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Stalemate

Kyle Holohan · 2015-06-06T05:36:34

I've read about what it takes to become a game designer, what they do and I don't think I could be better at anything else. Of course I have to prove myself, this seems to be mentioned in every article I've read, but how? My biggest obstacle to reaching this goal is I found what I want to do but I really haven’t a clear plan to get there. Being a game designer isn’t like becoming a doctor or lawyer. To become a doctor there are standardized tests that must be taken, specific classes that must be passed and a very clear standard is defined. But when it comes to being a designer, I can’t help be realize the path is, to say the least, confusing and shrouded in a fog of abstract needs and requirements. To finally enter this career is my deepest passion but as a human being we are all different. So the path one takes to reach his/her goal will always be different then someone else’s. That being said I’ll just go over a little about myself and my situation. Right now I’m a twenty-six year old student going to Burlington County College and majoring in computer science. I have completed a Java course but haven’t used the language much since. I have finished the second part of my C++ programing course. I’ve completed my requirements and can transfer to a four year college. Interestingly enough, a four year college exists in Philadelphia PA. Drexel University offers a degree in game development, but not design. From what I know the two are quite different. I am concerned that I may not be making the right choice for a curriculum. They also offer a degree in computer animation for games, again, not sure if this will be the right choice. I really want to avoid taking classes for a degree that isn’t going to help me. So far this seems like this is the only school nearby that offers a degree in something even close to game design. I live in New Jersey, I’m sure there are others but I don’t know their names or their locations. Does anyone here have experience in game design who knows where or how I should look for a decent school in Jersey? Currently I am a sales advisor and working at Costco. I don’t make enough money to pay for school or take care of myself so I have to live with my family. My father’s plumbing business isn’t doing so well. I’ve been told I’m a good sales person but I know for sure I’m in a dead end job that has nothing to offer. I’m just tired of handing out samples to rude, ungrateful members and I really want to get to where I need to be. My father tells me to “start my own business” and make games from there but I doubt I could do that at this point. I’ve learned the basics with object oriented programming but not a single thing about game design/or development itself and am not sure how to turn the knowledge of C++ I have into my first working game. I’ll have to work for someone else which doesn’t bother me if I know I’ll be doing what I love and it gains me valuable experience. I am being treated for depression at the moment, but the medication and consoling isn’t doing too much. This illness has made it hard for me to stay focused on my goals and stop being so negative. I believe once I start seeing more progress toward my career path I won’t be quite so sick, which is what I’m hoping to get from you guys. But I’m in a bit of a stalemate here and not sure where to go from here. I use the time I have to make mods for a server I have, level design in hammer editor, and trying to get the most out of every game I play. I’m always looking to meet developers but the only thing they seem to be playing is hard to get. So I just make the mods I can and listen to feedback from people who play them. I’ve read from designers the best thing to do is keep trying new things and experimenting, play a lot of games especially bad ones, and try to get involved in quality control. I really get a great feel knowing I can help developers make their games more fun to play so I suppose I can get into testing. If that would help me reach my goal I’d love to get some insight on how to get involved in that as well. TL;DR: I want to be a game designer but I’m not sure how to get there. I want to get there even though I’m poor and depressed. I have a 2 year degree and I’m not sure where to take it. I’m tired of wasting time and I need to do something. Advice? PS: Alot of developers for smaller studios seem to be in other countries. If I am to move to another country, what would be a good choice for a game designer? I'm a bit disappointed with what America is turning into and the mindset of the people here but thats a different story.

Games Career Development Business

Started by Cryoraptor June 03, 2015 03:31 PM

11 comments, last by Hodgman 9 years, 1 month ago

Dragonsoulj

3,213

June 05, 2015 06:22 AM

Posted Today, 01:38 AM

Dragonsoulj, on 04 Jun 2015 - 01:48 AM, said:

For the degree portion, I advise getting a CS degree instead of one focusing on Game Dev/Design/etc. A CS degree is more flexible when applying for work.

The big difficulty is that:

--> YOU DO NOT COMPETE FOR JOBS IN A VACUUM <--

Learn that mantra.

I agree, I was merely stating that if the degree route was chosen, picking the CS degree would leave them with more options/areas to use the degree in. Having connections and experience are the bigger factors in every case I've dealt with.

Valoon

824

June 06, 2015 12:31 AM

Honestly considering your situation I would continue the CS degree and do games on the side as a hobby.

People in the industry like people who can code or are at least a technical even if it's just a bit. I have yet to meet the stereotypical head in the cloud artist in the industry granted I don't have 20 years experience but I did meet a decent amount.

With a CS degree you proove that you can code which is cool, especially for a game designer because then you can talk to the programmers without problems.

On top of it the best way to get early projects (except the ones you might do at school) is to be on students/indie teams. Most of them don't really look for game designers, they are small and they have some ideas that they want to make already BUT most of them need coders . So you can code for them and pitch in some ideas.

A cool thing that I did is that you can judge your level with them too, if you have to apply to all of the crappy teams with no clue about games and get one out of ten jobs or even less you are at the bottom skill level. And then as you improve you start to be contacted by some people, they don't want to pay you but still. And at some point you get interesting teams with a serious project, even if they still don't pay. Etc...

I really used that to judge my level. Just don't work with teams making money and not giving you anything, work for free for teams who don't have any money themselves and are students like you.

Then you'll be at the degree + demo state that frob mentioned and you'll need some luck/contacts/amazing projects to get the first experience (hardest one to get because after you get moved to the first pile) and then that's it you can continue your career.

Hodgman

52,718

June 06, 2015 05:36 AM

If you want to be an illustrator, you'd better start drawing every day as a hobby. That's not a very controversial statement.

Likewise, if you want to be a game designer, you'd better start designing every day.
Making video games requires programming skill, so make board games when you're unable to make video games. Make pen and paper games. Make puzzles. Make ball sports. Practice making things, anything, fun. Study play.
Write detailed critiqes of other game's mechanics. Catalogue game mechanic or control-scheme patterns. Write hypothesis as to why games have made these choices.
These are the actions of a designer. If you want to be one, simply start acting like one.

. 22 Racing Series .