| Title | : | Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 047068867X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780470688670 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 514 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2010 |
Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design Reviews
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I am not a game designer; I am certainly not a “video” game designer; I haven’t put together a computer program for a long, long time. So why am I reviewing this book?
I play games; I play some video games and I play RPG. I have some ideas about what makes a great game and I was curious about Rogers’ thoughts on the subject.
I liked his short history of video games.
He moves logically from ideas and story through characters, point of view, elements of combat, bad guys, multiplayer, and covers additions such as music. In each case he deconstructs the topic and then adds his own thoughts. Finally, he has some thoughts on “the business” side.
Here is a sample: “There are many ways to start building level maps. The designers of the original Metal Gear built their levels out of Lego blocks. Many developers do rapid level prototyping in 3-D tools like Maya or 3-D Studio Max. One designer I know liked to model his levels in clay. Myself, I like a ream of blank paper, a very sharp #2 pencil and an eraser. I like making maps on paper because it reminds me of the good old days of creating Dungeons and Dragon levels.”
And speaking of D&D, there is a lot in this book that a dungeon master could use to improve their RPG.
I agree with the publisher's blurb that says that when you read this book you will learn how to:
Create what gamers want
Bring compelling (and playable) characters to life
Build game levels that tell stories and challenge players
Design everything from controls to cutscenes to combat
Structure your game documents for success
Pitch your game like the professions
I hope you are successful and I am sure that this book will be of help.
PS: There is a newer edition of this book, but that wasn’t important for what I was seeking. -
This is a great book if you don't know much about games and want to have a generic overview of game design. However, if you are like me -an experienced gamer and a novice game developer who makes 2D low budget indie games- you won't get much out of this book. It's very shallow and feels like a glossary most of the time.
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This book is GREAT! It's a whole bunch of really practical thinking about game design. How should the camera work? What should the power-ups be? Level design, achievements, villains, music? Sound effects? It's all illustrate with charming drawings and has a good sense of humour about itself. This is the Understanding Comics of video games, and my only problem with it is that it is priced like a computer book - halfway between a reasonable price and a textbook price. But, I guess that's the way of computer books, and it wouldn't be fair to take a star off for that.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in video games and how they do what they do. If you are interested in creating a game, or even if you like to understand more about what kind of choices and compromises go into the games you love. -
Get the ebook version here:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/leve...
Pretty good. Multiple 'Starship Troopers' references.
Does the annoying thing of mixing in 'she' and 'her' with 'he' and 'his' when giving examples, eg: 'Can the player steady her shot?'. Firstly, it feels forced and jarring, since this just isn't how the English language is written, and it's forcing politics and feminism into a book that is supposed to be about videogame design, not a book about feminism and politics. And it doesn't make feminists happy anyway; if you ask them, they insist on the use of genderless pronouns, like 'xe, xir,' etc. There is no point in bending the knee. No matter how low you grovel, they just say 'Grovel more. Grovel lower.' So just write like a normal human being instead of like an ideological puppet. Let your words be in your mouth and their words be in their mouths.
Other than that, I found this very insightful. It helped me to understand why some things are fun and others aren't. That's actually pretty useful in general. If you can make something fun, or at least less unfun, it's easier to get yourself to keep doing it. After reading this I've started to notice not just that some things are not fun, but why they aren't. So that's nice. -
Se game design te interessa, abra uma amostra deste livro, leia as páginas iniciais e tenho certeza que vai querer conferir o restante.
A forma de escrever do autor é engraçada e direta ao ponto, acompanhada de uma visão profissional e com diversas dicas baseadas na experiência dele. Recomendo! -
RU:
Хоть я и работаю много лет в индустри видео-игр, я никогда не считал себя гейм-дизайнером. Но нельзя за все годы не научиться абсолютно ничему, особенно работая в команде с отличными специалистами. А потому всегда хочется узнать больше о том, что является частью твоей работы и жизни.
Один из коллег посоветовал книгу "Level Up!" как отличное руководство по теме.
Книга является не столько пособием по гейм-дизайну, сколько хорошим справочником по этой професии. Автор не только рассказывает о всевозможных формах каждого аспекта создания игр с точки дизайна, но и даёт примеры, как это лучше документировать и описывать.
И книга могла бы показаться скучной, если бы не отменный юмор автора, а также десятки иллюстраций, выполненных автором в ироничном и даже карикатурном стиле. Из-за них книга читается почти как юмористический комикс.
Очень рекомендую всем, кому интересна тема гейм-дизайна, а уж если это часть вашей работы, то книга — своего рода Библия (опять же, по уверению коллег, гейм-дизайнеров).
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EN:
Although I work in a video game industry for years, I never thought I am any kind of a game designer. But it is impossible to avoid all this knowledge after all these years, especially if you have a lot of great professionals around you. This is why you want to know more about a big part of your job and entire life.
One of my colleagues recommended me to read 'Level Up!' as one of the best 'manuals' of game design.
The book isn't just a game design tutorial, it is a great handbook. The author explains every type of all aspects of game creation, and give a lot of examples how to document it and keep ideas.
One can say that it most likely too boring to read step-by-step manual, but there are so many humour and dozens of great artwork, created by the author himself in a very ironical and even cartoonish style. This makes the book very easy to read, almost like a comic graphic novel.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a game design. And if it is a part of your job then you have to have it, the book is like a Bible of every game designer (by words of my colleagues, game designers). -
This is a great book. Many things said here aren't anything revolutionary, but are very important as a base for game design and shows how to avoid common pitfalls - some of which are still prevalent in major AAA titles, so a lot of this is rightly mentioned. Sometimes it feels as if there's not enough information, that a topic is barely scratched, but in this kind of book the focus is on game design in general, not on specifics. The book has a definite action bias, but its full of advice useful for all kinds of games.
I can definitely see myself picking this book up many more times to revise the basics, or use the great documentation examples as a basis for my docs.
Highly recommended to any starting-out game designer.
Re-read the book recently, was as useful as the first time! -
Just found out about this book from
this article on gaming. The article weighs up the pros and cons of playing computer games and surmises that 7-21 hours per week is ideal, especially if half of your time is spent playing games with other people (either multi-player online or real-life against each other or cheering each other on). It also suggests using this book to learn how to make games. -
By far the best book on Game Design put there. It has a great blend of friendly advice, and healthy installment of how to do things, complete with comparisons of good vs. bad design documentation etc.
If you are looking to learn more about our industry, or how to get started, this book is a great place to start. Heck, even if you are just an avid gamer with a curiosity for how we do it, check this book out. -
A good, wide introduction to the non-technical aspects of creating games. If you're looking for a programming book you should look elsewhere, but this covers (in broad strokes) lots of the other parts of making games.
Focuses more on bigger-budget games created by larger studios and less on the indie game developer, but single developers can still learn a lot from reading it. -
Didn't get a chance to read the whole thing, but I liked what I read, and it has helped us in game design, much more than Rules of Play did.
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Anyone wanting to get into designing video games has to start with this book first. And keep a copy on hand to reference later. It puts the fun in functional.
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It is сalled a Game Design Bible, and I totally agree with that. Easy-reading book with a lot of examples and principles of designing games.
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Great book. Good logical flow. Easy to dip in and out of when your looking for specifics. Lots of content related to development in general.
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One of the best all-in-one primers to game making. Of course there are simplifications and shortcuts but still a great read for any beginners and people working WITH gamedev.
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If you're anything but a complete novice, then perhaps this isn't the book for you: it does only cover the very basics of what a computer game should (and should not be), and is in essence a glossary of the fundamental mechanics underpinning games. For a complete novice (like myself), however, or for someone who is interested in designing games but needs a little inspiration/food for thought, I think this a good starting place.
It's easy to read, I found Scott to be an entertaining writer but also able to convey what is in essence a large quantity of fairly tedious information, and the amusing diagrams and illustrations did help to both convey some of the concepts as well as break up the walls of text. There's also a lot of information about creating your Game Design Document (GDD) and pitches - with full examples of these at the end of the book - which I think justify the existence of the book on their own. I'll definitely be referring back to these when I start cobbling my ideas together!
I'm sure there are more insightful / thought-provoking books than this out there - but if you want an overview/refresh of the fundamentals without being bogged down in theory, I'd definitely recommend this book. -
This book is a great overview on game development and design, but doesn't go too deep into many of the facets, so some people may think it is a bit too superficial, but as someone that works with games and knows many people who works with games, I wish more people - not just designers, but artists and developers too - read this and followed some of the authors advices. I've seen people fall in the the most obvious pitfalls described here.
If you work with games and didn't read it yet, please do. In special if you work as a designer, producer, or anything with any decision power. Your team will be happier this way. -
This book is one heck of an introduction to video game design. I loved how approachable the book was towards newcomers and even veterans of game design. I felt that I learned a lot about the process of video game design and every aspect that goes into the successful creation of a video game. Not to mention that Scott guides the reader through topics with clarity and a captivating sense of humor (and a banger chili recipe to boot). I want to go out a purchase a physical copy for myself and would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good start in creating video games.
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Interessante para quem não conhece nada do mundo de desenvolvimento de games.
Aborda todo o pipeline de produção, mas de maneira superficial. Tem alguns bons insights, analogias interessantes e várias boas dicas.
O autor demonstra conhecer bem o assunto mas sofre de "síndrome de stand-up comedy". Parece mais preocupado em ser engraçado do que em se aprofundar nos tópicos. Se o leitor não se incomodar com as piadas ruins e os trocadilhos mal feitos, a leitura consegue ser agradável. -
Great intro into video game design. It gives readers a high level birds eye view of game design. Also gives you a lot of tools to help you get started creating you own game design documents! IMO, The first half of the Book is a great to read but the second have is really more for reference if you are not making specific types of games.
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Good if you're into the massively produced, tried and true game formulas, but more like junk food, with cheap humor, if you wanna get intellectual about game design. Unfortunately haven't found a good theory book like that yet.
