So many times I've heard that something doesn't have to be beautiful, but it doesn't hurt. Things have to be beautiful, period. That means you either pay someone to make things look nice or do so by yourself. As far as prototyping go, I think the game designer needs to push himself to the limit to produce the nicest product they can. This is because as a designer no one can insure that people will buy your game (unless your name goes before you) and art costs a lot. Make the most inviting prototype you can, because, let's face it, publishers are human (I hear) and they will more likely take a longer look at something that catches the eye. One over-the-edge example of someone who does it all is Ryan Laukat. He basically does everything. What is everything you ask? It includes designing the game, making the art and graphic design and publishing under his title Red Raven Games. I've never played one of his games, but even if I believe half of what the reviewers say, they are good on all fronts. I hope to play one soon.
But be not mistaken, this is not a blog post about Ryan, it is a post about presentation. In the hope that this is not the last one (I have planned more already) I named it #1 - The map. Players love maps. When the board has a map that is engaging and welcoming, any game becomes better. So I got on a weekend long quest for making a map for my most recently ready to play prototype. I mentioned it in another entry.
A little internet search helped me find a very nice site named "Fantastic Maps" by Jonathan Roberts. Never heard of him beforehand (Sorry, Jonathan), but now I would like to shake his hand and thank him (I hope you forgive me now, Jonathan). The site has tons of great tips. Later I also stumbled upon a book that was given to me named "How to draw Fantasy Art & RPG Maps" by Jared Blando. It is also great if you ever look for step by step instructions for making maps. I took a few icons from Game-Icons.net and modified them to fit my needs.
So I traced the lines of the former map, using the pencil tool in Adobe Flash. Made some wave-like texture for the coastlines using the line tool and some ragged line styles. Then I moved everything into Photoshop. In there I put the pieces together. Trimmed the waves in a strip that follows the coastlines. color coded different shorelines to express that the "belong" to a certain watery region. Added text with borders so that it can pop out and be easily seen. Everything was covered with an burn overlay of a canvas texture to give the map a darker, older feel. Oh, look at the little Nessy at the bottom right!
I wanted all the tracks to be simple, so I used the simplest thing possible - squares. The same goes to the player aid that covers the empty space that existed at the top left corner. I could have used a more "fancy" style for everything, but I think that for now I will push my abilities inside the things that are simple and streamlined.
My one heavy tip here: Learn to use Adobe software if you don't already know how to. Very basic skills can make your prototypes look a few levels better.
Judge by yourself:
In the picture, my self made map for "Grandeur" prototype version 2.0
It is important to know that the map is intuitive and that the different features can be easily interpreted. For that I asked for feedback from friends and strangers alike. Some of the features originally used were removed and replaced by others to receive this final product. It is important to change the map when several people tell you that a feature looks like something you didn't mean it to look like. It is just like play testing, take in the criticism, see what you are willing to change and what you must change like it or not since it bothers many people. Just like any criticism, not all of it can be applied and not all of it you are willing to apply. You want your game to welcome people and not bother them, so take people's opinions seriously.
On the next episode of "It is what it looks like": cards.
Stay tuned!