A lil info would be cool. Does the game designer actually make the game, or come up with what type of game it'll be and all the rules etc

from what i read a game designer deals with all of the fields and does alot of concept and rules and etc like you say but i think he does alot with visual art and from what i read he designs alot of the objects
and i think this is alot like a visual artist

so i would like to know whats the difference bettween a visual artist and a game designers

Alright a game designer is FAR FAR from a visual artist. That would be the artist of the project. Now depending on what kind of project your doing and what kind of house you are working on you might have to cross jobs and do art but thats not specifically what a game designer does.

Design is split into many segments but I will cover general designer. A game designer creates the mechanics of a game. How it will function how areas will interact with each other. Example: When character A is exposed to items B, C , D and E they will incur physiological damage depending on how close they are to the item.

Now usually the lead designer has some say on the over all game but not necessarily. But it is the goal of the designer to take whatever project he has and what he has to work with and make it as fun as possible. From setting up the different modes of play. What things will be available in the interface. How the controls effect the player. How the environment will effect the player. These are all things the designer has to pay attention too.

The more a designer can get into the head of the player that would play the game they are trying to build and have the ability to use that to help him create fun things for the target audience the more successful he/she will be.

A game designer has an extremly hard job. There are many factors they must think of at all times while creating mechanics. They usually are also playing the game constantly once it reaches a point where it can be played. Trying to find what works best for the hypothetical player.

Except for at larger companies perhaps, game designer usually isn't a job. It's a role. Where I currently work, our artists are usually assigned the task to oversee the production of a game, so they're essentially taking on the role of game-designer. That doesn't mean the original idea came from them, or that they decide the all and everything of the game. They just keep an eye on the big picture and make decisions where necessary.

Even worse, I'm working on a game of my own in my free time. That makes me the programmer, artist and game-designer (also level-designer, etc.). As we call it in Holland: 'The critter has to have a name'. ;) I agree with FadedPhoenix however: to be a good game-designer is pretty difficult. It's a very intangible subject.