My current project is a very complex mod for GlestAE, yet the only requirement is some knowledge of XML. Or rather its more efficient to copy paste the xml and change what is inside the tags rather than writing your own tags. To make a scenario you need some Lua scripting, but that isn't a big deal. I use GAE because I ca already program and thus can handle Lua easily and because xml is basically html so that is also easy.

If you do not want to work with either XML or Lua and you have the money to burn, you can make plenty of design stuff inside of StarCraft2 although SC2 doesn't allow you to distribute the game free like GAE does.

Be warned though, the chance of you forming a team based on a SC2 demo is quite small. In the first place you would have to create your own RTS engine because you can't actually sell an SC2 mod and that takes quite a long time.

Really though the chance of being a pure designer is miniscule. I can't think of even 10 good examples off the top of my head. And as many have stated, most game programmers are in it to make games, probably their own games that they got into programming to make. Artists are somewhat similar. But artists can make art without making a game and can also come easily from non game fields.

[quote name='Hodgman' timestamp='1335180336' post='4934052']
You could try a challenge, like trying to reproduce the 'feel' of a video game in the form of a board game

I do like this idea as something that I - or anyone else - could do without looking needing a lot of outside help (though a lot of the initial ideas I have would require some artwork).

You have to find a creative solution to this problem. Nobody can hand you an easy solution. If you are a worthy game designer, you have to prove it.

I am definitely working on it, and I'm not looking for an easy solution, but in order to know what I need to do, I need to know more about what people want.
[/quote]

Here are some more things you can do: http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson12.htm

I think it would be a very good idea for you to also learn some programming. It will help you better communicate with programmers on future projects. Nothing too crazy, just the basics, so that you understand how everything works. Variables, control flow, functions, classes, OOP etc. You could go through all of this within a few days. You won't be great at it, but you will have a general understanding. Plus, it will be easier to mod games.

The question is therefore, how does a Game Designer prove his worth?

I say, learn to make the most of what you've got. And learn how to show it.

[rambling]
I was at my Mom's for a holiday a bit back and my niece and nephew (8 & 5) wanted to play Trivial Pursuit. I was kinda surprised at this as it's not a kid's game but it turned out my mom got them into playing without having to answer the trivia questions. I don't think she thought about the change to the game in detail when she made it but I couldn't help but think that there was a sufficient amount of randomness and strategy to make it a good game. Just trying to land on each of the pie squares was enough to keep me interested and the kids got a kick out of playing a game that adults play.

Overall, games are about taking what resources you have access to and turning them into something new and fun. You might have a vast amount of artwork that you can use or you might have a couple of sticks and a sandbox. Now go create a strategic war game. Adding rules and an objective to either set of resources is what creates the game. So my recommendation is to challenge yourself by giving yourself as many different sets of resources as you can whether they're found on a computer or not.

Come to think of it, that game of war with the stick and the sandbox could be considered a completed and tested game. All that was missing was a write up of the rules. In retrospect, throwing a ball at each other instead of a stick would've been a good way to avoid having our game banned at school.
[/rambling]

Out of all things it is possible to make without programming / graphics / sound skills, I would be most impressed by
- a well-designed card game
- a well-designed board game
- a well-designed level or map for an existing videogame

In other words, something you have designed that plays well. Don't worry about art assets, they can be placeholder stuff or you can reuse assets of whatever videogame you are working with.

And it's not just the final product that matters. If you are able to write analytically about the process of designing those games or levels, any central themes, methods and processes you used to make the game work, what problems you encountered in playtesting, how you fixed them and why - that would be great.

Next comes the money. The more people the more mouths to feed. Are you ready to feed an additional mouth? If the team is big, why not, just one additioanl is not a big deal. But if this is a 4 team project can you really afford a dedicated designer that produce no code nor art?

Talking logistically, the way you're portraying it, you're not asking about whether or not you can afford a dedicated designer, since you're assuming that the designer has no value as a designer. Whether you can afford "another mouth to feed" applies to everyone on the team. You should always ask "is it worth getting another person" regardless of their role. You don't hire another developer because he's another developer and can produce code - not if you don't need another developer.

If a designer could add value to the team (and the project) then you would bring him aboard, wouldn't you? The problem is that he needs to prove he can add value.

There comes also synergy. If you have two designers, one is good but also understands programming and one is very good but does not understand programming, which one would be better for the project? Which one would be able to convey the information to the team better? Which one would be able to understand what is possible and what is not better?

Obviously, which is better for the project is always going to be the question. But from my standpoint I'm looking for the ideas that portray "I am a great designer" it's not the specific ideas as to whether the designer knows how to code or not.

In my view, a designer's ability to design creatively is at best completely unrelated to being able to program, and at worst hindered by it Before I get shot down for this, I will say that I agree that having at least some knowledge of programming would make it easier for a designer to portray his ideas to the team, and aid with communication - this can, and should, lead to being a better designer. But it isn't always the case.

Consider the following:

I am making a shooter game.
Gun damage is rated from: 1 to 100 (100 being the most powerful)
I want to make a really powerful gun. What damage rating should I give it?

A good designer will obviously think 100.

But why not make it 200? Why not 1000? Why not make it -100 and have a gun that heals? Knowing the rules makes it harder to think outside of them.

The design process should be "This is fun, how can I make it work?" instead of "This is what works, how can I make it fun?" As a programmer, you know what you can do, what you could put together and how to make it work. It's harder to think about ideas that you don't know how to make.

W3 came with a fairly powerful visual "programming" tool, so you don't actually need to code.

RPG Maker is a famous editor, though paid. Years ago I messed around with one called RPG Toolkit. It was free, and seemed to work pretty well.

Thanks for the notes, I'll see what I can come up with in this respect.

I think it would be a very good idea for you to also learn some programming. It will help you better communicate with programmers on future projects. Nothing too crazy, just the basics, so that you understand how everything works. Variables, control flow, functions, classes, OOP etc. You could go through all of this within a few days. You won't be great at it, but you will have a general understanding. Plus, it will be easier to mod games.

I personally have some background in programming, I have coded a few small games. I'm currently working on prototyping one of my more advanced ideas, and I'm trying to learn C++. But again, I'm looking specifically for ideas I can do to show my worth as a designer specifically, and for those designers that don't have ability with programming.

Out of all things it is possible to make without programming / graphics / sound skills, I would be most impressed by
- a well-designed card game
- a well-designed board game
- a well-designed level or map for an existing videogame

In other words, something you have designed that plays well. Don't worry about art assets, they can be placeholder stuff or you can reuse assets of whatever videogame you are working with.

And it's not just the final product that matters. If you are able to write analytically about the process of designing those games or levels, any central themes, methods and processes you used to make the game work, what problems you encountered in playtesting, how you fixed them and why - that would be great.

This is the consensus I have come to also, though it is reassuring to hear someone else state it implicitly. I'm actually working on coming up with a board-game idea as it is. Until it was stated just now it wasn't something I had seriously considered. I few years ago I did try coming up with a design for 3 player chess, but I couldn't get it balanced right.

Create a professional highly detailed GDD along with a concept page and iternary.
Shell out a few bux for an artist to create a couple of cool concept art you can include in the concept page and iternary.. makes a big difference when recruiting.
Design website too (not create it) because it has to work together with the game.. mix together and the game designer is best fit for that.
You can create a website really cheap... lots of cheap web developers around.. so if you oursource a web developer for super cheap out of your own pocket then it's same thing as you did it yourself and making the website is a big help.
Do marketing, this is also something game designer is best at because he has designed the game and how you're going to make money out of it.
You can also take role of publishing and being creative director.
Community manager.

Just act like you're the boss and look professional.
Professional outlook is key because I read so few collab threads that have even been spell checked.

The most import skills for a game designer I would say are:

• The ability to communicate clearly and effectively.
  
• Adaptable to change
  
• Ability to take the ideas from technical, creative, and business teams and distill them into workable ideas.
  
• Understandings the constraints and limitations and knows to deliver the most value within them.
  
  A GDD document isn't worth the the time and effort, maybe this because I'm not from a waterfall project background. But Its all about small stories and an overall abstract the explains how they fit together, and where the project is going.
  
  What I'd want to see from a game designer is a some small fully fleshed out prototypes. Show me you can turn a set of requirements into a full fleshed out idea ready for the programmers and artists to start working on.
  
  For example:
  We working on a Western RPG where future tech has made its way into the past I need you to develop a dueling system that its based on poker.
  
  Or We've just signed a produce placement deal with red bull for the platform game that we've nearly finished working on, now I need you to work in 10 seconds of branding into each 2 minute level, and we can't afford to push back the release date by more than a week.
  
  
  Those are type of problems the game designer needs to solve on top of the 100 other design issues and ideas.

how does a Game Designer prove his worth?[/quote]
By designing games of course. I'm sure you've heard of design documents.

I've recently got a degree in Software Engineering and got a job in the industry. One thing I noticed during my job search and during my current work, is the little value companies place on my documentation skills. All they really care about is my coding.

During my degree, the lecturers put great pressue on us to produce detailed documentation, as there is evidence that shows that weak documentation invariably leads to badly produced systems which are full of errors with functionality that doesn't meet the requirements.

It seems maybe the industry has yet to catch up with the idea that documentation is highly important. The research is out there, but it is, perhaps, being ignored.

I'm guessing a lot of companies may also look down on Game Design documentation skills, and they just want to see coding skills.