How to get a job in Game Design

[Shams]

Here are my few tips:

• Make games! - Find programmers and artists if you can't make them yourself.
• Play games, as much as possible, as many different games as possible - even the ones you don't like.
• Analyze them and view them critically. Deconstruct each feature and try to see how they fit into a whole.
• Write, read and critique game concepts.
• Play and write pen & paper roleplaying games
• Play and design board games
• Study different courses at College/university - diversity is good and becoming really good at one thing is really good.
• Read every article on Gamasutra.
• Watch every episode of Extra Credit.
• Apply for internships as often as you can.

I think that's it.

/s

 

[Captain Gars]

• If you want to be a programmer, choose university over a more practical game school.
• If you want to be a designer/artist, choose a more practical game school over university.
• Don't want to be a programmer? Learn basic programming.
• Don't want to be an artist? Learn basic Photoshop.
• Don't want to be a scripter? Learn basic scripting (Lua, Python, C#, etc. What language doesn't really matter.)
• If the games you like can be modded - learn to mod them.
• Be prepared to not be hired as a game designer. Aim for level design, scripting or QA instead.
• If you have ideas, write them down. Most ideas are great until you're forced to put them in writing...

 

[Captain Gars]

I have no qualification in anything to do with game design, only minimum third level education and frankly I'm absolutely terrible with numbers. Nonetheless, I want to go straight into the games world as a billionaire CEO. How should I go about this?

That's actually the most common approach to getting into this business so you don't have to feel alone

 

[Castellon]

I have no qualification in anything to do with game design, only minimum third level education and frankly I'm absolutely terrible with numbers. Nonetheless, I want to go straight into the games world as a billionaire CEO. How should I go about this?

Start saving so you can buy a company, or start your own.

 

[Shams]

I hereby announce the formation of the new games company RalphCo Games International. I am CEO, lead designer and Executive Vice President. I'm looking for staff who can make me tea, and I don't mind overqualification. Form an orderly queue.

I'd like to formally submit an application and hereby request an interview within 2 weeks time. Can that be arranged?

/s

 

[Shams]

"success is a mental transformation, not an external event"

/s

 

[Johan]

We're looking for a few more programmers and 1 scripter for Paradox now.

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/jobs#prog

 

[King]

I am not 100% sure about this bit of the plan

-Learn Swedish (all the good game companies are Swedish (PI, Majong etc) 8)

I have done a lot to avoid doing this.

 

[Darkrenown]

I think they would get more annoyed if you assumed they couldn't, pretty much everyone does.

 

[King]

Do they get irritated if people assume they can speak english

Not really.

 

[podcat]

Well I'm no expert like these Paradox Devikings, but it seems like these days all you need is an idea and some programming ability(and maybe a couple friends to team up with) and you can make the game you want and throw it out on to market and make your millions. (Provided its good)

Seems like a lot of good games these days today are made by essentially just a few guys getting together and making a game and selling it via digital distribution.

dont underestimate how much time and dedication that takes though. most projects by people who just get together randomly never finish (from hanging out on gamedev.net I'd say 99% or so)

 

[artfox]

[*]Be prepared to not be hired as a game designer. Aim for level design, scripting or QA instead.

Yeah... But if you are applying for any job, make sure to really do the job that you applied for. I have met plenty game designers that applied for QA even when they did not want to work as QA. In the worst case scenario they don't become game designers, are really crappy testers, and leaves the industry within one year as everybody remembers them as bad workers.

This is also damaging the reputation of QA as a career choice. People from the industry that meets a lot of bad QA will think less of QA and don't take them seriously. Once this very problem made a company that I was working on (not Paradox), miss a milestone --> Game became delayed for one month and my company had to pay for it.