Game Designer's job
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The document introduces the job of a game designer. It discusses that game designers spend half their time writing design documents to communicate the game concept to the development team. The document also outlines the game design process from creating concepts to testing the game. It describes key parts of the game design document including pitching the game, scoping it, and detailing gameplay. Contact information is provided at the end.
Game Designer's job
- 1. Introduction to the job of Game Designer HCMC July 21, 2012 The Game Designer Nicolas Leymonerie Chairman of Phuong Hoang Enix – www.ph-enix.com Head of the Digital Creation Training Department of the Yersin University of Dalat – stkts.ph-enix.com Unity & Allegorithmic Authorized Reseller – unity.ph-enix.vn , alg.ph-enix.com
- 2. Introduction to the job of Game Designer HCMC July 21, 2012 Introduction Why am I talking about Game Design to you today? The Game Design What is the Game Design and who can become Game Designer? Design a Videogame What to do as Game Designer from the pre-production to the game’s release Contact Information
- 3. Introduction HCMC July 21, 2012 My background • Nicolas Leymonerie, French guy in Vietnam since 2006, 10 years XP • Graduated in Computer Science and Game Design • 3 years in Paris working in game studios (Visual Impact, Cyanide Studio) • Consultant in Game Development in Hanoi (Trangenix, Vinagame) • Participations in about 20 games: • PC games (Gray Matter, Loki, Winter challenge, Cycling Manager…) • Console games ( Gray Matter, 4 Tales to enjoy, SSX3 GBA) • Mobile games (Cadwallon: City of Thieves, Lucie la luciole, Tony) • Online games ( 2 Kingdoms 4 Thrones) • Various positions : Game designer, Level designer, Graphics production manager, Programmer, 3D artist, Consultant
- 4. Introduction HCMC July 21, 2012 My actual positions in the Game Industry • Chairman of the Phuong Hoang Enix Company (2008) • Coordinator of IGDA Vietnam (2008) • Reseller for Unity Technologies and Allegorithmic in Vietnam (2011) • Head of STKTS: Digital Creation Training Department, Yersin Univ. Dalat (2012) This presentation • Target: New to Game Design, Apply as Game Designer or Hire Game Designers • Definition of the Game Design • The work of the Game Designer in the Game development team from A to Z
- 5. The Game Design HCMC July 21, 2012 What does the Game Designer do half of his time?
- 6. The Game Design HCMC July 21, 2012 What does the Game Designer do half of his time? Write Design Documents!
- 7. The Game Design HCMC July 21, 2012 What does the Game Designer do ? Optionally: Draw concepts, draw storyboards, program scripts, information retrieval, build Create the game level concept Set game parameters Test the Write Design game Documents!
- 8. The Game Design HCMC July 21, 2012 What does the Game Designer do ? Optionally: Draw concepts, draw storyboards, program scripts, information retrieval, build Create the game level concept Set game parameters Test the Write Design game Documents!
- 9. The Game Design HCMC July 21, 2012 Game Design = Way to make a game concept understood by the rest of the game development team then it can realize the game in accordance with the view of the Game Designer. • Way to do that: write documents, draw sketches, develop game prototypes, communicate information • Tools: Text / datasheet editors (Word, Excel), Graphics/Diagram softwares, Game editors (Unity, Gamemaker), Emails/Regular meetings/Conference calls… History • Early stage: Programmers Game Design • Complexity of the game production dedicated person = Game Designer • Complexity of the game production Lead GD, Level designer, Character designer, Writer etc…
- 10. The Game Design HCMC July 21, 2012 What is a good Game Designer? • Qualities : Communicative, Curious, Cultured, Creative, Consistent • Skills : be good at Writing, Organizing, Analyzing, Conceptualizing + Tools • Knowledge : Game industry (videogames but not only) + complementary knowledge ( mathematics, world cultures, sport, sociology, architecture etc…) • Be passionate by making videogame more than playing game
- 11. The Game Design HCMC July 21, 2012 What defines a good videogame concept: • A motivating goal : Need to have a main objective clearly defined to be accomplished by the player. • Interesting choices : The outcome of the activity is unforeseeable (unexpected or random events…), so the player has to make choices. • Interesting consequences : By doing a choice the player expects to get an immediate or a delayed result that is significant. • Interesting game mechanisms : The way the player interacts with the game and the rules must make the player pleased to master them. • Balanced : The learning curve of the gameplay, the difficulty, the dramatic structure at any moment of the game must be defined to support the enjoyment of many kind of players. • Fun : Generate strong emotions which the player enjoys or wants to overpass: excitement, challenge, fear, amazement, surprise or even frustration. Fun comes from the graphics, the interactions, the story and other game design elements. • Comply with its main purpose : design-driven, market-driven, technology-driven, art- driven, education-driven…
- 12. Design a Videogame HCMC July 21, 2012 Position of the Game Designer in the Game development team regarding the design of the game Communication flow – Q&A QA Producer Design Marketing char, lvl, sound.. Game Designer Program Art
- 13. Design a Videogame HCMC July 21, 2012 Game’s life cycle and Game Designer’s main tasks Pre-Production Production QA Beta Marketing Define the Game Concept Write the Game Design document Test the game and set gameplay parameters Provide info for marketing / gamers community Post-mortem
- 14. Design a Videogame HCMC July 21, 2012 The Game Design Document: Bible of the game • Pitch (1/2 page) • Scoping Document (2-3 pages) • Genre : Adventure, Role playing, 2D, 3D, Multiplayer… • Platform : PC, Mac, Online, Mobile, TV… • Target market : Geographical data, age, genre, casual/hardcore… • Selling points : slogan • State of the competition : results, market statistics… • Objectives : financial, market… • Schedule : milestones, deadline… • Budget : team, technology… • Constraints : market, technology…
- 15. Design a Videogame HCMC July 21, 2012 The Game Design Document: • Detailed Game concept (20,50,100 or more pages depending on the game’s size) • Core Gameplay • Background : screenplay… • Characters and levels • Game mechanics • Structure of the game : organization of the levels, duration of the game… • Interaction: interface, controls, cameras… • Look and feel: graphics, audio… • Appendix: sketches, diagrams, screenshots… • …..
- 16. Contact Information HCMC July 21, 2012 • Nicolas Leymonerie: nicolas@ph-enix.com • Phuong Hoang Enix : www.ph-enix.com apps.ph-enix.com • Digital Creation Training Center : stkts.ph-enix.com • Unity reseller : unity.ph-enix.vn • Allegorithmic reseller : alg.ph-enix.vn • IGDA Vietnam : www.igda.org/vietnam
- 17. Introduction to the job of Game Designer HCMC July 21, 2012 Xin cảm ơn Nicolas Leymonerie Chairman of Phuong Hoang Enix – www.ph-enix.com Head of the Digital Creation Training Department of the Yersin University of Dalat – stkts.ph-enix.com Unity & Allegorithmic Authorized Reseller – unity.ph-enix.vn , alg.ph-enix.com
Editor's Notes
- #10: As the complexity raises , there is the need to divide the Game Design job in sub categories with one perso, the Lead Game Designer, supervising the designers team.
- #11: As the complexity raises , there is the need to divide the Game Design job in sub categories with one perso, the Lead Game Designer, supervising the designers team.