0082 - Design Team Interactions with Sean O’Donohoe

[Sergi] 

Welcome to the Game Chat series on Design Talk.

Our guest today is Sean O'Donohoe

Sean is a Senior Level Designer at Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio.

Among the titles he has worked on “The Outer Worlds”, an action RPG by Obsidian Studios, stands out perhaps as one of his most formative project experiences.

First, Sean, does everyone want to be the designer? 

Sean, we’ve been asked before; What does a game designer do? I mean, isn't it obvious? Aren't they artists or coders? Don't they write and 'design'?

Could you share your thoughts on the role of the game designer as distinct from coders, artists, writers?

Perspectives on documentation, the game bible, the design-development pipeline, design aesthetics of dungeon/level design.

Linking dungeon design with world design.

Micro/macro, game narrative and the larger story.

The links between a conceptual whole and the gritty detail.

Do you ever find yourself thinking "this is too complicated"? How do you manage the tension between complexity and simplicity? Which is the worst part about designing a game?

Talking about the placement of design assets and making the in-game play believable. Doors, kitchens, toilets... Does Liz England’s post on the Door Problem (on the Gamasutra blog) still hold? (where she illustrates the role of the game designer with Doors as the metaphor. The designer takes ownership of the holism of the game, from the very big to the very small, from excruciating detail to the whole sense of the world, that it makes sense.)

Does the atmosphere of the team change in the build-up to a release?

Do you usually play the games you design? 

Which video game will you consider a masterpiece from the point of view of a game designer?

How has the image of game designers changed?

The music used was “Spliff and Wesson” by Airglow

For more details see the show-notes and acknowledgements.

Acknowledgements

Music 

Title: Spliff and Wesson

Artist: Airglow

Source: https://bit.ly/2uR5um8

License: CC BY 4.0

Cover Art #2

Title: Beam me up. I saw this person just standing on a hill while our train was paused between Prague and Nürnberg

Artist: Joel Bedford 

Source: flickr - https://bit.ly/3sK4KNn

License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Cover Art #1

Title: Triptych for the Game Chat on Design Talk (dot IE) with Sean and Sergi. (Composite image + Magneto font)

Artist: Various 

Source: GameChat_SeanODonohoe_InstaSQR-3.png 

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 for composite image from multiple sources – video + Wikipedia https://bit.ly/3zgRCBJ

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