So You Want To Be a Game Designer? 204
Gamespot is running a feature which talks to designers such as CliffyB and Akira Yamaoka on the subject of what it means to be a game designer. From the article: "No one just falls into the position. You claw, kick and scream and push your way into it. Most designers start off as programmers or artists. They understand gameplay systems; they live and breathe games. From my perspective, I was making my own games, programming them, doing all the artwork, the production, level design, and everything because I didn't have anybody else to do it for me. That background helped give me the perspective it takes to pull a product together and have a creative vision for it. Being a designer is about having a creative vision and adhering to it."
Answer: (Score:5, Funny)
It's all about creativity you say? (Score:4, Funny)
Or you could do it EA's way and release the same title every year and change the nametag from Johnson to Jonson and people are still gonna buy.
come on.... (Score:5, Funny)
and willing to work 90 hour weeks while getting paid squat by EA.
You claw, kick and scream and push your way into it.
no that would be trying to get whats owed to you BY EA.
Re:No thanks (Score:2, Funny)
I didn't know there was any question...
*whips out yardstick*
Games aren't always good... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It's all about creativity you say? (Score:3, Funny)
for (var year=2006; year 3006; year++)
printf "introducing tenis " + year + " \n";
for (var year=2006; year 3006; year++)
printf "introducing American football " + year " + "\n";
Code not checked but you get the idea
When i join ea I want to do the animation
Perhaps that is why there is no innovation in games ?
Re:No thanks (Score:3, Funny)
What I was most strenously objecting to, and I apologise for inciting your wrath, oh Most Ancient One, is the comparison the G'G'P Poster made with EA.
EA is a shithole, and I don't doubt that Game Design is even more dog-eat-dog than game programming, but using the worst possible example in an industry (EA) to make a decision about said industry as a whole is a Bad Thing(TM).
Please, Oh Most Ancient One, whose /. UID is far lower than mine, please, forgive my youthful impudence.
A few tips on becoming a game developer/designer (Score:5, Funny)
2) Develop an aversion to all forms of higher education. B.S. in math? Ewww, math. PhD in computer science? Pssh, you wasted your money on that? Wrote a Tetris clone in Pascal in your high school computer class? Whoa, you are young, edgy, and obviously too cool for school. Bonus points if you mentioned how much faster your program would be if you had written it in assembly. Uber bonus points if you started programming before the age of 9 because everyone knows that any decent developer started programming before they knew what their pee-pee was used for.
3) Research the many game programming flame wars so that you can be up to speed. Some places to start: C++ is slow, OpenGL/DirectX: Which one is better? (note: DirectX and Direct3D are just different names for the exact same thing, no difference...), Doom 3 has better graphics but Half Life 2 is the better game, Nvidia is better than ATI, etc.
4) Read everything you can by Andre LaMothe because he is the most relevant voice in the game industry...period! Oh, especially his "Tricks of..." series because everything when it comes to video game programming is a trick or a hack or the product of black fucking magic.
5) Know your video games! The only way to create a truly original video game is to know what's already been made. But if that doesn't work out, you can just create the umpteenth iteration of the same tired idea with better graphics and minor variations in game play and repackage it with CGI tits and ass and republish it at a higher price.
5a) There is nothing wrong with run on sentences. You're a game designer dammit! Time not grammar for!
6) Buy a Ferrari. Game designers make shit-tons of money. Heck, buy two. Use one during the week and the other one during all that free time you're going to have on the weekend...
7) Practice your deepthroating. You will need to fit John Carmack's penis down throat on a whim in casual conversation. This is sort of paying your dues to the gaming gods.
8) Game developers play lots of video games at work. In fact, on some days, that's all they do. So practice, practice, practice. You wouldn't want to get your ass kicked all the time by your co-workers?
9) Mountain Dew and bag of potato chips is a well balanced meal and you will suffer no ill effects in the long run.
10) Sleep is for the weak.
Okay, the fact is the gaming industry is fucking insane. You're working absurd hours to meet absurd deadlines so little Johnny can see the zombie's heads detonate in per pixel lighting only to get a memo on your desk that Johnny's parents are suing the company because they find the minor sexual content in the game to be offensive. And most game developers have earned advanced degrees in CS, Math, or Physics. They are smarter than you are. Go to school. Get a degree. Oh and avoid everything by andre lamothe, he only serves to belittle the accomplishments and hard work of very bright, very talented people in the industry. It is not black magic, it's just really fucking hard.
This brought to you by a frustrated RPI computer science major who realizes he's just too fucking stupid to make it as a game developer/designer.
btw, I think John is a brilliant developer, a nice guy, and I would gladly service him. Go spaceman, go...
Re:All hail friend Allen Varney! :D (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Lots of curiosity out there about game design (Score:3, Funny)