What does one person need to do in order to be a game designer and break into the business? What I mean by this is, I don''t want to be a programmer or artist, but I want to design games and lead development teams. I understand it''s probably not that easy and there are a lot of steps that need to be taken in order to get to the point of being a game designer, but where does one start? Writing a bunch of game design documents for games probably isn''t that helpful, or so it would seem. Since I can program well enough, I could probably make a basic text based sim of a game I would like to create with the help of a big name studio. Is that a good way to start? Is there another way and/or better way to start? I would appreciate no stupid flaming posts, as I do understand it won''t just happen at the snap of my fingers, but I would like some feedback from people who know about this. I''ve always been great on the creative side but not so great on the technical side. Thanks in advance.

quote: Original post by DigitalChaos
What does one person need to do in order to be a game designer and break into the business? What I mean by this is, I don't want to be a programmer or artist, but I want to design games and lead development teams. I understand it's probably not that easy and there are a lot of steps that need to be taken in order to get to the point of being a game designer, but where does one start? Writing a bunch of game design documents for games probably isn't that helpful, or so it would seem. Since I can program well enough, I could probably make a basic text based sim of a game I would like to create with the help of a big name studio. Is that a good way to start? Is there another way and/or better way to start? I would appreciate no stupid flaming posts, as I do understand it won't just happen at the snap of my fingers, but I would like some feedback from people who know about this. I've always been great on the creative side but not so great on the technical side. Thanks in advance.

Short answer: The chances of getting an entry level Game Designer position from outside the industry are approximately nil. Therefore, you have two basic options: 1) Get a different job in the industry (your programming skills might be useful here!) and try to move into Game Design from there, or 2) start/join an independent team, develop some games and see if you can get the interest of a publisher. Either way, developing a prototype that can show off your programming skills and your game design skills is certainly not going to be a waste of time.

Long answer: read this.



[edited by - Sandman on March 16, 2004 5:12:39 AM]

IMHO, etc.

You want to practice game design. The problem of showing off your design skills is of less importance than getting those skills in the first place (no, it''s not a gift or a matter of talent - it''s one of work and study).

You can practice game design by posting in game design forums, playing many different games (play until you learn the rules - not until you become a perfect (or even good) player), propose ideas that could improve some games (follow boards where indies announce their new games - you''ll find these require many improvements and the developers receive little enough feedback that they value it and will respond to it), participate as a beta-tester throughout the development of a some games (without much actual work, you''ll get the chance to see the design problems that appear, to propose solutions and see the game evolve). I also recommend moving towards small, indie-like games, to practice the art of making the best out of small resources, to learn to throw away (cool) ideas that don''t greatly improve gameplay.

______________________________________

Pax Solaris

Game design is a creative job. Like most similar jobs (music, film making etc) the only real way to prove you are good enough is to do it. You need start making levels in some of the more popular games that are currently available. Then when you have mastered level design join a mod team and help to create tyhe design as that is the next step up from just making levels. You should also study games to work out why they are good/bad. You need to be able to talk to a prospective employer and explain why you think something is good/bad. Many of the larger companies also require you to have a degree.

You can find a more complete list of requirements (plus a list of books that would be worth reading) at http://www.obscure.co.uk/faq_becoming_a_designer.shtml
and a job spec for a designer at http://www.obscure.co.uk/faq_jobspec_designer.shtml

Good luck and have fun.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions (www.obscure.co.uk)
Game Development & Design consultant

[edited by - obscure on March 16, 2004 7:36:54 AM]

a good designer also needs to understand and do well with arts.

so you can draw concept arts rather than asking an artist to do it for you, because the result might not be what you wanted, or not perfect.

and i want to be ruler of the world

I would never, ever want to work on a team where the designer was not an accomplished programmer. I just don''t understand the game-world mentality of having a designer who isn''t able to bang out code like the rest of the programmers. In the non-game commercial world, you don''t waltz in to a design/architect position without first spending 10 years "in the trenches" (at least this is my experiences so far).

My humble opinion anyway.

I 90% agree with HarryC, with one exception; someone who''s designed games for a different medium, such as board games, collectible card games, paper roleplaying games, or tabletop wargames, might also be suitable. But I''d definitely want someone who has experience of creating prototype systems and seeing how they play.

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As far as I can tell from my short time in the industry, you need to be a fat pompous ass, read comics and watch movies all day, know just enough programming to be dangerous, and step in 2 weeks before the game ships to tune some parameters and "save the day."

quote: Original post by HarryC
I would never, ever want to work on a team where the designer was not an accomplished programmer. I just don''t understand the game-world mentality of having a designer who isn''t able to bang out code like the rest of the programmers. In the non-game commercial world, you don''t waltz in to a design/architect position without first spending 10 years "in the trenches" (at least this is my experiences so far).

Well, I think that assumes that the designer is also the project lead, which isn''t always the case. The idea that the project lead should, aside from being a good manager, have some technical skill and understanding, is certainly solid.

In the words of Jack O''Neill: "The best way to understand a new command is to do every job yourself at least once." If the project lead has done some programming, they''ll communicate much better with the programmers. Same thing with the artists.

I think it''s less important that the designer has the experience, though as for any person on the team, understanding of what your colleagues do within the team helps the team work together.