Game Engines 2021W Lecture 4

Notes

Lecture 4
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 - show & tell
 - coming up with new ideas

How do you come up with ideas?
 - most ideas have never been thought of
 - most things have never been done
   - BY A LOT

 - what people do is explore the space *around* what they know
   - most work is derivative
   - we look for templates to follow

 - so, how do we find sources of novelty?
   - how do we break the mould

 - first, you need different building blocks
   - from outside the domain you're working in
   - "cross-disciplinary"
   - but is much deeper

 - the hard part is translating across domain boundaries
   - how do I put this in a game?

 - be silly
   - seek absurd combinations
   - as you explore them, some will seem not so absurd

In game design, we normally want to seek fun
 - but fun can be elusive at first

So, to summarize
 - pick a domain to work in
 - grab building blocks from *outside* the domain
 - try random combinations
   - play with mixing things up
   - be as silly as possible!
 - filter the silliness for combinations that seem more than silly
   - the maaabye moments
 - keep picking apart the patterns that catch you until you understand
   why they draw your interest
 - then, imagine how that will take you towards your goals (i.e., fun)

 - be ready to go down multiple blind paths
   - when things get frustrating, try something different
   - you may find you circle back