What does it take to be a video game designer?

[Pagerron]

I've been on here now for about eight months, and this seems like a place full of knowledge (and other things),but relating to the knowledge side of things..

Other than taking classes at a technical school related to graphics, visual design, and editing of certain game creation software, what exactly would becoming a video game designer for a well-known corp. entail?

Does anyone at the Pavilion work in game design as a career?
and if so, do you have any suggestions for someone who is considering it as a possible job?
Is anyone currently taking classes related to video game design?
How are they going for you?

Just curious. Any comments (other than spam of course) are more than welcome.

[AbstractOrigin]

Re: What does it take to be a video game designer?

I'm trying to enroll into Devry's Game and Simulation Programming right now.

Though, I have plans of higher learning (Studying other related fields) later in life.

[thetruecoolness]

Re: What does it take to be a video game designer?

Well as an aspiring game designer/programmer, though I've been taking some time off learning webdesign, I can tell you that where you goto school may make some impact but it will not guarantee you a job at any design place. Bascially you shouldn't really expect to start out as a designer anywhere, unless it's for a cell phone game or a level designer, it just doesn't happen that way. Designer is basically a senior position you work up to. So find out what aspect of game design you want to try to get into a company as. Programmer, Graphic Artist, Tester/QA, Sound, etc, then start looking for entry level positions in that area. As I have seen on many websites and a couple of books on this getting your foot in the door somewhere is the key. Also once you become a Game designer don't expect to just make the ideas you come up with, because you will be dissapointed to learn you won't, until you make a couple of hits. Designers like Will Wright are the exception not the rule, now more than ever as the cost to make a game keep going up companies are really playing it safe with ideas. You could be that guy but it's going to take a lot of work, and some luck.

As for sites www.sloperama.com is a good place to start to get a realist view on getting in, just don't get too discouraged by it as he does seem to be a pessimist on a lot of things, but it's a good reality check.

www.gamedev.com, more for learning development (programming) but still they have a large forum and lots of articles on various aspects of the industry and are aimed at the indy game maker.

www.gamasutra.com, the industry website for the most part. Contains daily news about the industry along with good features on all parts of it, and lots of research about the industry. Also includes an exaustive list of companies, and job openings.

www.igda.com, the International Game Developers Association. This is a good place to meet people and get even more advice on the industry, they also have local chapters in almost every state, so it would be good to join and start to meet people.

So basically like any large industry, it's all about who you know and what you know, and also experience. Of course it's hard to get experience until someone gives you a chance, but really you can use college projects, and even personal projects you've been working on to get in. And one of the biggest things I've heard is play a lot of games, analyze them, see what makes them work and what doesn't. Basically just don't expect going to college to be all you need, cause trust me it isn't.

Also if you want to be a designer, write a lot and get up at least a basic drawing skill. These will come in handy when getting trying to communicate your idea to others.

A book I would recommend getting is Game Architecture and Design. It has a couple of sample design documents, and includes the design, managment, and code structure areas of game design in a lot of depth.

[Chad]

Re: What does it take to be a video game designer?

I attended a conference from Midway the other day (last thursday, I believe), and really, game DESIGN is not a standardized field. All companies look for something different, and most do not have a chosen method.

In the case of Midway - Austin, it's based on the current team. They want some sort of writing / design degree and then depending on how many people they have with game experience already, they'll usually try to pick up someone without it, with a fresh look.


As for the skills, practice technical writing.

[thetruecoolness]

Re: What does it take to be a video game designer?

Also practice coming up with game ideas, and then developing them up to the point that they are a full fledged game design, do this a lot, but only with the really good ones (learn to abandon bad ideas early). This way when you go into an interview they will see you have done this a lot, and while they probably won't use any ideas you give them, it will show them you can fully develop an idea into a playable game. So write, write, write, and analyze current gen and older games, think about what makes them good, popular, what could they have done better, etc. Don't try to be too elitest though, they don't like that, since it shows you're close-minded.

But yes since the industry still hasn't "grown up" (here's to hoping it never does), so there is still a large diversity in company structures, and desires. So while some people may be looking with people with tons of experience, others, like Postulate Man mentioned, are looking for fresh people to give new prespectives, just make sure to flex your creativity a bit. Still don't expect to be a designer right off the bat, you may be lucky enough to start out as an assistant to one, instead of working your way up as tester (definitly not lead of a development project until you've worked on at least a few games). Basically just make sure you have a lot of passion for it, cause that is what they look for, then make sure you have the know-how to back up that passion. In terms of degree, try to diversify yourself in the classes you take, of course focusing on technical and creative writing if designer is what you really want to be. Coming up with the idea is the easy part, transfering that into an enjoyable game, and splitting it up so a team of developers, artist, and writers can make it is the hard part. No company just looks for an "idea man", as anyone at the company can fill that role.

Technology is only a minor concern to you, though still important to keep up with, as learning how new technology is used can open up new ideas, and eventually you will have to make sure your idea is feasable.

Back to the degree, while getting a 'gaming' degree might seem like the right thing to do, really any accredit bachelor degree related to what you want to do will work, and if a company is looking for something fresh they might not want the guy who went to the gaming college, as their experience might be limited. So I would fish around the sloperama site, and get or borrow the book I mentioned. You might want to check out this book as well Game Plan.
As I have not read it you might want to see if your library might have it first, but it looks pretty informative, and at $10 wouldn't break the bank I hope.

Of course all the knowledge I have is from the outside looking in, so maybe the couple of people here already there may have some different prespectives. Really if you have enough passion and persistence you should be able to get in, just start networking as soon as you get up to speed on the basics, and if you can work on mods or webcomic or something with a story.

Oh and I took a video game design course (at GA Tech) and didn't learn much more than what was in the previous book I mentioned, mainly because they were just like go make a game, and then went on and on about machinema. So just cause it's a game design course doesn't mean you'll learn a whole lot about it, depends on the teacher and course structure. I learned a lot about give and take, and teamwork, but most of the design stuff I was already familiar with.

[Pagerron]

Re: What does it take to be a video game designer?

Hey thank you guys very much. A special thanks to thetruecoolness. I've been checking out the sloperama site, and that's going to take a while to go through. Awesome. Well, there is a lot to think about...and apparently there are a lot more opportunities than I had previously thought. Thanks again.
Pagerron