Development Companies

[GregWohlwend]

Hello all,

 

I'm new here and in the game design world in general and had a few questions to start off.

 

1. Does anyone know where I could find a comprehensive resource/list of all the developers in USA which are perhaps accompanied by a small description of the genre of games they create? My reasons are mainly selfiish however, take Obsidian for example, I am well aware of "Sith Lords" but had no idea who it was developed by. My main interests are in RPG developers above all others, so perhaps someone could help me out by merely rifling off a few names to chase after.

 

2. I am an aspiring game-designer as many of you probably are as well, however perhaps we all could shed some light on each others design process, specifically putting ideas onto paper. What sort of format makes the most sense? Do most of you use drawings as your main basis for communicating ideas about the design, or is it mostly longhand? I realize that this is mainly a personal preference, but as designers that have their success founded in the ability to communicate their "vision" as accurately as possible, it would seem that there is a generally accepted vehicle for doing so.

 

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I'll start off with my method (keep in mind i'm merely an amateur).

 

CASE STUDIES

 

I started with a game based off many of my favorite games(RPGs), so it was natural to thoroughly study those games. By doing case studies of specific elements of the game such as BATTLE SYSTEM, and breaking it down into 5 or 6 parts which explain the phenotype and genotype persay of that certain element of the gameplay and etc. For instance...

 

FFVII - BATTLE SYSTEM

 

Seperated into 5 sections (Experience-AP-Items-Battle-Materia). Each of these is a row in the table of the case study, and in the next two columns I list the notes on the phenotype (visible and effected gameplay, or from the players perspective) and the genotype (what's actually going on, the "math" of the functions).

 

Through doing this on multiple games in various areas of each (storyline, character development, sideplots) I can isolate certain ideas within the game and modify them in a manner that fits with the original game I am creating.

 

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I learned this method last semester at my university where we broke down certain modern designers (IKEA, Martha Stewart, MTV) into case studies through a time in order to understand the entire history and make up of successful or "total design."

 

Again, i'm quite new at this and excited to hear your design processes, different strategies for conceptualizing a game on paper, with the intent of actually showing it to people and designing it with them.

 

Thanks,

Greg