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Twenty years ago, who’d have thought that we be playing high speed, high action, three dimensional games nearing the graphical and audio quality of real life? With technology becoming ever more powerful I wonder what marvels we’ll be seeing in twenty years time?
As times gone by, the very essence of what makes a good game designer has changed. In the past the emphasis was on good code writing, with the bedroom coders trying to outdo each other. The actual plots and graphics in the game were limited by the quality of the hardware they were using, meaning that you need not be at all creative to make a good game- players wanted good controls, gameplay and physics. Nobody expected more than simple black and white vector graphics roaming around their screens- what they wanted was a games that made sense and fitted together with believable object movements. A good game was one that was 100% about the player’s skill.
Of course, things changed when sprite based graphics came along. Now there really was a need for artists to be part of game development, and the visual conception of game designers was as important as their technical flare. For the first time in gaming we saw real characters emerge that seemed to have their own emotions and styles. Artists were needed not only to meet the demand of new technologies, but also to give live to the characters and worlds being created. That said, at the root of all good games of the era were gaming mechanics and physics. Artistry and technology had to go hand-in-hand to make a good game.
What came finally was the embankment into the three dimensional age of gaming. To begin with it was the technicians who were most important to game development- creating everything from realistic physics and new polygon engine to tools that allowed three dimensional models to be created by the artists. However, as time has passed, coders have become more like Lego builder in most games- taking pieces of prewritten code (whether it be in the form of past projects or middle-ware) and assembling them into a neat package.
Incredibly, with the realism seen in games today, it appears that scriptwriters and psychologists are becoming the latest additions to the design process. Good game designers must now be able to think of epic plots and dramatic twists to keep the gamers of today happy. It is no longer enough to have a glorious looking game with excellent gameplay- such things are expected. Instead we game players want the game to have a strong central plot as good as any seen in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Oh, how times have changed! From the geeky bedroom two-man technically gifted teams in bedrooms to the multitalented, high-earning professionals in great tower blocks. Once only good coding was a needed to create the best games; now we see coders, artists, musicians, writers, physiologists and PR men involved in almost every game released. It just makes you wonder what’s still to come...
Sonic
As times gone by, the very essence of what makes a good game designer has changed. In the past the emphasis was on good code writing, with the bedroom coders trying to outdo each other. The actual plots and graphics in the game were limited by the quality of the hardware they were using, meaning that you need not be at all creative to make a good game- players wanted good controls, gameplay and physics. Nobody expected more than simple black and white vector graphics roaming around their screens- what they wanted was a games that made sense and fitted together with believable object movements. A good game was one that was 100% about the player’s skill.
Of course, things changed when sprite based graphics came along. Now there really was a need for artists to be part of game development, and the visual conception of game designers was as important as their technical flare. For the first time in gaming we saw real characters emerge that seemed to have their own emotions and styles. Artists were needed not only to meet the demand of new technologies, but also to give live to the characters and worlds being created. That said, at the root of all good games of the era were gaming mechanics and physics. Artistry and technology had to go hand-in-hand to make a good game.
What came finally was the embankment into the three dimensional age of gaming. To begin with it was the technicians who were most important to game development- creating everything from realistic physics and new polygon engine to tools that allowed three dimensional models to be created by the artists. However, as time has passed, coders have become more like Lego builder in most games- taking pieces of prewritten code (whether it be in the form of past projects or middle-ware) and assembling them into a neat package.
Incredibly, with the realism seen in games today, it appears that scriptwriters and psychologists are becoming the latest additions to the design process. Good game designers must now be able to think of epic plots and dramatic twists to keep the gamers of today happy. It is no longer enough to have a glorious looking game with excellent gameplay- such things are expected. Instead we game players want the game to have a strong central plot as good as any seen in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Oh, how times have changed! From the geeky bedroom two-man technically gifted teams in bedrooms to the multitalented, high-earning professionals in great tower blocks. Once only good coding was a needed to create the best games; now we see coders, artists, musicians, writers, physiologists and PR men involved in almost every game released. It just makes you wonder what’s still to come...
Sonic
RM18 wrote:
> Hey, don't knock the geeky bedroom two-man gifted teams, they wre
> responsible for Champ Man, dammit!
>
> :D
Personally I loath that game! It's as antisocial as big brother, but still some what compelling...
hmmmm...
You know, they only made it because they wanted something to play. They were THAT sad!
> Hey, don't knock the geeky bedroom two-man gifted teams, they wre
> responsible for Champ Man, dammit!
>
> :D
Personally I loath that game! It's as antisocial as big brother, but still some what compelling...
hmmmm...
You know, they only made it because they wanted something to play. They were THAT sad!
Hey, don't knock the geeky bedroom two-man gifted teams, they wre responsible for Champ Man, dammit!
:D
:D
Twenty years ago, who’d have thought that we be playing high speed, high action, three dimensional games nearing the graphical and audio quality of real life? With technology becoming ever more powerful I wonder what marvels we’ll be seeing in twenty years time?
As times gone by, the very essence of what makes a good game designer has changed. In the past the emphasis was on good code writing, with the bedroom coders trying to outdo each other. The actual plots and graphics in the game were limited by the quality of the hardware they were using, meaning that you need not be at all creative to make a good game- players wanted good controls, gameplay and physics. Nobody expected more than simple black and white vector graphics roaming around their screens- what they wanted was a games that made sense and fitted together with believable object movements. A good game was one that was 100% about the player’s skill.
Of course, things changed when sprite based graphics came along. Now there really was a need for artists to be part of game development, and the visual conception of game designers was as important as their technical flare. For the first time in gaming we saw real characters emerge that seemed to have their own emotions and styles. Artists were needed not only to meet the demand of new technologies, but also to give live to the characters and worlds being created. That said, at the root of all good games of the era were gaming mechanics and physics. Artistry and technology had to go hand-in-hand to make a good game.
What came finally was the embankment into the three dimensional age of gaming. To begin with it was the technicians who were most important to game development- creating everything from realistic physics and new polygon engine to tools that allowed three dimensional models to be created by the artists. However, as time has passed, coders have become more like Lego builder in most games- taking pieces of prewritten code (whether it be in the form of past projects or middle-ware) and assembling them into a neat package.
Incredibly, with the realism seen in games today, it appears that scriptwriters and psychologists are becoming the latest additions to the design process. Good game designers must now be able to think of epic plots and dramatic twists to keep the gamers of today happy. It is no longer enough to have a glorious looking game with excellent gameplay- such things are expected. Instead we game players want the game to have a strong central plot as good as any seen in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Oh, how times have changed! From the geeky bedroom two-man technically gifted teams in bedrooms to the multitalented, high-earning professionals in great tower blocks. Once only good coding was a needed to create the best games; now we see coders, artists, musicians, writers, physiologists and PR men involved in almost every game released. It just makes you wonder what’s still to come...
Sonic
As times gone by, the very essence of what makes a good game designer has changed. In the past the emphasis was on good code writing, with the bedroom coders trying to outdo each other. The actual plots and graphics in the game were limited by the quality of the hardware they were using, meaning that you need not be at all creative to make a good game- players wanted good controls, gameplay and physics. Nobody expected more than simple black and white vector graphics roaming around their screens- what they wanted was a games that made sense and fitted together with believable object movements. A good game was one that was 100% about the player’s skill.
Of course, things changed when sprite based graphics came along. Now there really was a need for artists to be part of game development, and the visual conception of game designers was as important as their technical flare. For the first time in gaming we saw real characters emerge that seemed to have their own emotions and styles. Artists were needed not only to meet the demand of new technologies, but also to give live to the characters and worlds being created. That said, at the root of all good games of the era were gaming mechanics and physics. Artistry and technology had to go hand-in-hand to make a good game.
What came finally was the embankment into the three dimensional age of gaming. To begin with it was the technicians who were most important to game development- creating everything from realistic physics and new polygon engine to tools that allowed three dimensional models to be created by the artists. However, as time has passed, coders have become more like Lego builder in most games- taking pieces of prewritten code (whether it be in the form of past projects or middle-ware) and assembling them into a neat package.
Incredibly, with the realism seen in games today, it appears that scriptwriters and psychologists are becoming the latest additions to the design process. Good game designers must now be able to think of epic plots and dramatic twists to keep the gamers of today happy. It is no longer enough to have a glorious looking game with excellent gameplay- such things are expected. Instead we game players want the game to have a strong central plot as good as any seen in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Oh, how times have changed! From the geeky bedroom two-man technically gifted teams in bedrooms to the multitalented, high-earning professionals in great tower blocks. Once only good coding was a needed to create the best games; now we see coders, artists, musicians, writers, physiologists and PR men involved in almost every game released. It just makes you wonder what’s still to come...
Sonic