Best Way To Become A Video Game Designer

Best Way to Become a Video Game Designer - When we think of the “Rockstars” of the game industry, we immediately think of people like Tim Shafer, Hideo Kojima, SUDA51, and Shigeru Miyamoto. What do these heroes have in common, They’re all game designers! Great game designers have built entire industries and have shaped culture as we know it. So it’s easy to see why there are a lot of people dreaming of becoming game designers. the barrier to entry for making games is lower than it’s ever been - you can start becoming a video game designer today!

How to Become a Video Game Designer

So where do you start Game Designing?

We ‘re going to tell you all you need to know about what a video game designer does, and how to get started on a career path in game design today.

Step 1 - What the Video Game Designers do

Before we get into how to become a designer, let’s take a closer look at the role. What does a game designer do? Game designers play a pivotal role in the overall direction of a game everything starts with a game designer. Before a single line of code is written, game designers are busy planning in pre-production working on game design documents. Using written documents, visuals, and in-engine examples, game designers scope out key design pillars and rules, explore over-arching designs, prototype, and plan ahead for production and post-launch. Keep in mind that there are many different types of designers - and they often hold titles that reflect their area of expertise.

Types of Game Designers

Gameplay Designers - Gameplay Designers have a deep understanding of mechanics and controls, and work closely with gameplay engineers.

UX Designers - UX Designers have a good feel of how to build UI screens and HUDs - and they work closely with 2D artists, UI engineers, and animators.

Level Designers - Level Designers are commonly used in games with episodic worlds - like shooters, platformers, and adventure games. They are good at creating fun and challenging levels and work closely with environment modelers and animators.

Scripting Designers - Scripting Designers often create code scripts that can automate certain aspects of the game creation. They typically use scripting languages and provide the bridge between design and engineering.

Systems Designers - Systems Designers architect complex systems like the progression or metagame features. They do a lot of work in spreadsheets and work closely with systems engineers. And Finally, in the free-to-play mobile space, there are a lot of specialized designers that focus on developing retention and monetization design. These designers are heavy users of analytics and are constantly reviewing data in order to optimize the game. There are designers that specialize in virtually all areas of game design.

Step 2 - How to become a Game Designer (Education, Career Path)

So how do you become a designer? Whatever type of design role you want to pursue, it’s important to remember that very few people jump right into a career in game design. A common way to become a game designer is to start working for a game studio in an entry-level testing job. The benefit of being in quality assurance is that you work with multiple teams and acquire a firm grasp of the entire development process. In addition, the number of hours spent in QA play-testing games can contribute greatly to your overall game design IQ as playtesting and quality design go hand in hand. Finally, testers often have to interact with existing game designers to interpret whether an issue in the software is as intended or a bug. This interaction can help develop an understanding of the design role and the language they use to describe the game. In terms of educational background, There are many Colleges and Institutions out there that provide educational designations on video game design. These can be helpful in signaling to a potential employer that you have built a base of game design knowledge, but some of these programs can be expensive and are by no means necessary to jumpstart your design career ambitions. As with many roles in game development, a superior strategy can be to develop an awesome prototype or game on your own time that demonstrates your creativity and technical abilities.

Step 3 - What Skills & Tools A Game Designer Should have?

Okay so now you know the types of game designers, and a few paths to becoming one - but what skills should a good games designer have? Game designers need to have a number of soft skills and hard skills! A good game designer should be able to communicate his or her ideas effectively, and be able to influence and motivate a team! Designers often draft a lot of early visualizations of game features before coders, artists and animators start the final creation process. A huge part of a designer's job is keeping everyone aligned on the vision for the product. Knowing how to write compelling design briefs, storyboards, and wireframes can be extremely useful in this effort. A good designer should also have a deep understanding of past games and the merits of their different mechanics and features. There are very few ‘new’ ideas in game design - so the more you know about existing products, the better you will be at making something that feels fresh. On the technical side, a game designer can definitely benefit from being skilled in a graphics program to be able to better visualize and present their ideas. Also, knowing a scripting language like LUA is also important for things like designing levels and events.

Step 4 - Game Designer Roles and Challenges

Now that you know what a designer does and the skills they need, what are the perks and challenges with the role? On the positive side, you get to have a direct impact on the creation of a game - something we have all wanted to do! Also, designers are often seen as evangelists for the game - they can get media and conference opportunities as a result of their close understanding of how the game works. Similarly, in a large studio, the designer can often get lots of exposure to senior leadership as a result of their ability to speak on behalf of the team. This said the designer role is not without its challenges - as a team centerpiece the designer will often have to put in long hours and support the other team members during the crunch periods leading up to major milestones. Designers often have to review and provide feedback on the work of other development team members, which means that they have to be regularly available. Also, the lineup of people looking for game design roles is long - so expect to tough it out while you work your way up the ladder.

Step 5 - How you progress your career as a Game Designer?

Once you do become an established designer, where do you go from there? What is the career path for this discipline? Typically, a designer can work their way up to the role of design or creative director - this is a senior design leader who typically manages a team of designers and is responsible for the overarching product vision. Once at this level, the managerial expertise gained can often lead to an executive producer or general manager role in a larger studio. The best designers have lots of upward mobility and can reach the highest levels in our industry.

Salary

According to Glassdoor.com
In US, The Lowest Salary of a Game Designer is $39,000 yearly, and The Average Salary of a Game Designer is $58,627 yearly, and The Highest Salary of a Game Designer is $86,000 yearly.

Books

If you want to learn more about video game design, These are some great books to check out:
1. Theory of Fun by Raph Koster
2. The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
3. The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda
4. A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell

Conclusion

Everybody loves playing video games but only a few of them want to make a game for those people this is the right opportunity for them, To do what they want, To do what the love, To make their dreams into reality, and To earn a lot of money from it, In my opinion, Game Design is great to field to work in, Hope you guys like this article and learn something about Game Designing, I also hope you guys become what you wanna be, So Thank you and Good luck!