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Careers For Supervising Game Designers?
LeoDV writes "As probably 99.9% geeks out there I wish I could make my own videogame, and I avidly read the article "How Do You Become A Console Game Programmer?" and found the replies very interesting and engaging. I, however, have only very basic programming skills, and no artistic skills. What I want to do isn't program my own game, but design it, with an army of minions doing the programming and art for me. I know it's quite impossible to show up at a games company with a resume and say "Hi, can you give me a team of 20 experienced people, I want to make a videogame?" But part of me knows that it happened before (Ubi Soft hired Michel Ancel, creator of Rayman, at 17). So, is it at all possible to land such a job without those skills, at some point? If it is, what (short graduating in CS or prostrating myself) are my best options?" So, what experience qualifies you for a design position, what skills should you actually have to make games successful, and is this approach hopelessly naive?
I know this might not be quite what you're asking about but when people talk about software design, generally they mean on a software engineering level. It's my guess that 90% of game designers are software engineers as well. Case in point, Quake, do you really think they came up with the plot before they developed the engine? First they developed the engine based on previous experience and then they said ok great, find some artists and lets get this game to market. I'm not sure there's any shortage of good ideas for video games, but I'm sure most of the decision as to what gets made is made by marketing and upper level managers. Any idiot can tell you, "I want a game that does this, this and will do the dishes while you sleep..."
:)
Speaking as a software engineering student, you'd probably need knowledge of object oriented software design or computer graphics design to even get the ear of someone in the industry. If you want people to get to know you for your creative side, start writing books, designing pen and paper RPGs or get into some other creative avenue so you can demonstrate your ability to take a creative idea through a design and development process. Then maybe you'll get creative design priviliges
Knowledge of programming does not make a person a game designer. Knowledge of games does -- what makes them fun, how they work (which is not the same as knowing how the code works), how to envision something that can be done with the resources available, how to communicate an idea, and understanding what will and won't sell.
There are such careers and they go by lots of names -- producer, creative director, lead game designer, etc. But they don't just hand them to people with no skills. Producers deal with schedules, criitcal paths, publishers, marketing, contracts and more. Some are actively involved in the design, others spend all their time managing. Creative directors can oversee several designs or projects at once, setting look and feel of the game, making sure gameplay stays on focus, managing designers, setting schedules, and sometimes actually designing. The best ones hire smart game designers and give them as much say as possible. Game designers do everything from documenting everything in the game, creating levels/scenarios, writing dialog and scripts, working with artists and programmers to accomodate their needs, to writing even more documents. Depending on the structure, they may only be following orders or may have a large say in the shape of the final game.
Getting any of these jobs means working in the trenches first. You have to learn the skills and prove you have them (usually with a published title) before anybody is going to trust you with this kind of job. That means being a game tester, writer, level designer, junior designer or whatever and clawing you way up.
How do I know this? Because I'm one of these people.
Remember, everybody has a "great idea" and everybody thinks they can be a designer. Far fewer can actually do the job.
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