Introduction
The title
for this presentation includes two words that need defining at the start.
I use the word "guidelines" in the sense of suggestions or check
boxes, but not as a recipe. In addition, I use "successful"
here to mean the commercial success of a game: sales and profits.
The goal
of this article is to suggest policies, methods, and features that can
lead to commercial success. The more guidelines you follow or incorporate
into your development, the greater the probability of success from the
resulting game.
There are
some sources to these guidelines, but mainly they are derived from practical
experience. That includes my 20 years of making and playing games of one
sort or another, lengthy discussions with colleagues at Ensemble Studios,
discussions with friends in the industry, and discussions with other colleagues
in the past, most notably Sid Meier (many of the thoughts presented here,
I first heard spelled out in one form or another from Sid).
Before moving
on, I have two caveats. First, the guidelines I present today are applicable
mainly to empty map games and strategy games. The emphasis is different
for story-based, linear games. Second, this presentation was made with
PC games in mind, although many of the guidelines can be appropriate for
console games as well.
Reach for a Broad
Audience
When you
set out to develop a PC game, your potential market is basically everyone
on Earth who owns a PC. Once you begin making decisions about your game
(gory, sci-fi, RTS, shooter), you begin losing potential customers who
are not interested in your topic, genre, or style. Commercially successful
games hold on to a significant share of the market because they choose
a topic, genre, and style that connect with a broad audience base. The
acceptance of the PC by more world communities, different age groups,
and women requires that games not be targeted solely to the traditional
gaming audience of young males.
Games that
have been traditionally strong with the hardcore gamers (young males),
must remain attractive to that group, however increasing the appeal of
the game can attract the much larger casual gamers. In these instances,
we need the approval of hardcore gamers and rely on them to spread the
word of their approval of the game to the market. This increases awareness
within the casual market where the bulk of sales resides.
Achieving
broad appeal requires that some aspects of the game is engaging to the
hardcore gamers, while other features appeal to the casual gamer. Find
out how the game will appeal to the different market segments, and why
each will like it. This differentiation often requires both single and
multi-player game options.
Strive to
be the best game in your genre and your choice of the topic. The best
games make the bulk of the profits, while the mediocre games suffer.
The rest
of the article deals with what to do or include in a game, in order to
entertain a large audience. This usually means creating something that
is commercial art, not fine art. The best games entertain by engaging
the player's mind, not by providing titillation (that wears off quickly).
Differentiate and
Innovate, Don't Imitate
The majority
of gameplay ideas in any game originate from other games. It is natural
to be inspired by successful games, and practical to borrow from them
when creating games of your own. To be successful, however, new games
must be clearly differentiated from the competition and innovative as
well. Games that imitate without differentiation and innovation are considered
clones. Clones are usually commercial failures.
A new game
will have competition from any game that is similar to it in topic, style,
or genre. To succeed, the new game must match or exceed the competition
in those areas where their game excels. The new game must also exceed
the competition where it is weak. Identify important features and components
that the competition is executing poorly or not at all. These are your
opportunities. They are the principal ways that your game can be differentiated
and distinguished in the market place from the competition. When Age
of Empires was being developed, there were a number of opportunities
available for improvement where the competition was completely lacking.
These elements included historical theme, organic units, random maps,
non-cheating AI, levels of difficulty, multiple victory conditions, historical
notes, and stunning animations. Age of Empires was unique in all
of these areas. Executing these elements helped establish the reputation
of Ensemble Studios as masters of the real-time strategy genre. Analyzing
the strengths and weaknesses of potential competitors in other genres,
will reveal where the competition is strong, where it is weak, and where
your opportunities are.
Prototype Early
Prototype
all-important systems and technologies to proof the concept as early as
possible. Prototyping is not only useful from a technology standpoint,
but is also critical for testing gameplay. Designers are usually left
guessing until their games can be played. There are always surprises when
a game is first played, some good and some bad. Prototyping for gameplay
testing is especially useful for strategy and other empty map games that
do not depend on pre-planned or linear story lines.