Questions regarding education and career

[Dire_Wolf]

I like playing games, and there is not anything special that interests me. So since i like games, i was wondering maybe Game designing or programing, but then i have problems there:

 

Game design:

I don't draw, and i am not artistic. But can i become better at drawing or using 3D drawing programs during studies involving Game design?

 

When i was younger i drew a little, but nowdays i don't draw a thing.

 

Game programing:

This i don't think i will try, because i stink at math and programing seems to be all about math.

 

I have read that getting job won't be hard so that's good. But i am unsure...

 

Please comment or give advice if you have.

EXAMPLES and ILLUSTRATIONS would be great!

[Ronan]

From what I've seen about Games Design, it may not all be about the artistic side of things. I must admit - it's not an area i'm overly interested in so some experienced information on that would be great. However, like I said I think there's a lot more too it than just designing the graphics of a game - given a game if you consider all the sides of it that need to all be built, in majority of cases from scratch, you'll probably get where I'm coming from. I've always presumed the graphics are where we get the Graphics Artists in to do their part of the job. ;)

 

With games programming, you are quite right, there is quite a bit of maths involved. I do think it's something that can be learned though - unless you're particularly awful at Maths. However, there is an awful lot of it that's more logical-sided, catering to people that can map out the design of a game to an implementation and actually implement that.

 

For example, in a recent game I've created, a large part of it was designing the classes and the features they each required, dealing with planning out the inheritance, what (and how) the game would process the objects within the level - whether to provide an event based system or run off a processing loop, that kind of thing. There is a bit of maths of-course, largely trigonometry, dealing with calculating the angles and positions that objects should be drawn at and a bit of collision-detection. For the most part, it's around Higher-level Maths equivalent up here in Scotland. Once you jump into 3D implementations, it obviously takes a bit of a jump up, but still isn't terribly awful! :)

 

I'd say if you're interested in the area, probably take a bash at designing some simple games, if you see yourself having an aptitude for a specific area, investigate it further!

 

Of-course, playing games and actually designing / developing games require quite different skills, but it's certainly a start! Also take note that I'm only a Computer Science student, I'm not professionally in a career in any of the areas stated, it's largely just coming from my overall intake of articles read and hobby-based programming, games development is the specific area I'm looking to head into after my degree though!

[The_Fray]

I would just like to say that, "I like games so I want a career in games" is simply not going to get you somewhere. I would focus not only your interests and hobbies but also on your successes thus far. What are you good at? What can you see yourself doing in the future? If you responded "Game Designing" for both then maybe it maybe the right field for you. But if you have even a shred of doubt, go back to the drawing board. Analyze your strengths and where they may be useful. Nobody is sure about what they truly want to be, just make sure when you pick something you are well informed on and have researched thoroughly.

 

But seriously be proud of yourself for actually asking questions and taking an interest early, many of my friends wasted years just figuring out what they wanted. If you can get that sorted out early, I am sure you will have no problems further on in your education

 

Good luck and remember the best advice will always be given by your councilor.

[Vulxai]

There's different positions in the general Game Design field. There are specific Artists who do the drawing, but there's also the creative teams, the content teams, the QA teams, etc. So if you'd like to take part in creating the game ideas and making sure they run smoothly, wouldn't be too bad, I suppose.

 

Game Programming actually isn't that much math, it's more logic than anything. Sure, there's some math here and there, but nothing too bad you wouldn't be able to figure out. You wouldn't exactly need to know College Calc to do it.

[blakdragon39]

There's different positions in the general Game Design field. There are specific Artists who do the drawing, but there's also the creative teams, the content teams, the QA teams, etc. So if you'd like to take part in creating the game ideas and making sure they run smoothly, wouldn't be too bad, I suppose.

 

Game Programming actually isn't that much math, it's more logic than anything. Sure, there's some math here and there, but nothing too bad you wouldn't be able to figure out. You wouldn't exactly need to know College Calc to do it.

 

Bah, then why do I find myself taking 3 calculus courses? xD Found this thread interesting, I'm currently in my first year of comp sci at university, and I definitely really want to get into gaming. ^^ Programming sounds like a lot of fun to me, and everyone's talking about logic more than math.. I'm excited. ^^ Guess I didn't have a lot to share, but just wanted to say something I guess. :D

[Vulxai]

There's different positions in the general Game Design field. There are specific Artists who do the drawing, but there's also the creative teams, the content teams, the QA teams, etc. So if you'd like to take part in creating the game ideas and making sure they run smoothly, wouldn't be too bad, I suppose.

 

Game Programming actually isn't that much math, it's more logic than anything. Sure, there's some math here and there, but nothing too bad you wouldn't be able to figure out. You wouldn't exactly need to know College Calc to do it.

 

Bah, then why do I find myself taking 3 calculus courses? xD Found this thread interesting, I'm currently in my first year of comp sci at university, and I definitely really want to get into gaming. ^^ Programming sounds like a lot of fun to me, and everyone's talking about logic more than math.. I'm excited. ^^ Guess I didn't have a lot to share, but just wanted to say something I guess. :D

 

Lol not sure, I don't have too many math courses and I'm going for Computer and Network Security (which deals with coding).

[bedman]

If you do computer sciences at the university, expect math, and not just easy math, really. I do think it's a lot easier (and more practical) if you don't do it at the university though.

[dragon246665]

Just to get a basic idea of the field, you could go here:

 

here

 

I am also interested in the field and I have found that this site is a great way to sort of get a general picture of the skills required. Also, just poke around the website, you'll find some pretty neat things.

[Dire_Wolf]

The thing is, life bores the hell out of me. The worse is that i don't know myself that well to say what i would like alot or not. I don't know what situations or person has shaped me like the way i am now, but currently there is not a visible profession or path that i find interesting at all.

 

I like Gaming, and specially fantasy. Warriors, wizards, archers, magic, monsters...good quest stories...

 

I have for past months been working on ideas for a story which i have based on Runescape:

It's about a Half elf/human Warrior named Rain. He looses his mother when he's a kid. His mother who lived with his father in Falador got murdered by Saradominists. Saradominists dislike Elfs and Seren, and Rain's mother, a faithful follower of Seren was discriminated and killed.

 

Rain manages to escapes with a scared heart.

 

That's just a small description of what the story is about. I have ideas for Rain's abilities, his sword, his allies, his goals and also....themes in the story.

 

I shared my stories ideas with ya because i thought maybe coming up with stories for games might be a good quality? Can someone confirm this?

[dragon246665]

Yes, companies like bioware have a team of talanted writers that come up with compelling stories for the programers to work with, but you would be more of a writer than a game designer.

[Dire_Wolf]

Yes, companies like bioware have a team of talanted writers that come up with compelling stories for the programers to work with, but you would be more of a writer than a game designer.

I figured. But i hope to combine coming up with ideas + doing some Game designing...if that really would work out for me.

[dragon246665]

Well, only time will tell, I'm sure you'll end up doing something you love, or at least I hope. Good luck with your career choice.

 

Oh and if you become a bigshot the ethical thing to do would be to give me 10% of your salary

Edited March 15, 2010 by dragon246665

[Dire_Wolf]

Well, only time will tell, I'm sure you'll end up doing something you love, or at least I hope. Good luck with your career choice.

 

Oh and if you become a bigshot the ethical thing to do would be to give me 10% of your salary

Thanks alot. And 10%? And here i was going to give you 40%! Ripped off! :razz:

[rangeor]

A game designer isn't an artist. Most of what game designers do is come up with the concept of the game. Generally a game designer will write a 200-300 page report on every minute detail that is to be expected in the game, and then works with the programmers and artists and level designers to make sure they understand and follow through with the plan the game designer had. There will be a small amount of artistic and programming knowledge necessary, but if you're creative but just not a brilliant artist that should be good enough.

 

Game designer isn't at all an entry-level job, though. Most people start out with programming or art or QA for quite a few years before being promoted to game designer. A very plausible scenario would be you joining a gaming developer as a QA tester, earning a modest salary ($30,000-$40,000 USD/year). You perform well and get promoted to lead tester after a year or two. Now your salary is a bit nicer, and you most likely have a good reputation in the company if you did earn your promotion. Then after a few years or even 1, you'll most likely get a chance to work with a game designer on a game, and see what it really is like. Do well and you'll have a good chance of actually having a career in game design, with the game you work on in your resume.

 

http://www.sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm

 

This is an incredibly helpful website if you want to get into the game biz. It's a collection of 71 articles from a respected game designer, Tom Sloper. It's mostly geared toward game design advice, which is great in your position. Back when I was considering being a game designer I spent hours reading this website. I've since changed my future career to (hopefully) mechanical engineer, but I'm still keeping the game design door open.

[Lateralus]

How old are you? You don't need to choose a career too early. Don't stress it.

[Albel]

How old are you? You don't need to choose a career too early. Don't stress it.

According to his profile, he is 20. So yeah a career would be nice to have now.

A idea that came to mind was that you could be a beta tester of games. You would not like to dram or program games. So mabey becoming a beta tester of games for a company could be a idea.

[rangeor]

Yeah, beta testing is essentially QA testing. It's not fun at all but how most people get into the industry. It's pretty much playing games all day, but kind of like this: Your job for the next two weeks is to test the Luigi's Castle of Doom track in the new Mario Kart game. You'll probably spend 25-30 hours playing the track multiple times with every possible character and kart combination to make sure there are no bugs. When you do find a bug, you'll write a detailed report about the bug. It'll be a lot of monotony and a lot of writing.

 

I feel bad for the guys who had to bug test the water dungeon in OOT o.o

[Albel]

Yeah, beta testing is essentially QA testing. It's not fun at all but how most people get into the industry. It's pretty much playing games all day, but kind of like this: Your job for the next two weeks is to test the Luigi's Castle of Doom track in the new Mario Kart game. You'll probably spend 25-30 hours playing the track multiple times with every possible character and kart combination to make sure there are no bugs. When you do find a bug, you'll write a detailed report about the bug. It'll be a lot of monotony and a lot of writing.

 

I feel bad for the guys who had to bug test the water dungeon in OOT o.o

I dont think I would mind to be a beta tester, would be fun in my opinion. when my friend made games on the computer (Something like RPG maker) I would test his games. It does get annoying, but it could get you started in the field.

[RpgGamer]

Let games be your hobby.

Don't mix buisness and pleasure. Get a job that will make you some money that you are already decent at, then come home and play all the games you want. Being a game designer isn't gonna get you many ladies. And if you're not worried about that, then worry about the fact that you admit to having no prior skill in any game design related field. Make money with something your good at - not something you'll struggle iin.

[tripsis]

Let games be your hobby.

Don't mix buisness and pleasure.

I disagree. They say if you get a job that you love you'll never 'work' a day in your life. I would think that everyone's goal would be to find a career doing something that they absolutely love. If games are his passion then he should definitely try to pursue a career in the gaming industry. So he doesn't have any prior skill, but it's never too late to get some. Just because he doesn't have any skill now doesn't mean he'd struggle. And if being a game designer isn't going to get him ladies then I'm sure going home after each day after work and playing games won't get him ladies either. But there are plenty of girls out there - myself included :P - who like a man who is interested in games.

 

It's better to try and fail than not try at all and regret it for the rest of your life.

[Faux]

i'm in compsci program right now. and yes, it's a lot of math initially in the first two years. focuses more on coding later on. it's hard, but to be fair i'm in one of the best universities in the country.

 

if i were you, i'd just go to a tech school or w/e that focuses on hands-on rather than theory.

 

tbh it's not what i expected, feels like i debugged enough to last me a lifetime.

[Dire_Wolf]

Let games be your hobby.

Don't mix buisness and pleasure.

I disagree. They say if you get a job that you love you'll never 'work' a day in your life. I would think that everyone's goal would be to find a career doing something that they absolutely love. If games are his passion then he should definitely try to pursue a career in the gaming industry. So he doesn't have any prior skill, but it's never too late to get some. Just because he doesn't have any skill now doesn't mean he'd struggle. And if being a game designer isn't going to get him ladies then I'm sure going home after each day after work and playing games won't get him ladies either. But there are plenty of girls out there - myself included :P - who like a man who is interested in games.

 

It's better to try and fail than not try at all and regret it for the rest of your life.

Who said that game designers are supposed to be geeky? <_<

[scootlaboot]

As a quick side note, your workstation may need to change depending on what you decide to go into, when it comes to computer related careers. The norm is that programmers, in general, prefer a linux based system. Artists and the like use macs. For completionist's sake only, IT professionals mostly use windows.

 

And if you want to run games on a linux box, either get used to wine or dual-boot a windows operating system.

[Faux]

 

Who said that game designers are supposed to be geeky? <_<

Most people

[dsavi]

Let games be your hobby.

Don't mix buisness and pleasure.

The best hobbies are the ones that you take seriously, and that's exactly what you should do. I can't imagine why you would voluntarily choose a job that you don't really want.