Yes, for me it was definitely a part of the process. Once I got rolling I scoured the Web for pictures of huge frickin' roaches. Then I found a crappy MS Word "thesis and dissertation" template that suited the mood of the game perfectly, I feel.
As this was my first GC, I took the rules quite literally and didn't give 2 seconds of thought to layout or design. For starters, I'm still not sure what I want to do with my core mechanic in the future. As I posted in my design thread, it started out as an idea to use with a game based on "24." In practice, I don't think it would fit that well. I'm thinking more of a Warcraft/RTS-type game that would thrive on competitive resource management. (I did XVIII, btw.)
Mischa Damon Krilov, author, 1984 Prime
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - the late, great, Douglas Adams
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