{"id":72,"date":"2009-03-25T19:15:48","date_gmt":"2009-03-26T02:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/?p=72"},"modified":"2009-03-25T23:39:26","modified_gmt":"2009-03-26T06:39:26","slug":"gdc-09-game-design-challenge-%e2%80%9cmy-first-time%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/?p=72","title":{"rendered":"GDC 09 Game Design Challenge: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My First Time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHT SESSIONS of GDC every year is the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Game Design Challenge,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d conceived and moderated by the gregarious Eric Zimmerman. The concept is simple: Three game designers are asked to come up with a viable game concept on a topic outside normal game conventions. In previous years, challenges ranged from designing a game that could win a Nobel Peace prize to a game based off the works of Emily Dickinson; last year, former Infocom designer Steve Meretzky won for designing an interspecies game (in his case, one that involved bacteria). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concept married two concepts rarely seen in videogames: autobiographies and sex.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>On hand to defend his title was Meretzky, challenged by Sulka Haro (lead designer on HABBO) and the team of Heather Kelley and Erin Robinson. Oddly, Valve\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Kim Swift, one of the main designers on Portal, was originally scheduled to be part of the panel, but \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for reasons left vague — was asked by Valve to step down due\u00c2\u00a0to the sexual theme of the contest. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153OUR FIRST TIME\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

First up was the team of Kelley and Robinson, which, as it turned out,\u00c2\u00a0was initially supposed to be just Kelley. Robinson explained how she got involved. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Heather was complaining about having to suddenly do this big talk and I said , \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhy don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you have a game where you have to count ceiling tiles?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and suddenly I was a part of this.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concept was a simple one, based around fast-paced WarioWare<\/em>-like microgames. Each team member designed a level comprised of split-second games that would eventually lead up to the main character\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first sexual encounter. In Kelley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s level, your character (in this case, female) first had to pick the most uncomplicated outfit. Then, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shave the Leg!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Remove All Garlic From Your Food!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pick the Sexiest LP! and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Fall Off the Top Bunk!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In Robinson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s level, it started with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Find a Radio Station that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Country!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Buy a Non-Scary Condom!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Make the First Move!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unbuckle!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Call My Best Friend Alice Afterwards!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the meta-game tying all the minigames together was an embarrassment meter at the bottom of the screen \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in keeping with the first time\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motif, you had to keep things as awkward as possible without going over the limit, or else the first time wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen. In all, a\u00c2\u00a0simple but workable game concept. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153YOUR FIRST TIME\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up was Sulka Haro, who started by describing a few false starts before settling on a concept. To start, he toyed with the concepts of genetics and evolution, and a platform shooter in which a sperm raced to \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, you can fill in the blank. Haro joked that it was a game that could scale to 500,000,000 players, but didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite fit the theme of theme of the challenge. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, Haro settled on a game involving user-generated content called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your First Time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Each round would have four anonymous players sharing experiences on various topics (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153movement,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153color\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, and then picking an image to go along with their description (which could theoretically use Flickr as both a broad image base and a way to filter out pornographic images). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the concept might not sound thrilling, Haro actually prototyped the game and the results turned out to be both humorous and touching. One image of a cricket prompted a story where a bug flew into a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mouth just before their first kiss, creating an incredibly awkward moment. Another was a picture of a campefire, which led to a story of someone freezing their ass off at camp and the memorable experience of huddling with a girl and the feelings it produced. Of course, the concept could be easily exploited, but it was certainly an interesting take on such a narrow topic. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153WAIT \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 TIME PASSES\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, it was Meretzky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s turn, starting off with an image of his head happily moving around a baseball diamond. Like Haro, Meretzky offered a look at several false starts, including the problems of naming his game, since almost every game could be construed as sexual if you look hard enough (Pole Position, WoW!, the list went on). He came up with several games that were riffs on modern culture (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Call of Booty,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dildo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hump Hump Revolution\u00e2\u20ac\u009d). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Meretzky talked about his past, that he was a huge geek who felt out of place in high school, ultimately accepting it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t some phase that that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d grow out of, and finding himself a bit more comfortable when arriving at MIT. He finally came up with a concept he was familiar with: an interactive fiction game, with three acts going through various stages of his growth. But then Meretzky realized he could go one step further: instead of a simple text adventure, he could create a visual adventure in the world of Second Life<\/em>. This offered several advantages: a pre-existing user base; an obvious business model; speed to market; and an audience already comfortable with sexual content. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As for the story, Act I would be a miserable experience, based off Meretzky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s high school days. No matter how perfectly you played, you couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get laid. Act II was set in college, where things improved slightly, and Act III would be a series of vignettes where you finally succeed and even return to your 25th<\/sup> high school reunion as a success. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At this point, Meretzky said that he realized there was a better conclusion than his reunion. He recounted a tale from several GDCs back where his father was ill and passed away, forcing him to juggle several speaking engagements. Even though he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d only told a few people what was going on, it seemed everyone was offering condolences once he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d arrived at GDC. And so he felt as if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d left one extended family and returned to another one, a group where he felt accepted, miles away from his memories of high school. You could tell this meant a great deal to Meretzky, a touching moment in a session where humor is usually the order of the day. And so he wrapped up by explaining how this held the theme of his game together: hope. No matter how much of an outcast you feel like, your time will come. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And The Winner Is: <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, it was time for the crowd to vote, with former competitor Brenda Brathwaite acting as an impartial judge. Personally, I thought Meretzky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game was the one I was most interested in playing, ultimately a graphical adventure with both emotion and humor, followed by Haro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and then the team of Kelley and Robinson, which seemed like a workable casual game but one you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d finish in an hour.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The audience disagreed, staying close across the board, but ultimately it was Kelley and Robinson who were voted the winner, followed by Meretzky and then Haro. As prizes, Zimmerman had picked up some prizes both game- and sexual-themed (a truth or dare game, and sexual-themed dice and cards), and the announcement that the Kelley-Robinson team would be back next year to defend their title. But really, the winner is somewhat irrelevant, as the joy of the session each year is seeing these designers create viable game concepts out of the craziest ideas. If you can make it to GDC next year, get it on your schedule and don’t miss it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHT SESSIONS of GDC every year is the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Game Design Challenge,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d conceived and moderated by the gregarious Eric Zimmerman. The concept is simple: Three game designers are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gdc-2009"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}