Establishing a creative vision Alexandre Mandryka gamewhispering.com

Who’s this guy? Born in Paris 12 years as a designer/creative director Ubisoft, Relic, consulting

WHAT IS A CREATIVE VISION?

Have you asked yourself these questions? Is it fun? Is it good? Is it beautiful? Questions so vague they are dangerous

What is a creative vision? It is a process It is thinking of what you want for your audience It is also inspiring your team with a clear target Thinking before acting

Game Meaning Mandate Player Experience Clear rationaleRallying target  Focus creative effort

It can be very concrete “The people’s car” A car for every family The specs followed Reichsmarks max Economical usage 5L/100Km 100Km/h 600Kg maximum Fits 4 to 5 people Mandate

A message to the world “Dad, thank you for showing me that there is honor in looking back and respecting the past.” Meaning

Private Ryan: It doesn't make any sense, sir. Why? Why do I deserve to go? Private Reiben: Hey asshole! Two of our guys died trying to find you all right? Captain Miller: Earn this.

Old James Ryan: Tell me I have led a good life. Ryan's Wife: What? Old James Ryan: Tell me I'm a good man. Ryan's Wife: You *are*. It is our responsibility to be worthy of the sacrifice of our elders Meaning

“Need for speed, but at night” How do you represent speed at night?  Use lights  Bunched to create contrast  Reflection is needed  Ground has to be wet Helps find the right questions and make decisions Player Experience

Meaning Mandate Player Experience Abstraction Time

TOP DOWN PROCESS Define your project Communicate your vision

- Features - Systems - Rules...

Doing things in the right order ExecutionReflection Consumption Heading straight for execution leaves results to chance, which is a largely unacceptable process at industrial level

Doing things in the right order ExecutionReflection Consumption It then helps direct execution and becomes a rationale evaluation metric First establish your vision

We start wrong for different reasons  Mainly because we don’t know better  It reassures us, we need concrete progress  I’ve seen it at all levels  Also because we use the player perspective

Understand your material Mandate Make a Mario Kart like

Analysis takes time Mandate Romeo and Juliet + Modern times Over 300 years

Ubisoft’s long process Core team Research for 3-4 months 3-4 days workshop – Offsite – In a castle – With the CCO

Communication: Not an exact science

Avoid misinterpretations Mandate Make a movie about WWII

Team Implementation Creative Business Communicate through different layers Meaning Mandate Player Experience Rational flow  Creating a unified vision  Not what individuals ‘like’

Establishing Player Experience ProfessionalGamer

An audience is mesmerized

Technique is at the service of intention Shaky camera Slightly out of focus Sound is distorted Looks into camera

TEAM DYNAMIC & BOTTOM UP PROCESS Engage your team members Support creativity

Being creative Malsow’s hierarchy of needs Abraham Maslow

Intrinsic needs CompetencyAutonomyPurpose

Respect competencies Competency Autonomy Purpose Give a problemLet me find a solution

If you don’t... Strong visionNo team engagement Vision must be rationale Let the team member find their solutions

Supporting Bottom-Up Process Vision Game Features Coding Design Art Engage your team disciplines Do the team specialists understand and share it? They deliver the features They are specialists, They know best

The Sands of Time

Creativity VS Management Finding the creative core takes times It can fail Creativity is about finding something hidden Management is about limiting uncertainty  What is needed is Creative Management

Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4 Gold Ideas  Understand creative process (vision, brainstorm...)

Take away You are a creator, not a gamer anymore Understand creativity and respect it Establish a clear objective and work as a team

Alexandre Mandryka gamewhispering.com