Train2Game students will know that reflecting on your work is an important part of game development, even for the biggest studios.

As a result, Brink developers Splash Damage have discussed their game at the Game Developers Conference in Germany, pointing out what they could have done better. This is despite, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Brink reaching No.1 in the charts.

Lead Game Designer Neil Alphonso analysed Brink’s four key design concepts: blended game modes, objective and team based gameplay, the SMART system, and player customisation and persistent levelling.

As reported by the Train2Game blog last year, Splash Damage claimed Brink would ‘end the genre as we know it.’

Looking back however, Alphonso acknowledged that they may have been too ambitious with certain Game Design ideas

“Brink tried to be something new and different in several areas, In hindsight we perhaps strayed away from convention a bit too much in some areas.” he said.

“But several of Brink’s key features resonated really well with our audience, along with continuing to work on tweaking and refining the gameplay now the game is out in the wild. We’re taking a lot of these lessons on board for our future projects.”

Alphonso also said the story, the Game Design of Brink, “had to take a back seat”.

“People reacted pretty differently to the way we approached our narrative,” Alphonso said. “Some would say there’s no story to speak of, which I would beg to differ with. But some loved the setting and the context we’d given the action.”

“There’s a lot there for people to read into it. But we don’t spoon feed it to people, which is maybe what some people were looking for.” He continued.

“So in the end, essentially when the game is viewed as a highly contextualised multiplayer experience, it does really well. But if you view it as a cinematic single-player cinematic experience, it doesn’t really hold up.” Alphonso concluded.

For more information on how Brink was developed, see the Train2Game blog. There’s also an in-depth look at the Art & Animation of the game.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Splash Damages anaylsis of Brink? How do you think the game could be have been improved? And how important is reflecting on a game post development?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Eurogamer]