Lead Game Designers!

[Calax]

I'm asking this because I recently replayed FEAR2 on a whim and then went running around on wikipedia and the webz trying to figure out exactly why it didn't measure up (at all) to the original. Mainly it has to do with a distinct lack of well designed horror in the game.

 

And one thing I've learned is that the Lead Designer on a game can make a MASSIVE difference. Another example of decay that appears to be due (in part) to the lead designer would be God of War. David Jaffe was the lead on GoW1 which was fantastic. But then things went kinda... nuts in the sequels as Kratos went from being a somewhat tragic figure into somebody who you couldn't even relate too, and the stories he went through were more and more... hackneyed in favor of "Does this seem awesome?"

 

So right now my list of Designers I follow ends up as

 

Patrice Desilets

Hideo Kojima

David Jaffe

Gabe Newell

J.E. Sawyer

Chris Avellone

[Volourn]

I like Sawyer, but he's been LD on so many games that couldn't even make it to release. What games has Avellone been LD on. I know he's done awesome work as a writer.

 

Certainly some of BIO's LD deserve credit - even poor Laidlaw who is being tortured over DA2 which is an underrated game unlike the overrated KOTOR.

 

EA has some good LD for their sports games as well.

[sorophx]

EA has some good LD for their sports games as well.

ahahahaha priceless

[Lexx]

I don't have any fav, because it makes me feel as if they are popstars... Feels to me a little bit like false-praise, because the lead designers don't do everything on their own.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Lexx

[Nepenthe]

I don't have any fav, because it makes me feel as if they are popstars... Feels to me a little bit like false-praise, because the lead designers don't do everything on their own.

^^

[HoonDing]

What games has Avellone been LD on

PS:T, KOTOR 2, AP, BG:DA

[obyknven]

My Top 10:

 

1. Roberta Williams

2. Al Lowe

3. Brian Moriarty

4. Lori Ann Cole

5. Christy Marx

6. Ron Gilbert

7. Tim Schafer

8. Dave Grossman

9. Ken Rolston

10. Mark Nelson

[Morgoth]

Ken Levine

Warren Spector

Gabe Newell (although not a designer, still interesting what he has to say)

[C2B]

What games has Avellone been LD on

PS:T, KOTOR 2, AP, BG:DA

 

He wasn't Lead on BG:DA. Level Designer on that one.

 

Edit: Also he was Lead on Descent to Undermountain. (Though to be fair he came in late on that one and still regrets to be involved in it.)

Edited April 20, 2011 by C2B

[HoonDing]

What games has Avellone been LD on

PS:T, KOTOR 2, AP, BG:DA

 

He wasn't Lead on BG:DA. Level Designer on that one.

 

Edit: Also he was Lead on Descent to Undermountain. (Though to be fair he came in late on that one and still regrets to be involved in it.)

Mobygames also lists him under Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. This can't be true, can it?

[Nightshape]

EA has some good LD for their sports games as well.

ahahahaha priceless

 

It's actually a fact. The idea that all that happends between iterations is a few tweaks is an absolute fallacy.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Game development is a team effort, more so than filmmaking or similar. Thus, I dont believe it's right to blame or salute one guy for the whole thing

[Nightshape]

Game development is a team effort, more so than filmmaking or similar. Thus, I dont believe it's right to blame or salute one guy for the whole thing

 

While I agree with this, getting the wrong people in the wrong positions can actually cause development hell. Individuals can take out a team, but overall its a matter of management, and decision making on the leads part that allows the team effort to occur.

 

Crediting one person is nuts, but at that level the kind of power producers and designers can weild can scuttle a project, or send it into a dark hole, or worse.

[Amentep]

I can't say I've ever followed Lead Game Designers.

[Minchi]

Team Effort...That I would go by o.o;;;

[Malcador]

Ehh, never really followed a game designer, but there are some whose work I always enjoyed. Schafer, Meier, Holland.

[Hurlshort]

EA has some good LD for their sports games as well.

ahahahaha priceless

 

Do you play sports games?

 

Because your comment shows a serious lack of insight on their development. Most of the EA big sport's games go through a crazy development cycle and manage to release a high quality game year in and year out. Each IP is different, but the Madden series and the NHL series implement remarkable changes over the course of 1-2 releases.

[Orogun01]

I'm going to go and be the first to say Molyneux. Just because I really liked Black&White and he is really good at AI.

[GreasyDogMeat]

Besides Obsidian devs like Fergus, Sawyer & Avellone I follow John Carmack of id Software. The guy makes rocket ships in his spare time for crying out loud so when he talks about gaming trends I try to listen, even though he can be very dry.

 

Cliffy B is also hard to ignore, mainly because he is loud and obnoxious.

 

Also Molyneux because he makes outrageous claims about games for fun to see if the press is listening. They do unfortunately listen and then his games come out and don't do half of what he said.

[sorophx]

Do you play sports games?

I'm not saying they're easy to make. I'm saying the "designer" in sports games is probably nothing like a designer in any other game. because, you know, save for racing games, there are no levels to design, no writing etc. you just work on the interface and game modes. I'm sorry if I don't think of them as "true designers". but I guess I'm missing something really big here

[Nightshape]

I'm going to go and be the first to say Molyneux. Just because I really liked Black&White and he is really good at AI.

 

[Kaftan Barlast]

Peter Molyneux is only good at comming up with ideas about peripheral and irrelevant game features like "trees growing in real-time!" and "if you push Y you get to watch a cutscene!"

Edited April 20, 2011 by Kaftan Barlast

[Nightshape]

Do you play sports games?

I'm not saying they're easy to make. I'm saying the "designer" in sports games is probably nothing like a designer in any other game. because, you know, save for racing games, there are no levels to design, no writing etc. you just work on the interface and game modes. I'm sorry if I don't think of them as "true designers". but I guess I'm missing something really big here

 

All this does is show that you really don't understand what designers actually do...

[Malcador]

Remarkable changes indeed, well at least on FIFA, heh. But at least it's not just roster and jersey changes as much as before.

[Hurlshort]

The interesting thing about sports game design is that they have long term and short term planning all on the same title. So you might have a team working on the next release doing minor tweaks, but you also have people working on a new iteration of a game engine that might take three years to finally implement.

 

But each year you tend to have one big focus point for improvement. It might be a franchise mode, multiplayer, or the core gameplay controls. With such a short development, you can only do so much.