alexandre mandryka

Establishing a creative vision

Alexandre Mandrykagamewhispering.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 rationale Rallying target

Focus creative effort

It can be very concrete

“The people’s car”A car for every family

The specs followed1 000 Reichsmarks maxEconomical usage5L/100Km100Km/h600Kg maximumFits 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 lightsBunched to create contrastReflection is neededGround 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 projectCommunicate your vision

- Features- Systems- Rules... ?

Doing things in the right order

Execution Reflection

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

MandateMake a Mario Kart like

Analysis takes time

MandateRomeo 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

MandateMake 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

Professional Gamer

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 membersSupport creativity

Being creative

Malsow’s hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow

Intrinsic needs

Competency Autonomy Purpose

Respect competencies

Competency

Autonomy

Purpose

Give a problem Let me find a solution

If you don’t ...

Strong vision No team engagement

Vision must be rationale

Let the team member find their solutions

Supporting Bottom-Up

Process

Vision

Game

FeaturesFeatures Features

Coding DesignArt

• 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 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 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

GRACIAS!!!

Alexandre Mandrykaalex@gamewhispering.com

gamewhispering.com