Games Design:
Game Designers usually are the people who decide what the overall game should come out as or what it is going to be based on, in short these are the people that make the more important decisions in the creation of a game.
Being a Game Designer you have to choose what a game is going to consists of as well as what it is going to look and play like. These are normally the people who pitched the idea and wanted to make the game. Game design is a very complicated activity requiring a number of different skills such as design, management, being able to schedule different parts of work and so on. Designers require knowledge on every aspect of a game.They also need to be able to share their ideas with other workers so that they can make the best product possible, communication is key when being a lead game designer otherwise it can end up in a total mess.
Games most of the time are huge projects which require a lot of undertaking so the design process is often shared between a number of different people who each take responsibility for a section of the game, one man can't run everything.
A key feature of a Game Designer is choosing each person for maybe a certain level of the game, this would head towards the Level Designer which means they have to do things that include mapping, detailed layout and building of the environment in which the level is played, and maybe interactive things in the level they also need to have knowledge on the engine they are going to be using. For bigger projects their may be more than one lead Game Designer for example MMO's need more people sharing ideas into a game as they are huge games.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Lead designer – Creative
Script writer – Creative
Map builder – Creative/Editorial
Level editor – Creative/Editorial
Storyboard artist – Creative
Games most of the time are huge projects which require a lot of undertaking so the design process is often shared between a number of different people who each take responsibility for a section of the game, one man can't run everything.
A key feature of a Game Designer is choosing each person for maybe a certain level of the game, this would head towards the Level Designer which means they have to do things that include mapping, detailed layout and building of the environment in which the level is played, and maybe interactive things in the level they also need to have knowledge on the engine they are going to be using. For bigger projects their may be more than one lead Game Designer for example MMO's need more people sharing ideas into a game as they are huge games.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Lead designer – Creative
Script writer – Creative
Map builder – Creative/Editorial
Level editor – Creative/Editorial
Storyboard artist – Creative
Art and Animation:
Game artists create the game assets, buildings, landscapes and characters. The main job of the animator is to define and create movements of the assets and characters.
For things such as concept art you need Artists that can work under the supervision of the Lead Artist who share what they are going to be creating. These people create art assets for the game relating to what is going to be in it. Some Artists specialize in the design of human figures and characters which are sometimes sold as offers when games are available for pre-order and such. Others in buildings and landscapes, and some in textures for 3D objects they may even be in charge of designing the vehicles in the game, their are many things that they may work on during a project. Artists have to be aware of how much the game is going to be able to take when it is in a working progress so this can be a very crucial part of the a games development.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Concept artists – Creative
3D modelers – Creative
Art director – Creative/Managerial
Environmental Artist – Creative
Game artists create the game assets, buildings, landscapes and characters. The main job of the animator is to define and create movements of the assets and characters.
For things such as concept art you need Artists that can work under the supervision of the Lead Artist who share what they are going to be creating. These people create art assets for the game relating to what is going to be in it. Some Artists specialize in the design of human figures and characters which are sometimes sold as offers when games are available for pre-order and such. Others in buildings and landscapes, and some in textures for 3D objects they may even be in charge of designing the vehicles in the game, their are many things that they may work on during a project. Artists have to be aware of how much the game is going to be able to take when it is in a working progress so this can be a very crucial part of the a games development.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Concept artists – Creative
3D modelers – Creative
Art director – Creative/Managerial
Environmental Artist – Creative
Programming:
The most important part of the development, the programmers create the code that holds the game together and makes sure that the game actually works. There are a lot of sub divisions of programming; these include anything from programming the AI or the physics.
The Lead Programmer in a project is one that manages the software engineering of a game from the start, all the way to the very end. In relation to the other key team leads such as the Game Designer, they develop the technical specification for the game, and then look at the different elements to their team of programmers. The Lead Programmer is most likely in charge of technical documents for the software which is created by the programming team.
The Lead Programmer manages the production of the different versions of a game (successive versions such as final releases, which is improvement from the alpha's and beta's), they also try to fix any problems with the game so they can continue with the project as soon as possible. All that being said the Lead Programmer must also remove any issues and provide help and support to the programming team, this is to make sure that they know what they are doing and work effectively.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Software engineer – Technical
Programmer – Technical
AI programmer – Technical
Graphics programmer – Technical
Server architect – Technical
The most important part of the development, the programmers create the code that holds the game together and makes sure that the game actually works. There are a lot of sub divisions of programming; these include anything from programming the AI or the physics.
The Lead Programmer in a project is one that manages the software engineering of a game from the start, all the way to the very end. In relation to the other key team leads such as the Game Designer, they develop the technical specification for the game, and then look at the different elements to their team of programmers. The Lead Programmer is most likely in charge of technical documents for the software which is created by the programming team.
The Lead Programmer manages the production of the different versions of a game (successive versions such as final releases, which is improvement from the alpha's and beta's), they also try to fix any problems with the game so they can continue with the project as soon as possible. All that being said the Lead Programmer must also remove any issues and provide help and support to the programming team, this is to make sure that they know what they are doing and work effectively.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Software engineer – Technical
Programmer – Technical
AI programmer – Technical
Graphics programmer – Technical
Server architect – Technical
Audio:
This sector is kind of self explained but it includes sound engineering and audio developers. Often one of the smallest sectors depending on the size of the company, the audio sector is responsible for the music, sound effects, dialogue and supervising voice acting.
As an Audio Engineer you would produce a brief that for making sound design for a game and if agreed to be made, also has to release it. This might involve the composing of music or it may be the creation of a score.The Audio Engineer will most likely sometimes be looking for voice actors to help star in their game, many companies do this especially movie licensed games.
That being said they are responsible for creating all the sound effects that are needed, improving or creating them where necessary. These may be realistic or made up sounds but that depend on the type of game. Audio Engineers must then edits, mixes, and professionally create the music and sounds to produce the soundtrack for the finished game.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Composer – Creative
Sound engineer – Technical
Sound effect designer – Creative
This sector is kind of self explained but it includes sound engineering and audio developers. Often one of the smallest sectors depending on the size of the company, the audio sector is responsible for the music, sound effects, dialogue and supervising voice acting.
As an Audio Engineer you would produce a brief that for making sound design for a game and if agreed to be made, also has to release it. This might involve the composing of music or it may be the creation of a score.The Audio Engineer will most likely sometimes be looking for voice actors to help star in their game, many companies do this especially movie licensed games.
That being said they are responsible for creating all the sound effects that are needed, improving or creating them where necessary. These may be realistic or made up sounds but that depend on the type of game. Audio Engineers must then edits, mixes, and professionally create the music and sounds to produce the soundtrack for the finished game.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Composer – Creative
Sound engineer – Technical
Sound effect designer – Creative
Quality Assurance:
Quality assurance is a sector in which takes the role of testing the game before it is released to the public. This is one of the most common entry points to the games industry for first time job seekers. These are more of the Alpha/Beta Testers of the game.
Quality assurance is a sector in which takes the role of testing the game before it is released to the public. This is one of the most common entry points to the games industry for first time job seekers. These are more of the Alpha/Beta Testers of the game.
As a QA tester being able to play games all the time for a job sound easy and a fun thing to do but it consists of more than that. Testers are responsible for reviewing quality in the final product and for finding all the flaws such as bugs and glitches in a game before it goes public. They look for programmer bugs such as path finding problems or things that make the game unplayable so the player cannot advance different parts of a game are required to be looked at for, graphical or audio glitches, and also any copyright issues, this could consist of fast food or clothing brands being in the game as these need permission to be in there first.
Jobs in this sector can include:
QA manager – Managerial
Localisation tester – Technical
Lead tester – Technical
Production Management and Publishing:
Production management is usually shared between the developer and publisher. It is in this sector that it is vital that everything is kept on track and at a high standard.
As a project manager it is your responsibility for ensuring the successful delivery of the game being created, as well as making sure the project is completed on time without expending their resources. They also have to control the financial aspect as well as all other resources required for the project. They must also keep tabs on the work production team to make sure that they are doing the job right. Another thing the Project Manager may be be held account for is making sure the development is running smoothly and everything is in check. This would technically be the most important role as it is the one that is going to keep to whole project together.
As a production assistant, you would be working with the production team staff to ensure that the time delivery is at the highest possible standard. They mainly focus on specific areas of development or they could be involved in handling the direction between the publishers and the developers.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Head of development – Managerial
Art director – Creative/Managerial
Production assistant – Managerial
QA manager – Managerial
Localisation tester – Technical
Lead tester – Technical
Production Management and Publishing:
Production management is usually shared between the developer and publisher. It is in this sector that it is vital that everything is kept on track and at a high standard.
As a project manager it is your responsibility for ensuring the successful delivery of the game being created, as well as making sure the project is completed on time without expending their resources. They also have to control the financial aspect as well as all other resources required for the project. They must also keep tabs on the work production team to make sure that they are doing the job right. Another thing the Project Manager may be be held account for is making sure the development is running smoothly and everything is in check. This would technically be the most important role as it is the one that is going to keep to whole project together.
As a production assistant, you would be working with the production team staff to ensure that the time delivery is at the highest possible standard. They mainly focus on specific areas of development or they could be involved in handling the direction between the publishers and the developers.
Jobs in this sector can include:
Head of development – Managerial
Art director – Creative/Managerial
Production assistant – Managerial
