Notes from 'Chris Crawford on Game Design'

I am reading Chris Crawford's book 'Chris Crawford on Game Design' and taking extracts for my research project. Here's just a few things I found to be more related to my project work...

"Common mistakes - Obsession with Cosmetics

…There are five common motivations to equip a game with good graphics and sound:

1. To further gameplay
2. To permit the player to show off the superior cosmetic capabilities of his new computer
3. To show off the superior technical prowess of the programmer
4. To keep up with the competition
5. To provide the player with images and sounds that are intrinsically pleasing

Reason #1: To further gameplay by making the player's situation and options as clear as possible. This is the only good reason for pursuing cosmetics.

…Everything you put into the game should support the gameplay. If it doesn't support the gameplay, it doesn't belong in the game.

…Imagination can just as easily be smothered by excess information as stimulated. Graphic realism stimulates the imagination, but it must leave room for the imagination to run free.

…Design is not an accretive process! Piling on more features does not necessarily make the game any better - it just makes it more complicated… Making a game bigger doesn't make it better;  it just makes it… bigger.

I need to concentrate more on the interactivity of my game, this needs to become the centre of the game. If I can make good levels, I want to eliminate most of the 'real world' sequences between levels. Less of a cut-scene kind of feel. I am happier to go back to the menu screen and show it change than show an animation, this will shorten the game and its content. Little extracts of story will be incorporated in the narration, which I now want to happen inside the levels at key points.