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Ask a Patron! - Nintendo’s Jordan Amaro (Patreon)

Published:
2017-08-10 12:59:19
Imported:
2021-01

Content

Hello!

I’m incredibly lucky to have some amazing people support me on Patreon. People who actually make video games instead of just talking about them on YouTube.

And so maybe it would be fun to chat to these guys and gals about their work in a nice, cozy, Q&A session? I’ll introduce someone, you can leave questions in the comments, and then the person will answer.

My first guest is Jordan Amaro, who has a pretty incredible CV. He’s a game designer who worked on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Resident Evil 7, and Splatoon 2.

Jordan will be happy to answer your questions about game and level design, and he’ll try to answer as many questions as he can, but let’s keep it to making games themselves and not external stuff about people and studios!

And on that topic, the answers for this first “Ask a Patron” will be made public (though only Patrons get to ask the questions) because of some tricky stuff I won’t bore you with.

Okay? Okay! Ask away - the floor will be open for questions for 10 days. And then Jordan will be back with answers. 

Cheerio


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Comments

Anonymous

Hey Mark, thanks for creating such an amazing opportunity for us patrons! For Jordan, thanks for the amazing games that we get to play! My question is that being a game designer, what are the most common game design decisions and choices that you make the most often? What's the most important? Is it the balancing of numbers, or do you go about trying to give players a certain experience and make design choices then? Thanks a lot!

Anonymous

I saw that he has a great resume with japanese companies. Do you (Jordan) think that it's hard to get a job in that country? Also, what did you think it's the most important thing you've learnt (design-wise) in each game?

Anonymous

I dig the "Ask a Patron" idea, might be a bit like Danny's "Noclip Sessions". Giving us a little insight about other devs. So, here are my questions: Most obvious one - How did you end up in Nintendo? :D A little more broad one - Any tips for designing games? ( I mean how do you approach design, what helps you find the fun factor in games or other useful tips ) Casual one - What do you like most about the idustry? Cheers!

Ben Visness

What sort of design goals did Nintendo have for Splatoon 2? What lessons did they take from Splatoon 1?

GameMakersToolkit

My question is - what's your starting point for designing a single player level for a game like Splatoon 2? What's the very first thing that happens?

Jonathan

Thanks for being willing to do this Jordan! My question is how often (if ever) were your design decisions overridden by the company's higher-ups? Specifically by those on the business side of things. Thanks to you too, Mark! What a fantastic idea!

Anonymous

Are there any design principles that you were surprised to discover were helpful across multiple different genres of games? And conversely, are there any design principles that had worked really great for you that, partway through designing another game, you had to abandon because it turned out they weren't as good of a fit for the new project as you'd expected? Thanks for taking the time to share your insights!

Anonymous

I what stage of the game's development does everything come together into a cohesive whole? When do you play the level and think: "yes this works"?

Anonymous

What are some of your favorite stage designs in games?

Anonymous

What do you think of Youtube Game Design analysts such as Mark himself? Do they do justice to the kind of thought and effort you put into your projects? Cheeky question :P

Anonymous

Hi Mark/Jordan, Mark - Brilliant idea, hope this becomes a regular future. Jordan, I have a few questions so don’t feel like you have to answer all of them. Thanks for your time :) What are some of the best resources (books, lectures, YouTube channels etc..) that you've found and have utilized while working in game/level design? What are the 3 most important things you keep in mind when designing a level + what are the main challenges that hold you back in level design? Finally, Bit of a generic one but it's always interesting to find out how people got into the industry/level design in particular? Thanks Guys, keep up the good work! Harry

Anonymous

I wonder if you could give out more details about what specifically you worked on for those games, would like to ask ultra specific questions but sometimes is even hard to think about them without details n_n;, i know level design is a huge monster on its own with a lot of fields for study

Anonymous

Great concept! My question is 'In your experience how can the camera focus and hinder level design? Has a third person camera allowed you to develop things a first person wouldn't?'

Anonymous

How do you develop the intuition that the player will 'get it' and you won't have to explain something or put explicit pointers to it in the world?

Shade

What if you the most important advice you can give when entering the game design industry and making games in general?

Anonymous

This is a really cool opportunity as a game design student! Anyway, my question is, was the games industry always your ambition and how'd you get into it? Also, what do you think is the most important quality as a game designer?

Anonymous

What are some of your favorite instances of "form follows function" in your games? I know in Splatoon 2, they decided to make a game about shooting ink, and it made sense for that character to be a squid.

Anonymous

Have you experienced constraints in trying to attain your original vision when designing games, such as insufficient technology, inconsistency with other parts of the game, etc.; and what kind of solutions and/or compromises did you end up with?

John Willcox-Beney

How does the work of the artists, musicians, etc. you work with factor in to your design process? Are there any cool times when some art, music, VA etc. inspired you to make or change a design decision in a game?

Anonymous

What is your methodology for composing level designs? Or you just follow your instincts?

Anonymous

What was a recent creative block/problem you encountered in designing something and how did you solve it?

Anonymous

How do you structure the levels you design? (e.g. message the level passes to the player, conflicts that should be addressed, mechanics used, etc)

Anonymous

Is there a specific protocol/rule set/common steps a designer follows to create a given level? What advice would you give to a person who can't figure out what is to be in a level?

Anonymous

Hi Jordan. In your experience working with AAA studios, who is responsible for setting the high-level goals of the project? Are you designing within the constraints of a “director’s vision”, or iterating on features in smaller groups of designers / programmers / artists, etc.?

Anonymous

Hi Jordan, Metal Gear solid are pretty different kinds of game, but are there principles of game and level design that you put into practice that are common to both of them?

Anonymous

Hey Jordan. Judging from the above mentioned titles your portfolio covers a variety of different themes/audiences/genres. I was wondering how working on very different types of games changes your approach to designing them: i.e. do you have a base set of loops/practices then work your way up or do you look at the concept of what the game will be and work your way down from there? TL;DR: Does working on very different types of games change how you approach bottom up/top down design? Do you have a preferred method of going from concept to design?

Anonymous

Limiting sight lines and enabling flanking play a pretty important role in splatoon. For instance in the mayo v ketchup iteration of the Shifty Station map I noticed there were a lot more combat encounters due to the amount of flat, wide open spaces, even though the larger map size should mean you run into people less often. How do you decide whether to add an obstacle, and how do you choose what kind to use? Do you think there's anything particular about Splatoon's mechanics that make these map design elements more or less important than in other multiplayer shooters?

Anonymous

Since you worked on MGS5 & Splatoon 2, is there any chance you could tell us if The Phantom Pain will ever be ported to Nintendo Switch or is it too early to say?

Anonymous

MGS5 has a very open level design, allowing you to enter and leave almost any mission from every angle you want. What are some of the difficulties designing such levels and how much different is the process of these compared to a regular mission?

Anonymous

This is awesome, thanks for doing this Jordan. Are there any specific design reasons for not having (ink traversable) ceilings in Splatoon1/2?

Anonymous

Hey Jordan. I'm studying game design atm. Just wondering, what was your first job, what was your in? And what had you done that got you that job?

Anonymous

How do you tell if a mechanic or a game idea itself will be fun or appreciated from the public? How can you understand if what you're doing will be seen as enjoyable?

jbakes25

Love this idea. My questions for Jordan are these: What will game design and level design look like in the future? Are we adopting trends of more open world in games that have a past of linear structure? Are levels going to be usual themes like fire (Volcanoes) and ice (Winter wasteland) or are we aiming for new trends in level design? Is there a video game out there that stands out to you for it's game and level design that many people may not know about?

Anonymous

Hey Jordan! You've designed a lot of games that are very different from each other. Were there any design concepts that you'd take from one game to another and find that they didn't work anymore? Thanks for the answer!

Anonymous

hello jordan! what would you say is your biggest priority in developing a single player map? does it change from game to game, or is it generally the same (i.e emphasize some mechanic). What about multiplayer maps? Thank you!

Anonymous

What's it like coming into a project that'sa sequel to a game you didn't work on? (Assuming that's accurate)

Anonymous

What is the best designed game or level in a game in your opinion?

Anonymous

How much emphasis is placed on making a level/map make physical sense as a traversable space? Obviously there are some games where the gameplay possibilities override the desire for a space that "makes sense," but looking at the games you've worked on, having physically coherent levels seems like more of a priority. How is that handled in development?

SpeckObst

Since you worked for Nintendo, Konami and Capcom, do you see some key differences in how they each approach game design?

Anonymous
>>6618144

I doubt he'd know or be allowed to say if he did know.

Anonymous

Hey Jordan, thanks for doing this. Some of the other patreons have already asked what I wanted to know. So can you please answer them as I too want to know your thoughts on those. Here are the names and the questions of the comments: 1. Eduardo Emmerich How do you structure the levels you design? (e.g. message the level passes to the player, conflicts that should be addressed, mechanics used, etc) 2. DSMikeNW Is there a specific protocol/rule set/common steps a designer follows to create a given level? What advice would you give to a person who can't figure out what is to be in a level? 3. Andy Latham Hi Jordan, Metal Gear solid are pretty different kinds of game, but are there principles of game and level design that you put into practice that are common to both of them? 4. Michele Papucci How do you tell if a mechanic or a game idea itself will be fun or appreciated from the public? How can you understand if what you're doing will be seen as enjoyable? 5. Josh Baker Love this idea. My questions for Jordan are these: What will game design and level design look like in the future? Are we adopting trends of more open world in games that have a past of linear structure? Are levels going to be usual themes like fire (Volcanoes) and ice (Winter wasteland) or are we aiming for new trends in level design? Is there a video game out there that stands out to you for it's game and level design that many people may not know about?

Sandro Dall'Aglio

Hi Jordan! MGS V was a huge step forward in open world interactions. You had very strong dynamics between each game elements. That genereted a wide spectrum of solutions to any given problems. How did you approach that? Did you had a doc with all the possible interactions between the game elements or was it more trial and error style?

Anonymous

Thanks Mark for setting this up! I'm excited to see the answer to everyone’s questions! Jordan how often do you work with someone else when you are working on game design? Are you mostly left alone to design or do you work with a small team of game designers? Thank you!

Anonymous

Mark, you're amazing. Jordan, I bet you are as well (have only played MGSV: GZ and PP, they're awesome). How important is it to know computer coding or technical handling to create and design a videogame? I've just about finished BoTW, and the sheer size and intriguing mechanical fluidity had me blown away, but also sort of discouraged me from trying to attempt to design a videogame or develop some ideas. The same goes for The Phantom Pain, The Last of Us, Doom (2016) and a lot of other great games. Is it possible to build a videogame with only ideas and no coding experience whatsoever?

Anonymous

What is the latest in a game's development that some was cut? What led up to the decision?

Anonymous

How do you go about balancing a multiplayer map, say for Splatoon? Do you go for a map that clearly emphasizes a certain type of play or a map that allows the freest playstyle expressiveness? Do you test the maps between just a couple of designers or do you take in feedback from a larger playtest base?

Anonymous

Assuming you're not Japanese - what's it like working with nintendo compared to other companies? The work life in general? Did you actually live in Japan for it?

Carter

Hey Jordan, two questions: 1. As an inspiring game developer, what advice would you have to get into the industry? I know this question gets asked a lot, but I thought it worth asking. 2. You have worked on an interesting set of games in the sense that all of them are different from eachother. One is a horror game, another is a open world 3rd person shooter, and now you are working on a 3rd person multiplayer shooter. My question is, what is it like designing all these totally different games? Is the adjustment from one genre to another difficult? Thank You!

Anonymous (edited)

Comment edits

2024-02-06 17:33:16 良いね。 絵師さんが変わると 印象かわります最高！
2017-08-16 16:45:31 Mark, what a wonderful idea, you are amazing, dude. Hi Jordan ! So you are now working for Nintendo in ¿Kyoto? I guess, right ? Tell me, if you don't consider this question so rude (If is the case, I apologise, is just curiosity) Why do you think they hired you ? I mean, as a game designer, what do you think that Nintendo wants from you ? Or from anyone who wants to design games at Nintendo. And another one, which was the development process of the levels in splatoon 2 ? When you design a level, do you take 1 or 2 mechanics and then you try to twist those mechanics in any way possible ? You try to puttem toghether ? There is some laws or structure that defines how you can putt those twisted ideas or is a mess of proposing ideas, testing and repeat until the level "feels" done ? How works this thing of design a linear level from scratch at Nintendo ? Which philosofy is followed ? Thanks for your work Jordan, and for taking time to answer our questions ! Thanks to you too, Mark !

Mark, what a wonderful idea, you are amazing, dude. Hi Jordan ! So you are now working for Nintendo in ¿Kyoto? I guess, right ? Tell me, if you don't consider this question so rude (If is the case, I apologise, is just curiosity) Why do you think they hired you ? I mean, as a game designer, what do you think that Nintendo wants from you ? Or from anyone who wants to design games at Nintendo. And another one, which was the development process of the levels in splatoon 2 ? When you design a level, do you take 1 or 2 mechanics and then you try to twist those mechanics in any way possible ? You try to puttem toghether ? There is some laws or structure that defines how you can putt those twisted ideas or is a mess of proposing ideas, testing and repeat until the level "feels" done ? How works this thing of design a linear level from scratch at Nintendo ? Which philosofy is followed ? Thanks for your work Jordan, and for taking time to answer our questions ! Thanks to you too, Mark !

Anonymous

Thanks Mark for putting this together, and Jordan for doing this! During the design process, how do you decide what aspect of a game to prioritize? For example, if the movement mechanic needs to be rock solid before starting to design the shooting and aiming mechanic, what leads you to that decision?

Anonymous

Hi Jordan, I was wondering if the development teams do or use any customer or market research (interviewing customers about what they want in Nintendo games), or do the teams just prototype ideas and select what works themselves? And if not, why not (customers can’t predict what they’d actually enjoy?)?Alternatively do you do observational playtesting, and if so, at what stages and how much?

Anonymous

Hi Jordan! Here are my questions: 1) People here have not missed the fact you work at Nintendo Japan. Are you an exception in Nintendo? Is there lots of "foreigners" there? Is Nintendo still open to non-Japanese employees? 2) What are your top references for level designing? (Games, Books, Movies) 3) How do you improve your craft? A lot of work for sure, and what about your daily routine? How do you split your creative time (designing levels) and your "consuming" time? (books, articles and references for level designing). Thanks a lot for your time!

Anonymous

Man, I know that 10 days have passed, but this question just came to me today (Damn !!). Anway, I'll try: Now that you are working in Nintendo, do you know why every game from them, no matters the genre (I'm thinking now in the boss battles in Pikmin 3, Splatoon or tloz: Link's Between Worlds, for example) feels like "familiar" ? Like, they really have that feel like you understand, if you are observer, how the enemy works, and how do you can use your "moveset" to find the way to defeat them, just looking at the enemy and using the environment, sometimes. For me sometimes feels like every Nintendo game is directed by the same person, a person who has a very strong vision of how to explain without any words how the player can turn a very dificult situation into something where he can be in advantage. I don't know, any thoughts on that, now that you are inside of the development process ?