Tom Hall's design tips from 1994

[Kaucukovnik]

https://3drealms.com/news/3d-realms-vault-1994-design-tips-tom-hall-part-1/

Some of the tips just reflect the way games were back then, but several parts are still undiscovered wisdom for the majority of devs.

Having a good story behind a game will provide a rich source of ideas for actors and settings. The story provides a framework for the game's world to be built on and designed from. It's not really important that the user reads the story--in fact, long stories are not welcome--but the story is important for a) building a coherent world and b) providing a unique wellspring of ideas, producing concepts and actors unlike other games. The former makes the player feel the game is really "together" and allows another of their layers of disbelief to fall away--since the world is "behaving" correctly (even if it is chaos), they allow themselves to get deeper into it. The latter is what many designers miss. There's so much you can do with each subject, but many designers tend to have a wild idea, then implement it just like the last game they liked in the genre. You want something new in your game, so it'll stand out. A story is just a handy tool to make the game unique and interesting.

If the control doesn't feel right, gamers will not play the game. It should feel natural, it should do everything you'd want to do at any point, and it shouldn't be so complex that you can't remember what to do. Also, it should work decently on each type of input device you support. If you're barely supporting something, don't bother.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Haven't clicked the link yet, but the irony of this:

many designers tend to have a wild idea, then implement it just like the last game they liked in the genre.

This has George Broussard's name ALL over it.

 

[Gragt]

I saw it earlier but have a brofist anyway.

You can see many of these tips in action in the first episode of Doom; Romero and Hall were very close and shared many design philosophies.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

John Carmack's autism and arrogance ruined idSoft.

 

[DraQ]

John Carmack's autism and arrogance ruined idSoft.

Autism is no excuse for retardation.

 

[A user named cat]

John Carmack's autism and arrogance ruined idSoft.

Autism is no excuse for retardation.

Retardation is no excuse for John Carmack.