After spending some time recollecting previous experiences of my creative attempts, I've come up with a map of what I think is a pretty accurate representation of my thought patterns in my creative process. Note that this mindmap isn't only representative of my creative process in game designing, but is applicable to anything that requires me to unleash my creativity.
One interesting thing to note about my ideation process is that the creative bits often come not in the early conceptualisation parts, but in the parts where I flesh out and fine-tune the product (the third and fourth phases in the map). This realisation struck me sudden and hard after my first year of game designing, but it brought me to focus alot more on unleashing creativity through the execution of concepts rather than through the novelty of my concepts. It is difficult to conceive of something entire new in this day and age, but easy to conceive of new ways to do old things and bring brand new ways of looking at age old things.
I wouldn't consider my ideation process mechanical though, because even though the processes behind ideation remain mostly the same, my ideation process focuses heavily on user experience. Art is, afterall, made for humans, so I make it a point to ensure that whatever I do evokes the right feelings and emotions in my audience. Machines use logic to reach a decision, but my ideation process focuses mainly not on whether things can logically work out, but whether they give out the right feeling to the audience. My ideation process is more like a little world--governed by certain ground rules and "laws", but with inhabitants that quite frequently do things that surprise me in both pleasant and unpleasant ways.
In my studio project, I forsee that the entire process will be similar to the way I laid out my ideation process in the mindmap. There will, of course, be problems met along the way in the form of initially conceived good-on-paper ideas that do not work, which means there will be a need to find solutions for them. There will be many of such problems, some of them small, others big and crippling; but in the end, I believe that no matter how much problems surface, they will all be fixed to a degree that is at least acceptable.
Is your personal system of ideation effective or are you using the same old recycled methods? How do you think you can be more efficient in getting top quality ideas, and to have good criteria for quality? In what ways can you boost the quality of your own ideas? How do you choose the right (and best) idea? How do you know?
I think that my personal system of ideation is quite effective, as it is organic and constantly yields me pleasing end results that are not quite what I've expected in the beginning. I have to admit, though, that it is far from being the best ideation system.
Some of the best ideas that have been conceived in the world did not come from ideation systems, which requires what I like to label "compulsive thinking" on the part of the person formulating the idea. These ideas were spontaneous--they came out in moments where the mind was still, as perfectly organic reactions from deep within the person. Einstein himself was once quoted as saying that thinking "plays only a subordinate part in the brief, decisive phase of the creative act itself" when asked to comment on his working methodologies.
I believe in spontaneous ideation because I have benefitted from it in many instances--moments of my life where I attempt endeavours without a "grand plan of success". My best presentation speeches, my best DotA games, my best socialising attempts--they were all achieved with minimal planning and expectations. I believe that my state of mind during these instances was free of the burden of plans, and thus it was functioning at full effectiveness in coping with whatever was needed of it at the moment.
I have yet to find a reliable way to factor in the power of spontaneity into my ideation system (largely because having an ideation system is having a plan, and being spontaneous means having no plans), but I believe that it can be done. When that happens, I believe that my ideation system will take a great leap forward. Right now, one of the ways I'm attempting to insert spontaneity into my creative process is by putting myself in places and situations that I've never been before. Not only can this potentially serve as a good source of inspiration, it's a great excuse to have for attending parties and such.
That said, let me reiterate that the best ideas are spontaneous ones, as they are the most natural (and as a result, best) reaction to what nature throws at us (this paragraph was to answer the last two questions, in case I haven't answered them with the wall of text above).
Consider the metaphor that your life is a game (and a really important one at that!). How then are you playing your life? What are the obstacles in your way? Who are the villains and helpers in this game? How can you play this game better? Explore this metaphor in conjunction with Question 1, and come up with more questions to answer on your own.
If life was a game, I would say that I've just learnt how to play it the right way, since I've been continuously working towards achieving the things I want in life, and I've been seeing positive results. In this sense, I believe the only obstacle in my way is my own confidence in myself, because it has been a huge determinant in whatever I did in life. Having confidence in life means succeeding, and succeeding means getting what I want, which leads to me being happy. Happiness then leads towards more self-confidence, which leads to success, and so on...
While this entire imagery of repetition that I've made up about my life may seem boring, I think it is a little blueprint that gives me fulfillment in life, and improving my life means finding ways to sustain this cycle. For some time now, I've been finding reliable sources of happiness in my life, because happiness is like a fuel that powers this cycle, and it is easily lost if you derive happiness from the wrong sources. The past few months of my life have thus been dedicated to finding the little things in my life that are worth being happy about--the rest of my life will continue to fall in place if I guard this aspect well.
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