Reference, inspiration and passion…

As a Game Designer, one of your main weapons it’s creativity, freedom, adaptability, and the skill to when you see a new mechanic you like, for example, immediately compare it with a mechanic you saw before, analyse and think about how you would develop that concept and maybe how to improve it. But, all that I mentioned before, it can't happen if you don’t have the proper knowledge, and what kind of knowledge is that? well, let me explain…

Let me put a simple example, do you think you can understand what the players want, what really works, which mechanics are fun and which are boring, and which kinds of games are the most played if you don't play games, or at least you played a lot before?

Well, in my opinion, that's impossible, you need to touch it with your hand to understand the meaning, analyze it properly, and have a proper opinion objectively speaking.

And related to what I said before since I was an adult enough to understand the size of video games and the video games industry I thought video games were art, some kind of interactive art in which every player can have different feelings and thoughts, opinions, and way different experiences.

Now we know the meaning of the knowledge I talked about before, the experience you need to have by yourself, I'm gonna share all my references, inspirations, and passions I have, that help me day by day to have new ideas, explore new things, think about how to improve established ideas and have a more complete opinion about video games or game design.

SCI-FI

This topic is one for which I would like to make a new blog, but it is something very related to the current topic, so I can't avoid it.

My father is a great science fiction fan, but above all a great Star Wars fan and collector. At home we have a huge amount of all kinds of Star Wars collections, also countless old science fiction movies, books, novels, and many things that I have yet to discover, believe me.

Therefore, it was inevitable, it is a family matter, since I have been conscious I have seen an infinite amount of science fiction movies and series, I have also read many novels, comics, and books from the Star Wars universe, several times...

Several of the most notable titles that I have great memories of and that help me when conceptualizing new ideas are: Star Wars, obviously, Stargate, Farescape, Interstellar, Planet of the Apes, Starship Troopers, Dune, Blade Runner and many more...

I would highlight the great influence that I have due to Star Wars, since this universe consists of an immense history, with an infinite number of different planets, alien races, religions and cultures, plots and subplots, eras, emergence and disappearance of empires that all feed off each other and They create a tremendously infinite ecosystem of designs, without a doubt a bottomless well of ideas.

MANGA AND ANIME

Anime, oh my great and dear anime, when they underestimate you for being "simple drawings" childish and cartoonish... (or that's what some people usually say)

The world of anime is similar to that of SCI-FI, it is a completely unlimited world, infinite of possibilities, where each manga creator gives free rein to his imagination and gives way to stories that are completely different from one another, bordering on a moral dilemma. 

A large part of my inspiration comes from the Shonen One Piece manga, I would highlight a great influence on the ideas of locations, character design, unique and extravagant powers and abilities and an open world connected and related to the story, in constant evolution, this could be a small summary about One Piece.

Obviously my favorite manganime is One Piece and from where I get most of my references, but it is worth highlighting other works that fascinate me almost equally, such as Vinland Saga, Vagabond, Berserk and Kingdom.

MEDIEVAL FANTASY

I love everything related to medieval fantasy, dark fantasy, the typical massive knight battles, the style of weapons, armour, architecture, classic knightly stories of honour and much more. Many of my inspirations come from the famous manga Berserk, whose title has served as a reference for years to the famous "Souls" saga, since countless locations and characters/enemies are directly inspired by Berserk, some becoming very notorious.

Other great inspirations would be The Witcher, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Vikings, World of Warcraft, and Warhammer Universe both standing out enormously in world design, character development, epic combats, and varied and unforgettable locations, you can practically take excellent references and inspirations from any small piece of these universes.

Finally, I could spend days and days writing and chatting about all my references and each one of them, but my intention is that this post is a small introduction to knowing where all my ideas come from, and as the title says, they come from my greatest passions...