Ogyon

Cover Credit: Birmingham Royal Ballet

To kick-start this blog, I want to properly put into writing a topic that I wrote notes about quite a while ago. As this is foremost a game design blog that I can see from simply looking at my list of ideas for future posts will veer into other subjects very quickly, I’ll try to set my yardstick now and talk about what I think is a really important aspect that can make you a good designer. 

In the past, I’ve been approached by a games design student and asked, ‘What inspires you when coming up with ideas for games?’ If it sounds like I’m telling you about this to gloat, that is because I am. I am the kind of person that budding designers ask how I get inspired. Aren’t I so cool?

Anyway, the answer I gave that student at the time was rambling and not very well thought out, but since then I have refined it into something a little more coherent. 

The simple answer is; I take my inspiration from everything I see and do in my life, and I do my best to fill my life with as many different experiences as possible.

In my introductory post, I mentioned that game design is built upon two elements: Art and Psychology. I believe that to be a games designer that champions creative and unique works, you need to immerse yourself in these two elements and strive to reach the level of a good hobbyist. For the psychology part, understand why people do what they do (I may do a deep dive into this in the future), but for the art side, a critical aspect all good artists require is to soak in as much culture and experience as possible, even ones that you know you would not enjoy recreationally.

Too often I see designers who only play games as a form of culture. This isn’t bad per-se, it’s good for serving the purpose of understanding what works and doesn’t work in your given field, something you should always do to stay relevant. However, to only fill your cultural palette with games will quickly and effectively make your creative output feel regurgitated, ouroboros’ed into itself until only unmemorable, recycled moments fill a drab title. If you think I’m being melodramatic, it’s because I’m a YouTuber, that’s my thing. Do you want another grey extraction shooter played exclusively by misogynists? Because that’s how you get another grey extraction shooter played exclusively by misogynists. 

If you’re working for a large company, the studio leadership will be fulfilling the role of wanting to make the same thing as what’s popular. They don’t need your help on that, it’s up to you to look outside of games and bring into the discussion something new.

As an example, some of the best horror games in the last fifteen years draw from fears and anxieties of the real world. A city subway corridor that seemingly never ends. An oil rig where trapped workers risk their lives for profit. An aging children’s restaurant hosted by jolting mannequins. When you’ve spent some time in the genre, you can usually tell a horror game that only pulls from other horror games to ones that are inspired by something outside the field. The ones that do are broadly the most memorable.

For example, movies

Movies are the classic example of a medium that designers love to pull from to inspire their own designs. Hideo Kojima rarely draws his inspirations from other games, attributing to the fact that many of the games he worked on in his early career had no peers to draw from. Instead, his muses come from the films and music he surrounds himself in, and the characters and scenes in his games are often pulled straight out of the screen onto the game disk at an almost copyright infringing rate. It seems to have done him some good though, I hear he’s made some bangers.

I think that movies and TV are a typical go-to source of inspiration to game developers because of the overall culture, we’re all nerds here, as well as the parallels of the medium, movies, TV and games are all played on the same screen. It makes sense that the early developers of the 70s and 80s looked towards what excited them on the screens they were engaged with and sought to emulate that feeling, and this tradition has persisted.

However, relying on movies as your sole draw can inevitably be a crutch. If we pull too much from linear media, we may sometimes forget the opportunities that our interactive medium has that no other possesses. This, I think, is how we end up having games that hold little interactivity where perhaps they should, or games that play themselves. 

I can’t think of any examples of that right now, what a shame…

How I learned to love ballet

Naturally, everyone’s approach to finding inspiration will be different based on numerous factors of your life, so I will stick to talking about my own experiences. Specifically, an experience I didn’t think I would enjoy quite as much as I did: watching ballet.

Similar to most people willing to bear their whole heart live in front of a ridiculous amount of people twice a week, I have always loved the theatre. Dramas, musicals, concerts, even a little bit of poetry, but I had never watched a ballet until three years ago when friends of my partner and I gave us tickets to one they couldn’t make it to. It was a professional performance of a fairy tale, so it was something approachable to an inexperienced audience. Nevertheless, I was unsure if around two and a half hours of dance would hold me or if my very scattered mind would struggle. 

To put it simply, I did not realise how much I would take away watching that performance.

As the main form of communication in a ballet is movement, choreography is intricately planned to make sure the audience is looking at the action or story to ensure they can follow what is happening. Anything else to support the storytelling is utilised as much as possible too; lighting is sparing, framing the action while allowing the dance to be properly displayed. Costumes are bold and striking, with colours and textures used to help make each character and their personality distinct. Sets and props are staged in a manner to frame the story and dance as well, sometimes in a manner that leans into the unreal. 

As I was watching what could have been a confusing blur of movement and light be honed in a way to tell the story in a manner that as clear as if they had spoken it aloud, it reminded me of the struggles I face in my own work, ensuring every element of a game’s design works together to tell a very clear story, even if it is one that the player is making up themselves.

Since that time we have sought to see more ballet shows when I can. Some again through tickets given to us, but some purchased by ourselves. Naturally, as you experience more of a medium, you will begin to form opinions of them, and this is something that I lean into and I discuss with my partner on our way home afterwards. We do this with anything we watch. The intention isn’t to be nitpicky or snobbish, but instead to engage in mentally dissecting the experience to my own perspective, to see if we understood what the media was trying to say and if we think it did well. 

To move away from ballet for a bit, we both once took a gamble and saw a one-person art theatre show to see if we would like it. I’ll spare the details, but it was quite intense, very uncomfortable and was definitely trying to discuss a very sensitive subject that my partner and I both agreed it failed to do. I dislike using this word to describe something outside of my usual wheelhouse, and perhaps I wasn’t clued in like I should, but looking back on it, ‘weird’ is the only word I can use.

It was important to me when we watched one ballet performance and agreed with ourselves that it wasn’t very good. Its narrative was confusing, its dance was repetitive and the overall message was muddled.

Conversely, it was very important when we watched one ballet performance and agreed that it was the best thing we had ever seen, not only a ballet but any stage show. Everything came together to tell a wholly unique story that consistently moved us to tears. I say consistently because we went to watch it again the next day.

Since starting to watch ballet, I’ve tried my best to take part in experiences that are different to what I’m used to. I’ve gone clubbing a few times, I’ve seen a few more comedy gigs, I’ve started going camping again since doing it when I was a teenager. Not only do those moments enrich my life, they are experiences that I pull from when I come up with ideas for games or stories. Being there brings them life.

I think fondly about a time when, on one burning summer when I was young, me and some friends of mine hopped in a car and had a one day road trip, from one side of the coast to the other, stopping to see one attraction after another as we went. It started at six in the morning and ended at one in the morning the next day, and I would say that everything I make is inspired by, or dedicated to, that time in one way or another.

In conclusion

Of course, I’m not expecting every budding game designer to go to the theatre every month. I’m in a very privileged position to be able to do so. To get started on expanding your media palette, you might not even need to change your routine. Watch a film you’re unsure if you would like. See what’s on broadcast TV right now. Find what’s recommended in your library or bookstore. Head over to a park you haven’t been to since you were young. 

Step out of your comfort zone, even if it’s just a little bit more each time, and you might be surprised as to what inspires your next best game.

Talk to you later,
Ogyon