game designers are mainly paid for their ideas....as for the art part, thats what concept artist are for

quote:Original post by Wavinator
I think this is mostly because the designer is often considered (sometimes rightly) superfluous after production begins, even for a larger studio that''s constantly cranking out product. So unless you have a contractor working for you, the "game designer" position has to do something else in the meantime.

I agree that this is a commonly accepted role of game designers, even among professional game designers. But I wonder if, in many cases, a company (or designer) who adopts this belief isn''t short-changing themselves. Seems to me a top-notch designer should always be able to find something relevant to do. For example, during production, small decisions are made constantly about how to implement some part of the overall design. I think the designer should be right there to answer questions or discuss the possibilities. Often, the game designer is the one with the "vision" and should be taking care to ensure that the art, the interface, and the engine will fit seamlessly together by communicating constantly with individuals in each department. They need to understand enough about each aspect of development that they can visualize the final product at every stage given current progress.

Also, the game design document should ideally be continually updated to reflect later-stage design decisions required by limited time and technology, alpha testing feedback, production meetings, and so forth. This would of course be the game designer''s responsibility.

If our hero still finds time on his hands, my idea of a "pure" game designer -- a renaissance man/woman with particularly kick-butt writing skills -- would spend his/her time finding ways to improve the more subtle aspects of the game, from refining dialogue to convincing the artist responsible for the sky that the sunrise needs more red because the previous battle was particularly bloody.

Of course, as Wavinator says, most companies won''t see it this way. They''ll see everything in terms of cost-of-labor, and will want to milk every team member for all they''re worth. In my humble opinion, this is one of the big reasons so many companies end up producing sub-par games. But, money is a real issue, and can''t be overlooked.