Update: Warmups finished , A book of lenses on prototyping etc

Reached the end of the InsurgentX tutorials. Was a nice warmup.

Spend most of the time yesterday trying to find the game elements that reoccur in each game type. Wikipedia lists a ton of genres but I think that most genres contain reoccuring elements. So I've done a lot of brainstorming, mindmapping and sketching on A4's to find them. Considering comparing screenshots to find recoccuring elements.

I've discovered that I kinda already know why you should prototype and think I have a good idea of what method to use when. I just haven't put this into practise yet. My biggest obstacle to overcome is definitly the technical and practical hurdle and not so much the theoretical.

I had some spare hours today that used to read the chapter about iteration in 'The Art of Game Design: A book of Lenses' by Jesse Schell'.  I was pleased to read that he also states that the primary focus of prototyping is to answer questions. He has a lot of pointers on what to consider when designing/building prototypes so I'm reading through those.

As I try to find recoccuring game core elements among genres I did discover that it would be best if I focussed on 1 genre that interests me the most for the time being and then implement/rebuild the flexibility of the environment afterwards. I was kinda planning to do that anyway.

There are 2 types of games that really interest me at the moment. They are a platforming environment & top down environment suited for simple multiplayer gameplay. I want to explore fairly geometric simple multiplayer gameplay. Easy to learn hard to master.

The other is exploring expressive concepts through abstract visuals. This is the arty side of mine.

The arty side is the most experimental which doesn't just focus on fun, the multiplayer side likes to make fun engaging games in which the player can grow in skill over time.

First I need to learn to build game elements though before I can really focus on expression or engagement. I think starting off with editor script tutorials by the walkerboys and doing the platformer tutorial would be best. During these tutorials I'll learn how to make a spritemanager in unity and build the 1st level of mariobros1. They also cover how to go about designing a tool which should be really helpfull when I design the elements to extend Unity with.

I'm also considering designing multiple simpel prototypes geared towards top down multiplayer and platforming gameplay and build those on set days that I reserve for experimentation. That way I don't just follow instructions but put them in practise aswell.

So in short: Lot's of things to decide but I think I'm heading in the right direction and I'm on schedule.