Geesh, the "good" gamedesigners have years of experience and are able to understand all aspects of making a game. I really cant imagine just jumping into the gaming industry with no experience and wanting to be a game designer. Im sorry if this is not what your looking for, but I feel what I say is true. From what I''m told and from what I''ve read, you need to have knowledge in all areas, if not most , of making a complete good game. Then, you need to be a great writer and be able to understand the limitations of designing games on specefic platorms. Hope that was of some help.

you want to be a game designer? then design games. seriously. get experience. design a game and build it by yourself or with a friend from scratch. understand gaming, understand the medium, and play around with it.

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Have you done any kind of design before? Not just games, but architecture, costume, layout, worldbuilding, anything? In my experience people who are good at some type of design are more likely to be good game designers because they already know the process and some of the tricks of the trade.

yeah - start studying up on programming, art, sound, and how it all fits together to make a game since all these will have to fit together and mesh to make a good game. I''m not saying you have to be able to personally do them all - just understand how they are done. This will accelerate you - many people have years of experience before becoming a game designer. If you can obtain a lot of the knowledge beforehand, the experience should come easier. And yes, it''s better becoming a lowly peon first (programmer, artist) and working up while designing and making games in your spare time.

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quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
The way i got started (and the a lot of designers get started) is to get a job in QA, otherwise known as testing. You won''t need any qualifications, just a love of games. In QA you will learn a lot about how games are made and other aspects of the game industry. Whilst in QA, try to get to know the designer well, read his work and start working on your own game designs at home. The best way to impress your boss is to show him that you are really keen.

Just wanted to second AP here. I got into games through QA too (programmers, not designer though).

I didn''t see it specifically mentioned, but it''s important: Really develop your writing and communication skills. You''ll have to persuade and sell your concept, and it never hurts to be really charismatic and articulate in doing so.

Another track to game design I''ve seen is Product Management / Producer. In the places I worked the PM had a great deal of editorial input, as well as the pull to champion or even green light a project or prototype. Assistant product managers, though they have to deal with a lot of grunt work, can eventually work themselves into a position where they''re able to do a lot of design.


I don''t know many people, btw, who are full time designers at a company. They exist, but most of the time I hear that the designer has to be able to do something else like product management, coding, or gfx. So in the beginning, you may find yourself as "The Artist Who Does Design" before you find yourself called a designer.

Good luck!

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Just waiting for the mothership...