Designer ore non Designer?

Rock Bottom · May 2010

hey guys i have been thinking lately and well its been spinning around for some time now and my question is in order to become a Game Designer do i seriously need to know how to draw on paper? ore it does not matter that much? just curious

Slum · May 2010

Define game designer.

aesir · May 2010

no, probably not, but how are you planning to become a game designer?

Lee3dee · May 2010

Having been a level designer, I would suggest taking a game you like with an editor, and setting up a few maps with innovative gameplay. Half-Life 2 or unreal you can easily make good designed levels easily.

Geezus · May 2010

Lee3dee wrote: »

Having been a level designer, I would suggest taking a game you like with an editor, and setting up a few maps with innovative gameplay. Half-Life 2 or unreal you can easily make good designed levels easily.

This.

Also, level up your Excel Skills.

SHEPEIRO · May 2010

scripting and logic are more important than drawing

Zipfinator · May 2010

If you're going to be a level designer it's always a good idea to draw quick sketches of the map layouts on paper first. I know for a fact that Valve draws every map for all of their games on paper/white board before they even touch Hammer. These layouts can either be isometric views or, the more common choice, aerial.

By no means does this mean you need to be an expert at drawing though. Just be able to draw fairly good straight lines and curves with freehand.

Also you shouldn't do something because you feel you have to do it to get into the industry. This is something I've learned slowly over the past few months. If you really aren't into drawing right now and you feel you have to learn it to get a job then learning it is not going to go well. You need to do it because you enjoy it and you keep feeling the need to get back into it to experiment and try new things. This goes for any aspect of game design/art, not just drawing.

ShaDoW · May 2010

I don't think you need to be a great artist to be a game designer. If you can convey your ideas through good wording and a simple and clear sketch, I'm sure the people in your team can take it from there.

As for level design, if you feel really uncomfortable sketching out levels on paper first, you could try out Google SketchUp instead. That allows you to quickly sketch out layouts in 3D before you start building anything in the game editor. I like sketching by hand myself, but others prefer SketchUp.

motives · May 2010

i would suggest you look into and learn about game and environment art as well.

There is way to many designers out there with absolutely no concept of what makes stuff looks good or what works with their own "perfect" designs.

20 randomly placed containers on a bump in the terrain is NOT an alp village with untouchable gameplay

Del · May 2010

~ He didn't say he wanted to be a Level Designer, he said he wanted to be a Game Designer. What in the hell is a Game Designers job exaclty?

Unleashed · May 2010

create the systems for the game, the gameplay mechanics.for example wow - how combat works, how rest works, how items fit into the combat mechanics and such, how leveling up affects these things

aesir · May 2010

Dreamer wrote: »

~ He didn't say he wanted to be a Level Designer, he said he wanted to be a Game Designer. What in the hell is a Game Designers job exaclty?

Yea, but "game designer" seems to usually mean the person or people in charge of the entire game's design, and is a very senior position. People seem to graduate to it from level design.

Wahlgren · May 2010

Unleashed wrote: »

create the systems for the game, the gameplay mechanics.for example wow - how combat works, how rest works, how items fit into the combat mechanics and such, how leveling up affects these things

If he wants to do stuff like that he should do shitloads of math and excel-sheets. That´s what the system/game designer guys did at my last job at least.

Paul Pepera · May 2010

Rock Bottom wrote: »

do i seriously need to know how to draw on paper?

Why be content with just knowing the bare minimum? Don't settle for mediocrity; if having good paper/whiteboard design skill will make you that much better a designer and thus more appealing for potential employers, why not try and master all facets of the craft?

Rock Bottom · May 2010

well i was not planing on Becoming a Game designer i must have made a mistake i meant a Hard surface designer? you know make weapons, vehicles etc. well i do know how to draw quite a bit i mean if i look at something i can copy it on paper but by free hand and imagination not really. is that good ore bad?

Slum · May 2010

I asked my question because it seems like a handful of schools out there are promoting "game designer" as synonym for graphic designer (in games. i.e. artist). If thats the case, then yeah it would probably be a good idea to learn to draw. In any other case, people above me pretty much covered it.

Vrav · May 2010

I had an argument with a student friend of mine over the term/title of "game designer" the other day. I don't feel anyone should consider themselves a game designer without intimate, if not entirely the most skillful knowledge of all systems that go into game development; they should know art and programming as well as be amazing level designers and creative problem solvers; I feel that only people with a great deal of experience can label themselves "game designers," professionally; everyone can design games, it is only one who does this successfully for many years that deserves the title, in my brutish and uneducated opinion.

They should be writers, they should be everything. Philosophers and scientists.

Justin Meisse · May 2010

Vrav wrote: »

I had an argument with a student friend of mine over the term/title of "game designer" the other day. I don't feel anyone should consider themselves a game designer without intimate, if not entirely the most skillful knowledge of all systems that go into game development; they should know art and programming as well as be amazing level designers and creative problem solvers; I feel that only people with a great deal of experience can label themselves "game designers," professionally; everyone can design games, it is only one who does this successfully for many years that deserves the title, in my brutish and uneducated opinion.

They should be writers, they should be everything. Philosophers and scientists.

wow! and then there's reality, most designers I know can't draw that great (ok, I personally don't know any designers that can draw). On the other hand they are usually good writers.

edit:whoops missed a few posts there.

[Deleted User] · May 2010

"Hard-surface designer" isn't really a thing. Weapon modeler might be a thing. Environment artist is totally a thing. I'm probably being more of a word-dick than necessary, but designer implies making decisions about what something is going to look like or how it will function, like a game or level designer or a concept artist would maybe do, where just 3d artist or modeler would imply (as far as production art for entertainment is concerned) less broad decision-making or idea proposals, and more following of established concept art (depending on how the specific studio operates).

Either way drawing is probably gonna help though.

Vrav · May 2010

Okay, Justin, I can be stupidly idealistic. So they don't have to know how to draw, but even rudimentary skills would, I think, be of great benefit when designing something. If they can describe what's in their head in writing, then sure. I just don't have much patience for people claiming to be "game designers" when really they're just talentless idea men.

To work solely as a "designer" on a computer game you should presumably understand the workings of each department of development - otherwise, how would you communicate with them? That's all I mean, really.

Justin Meisse · May 2010

Vrav wrote: »

To work solely as a "designer" on a computer game you should presumably understand the workings of each department of development - otherwise, how would you communicate with them? That's all I mean, really.

And thus you have arrived at the crux of the Designer vs Artist feud!
[ just want to add that this is tongue in cheek, I get along great with designers and have no problem working closely with them]

Steve Schulze · May 2010

The designers at my old studio had some mad stick figure drawing skills.

HonkyPunch · May 2010

I think about wanting to make games, and it personally makes me want to weep.
All I can do so far is draw and come up with ideas. (How the hell far can an idea get someone without anything to back it up?)
I'm barely competent in the field of drawing, stumbling over myself in pixel art, and completely lost when it comes to the third dimension. Practice will obviously help, but I wonder how i'll actually do anything. Not to mention i'm personally awful at math, and the thought of coding makes me shrivel up and die inside, even though i've tried my hand at it before (and failed.)
Still, fighting away to get to where I want.
blah

Justin Meisse · May 2010

HonkyPunch wrote: »

I think about wanting to make games, and it personally makes me want to weep.
All I can do so far is draw and come up with ideas. (How the hell far can an idea get someone without anything to back it up?)
I'm barely competent in the field of drawing, stumbling over myself in pixel art, and completely lost when it comes to the third dimension. Practice will obviously help, but I wonder how i'll actually do anything. Not to mention i'm personally awful at math, and the thought of coding makes me shrivel up and die inside, even though i've tried my hand at it before (and failed.)
Still, fighting away to get to where I want.
blah

Gary Gygax couldn't draw for shit.

edit: sorry for the continued derailing of this thread but I think it's an important topic: people know what programmers and artists do but there doesn't seem to be much awareness of what designers do or how you become a designer.

try checking out the design articles on Gamasutra.

JacqueChoi · May 2010

Fill a box filled with various props:

- Decks of cards
- An assortment of dice (assortment of sides)
- An assortment of tokens (Black White)
- Tops
- Pencils
- Hex Tiles
- Fake Monopoly Money
- Etc (Add a LOT more assortment)

With your box full of 'props' randomly grab a few from the box.

Instructions:

Design a game with those props.
You have 8 hours to design your game.
You have to write down all the rules of the game.

When you have friends/family try your game, you can NOT be in the room to explain the rules.

If you can make fun games, and communicate them well, you will have the brain and the skills of a game designer.

^_^

Designer ore non Designer?

Replies