The punch line is this:
I want to integrate the experience of a video game into real life. The idea is to use game mechanics to infuse real life's "mundane" tasks with meaning.
Even though that is an awful Elevator Pitch, it's good enough for now.
In this series, I will document the process of learning Unity and everything else necessary to put together the game I have in mind.
Let's get started:
Based on my advice which can be found here: https://www.scribd.com/document/357605002/learnx10?secret_password=JfpImclZBVbNp4TH9Tln#fullscreen&from_embed
The first thing I want to understand is how a game designer expert thinks. After I get a feeling for that, I can identify the correct hierarchy of micro routines which I need to master to improve in the shortest time. It's a simple application of the 80/20 principle.
How do the best game designers think?
Before doing any research, I'll quickly jot down the first things which come to mind:
1.They intuitively understand the correct rhythm for a story, by establishing a Goal in contrast with the Initial Conditions.
2.A Good game designer can break down a mechanic and introduce it by parts to make sure that the learning curve is engaging. Meaning they need to have a feeling for the state of "flow" in which things are stressful enough.
3.They understand the importance of limitations when it comes to creativity. Understanding limitations means they decide on the chief mechanic from which second and third-tier mechanics can expand.
4.They introduce novelty at the correct ratio. I think a 78/22 rate is as good as any other place to start, which means that each level and phase should roughly be 78% as the previous one.
5.As in any good novel, the game elements should be hyperlinked and only exist if they serve the overlying plot.
EVERYTHING and every character need to have a reason to exist at all levels of magnification.
6.A good game designer understands how particular actions affect the physical and emotional tensions we experience in our body as we interact with a game.
7.The game must accurately identify between two and four different stages of emotional and physical stress and decide how much time will a player spends on each. More intensity equals less time.
8.The game must be in service of the quality of the person's real life. This rule will be the cardinal one.
9.A great Game Designer should be 100% sold on his creation, and he should market it as such. The job of marketing is to help the end-user connect the game with his improved real-life.
10.An improved real life is one which is so full of meaning, the end-user wants to spend more time in it and less time playing. The game should act as a training-wheel to help the user develop their imagination.
11.A well-developed imagination is that which can tap into the unique characteristics of an individual and use them to create Order out of the Chaos from which life emerges.
I think I'll stop there and do some research to see what else I can come up. Figuring out what matters and how much will allow me to ignore the rest and focus my attention.
