#igb-220

By Shannon Tetley

I'm creating this blog to document my journey learning game design and it will be submitted as part of my assessment for the class IGB-220 taught at the Queensland University of Technology. It's my aim to create an interesting record of my learning and to share what I learn with others in an informal yet professional manner.

Why am I studying game design?

Well, I'm actually studying for a bachelor in IT believe it or not. My major and passion is in computer science and I'm studying minors in mobile/cloud applications and user experience. I'm learning game design for the purpose of gamifying mobile apps but that's just the academic reasoning. I've loved video games from a young age and have dreamed of making them for a living since I was a teenager. I chose to study computer science for job security and only discovered my passion for it after beginning my studies. Studying game design for my user experience minor was a happy accident but due to my interest I have embraced it enthusiastically.

How did I become obsessed with video games?

I became interested in them by watching other people play them from a young age. I've always had an active imagination and a lust for adventure. I enjoyed playing make believe and video games are a natural extension of that for me. There's nothing more fun to me than to be immersed in a fictional world were you can explore and act out fantasies.

I don't remember the first game that I ever payed but I do remember being frustrated when I had to stop playing other peoples games when I had to go home from a friend or families house. Eight year old me was determined to get hold of my own games, so when my parents gave me the option of pocket money or a PlayStation for Christmas I gave up the pocket money 😂.

Army Men: Air Attack developed by The 3DO Company

My first game was Army Men: Air Attack published by 3DO. I loved this game because I got to play with army men that could actually shoot! I loved the light-hearted and comical story of this game but it was all about the action for me. From that point, I collected games over the years and even swapped consoles with friends, including an N64 which introduced me to the world of Nintendo. In Lecture 1; Fundamentals of Game Design (Conroy), we discussed how culture naturally forms around games and play. This resonated with me, given my own experiences, sharing and playing video games with friends. My friends and I have incidentally formed a unique culture of our own which stemmed from our mutual ownership and playing of games throughout our lives.

What kind of gamer am I?

While studying in my first week of game design I came across a concept I found interesting written by Richard A. Bartle (Bateman, Step 4). Professor Bartle talks about the four main types of player, from the point of view of a game designer.

My interpretation of the four gamer types are:

Achiever - That friend who brags about getting 100% in every game they get their hands on.

Explorer - They love to learn the lore of the world and discover all the cool things in the game world.

Socialiser - Plays the game to hang out with friends or to meet new people. Often found hanging out at the grand exchange in their favourite MMO.

Killer - They're those SOBs that hang out on your ship spawn killing you in Sea of Thieves! Yes I'm still salty about that 😠, they didn't even take my loot 😂.

Metroid Prime developed by Retro Studios

I can safely say that I'm an explorer. The first game I ever got truly obsessed with was Metroid Prime developed by Retro Studios. To me, Metroid was about exploring an abandoned and corrupted alien world. I got hooked on finding all the lore walls to piece together the story about why the world was corrupted and to find out what happened to the mysterious Chozo who left behind such beautiful and intriguing ruins.

What do I hope to get out of game design?

My dream is to write backend code for games and to have the skills to turn boring old phone apps into more enjoyable experiences. Even if that dream doesn’t pan-out, this class will be a valuable opportunity to learn design practices which I wouldn’t normally learn in my more technical computer science degree.

Gaming has always been an integral part of my life. I’ve always been subconsciously aware of the culture my friends and I formed and I internally knew what kind of gamer I was – I just never had the vocabulary to describe it. Just one lecture of Fundamentals of Game Design, has prompted me to critically reflect on why my experiences playing games have been positive ones and making these links has shown me how I can tie academia to my game design.

So far, the theoretical concepts I’ve been introduced to have been very insightful and have inspired me to apply these theories to my own game design. I hope this class will continue to open my eyes to the concepts which make good games so enjoyable.

References:

Conroy, David. “Fundamentals of Game Design Lecture 1.” IGB-220 Fundamentals of Game Design, 25/7/2023, Queensland University of Technology, Online. Lecture.