How would I go about getting into game design? - Games

[QUOTE=Lucid Meerkat;17693987]Apparently making your own small game and using that can get you into the designer slot. Just what I read up from multiple sites on a google search. Not sure what would happen when you're in that job though. The Producer will have more control, setting deadlines and stuff, but the lead designer will put most of the stuff into the game I guess, the storyline and gameplay template for the others in the team to create. There is more than one designer though, one is the lead designer whilst the rest put in their own ideas and hope they get accepted. I've heard that suddenly there's low pay due to high supply of workers. I wouldn't know for sure. Source: The Internetz and i'm doing Games Development in college. Only just started though.[/QUOTE] The course, Games Development, what does it consist of? It seems somthing i'd consider. I can't code, and am bad at that kind of thing as i am dyslexic. So for me coding would most likely be out of the question, but it wouldn't stop me from giving it a go.

[QUOTE=Clever-Balls;17694014]The course, Games Development, what does it consist of? It seems somthing i'd consider. I can't code, and am bad at that kind of thing as i am dyslexic. So for me coding would most likely be out of the question, but it wouldn't stop me from giving it a go.[/QUOTE] I am going to make this one. I dunno where this guy is but here in Brazil it consists of making models and textures, drawing, coding and math. It teaches you a lot of stuff, and it's about 4 years. I think it's the same over there, but i am not sure of what country he lives in.

[QUOTE=Clever-Balls;17694014]The course, Games Development, what does it consist of? It seems somthing i'd consider. I can't code, and am bad at that kind of thing as i am dyslexic. So for me coding would most likely be out of the question, but it wouldn't stop me from giving it a go.[/QUOTE] Well it seems like we're doing everything but maybe the art side, which anyone can get into if they just draw good. It's not too hard to just start drawing and develop that over time but programming looks like a more expert thing to learn. Not doing programming this year, I reckon our teacher has a scheme set up to get all of the core courses done first and do that next year. Doing programming for the first year, stopping and then doing it on the second year might be bad because it would be hard getting back into it after not programming for a time. I don't have the pdf file for the units my class are doing up atm but: One of our courses involves making a story for the game, one of em I think involves reviewing games, one of em involves... Market Research D=. I think the course is designed to show you most of the jobs in the industry to give the learner an idea of what he (or she, if there would ever be a girl doing that course) wants to specialize in before going to university. I guess you could try and find a job right out of college but i'm not sure on the effectiveness of doing that. Edit: England, 2 years for a level 3 course. I doubt it's as in depth as the course in Brazil (Edit: That's why, it's in a university, the one i'm doing is in college!). I havn't been in the course for very long though and most of the core units, which are Media based such as advertising and understanding the market (D=), are being done on the first year and I don't have the file up to see the units that i'll probably be doing next year.

Well it certainly sounds interesting, but i doubt i can support my self for 4 years. I'd obviously need to learn about this things to a greater extent to begin designing games.

Oh wait fuck, forget it, i just noticed i was talking about Games Development university. Sorry. Damn i am starting to confuse these english words. To the dictionary! [editline]03:50PM[/editline] Ah forget i was right. 4 years and everything. [editline]03:52PM[/editline] And an interesting fact is that here in Brazil, most people already get jobs in the game industry while still in the second year, one rarely completes the third year without someone offering them a job.

Epic discussion. Loving it DarkWolf

It works like this, [B]nobody[/B] is going to put you in charge of designing a game with their budget unless you have a proven track record of success in the field. Seeing as you don't seem to have any skills in actually creating games getting a portfolio through designing and creating indie games goes out of the window. So your choice that is left over is to go to university in some for of Games Design course for 3 years. Desperately hope you can get some form of job in a games company, wow them by being awesome as shit with a thousand incredible ideas, then eventually get your dream job. Unfortunately you're looking at perhaps the hardest job to actually get your foot in the door with. Nobody is going to trust you with their budget if you just have a good idea, you need more than that.

[QUOTE=DarkWolf2;17692892]You've got to be kidding. Half of the kids want "Professional game designer" and think they're up to it because they're 1337 in Doom and COD4. Did you do any research as what a game designer does? Do you know how to analyze markets for potentional gaps. Do you know how to draw? Do you know how to work in a team with other artists? And that's only 10 percent of what a game designer does, let alone the chance of being accepted for the job.[/QUOTE] COD4 sucks, so why would anyone want to be inspired to make games from them? I want to work for Valve. From what i've seen/heard, the guys there seem pretty cool.

COD4 doesn't suck at all :/ It's an extremely good game that sells well. KillerTV - i'll be looking for some mod projects to work on and build my portfolio from there.

Dude you're 18 and you don't know what to do yet, I'm 16 and I'm working my ass of trying to get qualifications and degrees so I can get picked for 3D Modeling, Despite wanting to be a 3D modeler I've been working on other things including coding so I can get ahead of people like you who think they can get in on one small skill.

I've just stated that getting into game design is [B]ONE[/B] of my options. Granted you are 16, but you should be able to read.

What programming languages are the most common for making video games?

C, and sometimes their in-house engine. [editline]07:48PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Vronkio;17694257]Epic discussion. Loving it DarkWolf[/QUOTE] Haha thanks, I stand by my point if I know it's right :smile:

[QUOTE=DarkWolf2;17695142]C, and sometimes their in-house engine.[/QUOTE] C++ with small amount of C =/

[QUOTE=Xerios3;17695605]C++ with small amount of C =/[/QUOTE] That's what I meant, and yes, I know there's a difference between those :v:

I'm currently in my second year of a three year BA Games Design Course. The course in the first year revolved around learning the basics of whatever program your university teaches, for us it was Maya, you are also taught the history of the industry for us we learned about the very first consoles right up to this generation and what it takes to develop a AAA title game and how fragile a company can be when a game flops. For the second year you go more in depth of what it takes to actually create a game and at this point you should have a good idea what part of the industry you want to specialise in you are also given a lot more freedom in what you can do with it being more dependent on you to come up with ideas and make them a reality, for instance for our Games Design and Simulation class this year we have to work in a group of 3-5 people and review a game in depth from start to finish then from what we learned from our review we have to come up with a new original idea and produce a working demo of our idea all in about 3-4 months, we also have to do a 10 minute presentation to our entire class at the end of each of our assignments detailing our findings, for out Level Design class we have to do 3 one at the initial research stage another at the mod point when we have something to show and the final one at the end showcasing our level. For the third year it’s you, on your own, doing your own idea with little help from the lecturers. What is produced from this is what you show a games company to show them what you can achieve on your own in a year. One thing I can't stress enough though is the importance of a personality and something a bit extra, you can have the best portfolio and can be the most naturally talented person in the room but if you can’t communicate with a group of people or have something a little bit extra in terms of life experiences then you’re not going to get the job, you need something to make you stand out from the slurry of 1000+ people who are fresh out of university looking for a job in the industry. I was talking with my lecturer the other day and he said that one of Unreals employment tactics is to take you out for a pint to see if you get on well with the people you’re going to be working with and if you don’t then no job for you.

Yeah go out of your way to make something special. You have to stand out to get picked. [editline]10:51PM[/editline] [QUOTE=MUTTS01001;17696558] one of Unreals employment tactics is to take you out for a pint to see if you get on well with the people you’re going to be working with and if you don’t then no job for you.[/QUOTE] Awesome.

If you want to go into game design there are several accredited schools that industry officials will recognize and not scoff at when you show them a resume. DO NOT look into 3 year technical schools like Full-Sail or Collin's College. If they have advertisements in magazines or on TV chances are you don't want to go there. I'm currently at Savannah College of Art and Design with several avenues for Game Design Majors. There are others with better credentials such as Carnegie Mellon however these are very competitive schools are not easy to get into. If you really want to get into game design the best way to show you're capable and able to manage a team is to make a mod. Mapping, in Hammer or in the Unreal engine, is also something you should look into and familiarize yourself with immediately. Still a total conversion mod of any kind will really grab the attention of a studio, you'll want to go through school first obviously but it's something that will really make you stand out.

[QUOTE=Lf752;17694885]Dude you're 18 and you don't know what to do yet, I'm 16 and I'm working my ass of trying to get qualifications and degrees so I can get picked for 3D Modeling, Despite wanting to be a 3D modeler I've been working on other things including coding so I can get ahead of people like you who think they can get in on one small skill.[/QUOTE] Pretty much it. Weither you like it or not, game designers are technical artists. It's more about just wanting to make something that isn't a rehash. It's about developing a killer portfolio that sells yourself to game development companies and makes them go, "Wow, this guy really gets it. He [I]really [/I]gets it, and he's got a passion for interactivity". I've got big dreams of being in game design myself, but it's not because I fancy the idea of making a game that isn't a rehash, it's because what games mean on a deeper level facinates me, the idea of being able to create another world with it's own rules and laws is my ultimate dream. I've always been the kid who's played with legos, imagining all sorts of situations. Imagining worlds, or creating an experience that genuinely invokes a feeling or a reaction in a player... that's what I want to do. You can't just say "I want be a game designer!", decide to join a school about game design and jump into a job. Well I suppose you can, but taking that route won't actually get you designing games but doing grunt work. Some of the best game designers out there didn't even have a game dev degree... they have everything from psychology to graphic arts to computer sciences. What got them to be a game developer was a passion for that medium, and the skill to create a portfolio that sings. As a matter of fact 99% of game dev companies don't even require a degree, all they care about are the actual skills you have, and if you've got the "heart" to be a game developer. That said game development is high competetive, and honestly 50% of it is purely who you know (aka "networking"). Someone who's got ties with a company is much more likely to get hired than someone who isn't. Because of this I am studying a related field but with a different medium: graphic design. The elements of design are still there, except it applies to printed materials/web instead of interactive game design. If I can't get into the industry even with my modding experience atleast I can have my chances at getting in a related industry that shares many of the same base concepts. Even with my modding experience I'm trying to rack up and the year and a half I've been studying graphic design there is still a lot more for me to learn about what it takes to actually make a compelling design from start to finish. Hell it involves more than just a game, it involves every aspect of your life. Being a designer is hard work and ideas are a dime a dozen. The best designers are those who stretch their social bounderies, maybe travel the world to broden their mental horizions... perhaps they are the people who really understand the world. Because perhaps in order to make a world, you have to understand the one you live in. Atleast that's my goal, that's where I am trying to get to. [editline]02:17AM[/editline] [B]HOLY FUCK WALL OF RAMBLING TEXT[/B]

[QUOTE=DarkWolf2;17692942]Also, you can't "design" a game alone, you have to be part of the team like concept artist or modeler. Being the "Idea" person never works. [editline]05:27PM[/editline] Also 1200th post![/QUOTE] jesus christ man, lighten up and stop assuming shit. take that stick out of your ass and ram it into your skull

DarkWolf, Telling people to give up their dreams since 2007.

[QUOTE=Lf752;17694885]Dude you're 18 and you don't know what to do yet, I'm 16 and I'm working my ass of trying to get qualifications and degrees so I can get picked for 3D Modeling, Despite wanting to be a 3D modeler I've been working on other things including coding so I can get ahead of people like you who think they can get in on one small skill.[/QUOTE] Wow youre awesome can I suck your dick?

School. Or you could browse the internet for some games in development. There's Interstellar Marines and Cortex Command that I know off the top of my head.

[QUOTE=bepassley;17701989]jesus christ man, lighten up and stop assuming shit. take that stick out of your ass and ram it into your skull[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=HumanAbyss;17702101]DarkWolf, Telling people to give up their dreams since 2007.[/QUOTE] If you'd actually bother to read further down the page you'll see I'm helping him. Oh, and you can take that right back bepassley, irony eh?

[QUOTE=DarkWolf2;17692942]Also, you can't "design" a game alone, you have to be part of the team like concept artist or modeler. Being the "Idea" person never works. [editline]05:27PM[/editline] Also 1200th post![/QUOTE] Total bullshit, it's possible.

[QUOTE=DarkWolf2;17704784]If you'd actually bother to read further down the page you'll see I'm helping him. Oh, and you can take that right back bepassley, irony eh?[/QUOTE] He's a bad troll.

[B]-Concept artist[/B] -Npc's and creatures -Terrain and enviroment -yadda yadda -Artwork -Mood bords [B]Coder[/B] -AI -Engine -Scripts -Movement -UI -Graphics -ect ect [B]Modeling[/B] -Characters -Buildings -Enviroment -Cars -Weapons -ect [B]Mappers[/B] -Enviroment -AI -Scripting -Immersion [B] Quality control[/B] -Playtesting -Making error messages (really) -ect Just be good at one of these Mkay? -

Game Designer - Ideas Guy, Listen, if you really want to make ideas, go write a book.

[QUOTE=DarkWolf2;17693252]"Obviously" because you didn't GIVE us anything to help you with. The only think I found out is that you're 18 and lousy at understanding my issue with you. You can't just walk into a bar you've never been before and order "the usual" now can you?[/QUOTE] You didn't really try to help him. Instead you tried to tell him that it takes more work then he thinks it does (Which is a horrible assumption considering he said he knows NOTHING about it so there is no need for you to be a prick; Listen to how you sound in your posts without any ego and you'll see that you were being an asshole.)

[QUOTE=DarkWolf2;17704784]If you'd actually bother to read further down the page you'll see I'm helping him. Oh, and you can take that right back bepassley, irony eh?[/QUOTE] Actually "Ideas Guy" and team manager is basically what a Lead Designer or general game designer is. You have a background in art, programming or design but your main purpose on the team is cohesiveness and leadership. If they work well and the team can accomplish them, your ideas will define the game. So yes going into actual Game Design is being the "Ideas Guy". However you have to trudge through the shit times, art design or coding, before you can occupy the big chair.