I don’t want to start the discussion again whether design or technology should be law when developing a game. I posted my thoughts in the post The rise and fall of game projects so don’t worry. You won’t find a theoretical discussion about game development ethics dos and dont’s.
What I want to show here is a guy (I’m sorry if it’s a team and I don’t know) named Johan Peitz. If you love good games you should check out his site Free Lunch Design
. This guy is awesome and in my opinion the only guy out there who understood what’s all about game development. Check out his site. His game Icy Tower is an award-winning blockbuster he wrote. What did this guy do? He takes game engines like allegro and concentrates on what he can do best. Developing games. And hell yeah he is a real game developer. Alex the Allegator, Harold’s Hills or the incredible Happyland Adventures are only few to mention here. This games are so addicting.
But he also understands to try new ways for his games. Check out Frog Hunt. Senseless? Yes and No. Both answers are right. There are only two possibilities. You understood the sense or you didn’t.
Why so much advertising for guy I don’t know? Because he is at moment the only one who deserves the title game developer. Instead of sticking with game engines, trying to bring groundbreaking graphics or new rendering techniques to public he is programming games with only one thing in mind. Play!!! And damn yeah you play the games and they are fun.
If you still haven’t visited his site you should now do and if you are an amateur game developer or want to be one you should consider what he did. Concentrating on gameplay. As long as you don’t work for id Software which is the only game company where we expect the technical progress to be law you should do it like Johan Peitz where design is not only law but maybe (and thank god for this) the only word this guy has in mind. Many commercial and professional game studios should take him as example for great game design.
