The Designer is the Enemy

This is a speech that I gave in Ukraine in 2012, discussing the role of the designer in game developent, and how programmers can better work with them and gain utility from them. It was actually a speech my business partner Allan Simonsen was supposed to give, but a few days before the convention his gall bladder literally exploded. So I went and gave a speech he had written about… how he hates me.

“Making your engine and tools Data Driven is a great idea, but with great power comes great responsibility, and an increased ability to destroy your game. Boomzap’s been working on the same game engine for 7 years, shipping titles across PC, Mac, iOS and Wii; here are the lessons we’ve learned for what works, what doesn’t, how to idiot-proof data, and why your designer is both your best friend, and your worst enemy.”