GAME SETTINGS

For some reason, one of the features I like the most in games is an original setting. I know I’m not the only one, most teams make an effort in the concept phase of their projects to create new settings to excite the player’s interest to explore it. That’s the reason why I like games such as Bioshock (Rapture) or GTA Vice City (Miami in the 80s). Since I’m kind of the ‘Explorer’ type of player (see the Bartle test), I feel compelled to visit those new and exciting places and see what they’re hiding. That’s possibly also the reason why I like MMOs.

In fact, that tendency of mine also affects my designs. Some of the game proposals I’ve made are based on the idea of exploring a unique setting that I find fascinating. I remember I created a concept design about a free roaming game based on the ancient Rome, where the player could wander around the coliseum, the emperor’s palace, and feel the beat of that bloody and exciting age.

It was rejected because it was too complex to be done, and the producer already had an idea of the game he wanted to do, and destroyed any other potential competitor around, but still I feel it was a good setting to play into.