Lisa Brown

It's difficult to answer without seeing specifically how you work, but here are a few guidelines (funnily enough, I'm teaching a workshop about fast prototyping next weekend!). The most general tips are "scope down and stop caring." More specifically...

---

1) What is the goal of your prototype? What are you trying to test, specifically? Figure out ahead of time the bare minimum you need to try to prove an idea is fun. Your prototype won't necessarily resemble this in the end, but if you start by trying to get there as fast as possible, then you'll get to the iteration faster.

---

2) Prototyping is all about proving a feature with as little work as possible. Are you making the most use of existing frameworks? I am a perfectly capable programmer but I still prefer things like Construct 2 for prototyping because of how quickly I can put something together in them. I also make robust use of plugins and scour the forums for people who may have done something kind-of-sort-of like what I'm trying already, so I can assimilate that to get to my goal faster. Remember, it doesn't need to be efficient, it doesn't need to be a foundation for the game, it can be ugly, hacky, it can be smoke and mirrors, as long as it gives an idea of what you want the core experience to be. The prototype will be thrown away to make way for the final game, so take advantage of this flexibility.

---

3) Are you comfortable with making something sloppy and broken? Some people struggle with this and are held back because of a sense of unease, especially if they hold themselves to high coding standards. If this is a struggle, practice making things under a time limit and showing them to the world. What can you make in an hour. Show it no matter what, even if it doesn't even work. The showing makes you accountable.

---

I should mention here that I consider prototyping very different from making a game for a game jam. In a game jam game you still have to worry about things like connectivity and making a full experience. A prototype is a tool to help you explore and assess the potential of an idea.

---

A long while back I was part of a workgroup topic exploring best practices and methodologies for prototyping. It's more about showing the value of prototyping to different departments, but there might be some useful stuff in there, especially the resources section at the end.

---

http://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/ph08/ph08r4.htm

---

Again, it's difficult to advise without knowing specifics, so if you want to chat about it more, just poke me on twitter or something.

View more

The same way you get to Carnegie Hall.

---

It is a slow burn of practice, but like all things involving skill, Nuclear Throne can be *deliberately* practiced. There are skills that can be isolated. One time I got so frustrated with my flailing, wayward shots that I restarted the game every time I missed a single shot for like 45 minutes. It was tedious but it helped me understand the inaccuracy model better, and helped me be more deliberate in my aim.

---

I think playing Melting is a great way to get better. His low health makes him scary for beginners but he teaches you how to keep yourself safe. Lots of times I'll play a few warm up rounds with Melting before I jump in with Crystal, and it helps me be less careless.

---

Another thing that helps is getting over the paralysis fear of "I don't know which mutation to pick aaaahhh!" Don't worry about making a stupid choice, just make an *informed* choice. Make the best choice with the information you have and try and be perceptive about the results.

---

If you stream, rewatch your streams. It's often easier to see your mistakes when you're not "in the moment," so you can internalize them for next time.

---

Practice practice and keep having fun!

View more

I don't think this is a particular thing that interviewers look for across the board, but rather when I say that he liked my design sense I mean that I was just very honest about what I value in design and it happened to align with what he also valued in design. I don't remember too many specifics of the conversation, but I think i recall him asking me what I thought the most important thing in design was, and I said iteration, and explained my reasoning, and he totally dug it. We got excited talking about the answers to my questions, and discussing hypotheticals.

---

It was more about my being honest. I answered the questions not with the mindset of "what does this person want to hear?" but rather what I thought the answers were on a personal level. I was just being myself, and being honest, and it happened to be a good fit with what he valued in a designer (I could tell because shortly into the interview it started feeling less like an interview and more like just having a conversation about design)

---

It can be surprising in AAA to see how different studios are in terms of what they look for and value in design (I'm sure this is true of all game development, I just noticed it in AAA). One studio might value tone and experience design and another might focus on low level gameplay systems, etc. The same designer interviewing at both places might get completely different responses. They might get rejected at one and hired at the other based on nothing to do with their skill or experience, but instead the values and needs of the studio.

---

Some places you can prepare for this in advance, but I think it's also good to be honest with yourself about what parts of design excite you, and try and represent who you are as a designer in an interview instead of trying to match up with what you think they are looking for. I think the first method is a better way of finding a place where you'd fit well and enjoy the work.

View more

1. Raven - I love watching these guys at work and play, and there's a bunch of them out here. There's a group up in Stough Canyon that are delightful to watch when they court one another, with all of their acrobatics. They are so clever and HUGE compared to the crows, and I just think they're wonderful

---

2. Pileated Woodpecker - we used to have one of these monsters living in the woods next to my childhood home, and it was super cool to see! They have very dinosaur-like faces and one time one came and pecked on the house and it sounded like someone was jackhammering the roof! I mostly like them for the fond memories of the particular one that inhabited my adjacent woods. He became a familiar face in the neighborhood.

---

3. California Condor - I love birds of prey as a whole, but man if you've ever seen one of these guys in person it just amazing. They are SO BIG. Their talons are SO BIG. They're like dinosaurs! And seeing one spread its wings is amaaaazing!

View more

Noting all the caveats (I'm not going to say that one path is better or worse or that studio work is "required"), I will say that these are the things I think a person gets out of working at a big studio:

---

- You learn a LOT at a highly accelerated rate, just by the very nature of being surrounded by a bunch of other people who have a lot of experience.
- You learn how to ship titles. There's a lot of advice out there for indies on how important it is to get the experience of finishing projects, but man is it hard! In a studio, you're likely going to get the experience of the full pipeline because that shit's gotta get DONE.
- You learn a lot about the inner workings of teams across departments, for good or for ill, there is a ton going on to observe.
- You learn to take on a sort of disconnect from a game, how to treat it as it's own beast to whom you are contributing care. It can be a useful skill to enable on your own independent stuff, but very different than a project being a very personal extension of yourself.
- At a lot of established studios there are really, really, REALLY smart people that you have access to learn from that you don't necessarily get access to as an independent, because of how these smart people prefer to work in a specialized setting. Soooo many smart people!

---

Now, don't get me wrong, there's a lot to be learned going independent straight out of school, it's just a different batch of things to learn. I think an important thing to remember is that if you, go do studio work, you're not beholden to it forever. You're not giving up your indie card or whatever. You could work at a studio for a year or two, decide that you hate it and move on, and you will still have absorbed some really valuable learning experience.

---

I think another important thing to remember is that there is a vast world of game development between the ever-fragmented "indie" and the big well known AAA studios. Client houses, studios working on licensed products, serious games spaces, etc - there is a lot of variety in studio work.

---

I'm obviously biased, but I think it's a worthwhile experience to go through if you can swing it.

View more

This one is weird. The "indie community" isn't really a thing so much as a mass of many different communities all over the world in all different aspects of game development that sometimes overlap. Finding where you fit in a new place is always hard, and it's been rough on me, mostly because I have inherent problems with feeling like I belong anywhere.

---

I have, however, always felt *welcome* into whatever community I happen to wander. Indie communities tend to treat me warmly, and this is nice and I am very grateful for this. I have felt accepted but I have trouble feeling like I belong.

---

Do I fit in? I dunno, I have trouble fitting places. I felt it a lot when i was in AAA and hovering between there and being involved with the indies, and I thought maybe it would resolve somewhat when I made the jump. But, alas, I still feel kind of like I exist on the edge of things. I see too much or maybe something in my brain is too broad. I'm looking, though, for where I fit. Always looking. Maybe in vain? Who can say. I guess I should say thank you to everyone who ever made me feel warm and welcome in the world of gamedev. It is not you, I promise, my belonging issues are mine.

View more