Write a story and then create some gameplay around it?
OR
Think up of a game mechanic and then add a storyline to it?
I'm not asking which is "right" or "wrong" but what are your personal experiences on the matter?
I think staring by prototyping a mechanic then fitting a narrative to the theme lends the best results.
It really depends on your preference and the type of game.
For example if it's an rpg, I'd recommend story first
But if it's anything else, I'd focus more on gameplay
It depends on what idea you first come up with.
At 11/20/16 09:29 PM, Goldsickle wrote: Write a story and then create some gameplay around it?
OR
Think up of a game mechanic and then add a storyline to it?
I'm not asking which is "right" or "wrong" but what are your personal experiences on the matter?
Writing a story around a mechanic is usually a lot cheaper in time, effort and cash (if you're running a team/company) than adjusting mechanics around the storyline. Also, a lot of design concepts that would usually help you make your game better become harder or even impossible to apply when you're trying to keep anything from messing up your narrative idea.
Gameplay should always come first, and when I say "gameplay" I'm throwing game feel, theming and a lot of concepts that do not make the mechanics work but help them feel like they should, in there as well.
Does this mean you can't build games around a story? No, it doesn't. You can absolutelly make a narrative-driven game, but if you look closely you'll realize that a lot of them follow more or less the same design patterns. That's because those are the mechanics that have been proved to work with that kind of game.
Think of the recent revival of the Adventure Game for example (Gone Home, Firewatch, Dear Esther, Telltale-esque games, David Cage-esque games, etc). You'll see many patterns repeat over and over. Not because the developers don't know their ideas aren't exactly original, but because throwing something new into the mix and have it work well with the rest is actually quite hard, and it can break your game if you're not careful. Most of the time they chose one or two things to make the game stand out, and then leave it at that.
It really depends on what you want for your game and what you creativity make you thinking.
Yeah. Strange. :D
I mean : I usually think about mechanics, and when i like them enough, i build a story/universe (we can't consider mobile games often contain stories, but they have at least a universe) to make this mechanic easily understandable.
BUT
Sometimes i don't have any mechanic, I just see my game as a long film and i keep in mind some cool events that should happen in the storyline. So what to do ? The mech won't be very original for sure, but at least you will keep your player because of its interest for what you make him feeling.
Conclusion : there is no solution, it really depends on what you want to share with your players. There is no rules, a good game can be only a mechanic with a poor universe (Flappy Bird, Doodle Jump, Crush the Castle)
or they can be only a strong universe with poor mechanics (Uncharted, the late Assassin's Creeds)
And sometimes they can be both, but ofc it's hard to reach (Hotline Miami, Undertale...)
Just think about what you want for your players, what you want them to say about your game :)
I see it as: the story needs to be compatible with the engine
I don't try to build a story until I've built the platform on which it will stand.
I was born ready. My eyelashes, alas, were not.
Gameplay definitely comes first.
You can easily change a story within seconds to fit gameplay, but if it's the other way around, it'll take a while.
