Game Design Methodologies - posted by Ken Williams

(Ken's response to a fan's question about Game Design Methodologies.)

Every Sierra designer had a different style, but, generally, they all produced HUGE design documents. Roberta's designs were usually 500 to 1,000 pages.

Typically, there were distinct steps to the design of the adventure games.
1) A two page story idea
2) A map showing the locations
3) A longer design document - perhaps 30-40 pages
4) Artists would get involved at this point
5) Character sheets - to show each character
6) Pencil sketches of each location
7) A much longer design document - perhaps 500 or more pages

For the 3d games we did later, it was even more complex.

As to playtime, I had a rule of thumb that people would feel good about paying $5 per hour for fun. If they pay $50 they are going to be upset if they don't get at least 10 hours of fun. Ultimately, people would rather pay $1 per hour for their fun, that $5 per hour - so, additional playtime is certainly better.

My people used to confuse this sometimes, and give 25 hours of playtime. The key isn't playtime - it's fun. Spending 10 hours trying to solve one puzzle may or may not count as 10 hours of fun. 1 hour of non-fun can completely kill the whole game. I've seen games where the designer said "the first 5 hours aren't fun - because you are building up your character - but, then it gets really exciting" .. I don't buy into that theory. Anything that isn't fun isn't constructive. Focus on fun - and, don't worry about the clock (generally speaking). The $5 per hour was a guideline not a hard and fast rule. For instance, let's compare to a trip to Disneyland. It can cost $100 or more (all included) for a day at Disneyland - that might be consumed in under an hour of actually going on rides. Theoretically, it could be argued that your cost per hour for fun is not only $100 - but, all the grief to get there (parking, traffic, etc). No one complains. Why? Because the fun is good when it happens. The better the fun, the higher the cost per hour people will pay. Boredom isn't worth paying for. Fun is. The higher the fun, the more they'll pay. It's simple.

I did "project reviews" every 90 days to see how products were going during development. When someone handed me a thick document, but couldn't talk about their project - I got frightened. Developers sometimes hide behind thick piles of paper. They have 1,000 pages of design document - but are unwilling to commit on what the cost will be to build the game.

I used to take comfort that people had done the thick documents - but then not allow them into the project review meetings. Leaders should KNOW their products, and be able to talk about them without their notes. If I asked a question, and someone had to look for 10 minutes though their notes to find the answer, we were almost always in trouble.

One of my "Ken Sayings" was always "I hate bureaucracy".

Here are some old pages I "borrowed" from Roberta's design documents.
I have lots more of this - let me know if people want it posted...

Map 1
Map 2
Design Document Page 1
Design Document Page 2
Phantasmasgoria Interface Design 1
Phantasmasgoria Interface Design 2
Phantasmasgoria Interface Design 3
Phantasmasgoria Interface Design 4
Phantasmasgoria Interface Design 5
Phantasmasgoria Interface Design 6 (This one's kinda small)
Murder Mystery Map
KQ8 Design Doc