Ico, and Design by Subtraction
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2015
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Among designers, few modern games are held in such high regard as the PS2 cult classic, Ico. Let's figure out what has made this quiet and reserved game so hugely influential.
The influential Ico
Papo & Yo - www.giantbomb.com/articles/qa-...
Brothers / Rime - www.wired.com/2013/09/ico/
Journey - / 181260356813987842
The Last of Us - ps3.mmgn.com/News/the-last-of-...
Prince of Persia - blog.us.playstation.com/2008/1...
Halo 4 - techland.time.com/2012/11/05/i...
Hidetaka Miyazaki - www.theguardian.com/technology...
Fez - www.gamasutra.com/view/news/12...
Find out more
1UP: "Shadow Talk"
www.1up.com/features/shadow-talk
1UP: "The Method of Developing Ico"
www.1up.com/features/method-de...
Tale of Tales: "Fumito Ueda GDC Talk Transcript of Slides"
tale-of-tales.com/tales/ueda/t...
Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance)
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capybara Games, 2011)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo, 1991)
Braid (Number None, 2008)
Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, 1985)
Ico (Team Ico, 2001)
Papo & Yo (Minority, 2012)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Starbreeze Studios, 2013)
Journey (thatgamecompany, 2012)
Rime (Tequila Works, 2017)
The Last of Us (Naughty Dog, 2013)
Prince of Persia (Ubisoft Montreal, 2008)
Halo 4 (343 Industries, 2012)
Dark Souls (From Software, 2011)
Limbo (Playdead, 2010)
Proteus (Ed Key and David Kanaga, 2013)
Another World (Delphine Software, 1991)
Flashback (Delphine Software, 1992)
Prince of Persia (Broderbund, 1989)
Chrono Trigger (Square, 1995)
Shadow of the Colossus (Team Ico, 2005)
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal, 2010)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North, 2013)
Dying Light (Techland, 2015)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions, 2015)
Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios, 2015)
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft Montreal, 2011)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (Neversoft, 2002)
Fez (Polytron Corporation, 2012)
Music used in this episode
Under a Tree (Sword & Sworcery LP)
The Ballad of the Space Babies (Sword & Sworcery LP)
Little Furnace (Sword & Sworcery LP)
Dark Flute (Sword & Sworcery LP)
Com64 (Sword & Sworcery LP)
Sword & Sworcery LP - The Ballad of the Space Babies (C) Jim Guthrie
Clip credits
"Warrior in the City of Light Part 13" - Curlsbel90
• Prince of Persia 2008 ...
"Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition 60 fps test" - Birm
• Video
"Unreleased ICO PS1 Beta gameplay" - lockyixbt
• Unreleased ICO PS1 Bet...
"Assassins Creed Revelations: Den Defence" - CircularGaming
• Assassins Creed Revela...
Contribute translated subtitles - amara.org/en-gb/videos/RzpUvb... - Ігри
I remember playing Ico a long while ago. I distinctly remember, after having first run around with Yorda for a little while, I realized that running full speed everywhere while holding her hand kind of jerks her around by the arm awkwardly, and found myself trying to move Ico slower during those portions. I didn't do it on purpose, I just caught myself trying to be nice to a collection of pixels on a screen.
Of course, during an attack, I had no such compulsion, and it felt much more natural trying to drag Yorda out of danger.
I suggest trying it, if you're still playing Ico. Do a run just going at Yorda's pace. It's very relaxing.
Same! After seeing how running at full speed kinda jerks Yorda around, I ended up walking whenever I was holding her hand and there were no threats.
Played Ico in junior high, loved it. Didn't know why till recently. Love your videos, love your delivery, love video games. What mic are you using? The sound mix sounds amazing. I recently started my channel, and if you have any quick tips on presentation...y stuff that would be super helpful. Keep up the fantastic work - a fan.
Hey. I use a Blue Yeti Stereo Mic. Quick tips: surround yourself with blankets and stuff to contain and cushion the sound and avoid the echoey, hollow sound of recording in a normal room. Post-process the crap out of it with noise reduction, normalise, compression, bass and treble boost. And I guess speak up, and try to speak clearly (still working on that one ;)). Best of luck!
+40oz Gaming "junior high" *twitch* middle school.
Dog bless
A young Jakey, Lord on Earth
Legendary shiny “early jakey”
Tomb Raider inspired Uncharted and Uncharted inspired Tomb Raider. Alone in the Dark inspired Resident Evil and...
Well, you know the drill, videogames are weird indeed.
Great video.
Art cannibalizes itself to become new. Videogames are no strangers to that.
Excellent note for game designers, but also a good lesson for game players. I don't agree with telling people what or what not to like, but it's good to keep in mind that cramming a game full of side content might seem like bang for you buck when it really is just diluting the main mechanic or experience. Many simplistic games are deemed childish, but I find some of the best games are simplistic because it allowed the developers to fully craft the core of the game.
+ThunderRazor I agree, if the game is story driven. Strategy games and such, does need a variety to entice the player, as you are doing almost the same thing over and over. Though games like Total War aren't very complicated or very diluted either, as quite a lot of the features do actually add more strategy.
@@MrFanzypantz - how much variety is there in chess? Six unit types. Still holds its own as a strategy game...
😴
I don't make games. I'm a writer-- but this is still excellent advice for any artist. Cut, cut, cut.
My favorite game will forever be Tetris.
i really love this concept
What I thought was really neat (and Colossus did this too with it's save shrines) was that the benches were vaguely shaped like the PS2 Memory cards. Just a little touch, but it always stuck with me.
+Robert Moorhead Haha! I'll be darned - you're right.
+Robert Moorhead Haha! I'll be - you're right.
holy shit I've been playing SotC since I was 10 and I don't think I ever noticed that.
Never noticed that in either game! I'm playing through both right now, and I won't be able to not think about that when I see the save points now shdnnf
I see tons of games now getting promoted as a "gigantic open world with hundreds of hours of gameplay".
I prefer this.
BotW
@@commanderleo I agree, I'd like a game with focus and care put into it
A mile wide and an inch deep isn't something I want
It's quality over quantity. What good are those hundred hours if it's ultimately a bland "hallway simulator"? What good is that massive open world if it feels empty? None of these traits are inherently good or bad, but they need to serve the game's identity or feel. You can often tell whether a developer or publisher just tacked on features to "check a box" or actually put thought into them. And developers, take a moment to think about what really makes your favorite games so special. Whatever those elements are, try to make those the best part of your own projects. That level of care will make them stand out. Trust me.
@@Stinkyremy I love it.
I think, even more than how much you fill it, it's important that the open world actually shapes the gameplay.
With worlds getting bigger game designers seem to have built in more tools to help, but eventually the actual gameplay just gets streamlined out. It may help to tell the player where to go, but at this point we have tons of games just straight up giving you GPS.
Just the act of holding hands in ICO makes all the difference to me. It's a connection you make with Yorda and because there is that button to press to instigate it you feel like you're not playing the game right at the times you don't have that button pressed. like something is missing from your gameplay.
Also, I get real frustrated with gamers that just want everything in their games and refuse to buy a game just because it doesn't have a bullet point someone else's game had. Saw it recently with assault Android Cactus and people saying they refuse to buy it because it had no online multiplayer. Even announcing it as if the developers had committed a crime be not including it. The game is superb, but no online and thus, apparently, it's inferior to all other games. This is probably why we'll rarely see reductive design in the big name games. They're too scared of losing that sale.
+Mellow Gaming It depends a little on the game, but for most games that have local MP, adding online MP would not divert from the meat of the game (there are exceptions of course). I also think, that most people complaining about a lack of online MP, don't mean that the game is inferior due to the lack of online MP, but that they will not buy it, because they cannot enjoy it the way they want (aka with friends over the internet). And while this doesn't mean, the developer has commited a crime by not including it, it does in fact mean, that less people will buy it.
In fact, when a lot of people shout at you "Why does your game not have online MP??!!" you can take that as an accomplishment, because it means, people think your gameplay is fun and they want to play it with their friends over the internet.
Obviously the developer has any right to chose by himself if he wants to add online MP or not (there can be a lot of reasons why not to do it). But at the same time, I think people have a good reason to complain about the lack there of. Especially in cases, where it is quite obvious, that adding online MP would benefit the game.
Long story short, I don't think "online MP" is a gameplay design choice. If your game supports local MP, online MP is usually (as I said, there are exceptions) not changing the gameplay experience. It just opens up more options on how to play the game (similar to porting the game to a different operating system or a different device to some degree).
Yeah, but to integrate online multiplayer means money because of the servers and a ton of hours of work, both in development and in constant maintenance. If you have a small indie studio, then this can be an issue. Sure, you can attract more players, but it's a risk that many developers aren't willing or simply can't take.
+Gabirel Gallardo
So then they should just get rid of multiplayer altogether; so as to not make fans angry that they didn't include online multiplayer.
Orange Swirl Then fans will complain about the lack of local multiplayer. Fans get angry anyway anytime. No matter what. You just can't please everybody.
Sometimes I play it just so I can hold yorda's hands.
I saw the title and knew its meaning instantly because it was something learned in Architecture school. For one semester I had a professor ask me every week when showing her the new iteration of my design; "its better, but the plan needs to be more pure." It took awhile to get what she meant. I had learned you find a concept and everything you do flows from it. but I was doing it in one way. You explain here that one gets have a bunch of elements and you then pick the ones that make the concept stronger, instead of making strong elements by overlaying a concept onto them. (design by addition). Both are valid, but it depends I want you're trying to do. A garden or library can be minimal, housing or offices can be complex and a muddy concept for the sake of having an engaging, livable space.
i think it's one of the reasons why portal is still held up as a paragon of gaming perfection: everything in there supported the core experience, and it was short and sweet so it never outstayed its welcome. to be fair, the minimalist focus argument could apply to nearly any sphere of artistry - games, literature, tv shows, movies, you name it. focus on what makes it good, and pare the rest away.
The atmosphere in this game is amazing. Huge buildings and open spaces, the sound of birds and no people around. I need more games like this one, it soothes me and gives me a sense of relaxation, after being in contact with so much people every day.
You know, almost feels like sorcery seeing this amazing video in the midst of all the debacles over Star Citizen. Congratulations on another amazing video, sir, it was a pleasure watching it and stopping to think again on how polluted games are becoming with modes over modes and mechanics tackled on for more "gameplay" and "value".
More like... SWORCERY. oh god I'm sorry
Mark Brown I was gonna point at the door but it's your house so...awkward =p
ty for using the S&S soundtrack in the vid. (I love your work with both GMTK and BK, and reference it often in my dev discussions. Keep it up.)
Your intro makes it sound like you’ve just been crying. Do you need a hug?
Limbo was what hit me hard. There was no music, no HUD, no health bar, no leveling, no upgrades, no points, no color (a deliberate design approach) and no unnecessary stuff obfuscating the core gameplay. There were still places where you got achievements but they weren't even part of the goal. Everything was put into black and white with the character receiving as little development as possible which was also something Super Meat Boy embraced - The character didn't develop. Instead, the environment got more and more challenging. The characters did develop in a narrative sense, yes but they stayed the same throughout gameplay wise. You couldn't jump higher as you progressed, you didn't get super fast boots to escape the hordes of obstacles. As a result, the gameplay remained uniform throughout. I could play the tutorial of SMB and just jump directly into the last level of the game and still be able to finish it. Heck, Limbo just went with the simplest and most intuitive control pattern, so you didn't even need a tutorial even though it might have been provided. That to me was where everything fell into place. The developers worried not about all the bells and whistles and let the design itself shape the entire game. Limbo wasn't the first one doing it, of course. But it did do it efficiently. Not many can pull it off.
You just gave me a great game idea :) Too bad i'm just starting to learn Unity.
You need to check out Sands of Time if you want to see a Prince of Persia game that is really influenced by ICO.
But it is bizarre for a series so beloved and influential, Sony have been so reluctant with The Last Guardian. with it in limbo for years, it was only mass demand (and alleged threat of Microsoft offering to pick it up behind closed doors) that they're even finishing it.
+Larry Bundy Jr : Wait what? TLG was always in production, not to mention it is an IP from Sony. How the hell can MS pick it up?
+Larry Bundy Jr Ico sold by 2009, only 700,000 copies whereas God of War sold 4.6 Million. That's reason enough for a company to have second thoughts. Although one could argue that having games from a award winning, critically praised game designer can get the attention of consumers.
+Larry Bundy Jr Warrior Within is also very good.
Just found this channel, this is exactly the channel I have been looking for to try and find outside of the box ideas about game design and to further my knowledge. Thank you!
Great video. I had started to feel like this channel was more or less reviewing concepts as good or bad and not providing that toolkit for game designers, but this is a solid return to form for why I followed in the first place. Bravo.
These videos are so cool! I really feel like I'm gaining a new perspective on a whole load of stuff. Thanks for making them :)
I remember Extra Credits talking about something similar called Minimum Viable Product.
That is it's shooting for the least amount of attributes in a game, and still have the game have it's essence.
They say it should be used for any game creation because it gets rid of all the distractions to fine tuning and making the core fun before building onto. "If a game isn't is it's not because it didn't have crafting, or an open world or many different play styles, it wasn't fun, because the basic basic absolute basic gameplay isn't good."
They used creating a game like Mario as an example. "Take away everything from Mario until you have nothing. How do you create a game like that.
Well First we need a movement button, and a jump button to get over obstacles and maybe an enemy. And take away the graphics too. For now, Mario can be a black square. Then fine tune everything here until it is fun.
Repeat this process every time you add a new mechanic, because then it would be easier to find what's wrong."
MVP is actually a generic design concept in many industries. it has more to do with calculating cost and deadlines. it's not about the MVP being "better", just "more feasible". Design by subtraction, on the other hand, is about making the final product better. It's about dedicating MORE time and resources into a game with LESS features.
I agree, it's more about focusing on whats already been established rather than what COULD be established. I think minimalism is all about making the best out of the least.
MVP is more of a generic concept about finding the core of a game, yeah. However, one could say that the reason some games are a mechanic kitchen sink is because the dev team loses focus of that MVP. Mario is about jumping and landing, the more stuff we add to that the more we approach that Ubisoft "EVERYTHING IN THE GAME" philosophy. People should ask "does this help the core element of the MVP?" if not, do not put it in the gamw
I learned of mvp from the agile software world. It's basically "build something that could work commercially, fast". That's gotta help you spot the core of your game. The other maxim from agile is "big working systems are built from small working systems" which in this context could mean "if you don't know what's good about your game, you're not going to fix it by adding random stuff"
A fantastic video, one I wish I had seen earlier. This really hit a chord for me and makes me rethink some of the choices I'm currently making for my game.
Thank you for your channel. Just got here. Watched all the videos in a single day. Your channel is like the Every Frame a Painting of Videogames... and EFAP being my favourite youtube channel, it says a lot.
Keep up with the GREAT work. Looking forward to learn more about game mechanics with you Mark.
I just discovered this channel, and this is the first video I have watched, being ICO my favorite ps2 game alongside SOTC.
Thank you Mark for the excellent work, you'd make a great teacher imho.
Found your channel from Extra Credit. So hooked to your videos and really enjoy games at a deeper level. Its like I took the blue pill, but can see and appreciate the game design.
All of what you describe produces an amazing moment in "ICO"; the scenario where the bridge separates. With the many jumps we did throughout the game, I knew that I couldn't make it. Yet still, I immediately went for it. This same type of implementation was used in "Brothers" for the swimming part at the end, yet in that game it was like an "Aaaaahh, that's clever" moment. In ICO, I cannot put into words what I felt in that scenario.
Stunning video, brilliant analysis. Thank you for producing such amazing content and with such consistency.
Your videos have a great professional quality to them. The editing is superb. Keep up the excellent work!
Man i love your videos, the way you study every game it's outstanding
Hi Mark, just randomly reaching out via one of your outstanding video’s. Here to say: Thank you! Really enjoying all of these and learning a lot, even as a lifelong gamer these video’s put to words how I feel and experience games these days. Keep it up! Looking forward for more.
Cheers Tim!
This is exactly a conversation I just had some days ago with some friends about a game we're developing. ICO is a perfect example, and this video basically puts words to some of the ideas we had about minimizing scope. We'll definitively take this video into account when rearranging scope
I love it that you frequently reference Hidetaka Miyazaki. He is my greatest inspiration to create videogames. I downloaded GameMaker and I think that's actually what led me to your excellent videos!
As an architecture student, I love watching these videos. There are so many connections that can be drawn between games and building design. This idea of subtraction down to only elements that support your core themes is of particular importance in architecture as well. Thank you for the video.
And my friends berate the new Doom for not being an epic RPG with an abundance of upgrades, quests and emotional stories that lasts 100+ hours.
I loved the new Doom and felt like it shouldn't even have upgrades at all as those felt unnecessary to the core of the game.
Moses Tall Well we're living in the time that most people really can't live without those things. Sad.
+Paul Staker Was I the only one who thought of some snob saying something along the lines of: This game is completely unplayable! It doesn't even have a crafting mechanic!
Bay Laugh lol
Tell your friends to piss off back to following breadcrumb trails on the map in the Witcher 3, as DOOM was not made for them.
I have to say, after watching a few videos I have to thank you for this format. Game design for a beginner is very daunting, and revisiting games I've played from an analysis perspective is a much more fun/enjoyable way of learning, even if it isn't an academic setting. As a professional musician learning by reflecting on a topic is more akin to me than learning by reading a book, and most books I've read on game design are much more dense than these small but very smart videos. So kudos!
I'm loving the addition of the Sword and Sworcery soundtrack. I love that game but I love the soundtrack even more
This is by far the most useful video you've released. You make so many videos about different game mechanics and how they benefit or take away drone a game. Having all the interesting mechanics explained so well makes me want to put them I'm my ideas for games. This video tells me not to do that and I'm so glad it does. Thank you for this amazing channel.
I'm surprised how much I like your videos. I'm not into game design at all, but the philosophy, psychology, and inspiration that comes out is intriguing. All the content you provide should be taught before game design has begun. What makes a good game good should be critical knowledge to a developer. Thanks for the hard work you put into making quality videos. subbed.
Excellent video, Mark. Really great stuff.
We used the same design ideas in my graphic design classes. My photography teacher always said "if it isn't adding, then it's taking away". That has always stuck with me. As always, great video Mark!
The only time I've played this game, is when my girlfriend was Yorda and the way we played the game was very interesting. She could actually give me a lot more complex instructions and we could better coordinate attacks. She had a lot of fun and so now I'm making a game where you basically play as Yorda. Though we aren't using the tone of ICO. It was great and I liked it, but I think nowadays it's a tad overused and leaves less of an impression than say a game like Kid Icarus: Uprising.
I think Design by Subtraction is a great philosophy. While I for one wouldn't want every game to be quiet and minimalist, I think ditching video game conventions and even asking "why do I have this in the game?" is important. At the very least, asking this question can let you replace bad systems and mechanics with new and good ones.
Great stuff as always! Ico is one of my favourite games of all time so it's great to see you take a look at it.
I'd actually never heard about this design by subtraction philosophy and it was really interesting to watch. You're absolutely right about the sheer amount of games that feel crammed full of half-baked ideas just to, I imagine, offer more 'bang' for our buck. I recently did a video on Dead Space and when I began to examine what certain aspects of the game, such as the inventory, it was almost shocking to realise how little it adds to the experience. Compared to a survival horror game like the original Resident Evil, where the inventory was not only integral to gameplay but constantly accentuated the underlying themes of fear and survival, in Dead Space it does absolutely nothing for the experience and in many ways might have been a more effective game without it. It's literally as if developers are adding entire mechanics and features to games, simply......because. I guess in the rush to imitate competitors and cash in on trends, developers are losing sight of what makes these things good or clever in the first place before sticking it into their own game.
You're pumping these out quick man! Keep it up!
Thanks for this video, it's very insightful as a game designer. But what I was thinking as the video progressed, was that video games journalism and criticism/discussion, should be about this and not about 60FPS or hd resolutions or whatever
I guess there's room for both, and I hope other journalists do keep reporting on consumer rights issues like technical stuff, microtransactions, preorders and whatnot. But I'll stick to the design stuff here ;)
Found your channel via Kotaku a few weeks ago...great content!
Ah thank you so much! I was looking for the amiga game "Flashback" literally for years!
You, sir, *get it*. Yet another genuinely illuminating analysis. Thank you!
your videos are so calming and amazing I love them could you maybe make some about the tony hawk games
+Alexandro Collings (Zandro) I love those games so, yes, I probably will one day :) And thanks!
+Mark Brown (Game Maker's Toolkit) awesome thanks so much for actually replying
Learn so much from these videos. Keep it up!!!
One of my favorite episodes you did so far^^
Like this episode. Was thinking the whole time 'but Shadow of the Colossus did the same thing even better' so I was glad to see you mention it. Being bloated with too much fluff is a problem a lot of games face these days.
Man, these videos are so thought-provoking and inspiring. And on top of that, they seem well produced, at least to my untrained eye.
Edit: So, congrats on making awesome content!
Wow a really cool topic today, it's really interesting to hear, even if you're just a player, as a way to understand better what is it in a game that make you like it and play it again and again.
Thanks a lot for the effort you took to send your message across. We all tend to over accesorize, I'm afraid. This was an inspiring video!
Thanks for reminding me how great Sword & Sworcery is, I need to play it again
this game is beautiful. It might be old but the music and level design always left me relaxed minded.
This video is so great that I don't feel the need of speaking about these things anymore. Now I feel the need to point towards this video.
I've spoken about some of these for years, since I was mid-teen, but could never speak so cleanly or showcase the ideas properly - now I have not only words, but clean-cut game examples.
Thank you.
This freaking videos should be a national treasure. Great job!
So I just wanted you to know, I just watched every single one of videos you have released so far, and you have made me actually pledge to Patreon for the first time in my life.
You, sir, deserve more support than you have, your videos are brilliant, amazing and perfectly compliment other UA-cam channels on game design like Extra Credits.
Thank you for doing these.
Thanks so much for your support!
Ico is just such a nice boy. He sees Yorda in a cage, doesn't ask why she was locked and instead just chooses to get her out because he simply knows that anyone brought into the castle is meant to be sacrificed. And because of the language barrier between the two, he doesn't say much to her except when needed like "Come here" or if something significant happens in the plot and even resorts to using simple gestures for her to understand.
loved this. great message for anyone making things, not just video games
Man, I love your videos! You know how to say exactly how I feel about the today`s videogames
I think Inside is this kind of game. Just perfect in their simplicity
I noticed you have included short clips of Sword & Sworcery in the video. That is my favorite game of all time and the game that got me into game design. Please, could you make a video about it? Your vision on it would be very, very interesting.
who else here for blackthornprod game jam 3
Excellent writing as per usual on this episode and the editing was fantastic. I quite like the new logo as well. The whole thing feels very professional. Only suggestion is that I might turn down the backing music just a tad. Particularly at the end with the Sworcery footage, it felt rather loud. Again, top notch job.
"What really has anythign with what you're trying to accomplish?" Really well put. You just have to be sure to know pretty precisely what you are trying to do in order to boil it down.
I was about to write a gigantic commentary on this video but well, there's no need for it. ICO also opened my eyes to the possibilities of the medium. It was relatable, beautiful, simple. I admire Fumido Ueda and Team ICO so damn much. Thanks for the video.
I hope they maintained the level of quality and artfulness from ICO and SotC in The Last Guardian
Your videos are just awesome. You are an inspiration good sir.
Playing it atm. Great game with frustrating controls. The jumping feels like hell. Still a great game.
Well made video, and analysis. My only remark would be the sound quality which I found to be a bit janky at the start of the video, luckily it got better later on. Keep up the good work!
Hey Raoul, thanks for the feedback! Just so I'm clear - do you mean the voice, the music, something else, both?
It were the audio levels on the voiceover that I found to be a tad off.
Please continue to speak about game design. I am a writer, highly influenced by games and looking deeper into the making of what makes my beloved games so great, helps me find a structure to design my novels. If you look further than just the horizon of "your" medium, than you can find new ways to improve. And this video is another proof, that gamedesign can even relate to another medium. Instead of adding 100 subplots and characters, just focus on the things which works and make them great as possible. This helps me even though I don't make games. It's about the whole metaconcept of "design" itself.
Thanks for your content I connect with the reason why I want to develop videogames
ICO is the only game I still own from the PS2. Nothing comes close to the design, game play or the story. It is a real gem of computer gaming. A shame it has never been released for the PC as I would play it over and over again. Thank you Mr Brown.
I love this show. I’m re watching all the episodes to find different mechanics or visual interests from games to give my short films something that traditional films don’t. And this video I feel makes me feel interested In the idea of design by subtraction
now he made me want a remake for a game i have never heard of before.
OH MY GOD GO PLAY IT RIGHT NOW!!! It was so personal to me, and I’ve never cared so much about a character from a video game before... ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY DON’T SAY ANYTHING FOR LIKE 90% OF IT WHILE THE 10% IS IN AN ALTERNATE ANCIENT LANGUAGE 🥺
Great work & great games!
Man, Ballad Of The Space Babies brings back some memories...
Das a good game
Awesome job, as usual!
Another upload! Keep them coming mark ;)
Absolutely. Having some kind of "mechanisms quota" is the single greatest scourge of videogame design. It is true for every game that there should be one mechanism at the core and only as many mechanisms supporting that as are necessary for adequate depth.
This really resonated with me. It's not always true that "simpler is better" but it might explain why a game like Arkham Asylum from a couple of years ago is still more memorable in my opinion than Arkham Knight. The lesser Gothic series took a similar turn with Gothic 3 being much bigger and thus less focused (among a boatload of other problems to be fair) than it's predecessors. The developer then did learn from these mistakes and released a much smaller, more streamlined game with Risen as an indirect sequel. (Both examples might also drift into the territory of why open world games are sometimes bad, but still...)
I'd be delighted to see an Assassins Creed game with very few actual features. Just climbing, assassinations and maybe a very basic fighting system so that fleeing is a better alternative. No flags, no tower defense, no crafting, no hunting, no pages from some book etc.
What if you think about it in the sense that all the assassin creed games just built on the last ones... so you start with a basic concept -- beating up dudes -- then you get more complex as you go along... (I'm not disagreeing with you though, I just wonder if what you are talking about could be achieved by simply playing the first assassin's creed).
That Miyazaki quote and Ico's lack of background music reminds me: Dark Souls also lacked background music in most areas of the game. The affect of this is two-fold: it enhances the atmosphere of the environments by letting your ears focus more on ambient noise and enemy sounds, and makes parts of the game where there IS background music (e.g. boss battles, Firelink Shrine...) that much more memorable.
This is so good. These principles are well known in the wider history of art and semiotics.
A long time ago (2002) I read an article in a vanished blog about gaming for game makers and its talk about the fact thats Ico make game boundaries naturals, not forced. This article make me bought a PS2. Is a wonderfull game, is a gem, is the game equivalent to a Fellini's movie. I loved your article too.
Ico is such an engrossing game, my heart jumped when Yuda tripped in the bridge scene!
I remember watching a full play through of Ico about a year back. Haven't played it, but I just might in another year or so's time. And even though it's so minimalist and simple, it's one of the only games (or videos, in my case) that really made me feel something deep down.
I'm typically not one to be moved by games or movies. Sure, they're still enjoyable, but you won't exactly find me crying at a really sad moment or shaken when a character dies. But the whole ambience, atmosphere and the like of Ico makes me feel relaxed and calm in a way that I typically don't. Even when you're just standing about in the game. I'm yet to find anything similar, so I'd say the designers of the game hit it right on the nail for me.
Awesome stuff, man. We need more content like this on teh YooToobz.
Have you considered doing any longer-form kind of stuff? Around the 15-20 minute mark or so?
Hey - thanks :) A few of my videos are floating around 10-15 mins, but I prefer to be brief and cut out unnecessary points. It's almost like, with these videos, I... DESIGN BY SUBTRACTION *high fives everyone on the planet*
+Dave Starr I actually agree with you. I miss the old, lengthier videos that goes more in-depth.
When designing a game, you chose the core of the *gameplay* first, and then add to it things that strengthens it. Like art style, story etc.
Sure, a game can have its gameplay revolve around a story (like Until Dawn) and how that story changes but take out the story and its just blocks of information that changes. Games truly are the peak of media and I hope that it becomes easier and easier for people to get into so more concepts gets explored.
This is your best video, and that's saying something.
Just found your channel, and loving your stuff! I bought a PS2 to play this game and Shadow of the Colossus after many many years of never having Sony consoles. Totally worth it for the reasons you described.
ProfTeak You could've played it on PS3.
Well I don't have a PS3 obviously. PS2 was like 20 bucks.
ProfTeak I just don't think the game looks so good in a SD resolution but at least you are playing.
This is in some way the equivalent of Van der Rohe's "Less is more" which, I really agree with you, a LOT of games would benefit from it.
When I make games (usually game jam), I use to say that creating all your features is half the work. You then have to remove most of them...
good work ! really love your "game maker's toolkit"!
Such a fantastic concept for creativity in general. At first one struggles to come up with good ideas, but I think masters struggle more with stripping away "good" to uncover "best".
Maybe my favourite videogame ever. And I've played a few of them since 1983!
:)
It becomes really special without the need of adding lots of special features to it.
Oh, and great video. I guess that doesn't really need to be said since all your videos have been great. :)
+WaddleDee105 Expressing the fact, that you liked the content someone else did, should always be said =)
What a great video ! AGAIN
I truly love to say that a strong vision is key, that sacrificies/cuts are always better choies than no choice at all. Many people in the industry should approve on the paper. Question is this: how many of us are really capable to do what's necessary for the best of a game ?
Deleting assets or killing features is easy. Everyone is ok with that...until It's your work that is about to vanish. Artists, Programmers or Designers, whatever... when we don't know exactly where the project is going (the normal situation in many studios I guess), many people prefer to focus on their work, their contribution, their "self" in the game. So It's really hard to make them approve that "It's better that way".
Seeing your work thrown to the trash, consider why, approve it and restart with the same motivation, It is key. Let just hope the creative director is reliable and we all understand the meaning of professionnalism.
Anyway, thanks again for your videos. Can't wait to see what is next !
(Want to try one of my Mario Maker levels ? :) (DE48-0000-00A6-2598)
One of my favorite games. It’s really an art piece
“Find the core of the game, then ruthlessly prune everything that didn’t support it.”
That is a a brilliant philosophy for design.
beautiful video and videogame
Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.
(roughly: I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.)
- Blaise Pascal (about 400 years ago)
I really love this reasoning of aiming for impact and depth rather than just a range of broad features
I'll try applying this design philosophy to my first short film, not only because it's a good philosophy, but because it was so well presented. I do have a main-core-center-essential-foremost theme I want to convey. The problem is the dozen other themes trying to share the spotlight by force.
This video has helped me a lot on the design of my own game, Misfortune. It's a tabletop RPG but the design philosophy is still sound.
The game started as a small side project, but now it's becoming my first game to release, being a very unassuming black-and-white game of meager 6000 or so words. But to me, the game is very much ABOUT something. And that's what I love about it.
Thanks for making this video, I love your videos, but this in particular has a soft spot for me. I've watched it a dozen or so times, just to remember how to stay on track with my own designs.
Two years has passed, this video is already five years old, and yet, I find myself coming back every couple of months.
I have long since released Misfortune, and have actually released some smaller games after. Now, I'm looking at a project of unprecedented scale for myself. I'm talking a game halfway to D&D. And more than ever, I want to keep this video in mind. To me, this video is still special, maybe even the most important piece of game design advice I have come across.
Thank you, Mark, this video is still worth it.
thanks for your videos are awesome!!
Thank you!