Circumstantial

Join Date 01/0001

Game Design?

How to: From the start.

The job title, "Game Designer" is a very relative term, as I have seen from looking across the internets. Here is my circumstance..... I am in Accelerated Programs at my highschool(College courses in highschool, AP testing and the rest) and I am an A student(my gpa is 4.3). I am looking for a school to master in game design and I need help looking for the best school in the Dallas/Fortworth Metroplex region for that purpose. I dont even know everything that game design entails. Im not the best at programming (I find actionscript difficult, if that gives you an idea of my skill level, lol), If you could make an analogy of my artistry skills in relation to a movie, They'd be a B movie, I'm a phenomenal writer(sorry for the arrogance here, but I get copious amounts of praise for it, so I've gotten used to being confident about it), my academic prowess is very generalized(I know a lot about a lot, simply out of curiousity) and I have a passion for the art of game design. Being a Game Junkie myself, I analyze every aspect of games and find ways to make them better. Game design seems to be a rewarding career choice, but I need help from the people who know exactly what game design entails and what schools offer rewarding programs in game design. What the hell do I have going for me in my future if I persue this career? I need to know if this job is "for me" and the details about what persuing this career would be like. Thx you to everyone that responds to this. I'm a sophmore in Highschool and I only have 2 more years before I have to get out there and learn some stuffs in game design school. How to do plox?

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Can someone help me with this?

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GoaFan77

Join Date 10/2008

+629

While I'm not an expert in the least, it might be helpful for someone that does if you knew what field of game design you'd like to get into. Graphic designers need a whole different set of skills than level designers or engine programers for example.

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kyogre12

Join Date 07/2008

+100

I found this list of supposedly good schools for game design: http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/game-design-schools.htm I have no idea how actually "good" they are, but it's a start.

Also, you might want to read this article: http://www.animationarena.com/majoring-in-video-game-design.html Carnegie Mellon has a game design program, as does Georgia Tech. The University of Colorado: Colorado Springs does too, and I have a friend who plans on going there for that program. Of course, none of those are very close to the location you specified...

There are a ton of websites out there that will help you find schools based off your prefered major(s), location, size, etc. I suggest you find one of those (your high school might even have one for you to use)

P.S. Paragraphs are easier to read

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Hi,

Circumstantial, I can only say good luck in your game design interests.

The reason I say interest is because you will not be able to expect to get into game design making good money. Plus it is a highly competitive field, I mean who wouldn't want to get paid making games like Starcraft 2, or SINS.

The trick to get into game design is to get involved with a mod for one of your favorite games. This will give you valuable experience and a resume to show to development companies.

You must also choose what do you want to focus on, the programming aspect, or the art aspect.

This can affect which college you go to in the future, like the Academy of Art, or Gnomon Digital Art School. Both are very pricey, but will get you up and running with a portfolio, and familiarity with all the industry standard software like 3DSMAX, MAIA, PHOTOSHOP.

If programming is your pick, there are more colleges to pick from that offer this course, even some with a focus on game design and theory. This sounds more like a pick for you since you don't seem to be an artist.

One of the original classics Duke Nukem's engine (powers the graphics) was written by a smart kid like you, Ken Silverman, read about him from his own site here: http://advsys.net/ken/

In the mean time while in high school with your bills paid, a warm bed to sleep in , and no family to worry about, you can learn all about what I mentioned above for free!

Microsoft started an XNA Game Design club of sorts that offers tutorials and even express versions of Visual Studio (C, C#, programming language)

XNA Creators Club

http://creators.xna.com/en-US/

Nick Gravelin has excellent tutorials (Though someone outdated)

http://nickgravelyn.com/archive/

XNA Resources (Tutorials, etc.)

http://www.xnaresources.com

Good Luck! Maybe you can write the next great 4x Classic!

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Lol my university has a program called Game Development and Entrepreuship, which I am in, very elite undergraduate program (has like less than 80 people in it, YAY), there is a course called Game Design I which basically takes you thru the general process in which games are created.

That is mainly my stream.

However, we delve in to more stuff than what you are actually talking about. We don't really learn the major company stuff but rather Opengl, since many graphics software are based on it, quite powerful acutally most of all its free to learn on the web.

Here are some of the subjects I have touched so far (2nd year):

Computer Architecture
Basic animation (typical opengl, (sprites, morphing, splines, particles, skeletal, models), Maya (texturing and basic animation)
Linear Algebra (you have no clue how useful these this are)
Discreate Mathmatics (helpful for find best algorithms), Algorithms and Data structures
Image Processing (very basic opengl stuff)
Sound
of course, some business courses
I forgot Game Designing, and game narriative (story)

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I want to be involved with the story(writing), concept art(maybe the modelling, too), I MIGHT want to work with programming(I only enjoy programming I am good at, custom script is so freaking enjoyable), gameplay progression etc...

What I REALLY want to work in is how the game is played. What would the official title be for that? I want to work in developing levels, how the levels are played, what you do to play the game, the story and how it is revealed, the kinds of artwork that are in the game(hence the concept art).

I mean, SOMEBODY has to do that job, so who does it? Is it a group effort between the programmers and artists, surely the writers don't make those decisions, that wouldn't make sense. Is there a job specifically for that purpose?

P.S. I also like voice acting. Im just confused as to how this industry works. Is the workforce composed of just programmers and model/animators? Who makes the gameplay decisions? I want that job. Easy and fun, lol.

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O btw, THX for your input guys! I will be sure to check all of those sites out within the next few months(school, ugh). From what you guys are telling me, Game Designers are one of two things, either programmers or artists. I was under the impression that there are jobs that entail making decisions on what is in the game and how the game is played. I don't know If I'll be too good at programming and art. I could always go to writing, but its just not the same as being an active member of a game design team

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http://jobs.gamasutra.com/Jobseekerx/ViewJob.asp?JobID=qBjuHGfetwAMNw%2BhZwtw3zNUQxOl

I think I am looking for this, but with even more minimal programming knowledge and 3d art knowledge.

I want to improve games and work intimately with development teams, but I don't know If i'll be good at the actual development.

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kyogre12

Join Date 07/2008

+100

From what you guys are telling me, Game Designers are one of two things, either programmers or artists. I was under the impression that there are jobs that entail making decisions on what is in the game and how the game is played. I don't know If I'll be too good at programming and art. I could always go to writing, but its just not the same as being an active member of a game design team

I think it depends a lot on the company. Like with Ironclad making Sins of a Solar Empire, they only had 9? (I'm pretty sure it was 9, it wasn't a lot any way) people at the time. I believe that in that case, pretty much everyone had to be able to everything (modeling, programming, etc) even if they specialized a bit in certain aspects.

I think, as has already been said, that you will have a pretty hard time getting a decent job in the gaming industry. It is very, very competative. If I can make a suggestion, I would say that you would be better off majoring in something more general, like Computer Science, so that if you can't immediately get a job, you can still do other things.

Because if you major in gaming, and then can't get a job in the industry, you're pretty much screwed, and you'll end up in retail or flipping burgers at McDonald's until you can get a "real" job. With compsci or something similar, there are still a lot of other options you can pursue.

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Decisions decisions decisions. Fuck society, lol. I should be able to do w/e the fuck I want for the sake of just trying it without consequence. O well, I guess it is off to being a writer. *grudgingly treks along the cobblestone road called "life"*

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Quoting ,

quoting post

The job title, "Game Designer" is a very relative term, as I have seen from looking across the internets. Here is my circumstance..... I am in Accelerated Programs at my high school(College courses in high school, AP testing and the rest) and I am an A student(my gpa is 4.3). I am looking for a school to master in game design and I need help looking for the best school in the Dallas/Fortworth Metroplex region for that purpose. I dont even know everything that game design entails. Im not the best at programming (I find actionscript difficult, if that gives you an idea of my skill level, lol), If you could make an analogy of my artistry skills in relation to a movie, They'd be a B movie, I'm a phenomenal writer(sorry for the arrogance here, but I get copious amounts of praise for it, so I've gotten used to being confident about it), my academic prowess is very generalized(I know a lot about a lot, simply out of curiosity) and I have a passion for the art of game design. Being a Game Junkie myself, I analyze every aspect of games and find ways to make them better. Game design seems to be a rewarding career choice, but I need help from the people who know exactly what game design entails and what schools offer rewarding programs in game design. What the hell do I have going for me in my future if I persue this career? I need to know if this job is "for me" and the details about what persuing this career would be like. Thx you to everyone that responds to this. I'm a sophmore in Highschool and I only have 2 more years before I have to get out there and learn some stuffs in game design school. How to do plox?

Remember how back in the 80's everyone wanted to be a Architect? It's the same thing with game design today. I've worked for some big companies in the past. Origin, EA Tiburon, a few others. If I went and applied for a job in the industry today I don't know how far I'd get. I only got into it through sheer luck and my ability to impress people in higher places then me. I got into it through Origin's Volunteer GM program they had for Ultima Online way back in the day. Sadly though some legal issues came of all that, people got sued, and the volunteer program got shut down permanently. Out of all the volunteers maybe 4 of us got hired on. Since then no other MMO company has had a staff volunteer program.

When all that happened I was in college taking classes for my A.S. in Comp Sci. Schools didn't specialize in classes for the gaming industry back then so everything was generalized. I ended up taking classes in programming, web design, 3D Art and design, and a few other things that could all be boiled down into something having to do with the gaming industry.

Now though in today's world more and more kids coming up out of school want to get into game design and development. As such the market is being flooded with hopefuls and wannabees. All of them are hungry for jobs and know what they want and are willing to fight for it. Go in expecting to be underpaid and over-worked. In job interviews tell them you'll work cheaper then the next guy in line for the interview. Cross your fingers, get to know people, kiss a lot of ass, and maybe, just MAYBE, you'll be lucky enough to land a job in the industry with a company successful enough to keep it's head above water.

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My reasoning for going very heavily into programming is almost entirely because game design is so crowded. Or in my words... Anyone can pull creative ideas out their @$$, but not many are willing to learn the code needed to make it work. Game design has got high competition, because, as you said, it is easy compared to most jobs.

If you really want to make money, you have to figure out what you are really good at, and specialize in that. If you are just pure game design, you probably won't get a job. If you are a game designer who can make decent models and program in the languages required to make a game, you would be able to understand the entire process much better, be able to have other related fields to fall back on, and will be much more likely to get a job in the field you want (game dev).

From what I see, as long as you are able to learn the material required, the next most important thing is how you get into the industry. In this respect, the college you go to will be very important. One of the main reasons I am going to RIT for my degree is because they require a pair of 1 semester co-ops. This means that by the time I finish college, I will have at least a full year of experience with the possibility of a job offering from them right off the bat.

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Lol you guys have ruined my childhood dreams and ambitions. I am off to a field that is (hopefully) more centered on the individual rather than the group. Writing, here I come(maybe I'll write a newyork times best seller in my basement in 9 days and reshape society as a whole with the conjuration of only 30,000 words).

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