Recap of “By your Bootstraps”
Anna Anthropy takes a light-hearted approach in her ten-step guide to starting a video game. She cites that she leaves her suggestions abstract as to not be a literal step by step guide, but more a walkthrough. Her first piece of advice is for us to find a platform we are comfortable working with. For starters, she suggests using “Game Maker” or “The Game Factory.” She warns that although Game Maker offers a variety of creative choices but make self-publishing nearly impossible. For that reason, an older version of Game Factory should be used. Plus, it is free. For publishing text-based stories, Anthropy suggests using twine. Twine is useful for mapping out a story. While twine does not give room for complete artistic control, the narrative controls give us a good reason to use Twine for narrative based games.
Creating a character make up the next few steps Anthropy lays out. Characters are the driving force behind the story. Giving the character any image is a good way to begin work shopping your game’s protagonist. But an image is not the only important factor for your created character. Anthropy suggests giving your character their first input control. This is important because it begins to round out your protagonist; making them more realistic in the process. This is where the creator finds a verb they want their character to accomplish. If your player can jump, how high? Can they double jump? Creating these basic inputs as to how you want your character to move will drastically help you when you begin to map out levels later on in the game. She also suggests creating a second character, but I find that unnecessary. Conflict can be against one self or a larger presence that can be characterized through words instead of creating an entire second player.
Similar to creating a character, Anthropy offers similar advice for creating levels. The levels should tell part of the story. She says not all levels need to be complicated and I agree. I think that challenges should be spread sparingly and increase during the duration of the game. A challenge or puzzle at the end of level 1 can become a generic puzzle that precedes a finer more difficult final puzzle on level five. Again, she suggests finding a universal verb that becomes the focus of the level. If you want the player to fly, create a map that would be similar to the stresses and challenges of flying. Maybe add in dark clouds that zap every two seconds. Add in birds that fly at the character. The level needs an overarching verb and challenges that continue to get more difficult as the game goes on.
Her final suggestions are workshopping skills. It is never a bad idea to have others view your game. Afterall, if we are making a video game, I am sure it is designed for others to enjoy. So why not? Support from professionals, friends, or family will help bring out the best in your game. It all starts with a good platform to work on. A good character, story, and level will come with work, workshopping, and applying feedback.
