Description

About

Published: 05-02-2000
Host: Super Console
Author: Paul O’Connor
Game: Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Format: Archived Online

Note

The following article was translated from Italian into English by GPT.

The Designer Diary

Crossing Over

Game design is a unique discipline in its genre. Although it has always been common to find people who have always wanted to be game designers, it's not unusual to find game designers coming from other entertainment sectors. I've met designers who are former comic book editors, frustrated writers, musicians, and even one who believed he was qualified as a designer because he was capable of improvising entertainment activities with his dog.

Our Design Department is no exception. Many of its members have worked in other industry sectors before dedicating themselves to game design. Two of these are Dan Kading and Mark Simon.

Dan was one of the programmers of Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus. Mark was one of the beta testers of the same game. Now both are part of Oddworld’s Game Design Department. Transferring Mark and Dan to game design was a classic "win/win" proposal for Oddworld: the company could benefit from the accumulated experience of Dan and Mark in their previous positions, while Dan and Mark had the opportunity to work within the company in a more creative and fulfilling way.

Mark found game design a way to escape the repetitiveness of game testing. “Game design has always been one of my highest aspirations,” says Mark. “I wanted to flex my creative muscle instead of repeatedly banging my head against a wall. I wanted to use it to bang someone else's head against MY wall.” As a programmer, the changes in his role have opened up a new avenue for creative development. “As a designer, I have the opportunity to create something,” he says. “As a software engineer, I was only trying to make things work as best as possible. As a designer, I can push things, make people laugh or cry hysterically. The designer is the author of video game literature and it is exactly the kind of influence I intended to have on the games I help create.” The narrative aspect of game design is also important for Mark. “Game design allows me to tell stories, devise fun mechanics and engaging characters as well as design levels,” he says. “As a designer, I can challenge other people (especially kids) with puzzles and subconsciously teach them something. I mean, how many will spend time playing my levels and how many doing homework?”

The transition from game testing to game design has been challenging for Mark. “Being a lead tester for a game is like going to game design school,” he says. “From the design point of view, I knew characters, mechanics, puzzles, structure, and story like the back of my hand. From a technical point of view, I learned how all these things come together to become a complete game. At this point, I am able to appreciate the most important facets of game design.” Unlike Mark, Dan had to work a bit to adapt to his new role. “Programming and design are two completely different disciplines; left brain hemisphere versus right brain hemisphere,” he says. “A programmer has the task of taking an idea and making it work as best as possible. A designer generates ideas that can be realized.” However, the transition turned out to be fruitful for Dan. “Programming is a continuous problem-solving experience,” he says. “I did everything I could to swim in an upright position. As a designer, I am able to adapt to any situation that I am assigned. When I block on a certain point, it is not because I don't understand how to solve it, but because I don't yet have a sufficiently fun answer.”

It doesn't seem like Dan and Mark have any intention of leaving game design anytime soon. “I absolutely want to remain a game designer,” says an enthusiastic Dan. “I am finally managing to get something useful out of all the ideas bouncing around in my head.” Mark is still a bit “raw” on the subject. “Are you telling me that a designer must want to stay in testing?” he asks. “It’s like asking me if I would like to punch myself in the face! For the record, ABSOLUTELY NOT, it will never happen...never!”

And all this despite Oddworld's Design Department being known for not being a cruel and ruthless work environment. “The Design Department is its own glory due to this elitist culture according to which every sign of weakness or error in the work would be seen as the Achilles' heel that other designers would exploit to emotionally tear you apart,” says Dan. “In reality, I think the poisonous climate inside depends on the fact that designers are proud people. Creativity is not something you can define, much less learn. Therefore, people who do creative work are always ready to defend the importance of their uniqueness.” Mark is simply happy to have freed himself from testing. “Now I have a desk all to myself and people tend to talk to me as if I were a human being,” he says. “When I was a tester, it was the same as being treated like a dog.”

Continuing to be treated like dogs is no small matter. “Design is at the base of the development process,” says Dan, “the design of a game comes before everything else, it needs an idea first and the ability to understand and design, and in all sincerity, I like this freedom.”

Paul O'Connor

05-02-2000