Video Game Designers
A career in video game design will allow you to work behind the scenes of the gaming industry. Video game design positions have never been in higher demand, due to the rapid development of new gaming platforms in the mobile, console, online and PC spaces. It's an exciting career for the passionate gamer, so read on to find out how to become a video game designer.
Via the BLS* ...
"Designers create fun," says Christina Mcgavin, a game designer at Maxis Studios in Redwood, California. Game designers write the blueprint of the game. They decide the mission, theme, and rules of play. If the game is engrossing, designers have done their job.
Most development teams have a lead game designer, who is responsible for the overall concept and feel of the game. Level designers work with artists and programmers to lay out smaller sections of the game. Writer-designers write game text and dialogue. Some also write manuals and hint books.
The early stages of game design involve brainstorming, collaboration, and revision. Designers test their ideas by writing short scripts and narratives and sketching rough storyboards. The storyboards describe the action of the game with a sequence of pictures. As their concepts solidify, designers supervise the production of working video game demonstrations.
After the designers decide on the game concept, they write a detailed plan, called a design document. This document lays out every aspect of the game. It includes maps of each game setting and flow charts to show how events in the game may unfold. Everything the player might see, do, or hear is described somewhere in this document.
Designers are storytellers, with a twist: they invent a plot, but they let the player control the story and decide the outcome. They create a web of possibilities, and the player chooses a path.
A video game's design evolves over time. New ideas lead to new levels, special features, and secret additions and shortcuts called codes. "One of the most difficult parts of designing is deciding what to leave out," says Ulm. Designers edit and add to the design document throughout development.
A designer's main concern is to make the game entertaining and irresistible. "We have to understand what makes a game fun," says Mcgavin. "It's our job to connect with the player." But understanding fun is not as easy as it sounds. She explains, "Lots of people can say whether a game is good, but they can't quantify what makes it good." And harder still is recreating the effect.
Designers often challenge players by devising puzzles to solve or enemies to defeat. If a game is too easy, the designers make puzzles and enemies more cunning. The goal is to increase the game's difficulty as the player gains new skills—to make a game easy to learn but hard to master.
The pace and rhythm of a video game is also critical to its success. Designers decide how quickly players move and how often they encounter obstacles and other characters. If the pace is too slow, the game is boring. If the pace is too fast, the game is confusing.
Designers work with artists, programmers, and musicians throughout development. In fact, sometimes a designer is also the lead programmer, artist, or producer. But even if designers have other duties, their role is unique. They oversee the entire game-playing experience, instead of concentrating on one element. "Artists might want to paint beautifully intricate art, and that’s good," says Ulm, "but if the art slows down the game too much, it can't be used."
Skills and training. Communication is one of a designer’s most important skills. "You need a strong ability to write, to communicate ideas, and to persuade," says Ulm. Creative writing, English, theater, and other liberal arts classes help many designers to strengthen those skills.
Designers also have to be good managers. They lead the development team and make sure it implements the game concept. They incorporate many people's ideas into a single product.
Designers need technical skills as well: They need to understand computer programming and software design. "To be a good designer, you have to understand how games work," says Mcgavin. Designers have to be able to understand the technical hurdles programmers face.
Most designers earn a college degree, with the most common concentrations in English, art, and computer science.
However, a designer’s most significant training comes from experience. "There's no such thing as an entry-level designer," says Mark Keeper, manager of product development at Blizzard Entertainment in San Mateo, California. Designers usually begin their careers as game artists, programmers, testers, or producers.
Earnings. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have data for game designers, but industry sources suggest their salaries vary widely. Surveys by placement companies found annual salaries for writers and designers usually ranged from $35,000 to $75,000 in 1998 and 1999.
Like other entertainment occupations, earnings depend, in part, on worker reputation. A few of the most prominent designers earn large sums; the rest earn less. The wide range of salaries also reflects the varying job responsibilities designers have.
The international job market of late has seen some sad episodes of large-scale layoffs and pink slips. But among all this bad news there are some jobs which have proved to be quite tremor-proof. The jobs in game testing are included among such jobs. They were not affected by the recent recession. Rather, new recruitments were carried out at a normal or paced state irrespective of the economic slowdown. Actually, games will be always there, both in times of sadness and in times of happiness.
To get an entry pass in to the fascinating world of game testing you must have some qualities. You should be a game-lover. That does not mean that you will stick to the PC for all day long. But you should have clear knowledge of various popular games, installation of a game, basic troubleshooting while playing etc. Moreover, you should have a good level of familiarity with the internet and the written English language. The persons with extremely good analytical skills and an eye for details may be more likely to get jobs in game testing.
The entire process of development of a new game may take years to complete. Starting from the planning phase till the testing phase, a lot of steps are involved in the successful launch of a new game. The role of the game testers starts during the testing phase prior to the release of a new game in the market or after the release of the basic version. These testers are employed solely with the responsibility of detecting all kinds of loopholes in the factory-fresh game. Such loopholes may include minor graphics malfunctions to major system crashes. As soon as such cases are detected, they are reported to the game developers by these testers. Upon receiving specific details, corrective measures are carried out. In the process, the testers gain a lot of insider knowledge which helps them move up in the gaming niche.
Start exploring the jobs in game testing today and secure your future. Once you get a technical degree, you can apply for higher posts with the added advantage of having structured knowledge.
*The following information is adapted from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Working so others can play: Jobs in video game development. By Olivia Crosby.