[MUD-Dev] A footnote to Procedural Storytelling

[Raph Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> Nathan F Yospe
> Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2000 9:23 PM
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] A footnote to Procedural Storytelling
>
>
> On Thu, 25 May 2000, Erik Jarvi wrote:
>
> :On Wed, May 24, 2000 at 01:15:07PM -1000, Nathan F Yospe wrote:
> :> On Tue, 23 May 2000, Lee Sheldon wrote:
> :> > On Sun, May 21, 2000 1:34 PM Erik Jarvi wrote:
>
> :> coders) has to know what her developers (be they code, sound, art, or
> :> whatever else) are doing, at some level, and manage their skill set.
> :> She also needs to know enough to make informed technology choices.
>
> :I don't understand your point here. Are you referring to the
> game designer
> :or the sound designer? I'm assuming game designer here. Why does the game
> :designer have to manage the developers skill sets?  (This is probably
> :me being out side the biz.)  I don't see the connection to the fact
> :that the sound designer in this interview is a musician, who it
> looked like
> :to me, learned about audio engineering on the job?
>
> A designer for a large product is a technically skilled people manager.
> A designer must have at least an inkling of the skills and technical
> specifics needed for any component of the whole.
> A designer must be able to see the big picture and the integration of
> the various components of the project.
> A designer must be able to visualize the end result not just in terms of
> a marketting presentation, but in terms of the development components it
> requires.
>
> I was responding to the question raised by Lee, regarding hiring people
> with inclusive skill sets (IE art and code and writing) and pointing out
> the one way in which those skill sets could translate into a higher
> value in an employee.
>
> Just look at Raph if you want an example. :)

Eep. What did I do? :)

More seriously--I'm with Nathan on this. I tell the guys on my team that a
designer should be able to do the job of any team member in a pinch. Not as
well, most likely, but in a pinch. Code a little, texture a little, map a
little, do some sounds, write a little, whatever--enough to understand what
goes on in each discipline, because the design has to account for how all
the pieces fit. The best designers are able to understand how all the parts
fit together so that the gameplay gets maximum use out of all of them.

It isn't so much that the designer necessarily *manages* those people in a
personnel sense (though in many segments of the industry, particularly the
console side of things, said person is a producer who also is the game
designer, and thus DOES manage all the disciplines).

All the good producers I have known in the industry also exhibit this sort
of multidisciplinary awareness (I hesitate to call it skill, since actual
skill isn't required, just knowing the lingo and being able to effectively
communicate with the various experts).

-Raph




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