory.
- Playing Tetris shortly after a traumatic event may disrupt memory consolidation, preventing the brain from deeply encoding intrusive memories or flashbacks.
- A study of 20 patients with long-standing trauma showed that playing Tetris for 25 minutes after recalling a traumatic memory resulted in a 64% reduction in related flashbacks.
- Research involving 71 car crash victims found that playing Tetris within six hours of an accident led to fewer and less persistent intrusive memories compared to a control group.
Extra CreditsNov 2022
Game Developers Conference61 min
Shader Sauce: How to Use Shaders to Create Stylized VFX
Stylized visual effects represent a distinct design space defined by abstraction rather than a simple progression toward realism.
- Stylized VFX and realistic effects share the same foundational shader concepts, meaning the same technical principles apply regardless of where an asset falls on the realism spectrum.
- Alpha erosion creates non-uniform fading by subtracting a noise map from a texture and using a saturate node to clamp the result between 0 and 1, providing a more organic transition than traditional alpha fading.
- Vertex offset manipulation allows for dynamic mesh deformation by using vertex normals to move, scale, or rotate geometry in world space based on shader inputs.
Game Developers ConferenceNov 2022
Jonas Tyroller9 min
Our Next Big Indie Game | What to Make? (Devlog 0)
The primary objective of this development project is to select a concept for a new indie game through a structured, two-week prototyping phase.
- The team utilized a structured two-week prototyping phase to evaluate nine initial game concepts through digital prototypes and analog card-based simulations.
- The final project selection was a medieval-themed, system-heavy card game, chosen specifically because its reliance on UI design and character-driven mechanics aligned with the developers' core competencies.
- To ensure project viability, the team explicitly discarded concepts requiring extensive artistic assets or complex multiplayer infrastructure that exceeded their current resource capabilities.
Jonas TyrollerOct 2022
Game Developers Conference59 min
An Epic Journey through the Audio Universe that is 'Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy'
The audio production for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy serves as a blueprint for integrating high-fidelity sound design with a massive, curated musical library to drive narrative immersion.
- The audio production integrated three distinct musical layers: an original orchestral score recorded at Abbey Road Studios, a licensed 80s soundtrack, and a bespoke in-game rock album.
- The development team managed an eight-hour musical library across sixteen chapters, utilizing complex 7.1 surround sound mixes to maintain narrative immersion.
- The 'Huddle' combat system dynamically adjusts music intensity in real-time based on player performance and character bonding metrics.
Game Developers ConferenceOct 2022
Naavik54 min
Björn Jeffery: How to Conquer the Kids Market
The kids’ digital market is frequently misunderstood because developers often project adult perspectives onto products rather than observing actual child behavior.
- Success in the kids' digital market requires designing 'digital toys'—open-ended, non-prescriptive experiences that mirror physical play rather than rigid, rule-based gaming structures.
- Developers should prioritize observational play-testing over adult assumptions, as direct observation is the only accurate way to predict how children interact with technology.
- Building long-term brand recognition is best achieved through a cohesive aesthetic, unique animations, and consistent sound branding across a collection of focused, individual applications.
NaavikOct 2022
Thomas Brush7 min
Game Developers Are Lying To You
Effective game development relies on the strategic manipulation of player perception to create a sense of immersion and responsiveness, a concept often referred to as game feel.
- Effective game development relies on the strategic manipulation of player perception to create a sense of immersion rather than attempting to replicate reality.
- The primary goal of game feel is to convince the player that their actions have significant weight and consequence through immediate, exaggerated feedback.
- Eliminating latency between player input and system output is the core requirement for a responsive and engaging feedback loop.
Thomas BrushOct 2022
GameMakers43 min
How to Install Company Values & Culture | Philosophy Friday #21
Organizational culture functions most effectively when company values transition from abstract concepts into a tangible operational framework.
- Company values must function as an operational framework for daily decision-making rather than remaining abstract slogans or decorative wall art.
- Leadership is responsible for integrating core principles into office design, internal transparency, and the fundamental processes governing daily work execution.
- Recruitment should prioritize soft skills and collaborative aptitude over technical proficiency, as interpersonal dynamics are harder to cultivate than hard skills.
GameMakersOct 2022
Game Developers Conference24 min
Finding Character Voice With Your Voice
The integration of vocal performance into the writing process serves as a powerful tool for developing character depth, regardless of whether a game features professional voice acting.
- Treating script read-throughs as active performances rather than static recitations allows writers to identify dialogue inconsistencies and refine character rhythm, vocabulary, and attitude.
- Vocal experimentation serves as a diagnostic tool to transform flat archetypes into three-dimensional characters, regardless of whether the final game includes professional voice acting.
- Developers can access professional actors for pre-production table reads at no cost through the SAG-AFTRA 'SWAT' program to improve narrative quality.
Game Developers ConferenceOct 2022
Extra Credits10 min
Designing Heartbreak, Propaganda and Death - Extra Credits Gaming
Game design can transcend simple mechanics by utilizing mathematical equations to foster genuine emotional connections and narrative depth.
- Game designers should replace static affinity variables with dynamic systems featuring diminishing returns and decay rates to simulate the effort required in real-world relationships.
- Mathematical models in strategy games function as ideological statements, where the weighting of policy variables dictates whether populations act as rational collectives or manipulatable mobs.
- By adjusting how propaganda and benefits influence outcomes, developers can force players into specific roles like the benevolent leader or tyrant to elicit distinct emotional responses.
Extra CreditsOct 2022
Thomas Brush6 min
My Enemies Were Boring So I Started Over (Devlog #3)
The development of a first-person shooter set within a violent game show environment highlights the critical importance of enemy design in maintaining gameplay engagement.
- Prioritizing aesthetic asset integration over functional enemy design leads to repetitive, unchallenging gameplay where disparate enemy types share identical speed and damage profiles.
- Success in combat design requires shifting from purely visual variety to distinct, functional enemy archetypes that force players to adapt their strategies.
- Developers can maximize efficiency by using a single base character rig to create multiple enemy classes, modifying movement speeds and animations to differentiate archetypes like walkers, spiders, and ranged units.
Thomas BrushOct 2022
Game Developers Conference28 min
'Insurrection 1944': Bringing Interactive Storytelling to a Museum's Audience
Insurrection 1944 explores the integration of mixed reality (MR) technology into cultural heritage sites, specifically the Museum of the Liberation of Paris.
- The 'Insurrection 1944' project successfully integrated Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality into the Museum of the Liberation of Paris to reconstruct historical environments where physical artifacts were absent.
- Since its 2019 launch, the installation has hosted over 10,000 visitors and achieved high satisfaction rates across diverse age demographics, effectively attracting younger audiences to the museum.
- To overcome technical barriers for non-technical users, the project utilized a mediator-led model where museum staff managed all hardware, allowing visitors to focus exclusively on the 25-minute narrative.
Game Developers ConferenceOct 2022