Q&A for How to Design a Video Game

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What makes a good game design?

Dan Klein
Improvisation Coach
Dan Klein is an improvisation expert and coach who teaches at the Stanford University Department of Theater and Performance Studies as well as at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Dan has been teaching improvisation, creativity, and storytelling to students and organizations around the world for over 20 years. Dan received his BA from Stanford University in 1991.

Dan Klein

Improvisation Coach

Expert Answer

In the gaming industry, the most fun and beautiful games are the ones where the story emerges from the play of the game.

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Question

How do I design the game graphics?

Community Answer

Use gimp for pixel art. If you want to focus on coding, hire a graphic designer, or obtain free pixel art on the web, which may remove the need to make any. Also, many hobbyists are just aching to use their spriting skills for a good cause (aka video games).

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How can I make good glitches?

Community Answer

Someone said, "If debugging is the process of getting rid of glitches, programming must be the process of making them." Simply make your game and take out the bad or unfair glitches while keeping the good ones. You don't exactly make a glitch; glitches are usually unintentional.

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Which courses are the best to take when interested in the video game field?

Community Answer

Graphic design and programming are ideal for people interested in entering the video game field.

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Question

How do you create an exciting video game?

Community Answer

An exciting video game should be fun to play. Consider adding lots of action, such as making huge monsters, great bosses, and a fast pace. Just don't make it too difficult too quickly. The pace and difficulty of the game should increase as the game progresses.

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Can I design everything about a video game myself and have it sell?

Community Answer

Yes, it is possible to do that. Many indie game developers have successfully designed a whole game by themselves. It will take a lot of skill and effort, though. I recommend you start with the RPGMaker engine, it's so simple that even a child can make a game.

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How do I start coding at home? I'm not old enough for college, and my high school only offers a hacking class. Are there any websites that I can use to learn to code?

Community Answer

Hacking is the highest and most powerful type of coding. However, Khan Academy, CodeCombat, and Robotgame all teach coding, although Robotgame is more advanced. In the meantime, learn the hacking. The skills will help with coding.

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Question

Are there schools for younger people to learn video game design?

Community Answer

You don't need a school. Try some Hour of Codes for coding, or Scratch for a game engine. They are both easy to learn and are a significant step forward.

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Question

How do I find a producer?

Community Answer

You ARE the producer. YOU make the video games. Sure you can give your idea to someone, but you don't deserve any credit.

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What is the most preferred language to make a game in? Is it C, C++, C#, or Java?

Community Answer

C is widely used as well as C# and C++ for video game development especially in game engines such as Unity 3D. While JavaScript is widely used for Web development. Although JavaScript can be used for game development examples are UnityScript. Java is mostly used for app development and websites.

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Question

Is making a sequel of an existing game series stupid?

Community Answer

Not if there are a lot of new ideas or significant improvements in the sequel. However, if the existing game series is not your own, you might not be able to legally sell or distribute such a game due to copyrights.

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Question

Is it okay if my game falls under more than one genre?

Community Answer

Yes, take Mount & Blade, for example. It combines elements of the RPG and RTS genres. If you are a beginner, though, it might be best to keep things simple.

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Question

How do I design a game digitally?

Community Answer

Use a game engine or code it yourself.

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Question

Can I just make video game about a movie?

Community Answer

No. If the movie is not your own, you can't legally sell or distribute your game due to copyright.

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Question

Is it possible to code and make a game using multiple languages?

Community Answer

Yes, it is. In fact, many modern games use several different languages for different tasks. For example, Hearts of Iron 4 uses Lua and C++.

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Question

I want to make an enemy that's impossible to beat and force the player to not fight it and make it to point b without being caught (not an instant fail). How do I do that but make it fair or it unfair?

Dillon Richardson

Community Answer

You could make them slow, or add a "line of vision" so the player can hide outside of their view. You could show this with an eye, which is open when they can see you and closed when they are not.

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