Get best of the week

“A game designer is always a gamer”: what does a specialist do, what skills are important

The game market is developing steadily: according to the Global Games Market Report, the volume of the gaming industry will reach $ 196 billion by 2022. Such growth requires the appearance of new specialists, and one of the key figures in the creation of games is a game designer.

The game designer is a unique specialist who generates creative ideas and develops game systems that can captivate players for years to come.

At the open lesson “ Game designer: how to create games from scratch ” Vladimir Kovtun, producer at Ciliz, teacher of the course “ Game designer ” Netology, spoke about the specifics of the game designer, the necessary skills, and also answered students' questions.

Game design: art or science?


Someone will say that creating a game is a great art, others are a difficult science. Both those and others are right. The only question is which side you are on. If you are a user, you will most likely classify games as art. While the developers understand that this is for the most part a science. The way the games are arranged from the inside is completely different from the way they are perceived from the outside. 
Game design is an art in which science is very important.
 

What does a game designer do


The game designer comes up with a game and explains to the team how to make it. 

One of the main tasks of the game designer is to organize the user's leisure so that he has a pleasant time in the game. Rather, I even spent it with pleasure, that is, got a good experience. Therefore, when creating a game, the game designer should think about the user experience. If a player gets an interesting choice, new emotions and experiences, a new experience, then he will remember this and will return to such a game.  
The game designer can be compared to a wizard who creates a special reality for a player and a special experience.

What does game design consist of


Designing the rules of the game . The game designer is at the head of this process and comes up with the rules: who takes on what role, at what point what needs to be done, the conditions for victory and defeat, the duration of the game.

The process of formulating the content of the game . Here, the game designer works with related departments: artists, programmers, community managers, marketers, technical support and other areas depending on the product.

The role of a game designer in a team


One of the key points in the work of a game designer is his interaction with the team. First of all, with programmers and artists. 

Let's see what a game designer does in a team.

Formulates and broadcasts “What?” . What artists need to draw, what developers need to program, what thoughts need to be conveyed to product community managers. At the same time, the game designer never crawls into the part that is dedicated to “How?”.  

Prevents the product concept from mutating . The game designer is responsible for the final result, so he makes sure that the tasks assigned to him are carried out exactly as he needs. 

Works as a link. The game designer directly affects how the team interacts with each other and how quickly and efficiently the product moves to completion.

A game designer is as hard as a circus performer. You need to know and be able to do a lot, but do not show it too clearly.

What a game designer should be able to


A beginner game designer from a professional is given skills - not only professional, but also “soft” (soft skills). Let's start with the latter.

To communicate


The game designer interacts a lot with people - verbally or in writing. There are different employees - introverts and extroverts. And the game designer needs to be able to convey his thoughts to everyone - in different ways. This is not only verbal communication, but also the ability to “draw” quickly something for the artist in the form of a note or “write” a programmer a task in a language that he understands. 

The game designer also needs communication skills to protect ideas and negotiate.

Be organized and punctual.


Consider where these skills are needed.

Assessment of tasks and timely results . The game designer gives tasks to the whole team, many processes are tied to it - this is a big responsibility. Because of this, game designers are often called the “bottleneck”, and the entire project depends on the self-organization of the game designer. 

Task flow planning . If programmers and artists have the same tasks, then the game designer has diverse tasks. For example, pick up references to a sound designer, make screen mockups for artists, write a technical task for programmers. And also for analysts to prepare a base, and for producers to generate ideas for the next releases and a development plan. 
It is important to be able to divide a wide stream of tasks into small streams and correctly distribute them according to priority.

Be literate and know English


Since the game designer works a lot with text, knowledge of the Russian language should be excellent. In addition to literacy, a game designer must follow simple typographic rules when working with text: typesetting and readability of the text. Programmers will say “thank you” :-) 

Knowledge of English is crucial especially for beginners. Professional literature, media resources - 90% English.

We turn to the hard skills of the game designer.

Know the market


Playing a lot is the most important skill . A game designer is always a gamer (but not vice versa ;-). The question from which an interview with a game designer of any level can begin is: “What games have you played in the last month?”. Unfortunately, even those who are professionally engaged in game design often cannot answer this question - and this is a loud bell. If a game designer does not play games, how can he make them?

You need to watch any games - both old and new. And there is a nuance. 

Every year, it becomes more difficult to become a game designer without the systematic knowledge that is usually given in courses. This is explained by the fact that over the past decades hundreds of thousands of projects have been issued. And if you have not played before, you need to understand well what to focus on, what resources to read and what to use.

Do dekonstrakty . That is, disassemble the game into all the components. As a result of deconstructing, you will learn the pros and cons of the game, why it has become popular, how much money it brings, how you can create something like that.


A good example of deconstruct

Do not disown genres and platforms . “Who needs this Nintendo Switch?”, “I will never buy games in the Epic Games Store” - it sounds strange. There are no “bad” platforms for a game designer; you need to play everything and everywhere. Observation of various kinds is important for self-development. 

Mathematics


Beginning game designers are often scared that they need deep mathematical knowledge. Deep ones are not needed - unless you want to make complex economic strategies. A school math course is usually sufficient .

A table processor is a basic tool for a game designer. It doesn’t matter if Excel is a Google spreadsheet or OpenOffice. 
The game designer does not have to be a doctor of mathematical sciences, but must know the mathematical base.

Aesthetics


Game designer evaluates the work of the art department, so he must be erudite in terms of art. It is important to be able to distinguish bad taste from a masterpiece. Often, artists draw out of touch with the process, and the game designer needs to be able to get them back on track, giving clear feedback. 

Game screenshot Middle-earth: Shadow of War



Game screenshot Assassin's Creed Odyssey

 
Trailer Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, which won in several nominations BAFTA Games Awards in 2018, including for the best decoration

And here is the trailer of the game the Outer Wilds , which has won awards BAFTA Games Awards 2020 in the categories "Best Game" and "Game design".   

Logic and analytics


When creating a game, the game designer must first offer a logical solution. All elements of the system must be in place, the patterns of actions of the characters are thought out, the project must be docked and checked. Only after that the game designer makes a decision in the framework of the concept of a new project. 

There are two standard hypothesis testing tools: prototyping (creating fast prototypes using game engines) and paper prototyping.  


An example of paper prototyping a game

The third - non-standard - method is available only to some professionals who invent games in their heads, play games in their heads and check their concepts in their heads.  

Analytics is important for the interaction of a game designer with marketers and analysts. Moreover, the game designer should think over the functionality of the game in such a way that it is convenient for the analyst and the marketer to interact with him. 
If the game designer has not incorporated the trigger game into the economic system so that the analyst can look at events and statistics, the game will have to be redone.

Thinking outside the box


It is important for a game designer to think without limits. As they say, think out of the box - think out of the box. If a game designer tries to look for solutions to insoluble situations, new game concepts, the chance to create a cool game increases tenfold. Recall that deconstructs help to understand why a particular product is successful. 

It depends on the game designer whether the game will be gray and featureless or a hit for all time. 



An example of a bestseller is the Nuclear throne shooter (2015). Over a million copies sold

Work with a computer (for games on digital media)


This skill is often forgotten. A game designer should be a geek - in a good way - and not have difficulty learning new software or hardware.

You need to be familiar with Windows, MacOS, or Linux. Companies work in different ways: for some, the entire pipeline is built so that everyone works on Windows, for others - on MacOS or Linux. 

It’s important to absorb the new like a sponge, because you don’t know where you will work in a year. What if someone suggests doing a race or a shooter? On Unity or Unreal Engine? Or maybe there will be an opportunity to move to Europe. But you never know how many more such “what if?”  
Unreadiness to work with certain software is a frequent cause of refusals to get work from beginner game designers.

So, a game designer is a specialist who comes up with games, but does not create them. He knows how to correctly formulate tasks for the team, understands the marketing of games and is able to convince the investor in the success of the project.

Students ask - we answer



The questions of the participants of the open session “ Game Designer: How to Create Games from scratch ” were collected , to which Vladimir Kovtun, a teacher of the course “ Game Designer ” in Netology, answered .


Where can I implement the idea for the game? 


On sites dedicated to game jams - a kind of hackathon for games - you can find people, assemble a team and make an integral project. However, it is necessary to take into account the fact that such projects are created on the bare enthusiasm and internal motivation of the participants, so most of these projects do not survive to release. 

If you really have a terrific idea, find a programmer and an artist and make a prototype - a short version of the game - to search for investors. But this is already a story related to creating your own business - a gaming studio, attracting investor money and everything connected with it.

Will the product be trusted by a game designer with no experience?


There is no problem at the beginning specialist. 

When a game designer begins his career and joins the company as a trainee, trainee or junior, he is not asked to immediately come up with the whole concept - they usually start with private moments, game features. Another point: since they hired, they also trust the product. 

How much a programmer believes in an idea depends on how well the game designer will present it. If the idea is supported by facts, well described, logically structured, fits into the concept of the product, then both the programmer and the artist will gladly take up such a task.  

What genre is better to start learning about game design?


Start with your favorite genre. There are no strict rules. Agree, it will be strange if a novice game designer who needs to play the first hundred plays in something that he does not like at all. For example, I do not like strategy games, I watch them as representatives of the genre, but I do not play them for 300 hours. But I really like platformers, I go through them completely and do deconstructs. See what's closer to you personally.

You can start diving into game design with platforms and a mechanic. Most companies make free-play games for mobile phones - play these games and learn them. Hyper casual games are also popular. 

What programming languages ​​to learn for game design?


I recommend to study C Sharp (C #) or Lua. If we talk about engines, then the most suitable engine for game design is Unity, and C # is used there. A large game designer may be asked to write scripts, which is Lua. In any case, this is object-oriented programming - without it, nowhere.

How broad should market knowledge be if you are involved in creating, for example, only point-and-click quests? 


On the one hand, if only such a genre is interested, be based on it.

On the other hand, let's remember the Think Out of the box message - think out of the box. 
If you go to the "alien" territory - related or completely different genres of games, you can just find a new concept that will stand out in your genre.
For example, doing a point-and-click quest with Battle Royale mechanics is an interesting idea. Or do a race in a quest. But if there is no corresponding competence in the market of those genres that you want to use and integrate, then difficulties with implementation will arise. For self-development you need to play everything. 

How can a game designer outline a concept for a specialist who is engaged in sound, if he himself is a complete zero?


You need to understand related areas at least at a basic level: get familiar with terminology, limitations. 

I will give an example. Let's say a game designer needs the sound of a door slamming. He can formulate the problem in different ways. It may just say to the sound designer “I need the sound of a door slamming”, or it may add: “in such a range in decibels, the output file format is such and such, the duration limit is such and such, and the maximum volume is such”.    
If the game designer does not understand at all in any area, then he will set a very broad scope of the task - the scope of his decision will also be wide. As a result, the result will vary greatly: from complete unsuitability to "this is what I requested."
I also recommend talking with the appropriate specialist on the topic of how he can help the game designer better understand himself. For example, it is better for a visual to transmit information through pictures, for an audio - to accompany it with voice. It is important to remember that the task is posed to a specific person with their own characteristics.
      

What to read about game design


Russian-speaking resources






You can learn the profession from scratch on the course " Game Designer " in Netology, which was developed in partnership with the professional community of game designers " Cuffs DG ." 

You will go through the entire game development cycle: creating a concept, designing game levels and mechanics, game psychology, narrative design, specifics of the game interface design, prototyping, creating a promotion strategy and launching a game product on the market, game analytics.

Communicating in the same environment in Discord, you can find partners to create your own game. 

More articles:


All Articles