Nicholson 1

Tyler Nicholson
CST 300L
October 2, 2013
Lets Play
The game industry may appear to be a place exclusively structured for gamers
with youthful ideas of designing and developing their own video games for other gamers
to enjoy. However, the grim reality is that the doors to this magical world are strictly
guarded, and once those fortunate enough to step through the doors are in, they may still
become lost in this place. The design of a video game is only limited by the designers
imagination. The development should be a process of enjoyment for those involved. But,
one must first understand the industrys structure. Then, hone the skills, craft the
portfolio, and establish the necessary network connections that will carry him or her to
his or her desired employment.
From consoles to the mobile phone, the game industry is its own society. There
are the independent companies and there are the dependent companies. There are
companies that create the hardware, software, publish, and/or develop it. Some of the
most well known publishers include Electronic Arts or EA, Microsoft, Sony, and
Nintendo. These well-known companies, among others, publish a large portion of the
video game developers games. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are also in the hardware
realm, creating the consoles and controllers that bring these games to life. Many
companies in the industry were born from those already established. Start-up companies
can receive a helping hand from licensing companies to get their hands on developer kits
that they otherwise would not be able to afford and develop on. In recent years, with the
rise of casual and mobile gaming, those looking to establish a name for themselves in this
business can develop and self publish for the open source android devices, the more
Nicholson 2
exclusive apple devices, or the well-known established Microsoft devices. From the vast
ocean of these new comers, some become well known, such as The Behemoths Castle
Crashers, released in 2008. Others become rock stars, such as, Rovio Entertainments
Angry Birds franchise, first released on Apples iOS in December of 2009. However,
most of the time these help open the doors for individuals to gain industry experience and
leave a mark on his or her portfolio.
Independent developers are not constricted to casual and mobile gaming.
Companies, in particular, Insomniac Games Inc. has been around since the early days of
consoles, working closely with their publisher, Sony Computer Entertainment,
exclusively developing for the PlayStation console family. With the corporate office in
Durham, North Carolina, Ted Price founded Insomniac in 1994 and recruited
programmers, Alex Hastings, now Insomniacs Chief Architect, and his brother Brian,
along with a few others. Together, they created Insomniacs first game, Disruptor - a
first-person sci-fi shooter, for the PlayStation - November of 1996. Doom was the only
inspiration for Disruptor(Price, 2012). The game was published by Universal
Interactive Studios, for the, ultimately failed console, 3DO. The reason behind this was
that Insomniac was able to purchase the 3DO developer kit for a reasonable price. At this
time, Sony was not known to have a developer kit on the market. However, Disruptor
would never see the 3DO; after Universal Interactive Studios, formerly owned by
Universal Studios and now by Vivendi, agreed to help publish the game but, with the
3DO failing, stated, Wed recommend that you switch over to the PlayStation.(Price,
2012) Ted Price considers Disruptor as Insomniacs training wheels. Two years later
they released the first Spyro game, Spyro the Dragon, in September of 1998.
Nicholson 3
We discussed the opportunity to create more of a fairy tale world with an
anthropomorphic dragon, and at the same time Al [Hastings] was working on a
brand-new engine for the PlayStation. Its strength was open worlds, where you
could see great distances. That really worked well with this idea that we could
have a dragon that flew around or glided. It worked well for a game which would
support vistas. Big, open views. That was, at the time, an anomaly. You didnt see
a lot of games on the PlayStation that really took advantage of the hardware in
that way. (Price, 2012)
This would be followed by Spyro 2: Riptos Rage!, in 1999, and Spyro 3: Year of the
Dragon, in 2000, around the same time as the launch of the PlayStation 2 in the west.
This was the companys last game licensed under Universal Interactive Studios before
their move to publishing directly under Sony. Insomniacs Chief Operating Officer, John
Fiorito said, that the first game of a series is always special because it is during this
development where the company learns how to create what they want, but the second
game is where they master the creation of what is envisioned, and the third is where the
developer, having already learned how to create and master the process. During the third,
developers start breaking into new territory and experimenting with new ideas and
concepts; whether, beneficial to the company or something to learn from. The rights to
Spyro were later sold to Universal Interactive Studios, now known as Vivendi Universal
Games. Insomniacs Creative Director stated, You need a change of pace, or you need a
change of environment. I think thats what people [Insomniac employees] were looking
for.(Allgeier, 2012) The attempt for change would take them to design Girl With A
Stick, a third person action fantasy game; sadly, the development flat lined and was
Nicholson 4
ultimately cancelled. After the third Spyro, it would then be two years before Insomniacs
next release, which was the first Ratchet & Clank, titled, Ratchet & Clank. The game had
to be developed quickly due to the PlayStation 2 having already been released and the
competition already developing new titles for it. Within a couple of months, Insomniac
had a prototype ready to show, and Sony fully supported their new direction. It was
Insomniacs first release for PlayStation 2, and was followed by yearly releases, for three
more Ratchet & Clank games before the companys move to the PlayStation 3. The
downside of Insomniacs Ratchet & Clank original trilogy is that they are usually looked
upon as repurposing Naughty Dogs, the company behind the Jack & Daxter games, of
the same time period, engine. I think a lot of our engine programmers were like, un, no,
we both shared components back and forth.(Allgeier, 2012) The first-person shooter,
Resistance: Fall of Man was the first release for the PlayStation 3, in 2006. From 2006 to
2012, the company would continue creating games for the PlayStation 3. These would
include six Ratchet & Clank games, as well as, two more Resistance games, with the
third being the last of the Resistance trilogy. 2013 has shown new development in
Insomniac with the EA published game, Fuse, originally titled Overstrike, which is an, up
to four-player, third person action game, and the first release from the company for the
Xbox 360. With the announcement of the Xbox One, Insomniac has announced their
newest title, Sunset Overdrive, an open world third person shooter that takes place in the
near future. The biggest feature is that this game will be constantly updated; no week will
be the same, which means, that players will constantly have to adapt to the environment.
This will be accomplished through Microsofts cloud computing to create what has been
called a living world. Sunset Overdrive could be considered a tribute to Insomniac
Nicholson 5
itself. CEO Ted Price said, the studio wanted to make something irreverent and
stylized because it really reflects who we are as a company.(Lien, 2013)
Some people may think that a game designer sits at a desk thinking of all the
joyous concepts for a video game, and to a certain degree they are correct; however, there
is so much more to the title Designer than just what sounds like a gamers fantasy. If
there were a single word to describe the role of a designer, it would not be creator but
rather communicator. Communication is the golden skill of designers, no matter which
group they are a part of. A designer must be able to clearly communicate the projects
vision that includes everything from documentations to mockups of the actual
environmental layout and game flow. If the software program is the brains of the
game, graphics and animation are its body.(Crosby). As if creating the means of
communication was not enough, designers must be able to present and/or demonstrate
these to their groups and others involved in the project. Communicate designs visually
and verbally to other team members through various methods(Insomniac job opening for
Designer). It is also important to understand that not every designer has the same job-
even for the same title-from Level Designers to Content Designers, some even being one
in the same person, depending on the company and project.
While the path (degree in progress) is that of the software engineering field, the
field of game design is the end objective. This is not to say that the degree is for nothing,
but rather, it is a small part of the whole; for a designer must be a jack-of-all-trades.
Designers can create an amazing outline for a video game, however, the programming
may be too extensive or too far from what the team is use to doing. In part, the problem
lays in communication between the designers and programmers, when the designers are
Nicholson 6
trying to explain the vision to the programmers, without knowing anything about coding.
This can all lead to designers receiving different results than what they envisioned, from
enemy intelligence to player movements. The key is to design a game that can be
reasonably programmed and achieve the desired outcomes. Understanding the constraints
of the language the programmers are using will provide necessary restraint in design,
which will result in clearer communication.
While being a software engineering major helps with communication, CSU
Monterey Bay requires students to take electives. These electives are a golden
opportunity for those outside of the game development major to take two classes. The
first is Intro to Game Design that will walk students through the steps required to having
a game approved for development and documenting the games design for development
use. It starts with a pitch of the big picture for the game because if a designer cannot
cultivate motivation for the game to be developed based on the games core, then there is
no reason for a consumer to have motivation to purchase the game based on the back of
the box description. Once the pitch has been approved, it is time for development. This is
not where the artists, musicians, voice actors/actress and programmers begin the long
process of creation; instead, this is the stage of what is known as the 10 pager. It is the
complete documentation of the game, including but not limited to: character descriptions,
controller functions, and the flow of the entire game. One designer, under the title of
Document Designer or related can be responsible for this massive undertaking; however,
unless it is a small start-up independent company consisting of one designer, the
designers of the other divisions support him or her. The class teaches the students to rely
on their teammates to accomplish a pitch and a 10 pager, as well as, the ability to
Nicholson 7
present their creation to others. Individual must have very good interpersonal skills.
Strong communication skills including verbal and written skills are required. (Insomniac
job opening for Designer)
Once students have the understanding of the groundwork behind development,
they can take Game Engine Programming. This course is designed to provide students
with the fundamental concepts to develop game programming in C and C++ languages.
(Course description) It is not enough to just write the words on paper. An understanding
of the components involved is also required because what appears to function on paper
may not on screen. An example of this would be designing an airplane simulator to use a
mouse for all flight controls when a joystick, in actually programming the game, is a
much more realistic and natural controller. This should not be mistaken as just
programming what has already been designed and modifying it; rather, one of the
courses outcomes is to Identify the basic concepts of game development, including
requirement capturing, game design, development, and testing. (Course outcomes) This
means that students must break down the desired outcome into the individual components
before development and testing of programs.
With the harnessed abilities to write out a games design and develop the actual
program for it, students can begin applying them to small projects; possibly, enhancing
those done for school projects, for the construction of a portfolio. It is not enough to look
like a spectacular candidate on paper when applying for a designer position. There must
be physical, or to be precise, virtual evidence demonstrating that the candidate truly
possesses and has applied his or her skills to a project. This is where the realm of mobile
gaming can be a useful environment in gaining recognition in the industry. There are also
Nicholson 8
free applications, one of the most well known being Unity, that allow those trying their
hand at environmental design combined with game engine design to experiment and
develop games. Create 2D maps of game levels, Create 3D roughs of game objects and
levels. Prototype designed elements, or oversee prototype by other team members.
(Insomniac job opening for Designer)
Those unequipped with the necessary skills and a portfolio that can demonstrate
them will be met with defeat at the doors of the game industry. Those that are equipped
but do not understand the structure of the industry may be met with disappointment once
in. To make it in the game industry, players must have a balance of understanding its
structure and the abilities required of them. Candidates, for the title of Designer, must
understand that there are many different designers, who work collectively in the
development of a projects vision. Designers, as a whole, are the communicators of this
vision; ultimately, using everything from documentation to demonstrations to accomplish
this tedious task. The key for those looking to become designers is to have an open mind
to the world surrounding them and to be willing to try new things when possible. Honing
their skills in writing, programming, and modeling; resulting in, a portfolio that
demonstrates these skills. In order to one day, gain entrance and guidance through the
realm of the game industry.





Nicholson 9


Sources
Insomniac Games. (2013a). About Insomniac. Retrieved from:
http://www.insomniacgames.com/about/
Insomniac Games. (2013b). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from:
http://www.insomniacgames.com/about/faq/#q4
The link below has been disabled but was used as a reference for this paper.
https://www1.apply2jobs.com/InsomniacGames/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExterna
l.showJob&RID=1058&CurrentPage=1
It was a link from: http://www.insomniacgames.com/careers/job-openings/
bbrathwaite.(2007 Nov. 20). Types of game designers. Applied Game Design. Retrieved
from: http://bbrathwaite.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/types-of-game-designers/
The Behemoth. Retrieved from: http://www.thebehemoth.com/games/faq/
Rovio Entertainment. Who we are. About Us. Retrieved from:
http://www.rovio.com/en/about-us/Company
Moriarty, C.(2012 Sept. 28). Always independent: the story of Insomniac. Retrieved
from: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/28/always-independent-the-story-of-
insomniac-games
Course descriptions: CST. (2013). Retrieved from California State University - Monterey
Bay website: http://schedule.csumb.edu/spring2014/CST#CST_320_1
Young-Joon, B. (2013). CST 306 game engine programming. Retrieved from:
https://ilearn.csumb.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=31794
Nicholson 10