this is my first question post. i'm a gamedesinger, and i confronted some questions at work. this makes me thinking along: a team needs what kind of designer?

Depends on what kind of project/game you're working on.

Quote:Original post by Tom Sloper
Niihau, "freefut."
Why don't you tell us what you think. Rather than ask a vague question and we don't know where you're going with it, just start the discussion yourself.

niihau, pal
ok, sorry for but my non-questioned post. i thought i should be a listener.
i'm a game designer in moblie field. i'm not loving study. but in the year, i was stroken by short of knowledge.
it makes me doing something like these:
*to learn graphics and arts. animations of a character need to be described to artist. at least, i should search some pictures on web and say "those are what i want, so try the same it more or less"
*to understand what programmer think. no matter what the idea i thought, it will be canceled or dismissed by programmer. btw, i studyed programming some years, that's not enough though.

now i'm depressing sometimes. because i dont know how to improve my ability.

so, i want to know if any other guys have the same feeling a little?
if you dont know what i said, well, i just say "i do it my best writing"
oh god...

A team needs a designer who knows what he wants and how to realize it.

This is a two-part problem.

:>

1)Knowing what you want

You know how many projects fail or how much work gets wasted because this is not the case.

The better you can describe your needs to the programmer, the more efficient he can solve it. It is a lot a lot A LOT easier to include features you could include in the design of the engine. Rewriting stuff can get messy quick.

Same for artists. You can hear them complaining about how had to redo this and this 6 times because system requirements or whatever changed.

The less dramatic changes the project has the better.

2)Knowing how to realize it

Your looking for ways to improve as a game designer and it sounds like youre on the right track.

The more you know of everything the better. Because youre involved in everything. Look for your weak points and work on them first.

Gfx:
learn drawing. It doesnt take all that long to gain basic drawing skills, get a book or something, I recommend starting out with redrawing other peoples drawings, if your skill equals 0.
This will better your understanding and your imagination. You will get a better sense for the general presentation and will be able to design the style you want in your head *lacks better words* because you will see things more clearly in your mind. Also it will be easier to talk with the artist. Oh yeah, talk with the artist. Explain to him. Let him do sketches and say "nah I dont want this I want this", and then draw it. Listen for feedback. And then let him draw it better.
Also your observational powers will increaso. Also it will make you a better human being.

Programming:
You should have a decent understanding of the language youre working in and of your platform. You should know a lot about eh I think they call it architectural design. How the problems are solved, how the code is organized, how processor power is used and how much is left, which technologies are used, what are the advantages/disadvantages? This goes to the heart of the game, talk with your coder. This will make you a worse human being, but hey you cant have everything. Explain to him EXACTLY what you want, ask him what he thinks is the best way to get that and if he sees possible problems anywhere. Make sure he understands what it is you want. Listen for feedback.

Sound:
Explain what mood you want. Explain what the game/scene is going to be like. The clearer the picture it is that the artist has of the game the easier it will be for him to write something appropriate. I think the hardest thing for a game musician is that he often has to make music/sounds for an unfinished game.
Knowing a little bit about music/sound couldnt hurt. Learn an instrument if you feel trigger-happy. Know the different technologies. Are you using adaptive music, ambiente, or just music per level? Know what your criterias for good sound effects? Do they enhancen the game experience, or do they pain the ears after a while?


Everything else I can think of is psychology. Ask yourself what delivers emotion and see how you can use it. What does make fun? What does cause frustration?

deeply thanks to you schattenmaennlein!

i learn more from your reply.
before i can control everything on my mind, i must be controlled by every learning.

i'm reading a book named "masters of doom" for one third content. though i don't want to be the cool man like them, i will do my favourite, that is, designing games.
it's my fantasic world in my mind

sincerely appreciation to you again.