Video Game Designer Information

Video Game designers are some of the most sought out disciplines in the industry, but a lot of professions fall under this term. Just to name a few, there are system designers, lead designers, area designers, character designers, background design, etc. but in the broadest terms game designers breath life into the game, the core idea, they create the fun factor. Every game starts from a big brainstorm session from game designers, after all the brainstorming and details are written down, creating a design document is the next step. Design documents are the soon-to-be games Blue Print, describing every precise detail and facet that will come together to form a whole, the end product.

Video Game designers formulate ideas and are creative decision makers, but like mentioned earlier there are many professions that fall under this term, design tittles are just what they sound like and tend to do exactly what the job entails to. a character designer flesh out what type of main characters, protagonist, villains, and supporting cast will be. Background  and level designers build the terrain, levels, place critters and objects using the editor. Lead Designers or design lead oversees and coordinates the entire design team and works together with the other heads of their departments

What Does a Game Designer Need to Know?

First thing to know is that Design candidates are first judged on their resume and portfolio (sample work), and personality a strong second. If this is what your aiming for prepare to fight your way into this field, seasoned industry workers like programmers, artist, and QA will try to fight,  kick, and gnaw their way in once a game design job is open and approved.  This leaves inexperienced graduates at a huge disadvantage.  Although some graduates do land a job out of college it’s still extremely rare, the majority of game designers worked their way through other disciplines.

If one wants to really pursue this lucrative job one should expand their horizons in every possible way, game design requires a multitude of elements from various subjects, any studies or experience will can in handy. Aspiring game designers should immerse themselves in literature, philosophy, history, and art. They draw inspiration from every facet of their lives. To say the least video game designers have the most abstract jobs in the industry.

One of the best qualities a game designer should have are strong communication and organization skills. Good writing skills are fundamental for any successful video game designer. In fact great communication skills whether oral or written are a prerequisite to this industry, even more so for the designers. Conveying Their thoughts on paper effectively is imperative. They need the rest of the team to comprehend and envision what they see in their head.

Video Game Designer Education

There are a number of institutions offering video game designer information, classes and philosophy (I will touch on this further later on) but as dynamic and unpredictable this job can be, no school will fully prepare candidates with the core tenets from such a constantly changing environment. Book learning alone will not prepare anyone for this job. To put it bluntly video game design does not require specialized skills like the other departments in this industry (programming and art). Most designers have a few years of college from a variety of classes. Some designers have a four year undergraduate degree.