Kai Zheng @devilpie

@momognchng56290 Only time will tell. Varsa Pura is the company's first modern city open world game.

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #9: Designing a modern open-world city without a real-world reference is rarely a good idea. Have you ever explored a video game street that felt slightly off — too wide, too clean, more theme park than a place where people live? That usually means the team never locked a real-world city reference or stopped following the reference. “Worldbuilding” is a misleading phrase for inexperienced teams. It makes a 100% original city sound like the ultimate creative flex. In practice, it is often the fastest way to drain time and budget. Most game artists and designers are not urban planners or civil engineers, which means there will be a steep learning curve and months of extra pre-production. The strongest open-world cities are often grounded in existing places. GTA V studies Los Angeles. Watch Dogs Legion studies London. Even Cyberpunk 2077 inherits Night City from Mike Pondsmith’s sourcebook. Those teams researched geography, culture, history, architecture, road design, traffic patterns and more, then reimagine the city based on their game's theme, style, gameplay, and scope. Often, that means  distilling the city down to its core elements, and using those elements to build a psychological caricature that feels truer to the human memory than a strictly accurate replica. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. If a unique, fictional city is a key part of your narrative or gameplay, then it may be worth the time and budget to create a new city from scratch. But make sure you hire the right experts, and that you have a clear vision for the city’s geography, culture, and history before you start building. If you are interested in a deep dive into my process for translating a real-world city into a game-ready world, leave a like or comment. #gamedevelopment #gamedev

@kkkhhhhh234 You are definitely not alone on that opinion.

@d02363 这个方法很必要，因为现实世界100%直接照搬的可能性基本为零：）

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #10: Be honest about who the game is for. Is it for Investors? Players? Yourself? There is no wrong answer. But you cannot optimize for all three. Restaurants already figured this out. A fast-food chain, a Michelin restaurant, and a home kitchen are all “food businesses.” They share almost nothing else: cost structure, staffing, target customer, what “success” even means. You cannot run all three with the same people. Games have the same problem now. The industry is no longer one business. Treating it as one is how good teams get assigned the wrong product. A few mappings I find useful: * Live service often works like a fast-food chain — high volume, seasonal menus, operations first. * A lot of mobile is snack food — cheap, quick to consume, built for everyone, but not for anyone in particular. * Premium AAA wants to be fine dining: guests with money and time, a kitchen that wants to be proud of the plate. * Many indie games are home cooking. You make it because you want to eat it. Everything else is secondary. None of those is clearly better. They just require different teams, different priorities, and different definitions of “good.” A pattern behind recent high-profile failures is a category error: first-party studios built for authored single-player games, then told to operate live-service multiplayer. That is asking a talented sushi kitchen to run a burger chain. Next time you start or join a new project, ask the unglamorous question out loud: who is this game actually for? Be honest. Because the right team for the right product is the only way to make a good game. #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #8: Shared context is the key to effective collaboration. Picture this: a new pod is assembled to prototype a boss fight. The animator insists on movement fluidity and realism, while the combat designer wants exaggerated, telegraphed animations for clarity. Without a shared context of the game's core pillar (e.g., "Is it a grounded, realistic game or a stylized, arcade-like game?"), the pod struggles to make a decision and ends up with a disjointed prototype. This is one of the most common challenges in game development. We often assume that everyone on the team has the same context, but that's rarely true. Each team member has their own perspective and knowledge, which can be a blessing or a curse. The most effective team members are those that actively work to surface and share context, and then use that context to help everyone make better decisions. So here's my advice: next time you encounter a disagreement, instead of asking "Who's right?", ask "What context are we missing?" and "Who has that context?". Then work together to fill in the gaps. #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #7: To be a better game designer, find inspirations outside of games. As game designers, we often default to looking at great games for inspiration. But that can lead to derivative designs. Each video game is like a painting of a universe inside the designer's mind. To find inspiration exclusively from other games is like making a painting of other paintings. To create something truly original, I suggest leaning into the power of Combinatorial Creativity: taking ideas from different sources and combining them through the lens of our own unique perspective. Shigeru Miyamoto created the Legend of Zelda series by drawing from his childhood memories of exploring the woods and dark caves around Kyoto without a map. Will Wright created The Sims by combining his knowledge of urban planning and systems theory. Brendan Greene's' PUBG was heavily inspired by the film Battle Royale, and The Hunger Games series. The idea is simple: experience new things, develop diverse interests, and internalize those ideas. Pretty soon, you'll have a much richer palette of ideas to draw from. Do you have a favorite non-game source of inspiration that has influenced your game design? Please share in the comments! #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #6: When designing linear levels, use the Kishōtenketsu (起承转合) structure. Originally a narrative structure from East Asia, Kishōtenketsu is a four-part structure that can be applied to a level's gameplay and narrative pacing. It consists of: 1. 起 (Introduction) - Introduce the player to the level's theme, mechanics, and objectives. 2. 承 (Development) - Increase the gameplay complexity and challenge, escalate the narrative conflict and stakes. 3. 转 (Twist) - Introduce a twist (narrative or gameplay) and recontextualize (new use, new constraint, combine with an old toy) (Repeat 2 and 3 until the full potential of the level's narrative and gameplay is realized) 4. 合 (Conclusion) - Provide a satisfying resolution and payoff. Set up the next level or return to the hub with new perspective. For more specifc examples, look at masterpieces like Super Mario Series, Portal series, and God of War series. You may be surprised how many of your favorite levels follow this structure. Why it is so powerful: 1. Combination of progression and challenge keeps the player engaged, but never overwhelmed. 2. Developing, remixing and twisting existing mechanics are much cheaper than introducing new ones. 3. It becomes a part of the game's "player contract", which I highlighted in Lesson #3. Do you have other structures you use to pace your levels? Please share in the comments! #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #5: AAA quality requires constructive criticism and repeated iterations. A big budget and a talented team don't always equal a great game. But what does? As a designer, I used to think that raw talent from individuals and a strong vision from leadership were enough to ensure great designs. But the reality is that many projects get stuck in the "7 out of 10" zone. Getting to that "10 out of 10" often requires a team culture that values constructive criticism and a shared routine of peer playtest and feedback. While working on the level design for God of War (2018), my lead encouraged us to playtest each other's levels as soon as a rough prototype was playable. That required trust and humility among team members. But the results were undeniable: we iterated faster, avoided costly redesigns, and built upon each other's ideas. We often repeated this "build, playtest, critique" cycle until no major areas of improvement remain, at which point we confidently hand off the level to art. I understand that's easier said than done - being polite & encouraging feels safer than honest & constructive, and giving constructive criticism is a skill that takes practice. But to make a great game, the team needs to embrace it. What tips do you have for giving and receiving constructive criticism? Please share in the comments! #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #4: Design metrics and visual language require team effort. Level design metrics and visual language teach the player, without words, what is possible, what is dangerous, and what the game expects from them. Most teams know this. Few teams do it well. The problem is usually unclear ownership. Is it the level designer’s job? The combat designer’s? The 3D artist’s? The real answer is all of them and maybe more. In practice: - Level Designers are often best at spotting missing or inconsistent metrics and visual language early on. - 3C / combat designers are usually strongest at defining the exact numbers. - 3D artists are best at translating those decisions into finalized game visuals. When these groups don’t talk early, each creates their own version. That almost always leads to expensive redesigns later — or worse, a confusing player experience. Do you have tips for aligning on level design metrics and visual language? Please share in the comments! #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #3: Contracts are invisible promises to your players. A "contract" is the psychological understanding of a particular game’s design principles. It is the unspoken promise of how the world works, what is fair, and what kind of fantasy the game is selling. Although rarely explicitly stated, the players always notice when a contract is broken. Designers often work top-down (Aesthetics → Dynamics → Mechanics). But players experience the opposite direction. A contract holds when the mechanics and dynamics reliably deliver the aesthetics you implied. It breaks the moment the game incentivizes the wrong behavior — like a horror game that gives the player too much ammunition, or an open-world game blocks the player using an arbitrary invisible wall. Some of the most beloved games often feature untraditional contracts. In Dark Souls, the player is expected to die often and learn from their mistakes. In Fallout New Vegas, the player can kill any NPC, but the game will remember and react to those choices. As a game dev, establishing and protecting these contracts is a delicate balance. You want to surprise and delight players, but not at the cost of breaking their trust. As the team sizes grow, it becomes even more important to have a shared understanding of the contracts you are making with your players. What’s a player contract you’ve carefully protected in a game you worked on? Please share in the comments! #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #2: Identify constraints before you start designing. For a discipline as creative as game design, asking for constraints can sound quite counterintuitive. But constraints are the secret sauce to truly innovative designs. Neuroscience shows that our brains default to familiar, proven solutions. Without constraints, that’s often what we produce: safe and forgettable ideas. Constraints kill the easy answers and force more original ones. Identifying design constraints is an art in itself. Some constraints are obvious, like the platform you’re designing for. Others are hidden, like technical limitations, player contracts, narrative restrictions and art budgets. If you work with a team, talk to them early to surface the hidden constraints. That process has led to some of my most interesting work and helped avoid costly redesigns. If you are a solo dev, it becomes even more important to identify constraints early, as you won’t have a team to catch them for you. What’s a constraint that unexpectedly improved your designs? Please share in the comments! #gamedevelopment #gamedev

#gamedesign Lessons Learned #1: Resist the urge to build the game opening first. I’ve watched a few teams choose the opening level as their first production level, without ever questioning that decision. But here's the thing: a polished opening made too soon almost always gets torn apart later. Most of the time, a game opening needs to teach the gameplay mechanics, establish the world setting, and kick off the main storyline. But early in production, those things are rarely stable. Here's a safer approach: design the vertical slice or the middle part first, then design the opening to guide the player cleanly into that experience. There are exceptions, of course. If you are developing a sequel, a multiplayer game, or a remake, the risk of having to redesign the game opening decreases drastically. Have you ever had to completely redesign an opening late in production? What triggered it? Or do you have examples where starting with the opening was actually the right call? Please share in the comments. #gamedevelopment #gamedev

Starting today, I’ll be posting practical lesson from my years in game development, inspired by the “101 Things I Learned…” book series. Mostly level design, creative direction, and the messy realities of making games. No theory lectures. Just things I wish someone had told me earlier (or that I had to learn the hard way). Feel free to follow along, share your thoughts, ask questions, and repost. First post dropping in a few minutes :) #gamedevelopment #ThingsILearnedInGames #gamedesign

Hi Elon, 3 questions from a game dev: 1. Business model: Assuming gen AI costs drop but don't hit zero, what business model works for "Native AI Games" making constant API calls for personalized gameplay? Subscription seems obvious, but do people really need another subscription right now? 2. Tech stack: If devs can pick any gen AI model, why choose a "closed" model like Grok over open ones like Qwen? "Free, local, and tunable" is hard to beat. 3. Discoverability: If X wants to be the go-to platform for gen AI content, how will it enable playing, creating, and sharing "Gen AI Games" natively? AI images/videos work seamlessly on X, but how would games?

To people who are puzzled about the crash of the game industry: 1/more games flood the market in the past years than ever before 2/budgets were bigger than ever before 3/gamers are fatigued of sequels and spin offs and game as a service The market is correcting, we need to adapt

Hi game dev friends, unless you plan to retire in the next 12 months, this awesome presentation is a must read, regardless of your job title or game genre. #gamedev #gamedesign

It is absolutely not a surprise to me that a lot of AAA studios have been struggling lately and my prediction is that it won’t really get better any time soon. I know it sounds absurd, but most of the games studios out there that hit it big were at one point just a small group of passionate folks that wanted to make games together. In a lot of cases they were just friends. And if they were lucky, they found out in the process that they actually make a great team together. Then the games they created struck a chord and now they scale up and become a massive studio. And then lots of other folks come in and demand this and that and unknowingly change the culture and the approach and then we suddenly wonder what happened to this or that great studio that always delivered in the past once they’re not delivering the same quality products anymore, even though EVERYTHING changed in their approach to making games. I’ve compared companies to bands in the past because I think that analogy helps a lot of people understand that we’re really dealing with the same issues here: Take the Beatles, they become successful, but now their record company tells John, Paul, Ringo and George how they should write their songs and - by the way - now they should also hire Lisa, Steward, Shane and Mary and have them be part of the songwriting team so they can produce more stuff and of course these new folks should have the same say because otherwise we might just face diversity issues - does anybody really think we would’ve gotten the same output they had by doing it this way? No, of course not. And it’s no different for games studios or any other group of talented people that produce art together. You have to keep that magic alive that made it all work in the first place. We’re dealing with humans here and all too often the industry seems to forget that.

It’s really depressing seeing people figure out China as a viable gaming region in realtime. Over 750 million gamers (more than the entire US population) with 20% YOY growth. And people are asking how a game based on the most popular national legend of all time is beating records? Are we really that stupid?

No more excuses, you can now use one of the best engines ever :) store.steampowered.com/app/2545650/DO…