What is setting?

When it comes to games, the word "setting" begins to flash around with obscene frequency. It means the time, place and circumstances in which the events of the project take place.

In this article, we will discuss what a setting can be, what mistakes should not be made when creating a setting, and how to choose the optimal climate for your project.

What kind of settings are exist?

Below are the main settings that are used in games:

• Real life;
  
• Fantasy;
  
• Science fiction;
  
• Post-apocalyptic;
  
• Steampunk;
  
• Cyberpunk;
  
• Apocalypse;
  
• Bandits or gangsters;
  
• Stone Age
  
• Superheroes;
  
• World War I, II or any other.
  

Which one you choose is up to you. You can't say that one is more successful than the other, but certainly fantasy and sci-fi stand out. In the sense that they are just very broad, conveniently rubbery and seamless. You can add a lot of stuff to them and it will still look harmonious.

The main mistakes when designing a setting

There are two main things that can get in the way of developing a setting.

The worst thing you can do is start thinking about the world in detail, and then think about how to implement it in gameplay terms. It's a kind of graphomania.

The second, no less terrible, is when the author, in his quest for a beautiful image, concentrates entirely on drawing the ideal game universe. In this case, the developer will try desperately to adapt the mechanics and story to the illustrations, losing all the essential layers of the idea.

Such projects have no future. The elements of the setting will simply not be able to create a single image that will provide an adequate symbiosis of the game universe, mechanics, and visual component.

So, what kind of setting should a game be created in?

Your main task as a developer is to anticipate market trends, based on your gaming experience, feedback from players, and information obtained from conferences, exhibitions, and news in specialized publications.

In order to develop a successful game product, it is necessary to be guided not only by the tastes of the target audience and current trends, but also by market research.

Where can you find them?

Well, they can be done independently. And this is probably even better. You can do it in the AppStore or PlayMarket. Just see what people like.

But you can also look at reviews from reputable sites.

Finally, it's a good idea to analyze trends in social networks, but this is more than obvious. For the last five years, people have mainly been into

RPGs and city-builders, and you can see that very clearly.

We do not think it is necessary to explain that fantasy setting works well for RPGs, and either realism or sci-fi for citybuilders.

By the way, it's not a bad idea to follow Borges' four basic literary plots. He was of the opinion that nothing new can be invented. Well, we agree with him. But he also believed that one could skillfully use several types of standardized conflicts.

Use them as a kind of skeleton on which to build unique meat in the form of different settings, characters, and lore.
As for the subtypes of these conflicts, there are four:

• A place that is being overrun by enemies, and the heroes are fortifying it and holding the line.
  
• A story about returning home. Well, or back to the roots.
  
• A search for something. Like the search for oneself. Or the answer to existential questions.
  
• A story about sacrifice.
  

Well, there you go.

We hope we have given you some ideas on how to represent your future game. You can find a lot of content on our website. For example, 2D and 3D assets for Unity (link), music and visual effects for Unreal Engine (link), and even various plugins (link) to help you with your development. You can download all of this for free and even without registering.