We need a game designer

[hhyyrylainen]

It’s a sad day. Our current lead designer of the microbe stage has announced that he’s leaving the project. So we need a new lead designer.

Picking a new microbe stage design lead

We don’t currently have experienced designers on the team so I thought I’d also post here just in case anyone here is a game designer or knows one, who would want to apply to the team.

[blackjacksike (Weird FNAF cat)]

What are the requirements, tasks and standards for being a game designer?

Also, thank you @tjwhale for your loyal service.

You will never be forgotten.

[hhyyrylainen]

For a pure game designer to join, we’d like to see at least a couple of finished game projects where that person was the / a game designer. This is so that we avoid getting just an ideas guy who doesn’t actually know how to make an actual game design with thought put into it so that it is self consistent and also make tweaks based on playtesting to make the design work.

[blackjacksike (Weird FNAF cat)]

I hope someone will come. Have you an idea of where the dev team could find a game design lead?

EDIT:

Team Members

Wait, what?

tjwhale was the only theory team member?

EDIT 2: Maybe Zahyyy could become the new theory team lead…

I’m not sure if he had worked as a game designer before, but it seems to me that he has enough experience to become one.

[tjwhale]

Thanks Blackjack.

I think the fastest way to learn game design if anyone is interested is to make games. So make pong, asteroids, breakout etc and then add a bunch of new mechanics to them, balance them differently, make them more fun. That’s a great way to learn.

[QuantumCrab]

Its also important to note that for new game designers, your games should start out simple. Like, REALLY simple. A basic platformer, a sideways scrolling shooter (like jetpack joyride), and so on. If you can describe the gameplay in 15 words or less, then you’re probably good.

I made this mistake when I attempted to (with no prior knowledge of code) create an MMO Space themed Open World Shooter/Flight Simulator with an inventory system, crafting system, online shop, and character customization along with a dozen other features and - KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR CHRISTS SAKE. Don’t make my mistake of shooting too high, so just shoot low at first. At least you’ll probably hit something.

[Omicron (He who abuses the search function)]

I agree. It is also so much more satisfying to complete a small idea really well than a bigger idea really crappily. (This applies to playing the result too, it is more fun to play a simple platformer with really smooth controls than a massive RPG that plays like shit)

[Zahyyy (the one who spent 4 hours writing a single post)]

It is sad that TJWhale is leaving but we should be thankful for everything he has done for the project. He’s been one of the few MVPs for quite some time. And we thank you for that, TJ!
Also

@blackjacksike

Maybe Zahyyy could become the new theory team lead…

However flattered I would be, I’m afraid I lack the skill necessary as of now. On the bright side, my field of study (software development) suggest that in the future I might be more capable of taking the role of a game designer/theory team member. I’m also intrigued by the idea of creating a simple game of my own, so once I acquire more skill and have time to put a few simple games together, I’d be more than happy to apply for the position. As of now, I don’t think I would be much use, though.

[TheXenomorphian (The man without a plan)]

This advice shall serve me when i make my own games thank you for teaching me good final wisdom

[hhyyrylainen]

The place to apply is still here: Get Involved - Revolutionary Games Studio

Though you could do like a design analysis as a work sample on something posted here on the forums.
For example this recent topic brought up organelle upgrades again:

Problems i have with the game

Thrives current progression system/learning curve is flawed. Heres why: You first start the game as a simple hex of cytoplasm floating around to find compounds to replicate. this is simple and easy to understand. Once you enter the cell editor however, things begin to get much more complicated. The player is graced with the ability to add almost any part they desire. (with the obvious exclusion of organelles) This grants the player the ability to make mistakes and learn from them. it would un…

This is my comment about it:

@hhyyrylainen

Upgrades have been discussed a lot in the past. I have not seen a complete design yet that takes everything into account: starting from what upgrades from what, are there exclusive choices for upgrades, are there cell wide upgrades, can you put just some MP towards an upgrade to not waste MP or do you get a buff if you don’t use all your ATP?

[Askyw]

Alright, I’ll move my post over then.

[blackjacksike (Weird FNAF cat)]

Also, wouldn’t NickTheNick be qualified enough for this? He’s been doing the auto-evo algorithm, so it would make sense.

Unless he doesn’t have time, which would be perfectly understandable.

[hhyyrylainen]

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s already been a while since his last post. He will likely reappear at some point in the future, but he’s often gone for long periods of time.

[hhyyrylainen]

These are the kind of posts the new game designer should make:

0.4.3.0 Feedback

Does it help if you select the now working, no GPU rendering on the GUI, in the launcher? We are still using CEF as the GUI solution which runs a full chromium browser in the background acting as the UI, and that takes a lot of power as well as there’s communication overhead from getting the pixels to draw from it. I’ve talked about changing the GUI library for a long time: But I haven’t found anything suitable, and I haven’t had the time to write my own. To finally fix the low performan…

And then adjust the designs to make them better.