What Does A Game Designer Do?

A game designer is responsible for designing the content and processes of a game. This will normally take place during the pre-production stage. They are also responsible for designing the game play, the storyline of the game and the characters and environment of the game. This will be part of the production stage. A game designer will often be very experienced in writing and will have a degree or a higher qualification in English, Mathematics or a field that is related to the games themselves, such as computer science and computer engineering. In the early stages of video games, one person would be responsible for the programming and the designing of a game, whereas in the current video game climate, where games are more complex than ever, there will be a large number of designers in place for each game. There will be a team of designers including the lead designer, responsible for the co-ordination of other designers. A game play designer will design the mechanics of the game, and the level designers will need to develop individual levels within the game. Game designing normally begins with a simple idea, or a change to an existing concept. A game designer will then produce a document that proposes the concept, together with the story, the audience the game is targeting and the requirements needed to produce the game. Game designers should have a broad knowledge of the video game market, and the games therein. They will often be adept at playing many different genres of game and will work alongside the game development team. Most video games are design-driven so the game designer is vital to the continuation and growth of the market, although often games are technology driven. Certain games will be based around a technology and adapted to suit that technology. Similarly, there are a few art driven games that are based around artwork and visual designs.

It takes more than a great vision to be a game designer. A great idea has to be concretized into an enthralling reality. For this, the game designer works with different people and experts who are associated with creating multi-media games. The game designer has to devise the game, program it well, work with the graphics team for the art work, manage the production, work on the design etc. The game designer has to be adept with his programming skills, have a degree in computer science, and also possess the ability to write 2D platform game.

The role of a game designer varies from project to project. There are different types of designers as well. For example, the 'lead designer' makes an overview of the game, works on the script of the game, makes charts and maps on paper or in Photoshop, writes the gaming levels and dialogues, makes the character lists and conceives the levels of the game. The elements of the game are then broken into different categories to be managed by other game designers. For example, the 'cave area' of an adventure game has to be looked after by a particular game designer.

Depends on what aspect of game design you want to work on. Generally it is expected that you have a degree in IT if you are wanting to be a 3d graphics designer/modeller/animator or have an art degree if you want to be an artist (but with 2d/3d skills). Once you've been in the industry and have experience, then you can move up into the conceptual and overall game design, rather than just one aspect of it.

The game designer works with different people and specialists who create multi-media games. The game designer main job is to plan the game, code it well, work along with graphics people, manage the game graphics, work on the graphics and color contras and so on. The game designer must have good programming skills and the talent to write 2D platform games. The job description of a game designer differs from task to task. They use different types of tools to make the attractive graphics like Photo-shop, Flash player etc.