Oddworld Forums - Tibbits from game designers

and of course Lorne is in it ;)

http://users.livejournal.com/_dva_/24239.html

Lorne Lanning (Oddworld)

On prototypes:

Prototypes are critical. Focus on the most critical components that are going test your project’s feasibility and fun factor by investing in prototypes up front. The last thing you want is a team working on something that they don’t believe can be done, so this prototype stage not only benefits the learning curve, but also a team’s morale.

Advice to designers:

Beyond having an extremely strong work ethic, beyond looking at and studying all the games that you can learn from, beyond being educated and brilliant in programming, design, computer animation, writing, whichever is your skill set, you need to look at and study the life outside of games that is all around you. The best ideas will not come from other games. The best ideas will come from areas that have nothing to do with games. They will come from other areas, art forms and sciences like sociology, agriculture, philosophy, zoology, or psychology. The more you fi nd inspirational sources that come from areas beyond the spectrum of your intended medium, the more unique your creations will feel to others.