Written by Ty Radman 2022 Cohort
As a pre-MDM student who aspires to be a game designer in the future, I find this topic very fun to bring up. With the 78% expected growth of the gaming industry from 2020 to 2027 that market researchers have predicted, there is an increasing demand for all game-development-related positions, especially game designers, since the game design is about the entertainment value, and this is the aspect of the game that has the highest correlation with the game’s success.
So, how does one become a game developer? Some say it’s more artistic since it has the term “design” in it. Some others say there’s more logic to it. But based on what experts say, it’s mostly a mixture of both. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
What does a game designer do?
Game designers’ job almost sounds generic since it ensures the game is fun. This can be too general, where the game designer decides every aspect of the game, or too specific, like being only responsible for designing the combat system; what the game designer does highly depends on the studio size. If it is a small studio for an indie mobile game, the game designer will most likely be responsible for every aspect of the game. Whereas in more significant titles, the roles will be more specific; instead of having a game designer, there’ll be a level designer and a gameplay designer. To split the parts up even more, we now have a quest designer and an open-world designer instead of a level designer. With that in mind, depending on the branch of game design, game designers are responsible for coming up with ideas for mechanics and systems. If the creative leads approve those, the designers will create detailed design docs and asset lists to help programmers and artists turn those ideas into reality. Once those features exist, designers will be given tools to manipulate the mechanics further. Level designers, on the other hand, will create environments for the player to explore and traverse – using tools provided by game designers. In most big games, levels are made in a “gray box” – simple, untextured geometry that artists will polish later when the level design is good enough. Level designers may also do some scripting for when levels or connected, for example, or carefully pick locations for spawn points and checkpoints. Different branches of game design have other tasks, more specific ones. But it ultimately comes down to making choices that will decide the game’s fate.