Hello, Habr! I present to you the translation of the article "What Does a Game Designer do?" by Kai Wüest. Kai Wüest is a producer from Iceland who used to work as a tester and then as a game designer.

Day as a game designer

The legendary game designer. The man, myth, legend behind the game. A source of inspiration for young dreamers who want to one day work in the gaming industry. But what does a game designer really do? And how do you become one of them?

Let’s immediately deal with one misunderstanding: game designers are not “guys with ideas.” Of course, they sometimes come up with ideas that often turn into features, but 99% of their work is attempts to work out these ideas in great detail. You definitely will not sit at a round table and discuss the "zombie survival shooter RPG", and before leaving home clap each other on the shoulder.

Instead, you will spend 3 hours trying to figure out if the double-jump cooldown should be 400/200 units, at a speed of 550 units / s and a force expenditure of 30 units should be 2.5 seconds or 3 seconds. And if you're unlucky, you will receive angry letters from evil players whose characters you nerfed with the latest patch.

Game Design Basics

Game designers are responsible for the rules, systems, mechanics, and content of a video game. They work in teams and are often divided into groups with different specializations, such as system design, level design and game balance.

Despite the fact that I consider game design more an art than an exact science, this is still an area of ​​software development, so you will mainly use standard applications for work. Here are some that I have come across:

• Selectable tables, such as Excel or Google Sheets
• Documentation tool, such as a wiki or pen with paper
• Game engine like Unreal Engine 4 or Unity
• Version control system, e.g. Git or Perforce
• Scripting language like Python or Lua
• Custom level editor, e.g. Hammer Editor or Fallout Creation Kit

Most likely you will start your career in game development with the position of trainee or junior designer. Higher education in the field of game design or software development will be a plus, but the quality and quantity of projects in your portfolio plays a much larger role. The ability to program and write beautifully will help you stand out from the crowd of game designers, and if you have already published a game or application, then you are already far ahead of your competitors. More about this below.

The fact that you played games before does not give you an advantage (rather, it is even a necessity), because this is not a skill.

Five stages grief game development

Video games, like other software, go through various stages of development, and the work of a game designer changes in accordance with them. Keep in mind that methodologies and philosophies vary from place to place, so even such a general overview may not correspond to the development in some studios.

1. Pre-production

After pitches about the game, meetings and pondering thoughts in the shower, the budget, scale, target audience and approximate release date of the game are approved. After that, a small team is entrusted with the creation of a prototype.

Rocket League Prototype

Your task here is to conceptualize and actualize the main gameplay. Think about how to bring the idea of ​​“flying cars hit the ball” or “a free shooter in which the map gets smaller over time” to a state where you can already play it and you can see why it is fun.

Such a prototype emphasizes the basic mechanics, the look and feel of the game, as well as its commercial value. He must also shed light on how much effort is required to complete the game. Most importantly, this prototype should convince management. More information on prototyping can be found here .

2. Full speed ahead

After the prototype has been demonstrated and funding has been received, the project proceeds to the production phase and receives all the necessary staff. As noted above, game design has many specializations, which we will consider below.

Systems design

System Design is the conceptualization and design of entire game systems, such as the Overwatch battle system, the Minecraft crafting system, or the World of Warcraft level-up system. You will also be responsible for documenting these systems in great detail so that everyone who works on them knows exactly what to do. As a rule, this is done in design documents .

Game system designers also determine how their systems will interact with other game systems and which mechanics and features can be tied to these systems. Due to the scale and importance of such systems, they are usually handled by senior game designers.

Feature Design

A feature design is a design of small individual features, such as a daily bonus or customization of a guild house, involving work on many features, rather than individual systems, as in system design.

Feature design is usually not considered a specialization in itself, so if you see a job as a game designer, then most likely you are talking about feature design, but the candidate is also expected to do game design in general, for example, game testing and game balance.

Level design

As a novice designer, you will most likely be working on content for existing systems, for example, creating a set of items for healing or developing character skills. The most common type of content design is level design, which involves planning a game level and filling it with shelters, obstacles, and other trinkets.

The next stage is writing scripts, i.e. placing triggers in a level that will move the gameplay forward. An example is a door that opens at the touch of a button by a player, and the appearance of opponents when players pass through it.

Many companies also refer to this as the design of quests or missions, in which you will be responsible for writing texts and narrative context of the level - for example, for a side quest in The Witcher 3.

Game balance

It doesn’t matter if we specialize in balance, but one day we will have to deal with it. The balance of the game is an iterative process, which includes painstaking work with a bunch of numbers, which is often performed using tables.

Players who buy Super Cool Sword as a second item win 62% of the time in Arena mode. Why it happens? What can it affect? What values ​​can we change? What side effects can this cause?

For this work, you need a decent knowledge of mathematics, and it is also very important to be able to read and correctly interpret the raw data. Understanding the gameplay at a high level is also important, especially if your game is built around rivalry.

UX design

UI designers usually deal with this aspect, but you still need to do stubs and drafts from time to time. This implies the designation of various menus, buttons, and player behavior when interacting with your feature.

Good systems can be spoiled by bad UX, so the ability to not only see small irritants, but also to find solutions will be a very useful skill. Images are much easier to understand than a paragraph in the technical description, so try to present your design in graphic form whenever possible.

Monetization design

Attempts to monetize a cool feature after its creation will not work. What you monetize, why people will spend money on it and how to avoid the discontent of the community - these issues are an integral part of design from the very beginning.

That's where we need a monetization designer who conceptualizes new systems and optimizes old ones with the designers responsible for the progress in the game and the economy in it.

Good skills in working with numbers and the ability to interpret analytics are of paramount importance, since you will constantly monitor KPIs (key performance indicators) and change the cost of items, the frequency of loot and events to optimize your systems.

You may have concerns about some methods of monetization, but try to stay up to date with the latest trends in this area, especially if you intend to work in the mobile sector.

Script and dialogs

Although you can write a few lines of dialogue, most games have a separate team of scriptwriters working with leading designers to link the script to the game and adjust it if necessary.

This process is not always successful and can result in ludo-dissonance among players when they are beaten in the cutscene after they destroyed the final boss two seconds earlier with one shot.

To combat this, some companies began to hire narrative designers, i.e., designers responsible for introducing game narration directly into the gameplay. This is a very specialized position, requiring years of work in both areas, so do not expect to see this position on your resume in the near future.

3. In pursuit of milestones

Unfortunately, developers cannot just go into the cave for 3 years until the game is over. Publishers usually set milestones that the studio must achieve in order to receive additional funding, for example, “work out the physics of transport” or “make the player’s camera”.

These milestones usually dictate what the team should work on next, and serve as mini-deadlines in front of a real deadline. Sometimes you even have to make a trailer for some event or create a demo version of the game for some event.

4. Polishing

This is the last stage of game development, during which almost no content is added. Instead, the focus is on reducing unnecessary clicks in the interface, smoothing jumps in complexity, completing training and working closely with the QA department . Often this work continues even after the game "went gold" in the form of a patch of 1 day, since printing, certification and distribution of the game takes time.

Rule 90-90 also applies to game development, as turning your game from just good to great is a painfully long process. Very important: if you skip this step, you will be left with a game like STALKER or Mount & Blade. Good games, but not very well developed.

5. Post-release

Most games are supported through DLC and patches for a long period of time after their release. Working on such a content update is like working on a very small game, you go through the same steps.

Some games even have a special LiveOps team that keeps the game “live” and profitable for as long as possible. This includes planning in-game events, adding new content, or maintaining a competitive spirit.

If you are not in the LiveOps team or have not yet been fired at this point, it's time to move on to the next game.

Recommendations

If you are a beginner game designer, I have some tips for you that helped me when I was in your place. But as I wrote in a previous post , this is my personal experience, so read also the stories of other game designers.

Get a portfolio

• Your education as a game designer means nothing. In addition to you there will be hundreds more people with exactly the same education who want the exact same job. You need to stand out in a different way. Complete a quality project.

  
  

• Try your best at 110% while working on a project while getting an education. It will make a difference when your potential employer compares you to a classmate. Complete a quality project.

  
  

• If you do not have the opportunity to do projects during the training, do them on their own. I started with RPG Maker and switched to Unreal Engine 4. Board games are also considered. Complete a quality project.

  
  

• Work tirelessly in the level editor, make a mod or write an essay, having examined the game mechanics. You must demonstrate extensive knowledge with sufficient depth. Complete a quality project.

  
  

• Learn to program. This will allow you to create prototypes yourself and participate in game jams without being a dead weight for your comrades. Complete a quality project.

  
  

• And until I forget: complete a quality project.

  
  

Be cool

• You need to be a good communicator. You have to be diplomatic, be able to write clear and accurate text that even outsiders can understand, and have the habit of writing down everything you think about.

  
  

• Being proud of your designs is good, but you should be able to let them go. If you can’t survive the fact that a dozen people have torn your ideas to shreds, then this work is not for you.

  
  

• You definitely need to expand your horizon in order to remain competitive in the gaming industry. Most likely, during your career you will work on various projects in various positions, so read about trends and play games that you usually don’t play.

  
  

• Most likely you have an opinion, or maybe you laughed at the games, companies and developers in the comments. Do not do this in front of people working in this industry - this way you will burn all the bridges.

  
  

• Do not be a Gamer with a capital G.

  
  

Make connections.

• Create a portfolio site with your projects, biography, resume, and possibly a blog if you can regularly write professional, enlightening posts. Once you are settled, you can start writing garbage, as I do.

  
  

• Make a beautiful business card, print a few copies of your resume, and attend several conferences. Speeches are generally useless, so better spend time talking with HR, who most likely have a stand somewhere nearby.

  
  

• Start growing your network by creating a LinkedIn account and adding your classmates and new acquaintances from the industry. One day you may find it useful to contact them.

  
  

• Chat with game designers and ask them for feedback about your projects and resumes. They can also refer you to a company recruiter so you can chat with them already.

  
  

• I can’t say anything about internships in the USA, but in Europe they are quite useful. This puts you higher than other graduates, counts as experience in your resume and increases the chances of getting a permanent job.

  
  

• Keep your expectations normal. Getting a game designer position is difficult, and if you want to get a very specialized position like a narrative designer right after getting an education, then you have practically no chance.

  
  

• AAA developers are very well organized, so most likely you will work on a very specific part and in a very specific way. The chances of being fired are slim, and the game will have weight on your resume.

  
  

• Startups, on the other hand, correspond to the phrase "big risk - big reward": they give you much more influence on your project, but there is less pay, money can end at the most inopportune moment, and the workflow is often chaotic. Do not get bad habits from this.

  
  

Final thoughts

I hope this post has helped you better understand what a game designer is doing. I can only speak on my own behalf, but the design of the games is a creative experience with a great reward, like shooting a scene for a movie or writing a play. In addition, a successful launch of the game allows you to brag about it everywhere. But be prepared to work hard - this is the job that many want, and so you will need to stand out from the crowd. Good luck