Elements of Gameplay part 1/2

When people talk of gameplay, it doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with computer games. Gameplay is term that can refer to playing any form of game, such as board games, sports. It’s the part of us that takes on a challenge, the competitive nature that wants to feel the sense of accomplishment through games in all their forms. Computer games just happen to be the industry that nurtures this innate desire for competition, if not with someone else then with ourselves.  The goal for leading game designers is to add to the gameplay with their artwork, think how it suits the gameplay and how it’s going to come across to the player. It’s through the artwork that a story can be told, creating a certain mood or theme that takes a player beyond the gameplay. By simply adding a mountain in the distance in a game will inspire the player to travel to that mountain and to climb it. Presenting goals and trophies that nourish the feeling of accomplishment that people look for in games.

The role of deciding the mood/theme of a game is that of the creative director. Their job is to oversee the development of the design of the game and to instruct people what they want the game to feel like. The position of creative director initially evolved from the producer of games who general job it is to actually creating the game on time and in the budget. But the creative director’s job is to control not just the art in the game, but the gameplay, the style, the music, the sound, everything that the player will experience in the game will have been orchestrated by the creative director. They are usually helped by a small team of game developers, who discuss the problems they may face and how to overcome that problem, then the director will work closely with everyone in the development team, the programmers etc. So even though a lot of people may work on the development of the game, it is generally led by the vision and ideas of one person. The art director for a game would definitely differ from an art director for a film because the art director for a game not only has to think of the look/feel like the film art director would, but they would also have to take in consideration the how the art would affect the gameplay and whether it would hinder the gameplay in anyway. So the game director has to think of the balance between looks and playability, whereas the film director is concentrating solely on the looks.  What I look for in a game when I play them is usually something that feels effortlessly made. Something that connects the instant you play it, whether it’s through the accessible gameplay or just the brilliantly designed world it transports you in. the reason I play games is for the experience, so I would prefer something that creates an exciting experience for the player, then for something that tries too hard, and just insists on throwing explosions and gun noises in your face to catch your attention, when in fact it does the opposite.