I alway's wanted to be a games programmer but i can never focus as to learn what i need to do and be proficient at it, and when i dabble with games creation as a hobby i always and almost immediatly find myself starting with the design side of it. i love to write been writing since i could hold a pencil. i love to build maps, create puzzles scientifically and mythodically break down every small aspect of what i make down to the smallest detail. so my question is what should i do to pursue and become professional or atleast adept enough to be called a game designer.

please excuse my horrible grammar.

vynce

I am not a professional, but I have made a few small games. I suggest that you come up with a very simple idea for a game, even if it is a copy of something else, and try to make it. You could use one of several development programs out there such as MMF, or Game Maker, that don't require a programming language, or you could try learning C#, which I've heard is a good start.

I admire that you're seeking advice on how to do it the right way, but if that fails, get started anyway. I've never had great success with it, but I've found it very rewarding.

Getting into game design involves putting in a lot of work in many areas. Building the game design concept passes through steps, that may get rougher then you think. If we are talking gameplay it's not merely enough to just think up the rules and throw them in. As with just about everything - rules can and will be bent and those are the cases that make things hard yet interesting. How are you enforcing your rules ? Do you encourage rule bending and to what extent ? If you do, at what point do you stop, because if you don't, your game is totally going to break. Looking into a game design draft is a process that has to undergo massive critique - at first it will have tons and tons of loopholes in logic that will need fixing. After that you'll have many other such things to worry about. Keep in mind that this is just one side of the cube. There are tons of other aspects to think about.

Those and many other reasons are why I would recommend that you start off by actually building some games, instead of thinking how to enter the industry head first. And I'm not talking about video games either - try something more old school. Build a board game, a card game or something that you can produce and get a playable version faster. Then give it to a group of people to play. Then watch and learn. They will probably demolish your initial design, you'll fix, they'll demolish again and this process is going to go through until you finish your idea in a way that is playable, enjoyable and acceptable.

If after that you still want to be a game designer, start by building smaller games - the mobile market is pretty open to those kind of ideas. Build a portfolio with your designs. Try to gradually upgrade your design skills to a point where you feel that your product is good enough for you to start looking at a job in a studio.

i love to write been writing since i could hold a pencil... so my question is what should i do to pursue and become professional or atleast adept enough to be called a game designer.

please excuse my horrible grammar.

Vynce,

If you want to become a professional game designer, you must stop using horrible grammar and atrocious writing habits immediately (if not sooner). You must always capitalize the word "I," and use commas appropriately, for starters. if u really love to write been writing since u could hold a pencil then u have to sho it dood

Do you see how that last sentence looks?

I could give you lots more advice but I'd need to know more about you:

How old are you?
What's your level of education?
What's your current occupation? (If student: "student")
And I probably need to know what country you live in (where in the world are you?).

Read: http://sloperama.com/advice/designprep.htm

i use proper grammar and punctuation when I write as I put more energy and thought behind it but i could probably use a refresher course. And to answer your questions,

1. I am 27

2. I have some college education, not much i'm afraid

3. I'm self employed you could say

4. I live in upstate new york, USA