<!--
	Title: 8 Tips and Tricks from Game Designers
	Abstract: Successful game-design wizards tell how they create
		top-notch computer games. Their secret? A combo of
		imagination, patience, and debugging.
	Author: Ken Coach
	Source: K-Power, v1(3)
	Date: April 1984
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<figure class="float-right-wide">
	<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/games-collage.png" alt="Collage of screenshots from games mentioned in the article">
	<figcaption><strong>
		1 <em>Jumpman</em>; 2 <em>Astro Chase</em>;
		3 <em>Dancin' Feats</em>; 4 <em>Deadline</em>;
		5 <em>Math Mileage</em>; 6 <em>Micro Surgeon</em>;
		7 <em>Pitfall</em>; 8 <em>Astro Blitz</em>
	</strong></figcaption>
</figure>

Who are the wizards behind the
best-selling computer games? How do
they do it? K-POWER asked eight game
designers to reveal their secret techniques.
Turns out magic has nothing
to do with game design.

Designers insist that anyone, including you,
can become a computer game designer. The designers
agree that imagination is the most
important requirement. And to put your great
idea in motion, you'll have to work hard at
developing the program and still harder at debugging
it. (Getting to know assembly language doesn't hurt.)
Now a few words from the wizards themselves.

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">RANDY <em>"JUMPMAN"</em> GLOVER</h2>

Randy Glover sits down with graph paper as soon
as he gets an idea for a game. He thinks of what
objects will be seen in the game and from what
view. The 29-year-old designer of Epyx's *Jumpman*
also keeps in mind the limitations of the machine
he's working on.

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"Understand the logic of games first. Start with simple
		things, like tic-tac-toe or checkers."
	</figcaption>
	<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/randy-glover.png" alt="Randy Glover">
</figure>

"Sometimes you run into things you thought you
could do but just can't. Other times you're able to
pull off things you thought you couldn't do."

But before you do anything, you have to get to
know your machine, advises Randy. He says a lot of
people try to design games without understanding
the machine they're working on. He also recommends
studying math to help with the complicated
machine codes. His other advice: Avoid graphics
when you first enter the world of game design.
"Understand the logic of games first. Start with simple
things, like tic-tac-toe or checkers."

As a staff designer Randy says he gets ideas for
games in two ways. One is an idea that he personally
likes. He may like a certain style of play and
find that there isn't a game that really takes
advantage of it. Or he may have a number of pieces of
ideas that he can string together as an original
idea.

Sometimes, though, the company outlines what
kind of a game it wants and what elements should
be in it. The designer then has to try to make it
work. Randy says this may seem to restrict his "creative
license" but usually the result is a better and
more popular game.

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">FERNANDO <em>"ASTRO CHASE"</em> HERRERA</h2>

Coming up with a juicy game idea is difficult, admits
Fernando Herrera, but there are possibilities
everywhere. "Anything you see can be related to a
possible game. Look around and collect ideas and
then mentally put some spice in them. Think of
absurd ideas ... let your imagination go wild."

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"It's important to know your computer inside and
		out. If you do, it's a tremendous advantage* Otherwise,
		it can be an obstacle."
	</figcaption>
	<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/fernando-herrera.png" alt="Fernando Herrera">
</figure>

Fernando was the first winner of the Atari Star
Award for an educational program called *My First
Alphabet*. The 40-year-old programmer (now with
First Star Software) is always on the lookout for
marketable ideas and says that you should be too!
It's all right to use an existing playing concept only
if you can do it differently and better.

"I believe programming is more of an art than a
science," says Fernando. This programmer began
using computers only a few years ago. "In any art,
it's important to learn some technique to develop
the skills related to the art, but imagination is the
most important thing for any artist."

Fernando also says the best programs are the
ones that can be played without knowing anything
about a computer. "Make the interaction [between
computer and player] natural, so you press the right
key or move the joystick without even thinking."

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">CHRIS <em>"DANCIN' FEATS"</em> CHANCE</h2>

Chris Chance says all his games come to him in
the shower, and usually right out of the blue. "Every
time I look at a situation," he says, "and try to
put a game to it, it always seems a little bit dull. I
just try to be bizarre, so that nothing like that has
ever been done before."

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"I just try to be bizarre."
	</figcaption>
	<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/christopher-chance.png" alt="Chris Chance">
</figure>

Chris is a 24-year-old freelance programmer and
the designer of Softsync's *Dancin' Feats*. He spent
two years programming for Atari prior to this. All
of his computer knowledge was picked up at home.

The toughest and most boring part of game design
for Chris is the last five percent of the game.
"You can work for three months and get 90 percent
of the game, and then you'll have to work another
three months just to do that last little bit, just to tie
all those loose ends together. I think that's the
point at which a lot of people just give up."

Even if your first game doesn't turn out the way
you'd like, Chris says, it can give you ideas for
other games. He recommends studying as many other
games as you can. Studying program listings can
also help you learn some of the shortcuts and tricks.

Chris has a trick that makes the Atari
screen look like the computer isn't hooked up and
the TV set is between channels. Enter the following
five lines at the beginning of a program and you'll
have an interesting background screen:

````
  10 GRAPHICS 7
  20 Y=PEEK(560)+5+256*PEEK<561)
  30 POKE Y,192
````

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">MARC <em>"ZORK"</em> BLANK</h2>

Marc Blank says the first step in writing an
adventure game is coming up with a good story. He
identifies three elements in a good adventure game:
story, puzzle, and character. The story and characters
must have quality, and the puzzle should be
fair, but hard. "If it's too easy, it won't be
interesting," says Marc. "A good adventure game should be
challenging, not obvious ... something you think
about in the shower."

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"A good adventure game should be challenging, not
		obvious ... something you think about in the shower."
	</figcaption>
	<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/marc-blank.png" alt="Marc Blank">
</figure>

"I don't think a single game ends up the way it
was first conceived," Marc says. His advice for
adventure-game writers is to first come up with a
good story and then define the game environment.
Marc uses a map to help him keep it straight.

"The most important and yet most intangible aspect
of a good adventure game is based on involvement,"
he added. "The rewards are different than
those of a regular arcade game. In an adventure
game, you must have a personal stake. More effort
may be required but you get more out of it."

The 29-year-old vice president of Infocom and
designer of the *Zork* series and *Deadline* compares an
adventure game to a novel, in that it's generally
improved with a number of rewrites. It's unlike a
novel because the author never has complete control;
the person who plays the game is the main
character. Getting the players really involved in the
action, he says, is super important.

Marc wrote the original *Zork* in 1977 when he
was working in a computer-science lab at MIT. It
was written on a mainframe computer and then
transferred to the various micros.

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">MARCIA <em>"MATH MILEAGE"</em> BURROWS</h2>

A lot of Marcia Burrows' game ideas come to her
in her sleep. She keeps a pen and paper at her bed
side to jot them down, and from there she might
work out the ideas on graph paper to see if they
look good. Then she'll see what it looks like on the
screen.

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"Even though it's fun to crawl inside a computer and
		play with its potential, it's really important to look at
		other aspects of your life as well."
	</figcaption>
<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/marcia-burrows.png" alt="Marcia Burrows">
</figure>

This freelance designer created *Math Mileage* for
CBS Software without even knowing BASIC.
She learned FORTRAN and 502 machine language —
and sold her first game — before she even
owned a computer. Marcia says that game players
want a lot more control over what's happening on
the screen. She, like the others, thinks that a game
has to be challenging but not discouraging. There
always should be a way to get a feeling of accomplishment.
Marcia also avoids ideas that are too violent or sexist.

If you're interested in designing a game, Marcia
recommends that you learn as much as you can
about computers — but not only computers. "Even
though it's fun to crawl inside a computer and play
with its potential, it's really important to look at
other aspects of your life as well. That's where ideas
for programs will come from."

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">RICHARD <em>"TRUCKIN'"</em> LEVINE</h2>

When Richard Levine comes up with a new game
idea, he jots down as many things as he can think
of to put into it. His challenge is to see how much
he can squeeze into one game.

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"When I write too fast, I have to spend more time
		debugging. Take your time when writing a game, do it
		right the first time."
	</figcaption>
<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/richard-levine.png" alt="Richard Levine">
</figure>

A computer game should be complex and difficult
to master but, at the same time, easy to learn,
Richard says. Richard, a game designer at Imagic
and designer of *Micro Surgeon* and *Truckin'*, thinks
that sound is very important in game design, too.

"The sound should be exciting and fit with the action.
And it musn't be obtrusive or annoying," he
told K-POWER.

Richard says you should begin with a game design
where you're manipulating only a few characters
on the screen. Eventually, you'll have to learn
assembly language. He says the more high-level
languages you can master, the better. But he
advises that you round out your skills in other
areas, too.

"You'll have to decide at the outset whether the
game will depend on graphics or playability, and
set in advance what percentage of memory each
will take," says Richard. He's quick to point out
that a game often doesn't turn out the way a
programmer imagines, simply because there isn't
enough memory to pull it off.

And Richard has some advice on debugging.
"When I write too fast, I have to spend more time
debugging. Take your time writing a game, and do
it right the first time."

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">DAVID <em>"PITFALL"</em> CRANE</h2>

Once David Crane gets stuck on an idea, he just
starts experimenting with the computer. By creating
an interesting picture or a unique way of using
the joystick, he sometimes can create a new game
concept.

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"The problem is that every one who has a computer
		fancies himself a game designer just as everyone who owns a
		guitar wants to be a rock star."
	</figcaption>
<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/david-crane.png" alt="David Crane">
</figure>

"Just start banging the keys," David says, "and
see what happens. Then get intimate with your
computer. Get to know as much about it as the person
who designed it."

David bounces his ideas off other designers at Activision
(he's one of the five founders of the company).
Then he sits down at the computer and spends
about a day drawing graphics and deciding how he
wants the game to look. After that, it's hours and
hours of programming in the assembly code. Creating
Pitfall took endless hours of hard work.

"BASIC is a good native language for you to master,
because the commands are easy to understand.
Then you can translate your game into other languages,"
David says.

But success isn't easy, says the 30-year-old designer
of nine games. "The problem is that everyone
who has a computer fancies himself a game designer,
just as everyone who owns a guitar wants to be
a rock star," says David. "There is nothing wrong
with that if you remember that success is a long,
hard road."

<h2 style="color: red; font-family: var(--article-sidebar);">TOM <em>"ASTRO BLITZ"</em> GRINER</h2>

When 18-year-old Tom Griner has an idea, he begins
with the most unique part of the game he
hopes to create. "Sometimes I find that what I've
got in mind won't work. Then there's no point in
doing any more work on the game."

<figure class="float-right" style="border-top: 8px solid purple; border-bottom: 8px solid purple;">
	<figcaption style="font-size: 1.125em; color: darkblue; font-weight: bold;">
		"Start with something simple that you know how to do
		in BASIC. Learn how to do it in assembly language, and
		then use that routine in your BASIC program."
	</figcaption>
<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-8-tips-and-tricks/tom-griner.png" alt="Tom Griner">
</figure>

Graphics are important to Tom, but he points out
that good graphics design won't sell a game for very
long. Tom, a four-year veteran of computer-game
design, kept this in mind when he was designing
*Black Hole* and his newer game, *Astro Blitz*. Tom is
under exclusive contract to HES. But before signing
on with them, he wrote five games for Creative
Software.

A truly popular game needs to have well-designed
game play, he says. Also, players shouldn't have to
wait for things to happen, and the movements
should be smooth. He also says that the game speed
can't be so fast that it's frustrating or so slow that
it's boring.

And you'll have to learn assembly language.
"Start with something simple that you know how to
do in BASIC. Learn how to do it in assembly language,
and then use that routine in your BASIC
programs. From there you can add more routines."

<div class="clear-float"></div>

---

KEN COACH *is a New York freelancer who
writes about consumer electronics.*
