- Paperback: 504 pages
- Publisher: New Riders; 1 edition (18 Jun 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0131460994
- ISBN-13: 978-0131460997
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 17.8 x 2.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
820,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #41 in Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Design Studies > Multimedia
- #79 in Books > Computers & Internet > PC & Video Games > Art & Design
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Chris Crawford on Game Design is all about the foundational skills behind the design and architecture of a game. Without these skills, designers and developers lack the understanding to work with the tools and techniques used in the industry today. Chris Crawford, the most highly sought after expert in this area, brings an intense opinion piece full of personality and flare like no other person in this industry can. He explains the foundational and fundamental concepts needed to get the most out of game development today. An exceptional precursor to the two books soon to be published by New Riders with author Andrew Rollings, this book teaches key lessons; including, what you can learn from the history of game play and historical games, necessity of challenge in game play, applying dimensions of conflict, understanding low and high interactivity designs, watching for the inclusion of creativity, and understanding the importance of storytelling. In addition, Chris brings you the wish list of games he'd like to build and tells you how to do it. Game developers and designers will kill for this information!
From the Author
When I wrote The Art of Computer Game Design way back in 1981, I really didn't know what I was doing; I wrote the book as a way to sort out my thoughts on game design. That effort helped me solidify my philosophy of game design -- and incidentally became a classic in the field. That book was a bunch of lucky guesses and inspired hunches. This book, by contrast, looks back on a career in game design spanning 25 years, and attempts to digest the lessons of that career. Back then, with so little experience to draw on, I was absolutely certain of my conclusions. This time around, I'm not so sure -- but I've got some humdinger stories to tell. Will this book be a classic 25 years from now? Maybe so, maybe not, but one thing I'm sure of: 25 years from now, people will still be laughing over some of the crazy design misadventures I lived to tell about.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Crawford is a legendary game designer. His game Balance Of Power might have become a series to match Civilization if Crawford had been willing to concede more to the gameplayers need for eyecandy - and if Crawford wasn't so notoriosly difficult to work with. This book is the work of a genuinely committed, witty and talented man who probably isn't very good at listening to other people, but has a lot worth listening to to say. He's never trite, sometimes (I think) wrong but never a fool or writing just to fill space, and sometimes startlingly useful.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is interesting. The writer clearly has been around in the game industry for a long time and he sure has a lot of good things to say. Some say that his tone is arrogant. Well I don't know, maybe so. But on the other hand, I thought if you don't take his tone too seriously, a lot of his stories are funny. The book is easy to read.
Some of his advice to become a good gamedesigner is a bit over the top, such as: participate in some mildly dangerous activities such as skiing, or scuba diving or so. Another one is: get friends with people with a totaly diffrent attitude towards life, such as christian fundamentalists, jehova witness, or whatever.
A problem with a lot of the younger gamedeveloppers is that in their designs they refer mostly to other games they play. If you want to become a good gamedesigner it is very good to learn a lot about human history, biology, architecture, art, literature, languages, etcetera. And this is something that a lot of gamedesigners wannabees do not study. You need a broad range of interests (beyond the computer) to become a good game designer. And it is welcome to have experience of life. But you don't need to have to do the tips Chris Crawford gives.
Another small minor point is that the author seemes to have stuck at game design until Doom II. He does not have to say much about the more recent games. A lot of his insights of the older games ("the classics") are also usefull for the newest games though.
Good book about game design!
Wouter Baars
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is one long yawn from start to finish. If this is one of the best books on the subject, I can't imagine how bad the worst could be.
It seems Chris Crawford's heyday was in the early years of gaming and perhaps the industry has moved on.
I would further add that the author seemed to believe that his readership would be men only. He's not alone in this attitude in game development but again, it's outdated.
It seems Chris Crawford's heyday was in the early years of gaming and perhaps the industry has moved on.
I would further add that the author seemed to believe that his readership would be men only. He's not alone in this attitude in game development but again, it's outdated.
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