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[Max White]

So, I'm thinking about trying to become a lead designer for some games company. I'm not terribly good with code, as my posts will show, but I'm very creative and good with English. Is there a better/more suitable position for me, and if not, what should I focus on in my studies?

Extra Credits has got you covered.

[MaximumZero]

So, I'm thinking about trying to become a lead designer for some games company. I'm not terribly good with code, as my posts will show, but I'm very creative and good with English. Is there a better/more suitable position for me, and if not, what should I focus on in my studies?

Extra Credits has got you covered.

Schweet. Thanks, man.

[Max White]

Trust me, EC pretty good. Don't always agree with their out-take, but they are damn good anyway.

[MaximumZero]

Welp, if that was meant to crush my spirit, it didn't work. All of those things in that video? That's me. That's what I'm good at. That's what I want to do for the rest of my life. Amazing. ;_;

[alway]

The thing about design jobs is this: they are really hard to get, especially in comparison to programming jobs. And without industry experience, you have pretty much no chance of getting one. It's fairly typical to go through QA or programming positions before getting a design position. The reason for this is that the designer needs to have demonstrated their knowledge of the game development process as well as having enough background in the field to make reasonable decisions about how a game will be developed. From what I've seen with others in my major (Game Design and Development), you need to also be very good at networking with people in order to get design positions. Because of all these reasons, we are discouraged from going into the design side of things in our major. The reality is this: in order to succeed as a game designer, you need to be entirely committed and willing to put in a hell of a lot more work than most people. If you feel that honestly describes you, go for it, if not, find something else.

[Max White]

Welp, if that was meant to crush my spirit, it didn't work. All of those things in that video? That's me. That's what I'm good at. That's what I want to do for the rest of my life. Amazing. ;_;

Oh, you want me to crush your spirit? Is that what you wanted? Was that the little thought that you were flirting with?

Spoiler: LO MORTAL, FOR THY HATH CRUSHED THOU SPIRIT (click to show/hide)

That video was made by people that work as developers, not people that hire developers. They care about making unique and wonderful games, but the people paying you, the project manager, only cares about the income. They are more likely to hire some uncreative prick who just wants to make the same FPS over and over and turn over shit ton of money in a week. It isn't about any of what they said, it is about getting in line and doing your part to make another "Medal of Duty: Halos of war"

[MaximumZero]

But...but...Max...I can do that. I'll churn out Halo 6 with one new and cool thing spliced onto it if I can get the chance to make a low-budget, time and manhour strapped indie style game. I'd be willing to do that.

I'm a great candidate to work for EA, aren't I?

[kaijyuu]

To be completely honest I wouldn't mind designing a Popular Game's Sequel #37. Easy to innovate when you've got some framework laid down.


Hell most of my game designing was done with game mods until recently. Warcraft 3 maps, romhacking, etc.

[Max White]

To be completely honest I wouldn't mind designing a Popular Game's Sequel #37. Easy to innovate when you've got some framework laid down.

I'm sorry, but you are just not what we are looking for.

[Siquo]

But...but...Max...I can do that. I'll churn out Halo 6 with one new and cool thing spliced onto it if I can get the chance to make a low-budget, time and manhour strapped indie style game. I'd be willing to do that.

Get yourself a developer (preferably more than one), and then start building a portfolio. If, along the way, you actually make some profit, you've already succeeded.
The easiest way to become something is just to go out and do it yourself.

[Max White]

I'm sure you can find an artist or two, perhaps a sound guy. If you are lucky you could come across a programmer, but they are like god tier, ultra leet rare. It's like catching a shiny mewtwo! You might have to try and make it without them, although that sort of limits you to this obscure genera of games called 'Cartoons'.

[Siquo]

"We're so fucking special, I wish I was special..."
Good artists are harder to find, imho.

[Max White]

What ever makes you happy...
Depends on the type of art. Pixel artists are surprisingly common, but a good 3d modelling guy is unheard of. Music guys are always a challenge, they are out there, but it takes some looking.

[Aqizzar]

To be completely honest I wouldn't mind designing a Popular Game's Sequel #37. Easy to innovate when you've got some framework laid down.

I'm sorry, but you are just not what we are looking for.

You guys can be as cynical as you want, but you're still wrong.  Just look at the games that sell like hotcakes on Steam some time.  Stuff like Jamestown, Bastion, Dungeons of Dredmor, E.Y.E., Binding of Isaac, Killing Floor, Terraria, and so on and so forth.  Notice any particular similarities between them?  None of them are fantastically complicated games (maybe E.Y.E.), all of them have very distinct and memorable styling, and they were mostly made by very small teams.  With the magic of digital payment and distribution, you can get away with titles that are basically slick retreads of foundational game principles, built on a crazy motif, and sell it for a couple bucks because you no longer have to worry about finding and filling commercial shelf space.

And sure, they're crowded out of the Top Sellers listing by your AAA titles (and DLCs), mostly because they have the money to advertise themselves - people won't buy something they don't know exists after all.  But as far as wanting to work on games goes, all of the same skills that go into making your superduper expressive magnum opus indie monument apply equally to cranking out pseudo-modern combat FPS sequels.

How so, you ask?  Well, aside from the fact that any two blocks of code or model textures require exactly as much technical skill to produce and look exactly the same on their own, there is one more fundamental point.  I know this is going to get me burned at the stake here on Bay12, but I'm going to say it anyway.

You ready for it?

Those AAA titles that get endless sequels?

They wouldn't sell nearly so well if they weren't adequately entertaining in the first place.  And unless you made Minecraft, they look a lot better on a resume too.  Pour that over your Cheerios and smoke it.

[kaijyuu]

Key word: "adequately"


I'm somewhat in agreement with you. And honestly I'd go a step further: for most these games, the first installment that made them big was usually quite good. Grand Theft Auto 3 was pretty damn incredible. Earlier example, Street Fighter 2 was awesome.

Games with a bunch of sequels though are mostly going on inertia rather than anything else (cough final fantasy cough sonic cough). I'd argue sturgeon's law applies to sequels as well as new titles; most suck or are rather average. Due to brand recognition (or whatever the hell you want to call it), it still sells and gets rave reviews. The other part of sturgeon's law applies as well: some get sequels that are even better than the game that made them famous (resident evil 4).


There's definitely room for innovation. I don't play shooters much, but I do know that very, very few games are 100% retreads of their predecessors, and those that actually are, are labeled average and below. I somewhat doubt Halo 2 was exactly the same as Halo 1 with prettier graphics. Same for Halo 2 vs 3. Or Halo 3 vs Reach. And what about that Halo RTS? No room for innovation and trying new things with a franchise, you say? (don't care if it sucked or not)