[MUSIC]

Okay.

We talked a little bit about the process of ideation.

Now, one of the things we're going to do is provide a little more structure,

all right, some exercises, brain storming activities, so that, you know,

maybe if you're having a little bit of trouble, you can come up with some ideas.

The other possibility is that, hey, you're really good at coming up with ideas,

but sometimes the structure actually helps you identify the game, make it

a little bit clearer, so that as you start thinking about trying to make it,

because we're going to get there eventually where we start talking about

documentation and getting these things down so that you can transfer your ideas.

Because remember, that's one of the key jobs of a designer is being able to

transfer your ideas from, to somebody else.

Okay.

So the first thing we're going to start with is an idea tree.

This is a pretty generic exercise.

So plant three to five ideas, right?

These are just the first things that come to your mind,

things that you're interested in, right?

But make sure it's something that you're really interested in and have some passion

about, because if you're going to invest time in it, you really need to.

Okay. So I don't care if it's sports,

if it's a hobby, if it's places you like to go, culture.

It doesn't matter.

Things that you're interested in.

So I'm going to put three things up here, hockey, alternative rock, and

games, because, yeah, I like games.

So the next thing to do is take those ideas and

begin to expand upon them, find things that are interesting about this.

So not saying you need to turn the video off, but pull out a piece of paper.

Start doing this right now, right while I talk, right?

On the desk.

I know if you're watching on a phone, that might be hard, set it over here, right?

It doesn't matter.

Do it right now.

Start to branch off that tree.

Create two other branches that come off of that, right?

Then you'd be related to it.

But it's not like they have to be explicitly clear, right?

So for something like hockey, well, yeah, we've got ice or Red Wings.

But maybe it's even more interesting, right?

Sso we're talking about winter or

the fact that the kinds of drinks that you would have on an ice.

And it's hockey so it might be beer, but it doesn't really matter.

So we think about all these things.

Start to branch out.

Explore it.

Start to think about the system, because that's partially what we're trying to do

here is help you think about these things, not just as individual activities, and

it helps that hockey is a game,

but that it's connected to a broader set of systems and practices.

Okay?

So most importantly is as that tree grows,

you're going to start to think about it, right?

And you can adjust certain constraints within that, right?

So, well, maybe it's a historical version.

Hockey was different in 1930 than it is now certainly.

Think about the kinds of equipment that people wore.

What would it be in the future?

Robot hockey, right?

Everybody loves robot football.

So, yeah, go for it, right?

Think about the time period.

Play with the idea.

Maybe you put a twist on it.

It's a goofy version of it.

Maybe it's got zombies because everybody loves zombies in video games, right?

Maybe it's a more suspense-filled version.

It's a action horror hockey game.

I don't really know how that would work.

But it doesn't matter.

The idea is to really sort of stretch that space, find something interesting, right?

Chickens are funny, but robot chickens are really funny.

So take those ideas and begin to expand upon them.

Okay.

Now, you've had a chance to listen to me.

Look at your tree.

Look at your boxes.

Look at those things.

Are there patterns emerging, right?

Is there anything interesting?

You're looking for fruit.

The idea is to find interesting things.

And we do it quickly, right?

That was the point that I mentioned in the previous lecture,

is that this is, shouldn't be an intense laborious activity.

You're really trying to allow your brain time and space to explore ideas.

Share your ideas on the forum, right?

Did you find something interesting?

Scan it. Take a photo of it.

I don't care.

Right?

Talk about your tree.

Explain why you think it's interesting.

Now, you don't have to do this.

It's not an assignment.

But, as I said, designers like to talk about our ideas.

We do it all the time with each other.

And most of us don't worry that somebody's going to steal our ideas,

because we're just interested in thinking of them.

And we are all interested in thinking about our ideas.

How did that work?

It's a system of idea growth, right?

You're trying to come up with ideas, and so it's kind of a warmup activity, right?

You really want to get your brain going.

And every time you sit down to do these kinds of activities,

it's going to take some time, right?

You need to allow yourself to get into that space.

Don't give yourself five minutes.

Give yourself 20 minutes, a half an hour, because you really need to devote that

time to let your brain sort of get into that flow space, just like a game.

It's difficult to get really into a game for a minute here, a minute there.

And there are lots of games that are interested in that kind of thing.

But to really let your brain get in that flow space, you need some time.

After you're done with any of these structured brainstorming activities,

one of the key things to do is to let those ideas slow cook, right?

You kind of start it off fast.

You come up with a lot of ideas.

Let them percolate in the background, right?

Don't decide on, oh, wow, this, the robot chickens, this is totally what I'm going

to run with, and I'm going to spend the next two years making this game.

I don't know about that.

Right?

Let it slow cook.

Don't decide immediately.

The other thing is, is these are ideas that are going to start to percolate in

the back of your head while you're washing dishes, cooking dinner, driving to work.

Let them live there.

But that's also why you need a blog or a journal or keep track of them,

because as you mow on them, they're going to change, right?

Color-code them.

It doesn't matter.

You're starting to cultivate ideas.

That's one of the things, key pieces of what we're trying to do in this class,

is to really cultivate your creativity and

allow it to thrive in a space devoted to games.

Now, the other important thing to think about here is that you can

reorganize your ideas, right, as you start to create that tree?

Maybe this one was the really interesting thing.

Move it to the top.

Start again, right?

Give it structure.

And you can use the framework that we've introduced in this class,

the DPE framework, but you don't have to, right?

We're just giving you those as possible starting places.

The next thing to do is to begin to sort of challenge that idea, right?

Give yourself constraints.

Start to think about, well, is it going to be on a phone,

is it going to be on a tablet, is it going to be on a computer in a browser, right?

Give yourself some constraints.

Think about things like the technology that you're going to use.

Think about who your audience might be.

Because these are all things that a designer thinks about.

When you make a chair, it's for a particular audience.

It's no different. The other important piece here is to rinse

and repeat, right?

Just like the shampoo bottle says.

The shampoo bottle says, wash, rinse, repeat.

And, of course, you could just do that forever, and

actually with game idea generation you probably could.

But not every idea is awesome, right?

Every idea starts awesome.

It feels awesome in the beginning.

This is a quote from Jesse Schell, which says, ideas are not like fine china,

they are like paper cups, as soon as holes start to form,

throw them away and get another one, right?

Because game ideas are really kind of cheap when you think about it.

They're expensive once you've invested years making them,

which is why it's better, as Jesse mentions,

if you start to see holes in your design idea, let it go earlier, right?

It can be hard,

especially if you have invested time in a game idea, but sometimes it's good.

Sometimes you have to let them go.

I often talk about game ideas like relationships rather than paper cups.

Some relationships are better than others.

And learning to recognize what a good relationship is like

is really important when you're coming up with game design ideas.

So don't be afraid to let your ideas go, right?

If as you start to work on it, as you start to think about it, you're like, man,

I spent a day and a half on this and it's really not good, that's okay.

You just learned something.

The next time you do it, you're going to get better.

Okay.

So next, I'm going to talk about another type of activity, structured again but

different than the idea tree generation.

So I'll see you next time.

[MUSIC]

Ideation: Structured Brainstorming

游戏设计原理

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