Who are some "big name" video game designers that cannot program? I know Shigeru Myamoto was just an artist when he started at Nintendo, but has he since learned to program?

He is an example of a person without formal education in the field/programming background. However, he spend a large time with people that were able to program, and talked with them often enough so he was able to guess/know what is realisable and what not.

It depends on what you mean by programming, if you mean is he able to turn his artistic expression into source code, then there are experienced programmers that can't do this.

[Edited by - Raghar on April 3, 2007 11:56:53 AM]

I'm not a "big name" designer, but I am a non-programming game designer. Chris, why do you ask?

I've been working alongside a programmer for what I think is about a year now. And in many smaller projects (mods) I've done the same thing with several programmers, artists and writers at the same time. I myself am not capable of doing any programming, and I have no intention ever learning to do so. We get along just fine as long as I know some basics, and I understand some of the limits my programmer (and co-dev) is forced to follow. The good thing about most human-made things is that they are made after the laws of logic, and programming falls into this category in my opinion.

So, hehe, if you asked "is it possible to be a game designer who cannot program" then the answer is definately yes. Just stay close with the people around you and try to keep fairly updated at all times about what they are working with. Communication is the key :)
Sorry if you were just looking for names...

I found not being a programmer to be a major handicap in trying to lead a game development project. I can't evaluate a programmer's skills or progress, or decide what is a feasible design and would be the best approach to any problem of development related to programming.

Our game designers can't write code, and that is a good thing. We don't want them to. If they were to design from within the bounds of what they think can be programmed, it is an artificial limitation they have placed on their designs. Let them design freely, and let the programmers try to implement that design. Through a bit of back and forth, designers and programmers meet somewhere in the middle.

Quote:

Original post by Sly Our game designers can't write code, and that is a good thing. We don't want them to. If they were to design from within the bounds of what they think can be programmed, it is an artificial limitation they have placed on their designs. Let them design freely, and let the programmers try to implement that design. Through a bit of back and forth, designers and programmers meet somewhere in the middle.

- Well said. It's important to have at least one very competent and experienced programmer though, who is capable of running the position as lead-programmer, if there are more programmers involved in the project of course. But when it comes to the creative part, I agree that not knowing too much programming can even be to your benefit.

Quote:

Original post by Sly Our game designers can't write code, and that is a good thing. We don't want them to. If they were to design from within the bounds of what they think can be programmed, it is an artificial limitation they have placed on their designs. Let them design freely, and let the programmers try to implement that design.

The flip-side of that is that the designers don't see the cool gameplay options that the code makes easily available, and instead often waste their time dreaming up things that are impractical to implement.

Quote:

Original post by Kylotan Quote: Original post by Sly Our game designers can't write code, and that is a good thing. We don't want them to. If they were to design from within the bounds of what they think can be programmed, it is an artificial limitation they have placed on their designs. Let them design freely, and let the programmers try to implement that design. The flip-side of that is that the designers don't see the cool gameplay options that the code makes easily available, and instead often waste their time dreaming up things that are impractical to implement.

- If you're working with a good and sensible programmer, he should be able to talk your ideas through, and explain what parts of it that are impractical, and also suggest other ways of solving the whole problem, if he's creative enough.

So the job of the designer is to daydream and think up crazy things without any restrictions, while the programmer has to be both practical and creative enough? No wonder I think the best designers are all programmers.