Why I Want To Be A Game Designer

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Hello, i just want to start a thread out of other peoples intrest and probably the one question will ask you. what made you to become a games designer ?
well here's my answer: i've wanted to become a game designer since i played zelda the ocarina of time i just love the style its a complete original ! I've always been interested in creating my own game a lot like zelda.

Whats yours ?
I got my first computer when I was 8 years old which was a Dragon 32. Those were the days when games were stored on cassette tape or printed in a game book. I became infatuated with video games when the Mega Drive was released and I played "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Desert Strike" for the very first time. To this day I still hold the Mega Drive as my most beloved games system, so many happy memories.
I have been fascinated by game development ever since!

I later studied and graduated a University degree "BEng Games and Entertainment Systems Software Engineering". Due to certain difficulties I was unable to pursue game development until recently. And I am very thankful that the Unity game engine has since materialized because it is fantastic!

I have literally only just released my first game!
Wow that great ! and i should expand on my answer it wasn't just zelda it was basically the whole nintendo brand games especially kirby and the crystal shards ! i love it so much
It's simples, games today suck ass.
Ok, some do not, but most of the games I find myself playing today are either very old games or indie games made by people like me. The AAA stuff i rarely bother with because what average joe wants to play these days I certainly do not want and the big companies has to make their games appeal to average joe or else they won't get enough revenue back.

As of now I'm still only a hobby game designer because I have a job I'm not willing to give up, but my ambition is to one day have at least a secondary income come from games.
To me it depends very much on the title. Personally I am not a fan of games that take themselves to seriously. When I play a game I like to escape from reality and just have fun.
This is why I tend to prefer Indie games. But don't get me wrong, I love games like "Ratchet Clank", etc.
I know what you mean to be honest i can't stand FPS and andriod, IOS and crap like that what happened to the fun ? people are turning to fan base, just like devil may cry the new one that is coming out looks terrible
I like to consider myself creative. But I don't like expressing myself through means most people do, I don't like art, I don't like playing music (anymore). I don't really like doing artistic things. But game development is different. I can make games by programming. I can be creative by being logical, it fits my bill description perfectly.

Last edited: Apr 11, 2012
I always wanted to be a game developer since I was a kid.
But living in South Africa there aren't many opportunities to become one.
So I became a software developer.
Then after 12 years of soft dev, I had binded enough data to enough FU#*#(@ forms to last a lifetime.

So I started playing with Unity and fortunately now I am a full time game dev
@Meltdown Are you working for your own company or for a studio?
I had a Texas Instruments ti/994a when I was a kid.
I'd pour over magazines and type in silly programs printed in them. I started coding my own version of Bard's Tale and didn't get past the title and options menu before I ran out of memory

But it wasn't until I discovered Visual Studio and Unity3D that I seriously jumped back into it.

Reason: it exercises a different part of my brain that makes me happy.
I imagine the same reason most people do, the silly naive thought that making games is as simple and as fun as it is to play it.. Ha! 10 years later I look back at that kid and shake my head and try to explain to people that there's a damned good reason why Skyrim has an 8 figure budget and that no you can't make anything close to that with an indie team. Introduce Unity or UDK or whatever and what you can do is make somethign just as fun but in a smaller more achievable way and this is why rigth now is such an exciting time to be a develoer because more and more people aer actually making games.. Not like in the old days where we had just as many people trying to make games but they were all going for the next great mmorpg and failing miserably.
I feel that the games industry is the greatest entertainment medium on the planet and while wearen't in it at the ground floor like say atari was or even iD or capcom we are in it close enough near the start that you can feel yourself riding the cresh of this amazing wave that is sweeping the world and those of us that stick with it and pick ourselves back up after gettting knocked down again and again and again will be able to sit on thrones down the road overlooking the landscape of a medium that dominates all others and affects change in a way that we cannot even become to fathom today
I love playing games, actualy i hate alot of games but i love it when i play a game that ticks all the boxes for me, i love the way that charicters become beloved by people and i love that some games get picked up by anyone and played.
I HATE Gamers.
Games got me into computers... computers got me into programming... makes sense to want to create games... had pretty much given up on that idea since I didnt want to write/learn 3d engines.
Enter unity... oh hai game development, how you doin?? /suggestive wink
Heu

Joined:

Feb 13, 2012

Posts:

349

Played A LOT of games and got interested in how they were made.
I got into "Simple" game development, by using Map Editor (Example: Warcraft III Map Editor) and i thought that was so cool to create my own map as a game while i was a little kid.
Soon got into "Some" programming and played ALOT of Roblox (Terrible i know right) and used Game Maker.

Finally thought i'd find something more "professional" I guess and now i'm here at Unity!
My inspiration came from watching my Uncle in his love of games- he showed me some stuff in around '98 (yeah, I was young), and from then on I have always wanted to know the answer to the big question- "How do they do that?". I loved the way the game, 2D or 3D just held you in this virtual world, and in there, you can do whateverm and be whatever. It's a freedom, I guess. And by becoming a game designer, I knew I could see the answer to that question.
I spent most of my time in primary school daydreaming and drawing game designs in big A4 notepads- and I've still got most of them (and I still use some of the ideas, too). I learnt how to program in HTML and JavaScript when I was 12, and that's what I spent my ICT lessons doing.
I got my own computer when I was about 14, it was a little iMac G3 bubble, with a slightly expanded harddrive. This instantly put me into the world of modding- because of course, modern games couldn't run on that. I upgraded the OS from Mac OS 9 to 10.3.9, which kinda brought it forwards slightly, and allowed me to play and mod more stuff etc. I made games in a little program called TNTBasic (but the program was horrible to use), and modded things like Marathon, and Quake.

I saved up all the money I had to buy the computer I use today. while I was saving that, a guy I'd helped before from america told me that Unity had become free, and we should build a team and develop a modern day Marathon. So of course, I joined the team, and in the months leading up to buying this computer (and this will sound very strange) but I read through the documentation for Unity 2.6.1 over and over so that from the moment I installed, I would know what I was doing, or at least vaguely.

I've now been using unity ever since then, and of course, my skills are expanding. But the best thing is I'm learning what I've always wanted to learn- and it's that question- how do they do it? And knowing how they do it is inspiring, and you no longer play games like a gamer, because I'm always looking at "How did they do that effect?", "How was that textured like that?", "Could I recreate this easily, or would it take months?". It's the know-how, that made me want to do this.
I work for my own company, doing my own games, but I also supplement my income with contract work.
I have some big jobs coming up, so I'm hoping to employ a couple of people full time in the near future.
Well I've always played lots of games from my very toddler years.
And then I bought Pikmin 2 for gamecube
and then
I said to myself.....
what a wonderful world
Honestly, aside from games being my passions, the designing of game and assets have kept relatively safe from the streets as a kid... and I just love the medium...
Well my story started because I lost my hearing. I found I was able to understand primitive 8 bit machines of the era and they did what I asked of them. The rest is of course, history
@mellowninja

I believe I've met your pal ganjasamurai too!
me too, except for AVGN and GeneralMinus
Money.
As simple as that.

But wait... why not stock market or photo sharing software I can potentially sell for a billion dollars? Because I know games, and I have analyzed them for years and my skill set (gamer/artist/programmer) seemed perfect for the task. It simply seemed as something I would be able to do better than any other money making option.

I do have some goals and direction, all part of business (if you don't define a direction for your game design you have not started to make games yet.)

Don't take me wrong, I like the process of making games, but I didn't sit to make games because I wanted to make games. I did so because I think if I keep trying, I will make enough money to live off this. I had many chances to do games over the years, never bothered because there was, at the time, no chance of economic success. Now, thanks to Unity and the digital distribution revolution that started leaking with Steam and got floodgates by Apple, there is a real economic opportunity.

So yea, money.
What do you know, me and tharsman are coming from the same direction.
Money.
What can those who have had experience with commercial games recommend for those who are new to the scene?
You hate yourself? Now that's a bad start.
My reason - game design is a fun game. I wish I hadn't been fed the left brain / right brain crap when I was at school or I would have picked up programming sooner.
I am a poor student.
I love coding
I love gamescripting
I love money
=> You can earn money + improve your skills. How cool is that ?
or

You can get a sidejob like " Carry Box A to place B"
Game design seemed like a hobby that would fit well with some of my strengths: math, physics, programming, and troubleshooting, and would compliment my desire for independent wealth generation. I also believe a hobby that contains such skills looks a lot better on my resume for potential employers than does simply "playing video games." The ability to program in C# is generally more sought after than the ability to beat star world 3. My usual job (geophysics) takes me away from home for long periods, and game programming is something I can do on my laptop on my free time after work.
SockPuppet: I agree that left/right brain crap should be banished. Its complete nonsense, and usually used as a scapegoat for why someone is poor at math or art. The reality is that math/physics takes incredible creativity to come up with solutions, and art/music is based on strong logical colour/dimension/progressions.
A decent god complex is definitely a necessary component for a game designer.
funke

Joined:

Sep 17, 2011

Posts:

48

I think i switched career direction when i've seen the blizzard guys live and maybe some photos from their studio.Incredible atmosphere, everyone wants life to be fun, people in the industry are optimistic and can laugh at themselves.
When i got a job in QA and seen it, it's even better. Theres no way im gonna let myself be put in some other kind of work (as employee).
As designer i'm required to think and do a lot of different things which is great self-improvement.
Animation Anthropology Architecture Brainstorming Business Cinematography Communication Economics Engineering History Management Mathematics Music Psychology Public Speaking Technical Writing Visual Arts etc. etc.
(taken from Art of Game Design)
No way... I hate the term Gamer, I would call myself a game player, and I mean I watch TV that doesn't maker me a televisioner. Also I don't really play all that many games and I hate how nearly every "Gamer" is so loyal to one company and fail to see the ups and downs of all of them, I dislike the way the stereotypical gamer dose it for a life and waist it playing stupid games that do nothing for them the stereo typical gamer is also fat and disgusting (I'm not saying over wait people are disgusting but for some having a shower dose wonders )
I've enjoyed programmer since learning how in 4th grade. I've programmed little and big things on my own since then, and even have a job as a developer for some years now.
But why games now? Because I believe I have ideas that are worth implementing. I believe those ideas will produce fun and worthwhile games. And eventually I think I might be able to switch to making a living at it. But that's still speculation.

It's not actually that different from before, when those ideas were utilities instead of games.
No, it makes you a couch potato! That would be a fanboy, not a gamer. They exist for every single hobby in the world.Now that just a looser, not a gamer.
"West of House
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here."
-That is all.
Interestingly, while I "do it" for money, I also know that I would do it regardless. I'm just getting paid for what I love doing.
I don't play many games myself and most of my ideas for games revolve around improvements/retakes on old games that I loved. Some of the first games I played were on the Amstrad CPC464 which we got to borrow from my uncle every once in a while - games like fruit machine, jet set willy, roland in the caves/on the ropes, harrier attack etc. Then when I finally got my Amiga 500 around 1990 I never looked back. I would buy a copy of EVERY Amiga magazine every month and there were always stories and interviews of cool game designer people, who were much fewer and further between, back when teams like Team 17, Psygnosis, Core, Bitmap Brothers etc were considered cutting edge. They'd have articles in the magazines about game design principles and scrolling engines and using the hardware and all that. It just seemed all so cool how these teams were like superstar heroes that I wanted to be like, to aspire to. There was absolutely no million dollar budgets and most games fit into 1 megabyte or less, and it was just all so creative and interesting and constantly breaking new ground. The Amiga's golden years... so that's where the bug took a hold of me.
I'm a hobbyist at this ofc, but I just love game design. When I was younger I took up programming as a hobby and enjoyed building working systems. After that I got involved with an MMO game mod which went on for a few years.... during this time I learned that game design was way more than simply the features included in a build. I loved explore what worked and what didn't....and then I found my way over to Unity
Possibly the best game ever! I played on a 1978 IBM "laptop." It was the size of a small car and had a 5" monochrome display. But it did have a handle and a "case" with a strap if you were strong enough to carry it. It's awesome the game's still in circulation. Turned my kid on to it and he loves it.
"In the nest is a jewel encrusted golden egg. What would you like to do?"

For those who don't know what we're taking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zork

Check the links at the bottom. You can download Win/Mac versions at this one:
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/
game development is funnier and more social than poetry, which a lonely attitude of the spirit and too elitist for the masses
carmina non dant panem... on the contrary, game development may help paying the bills
Games help me to learn! First, they welcome me, like a friend. They are intuitive, attractive, and engaging. Then, they give me clear goals, juicy feedback, and challenges that perfectly match my new found skills. And before long, I am exploring new choices and clever types of control in an expanding world that is elusively simple. And before I know it, I have learned something - I experience the joy of mastery!
Me? I design games. I teach. I change the world, one player at a time.

Gigi.
I'm a story teller and video games are just another way to tell a story.
BrynP

Joined:

Mar 7, 2012

Posts:

49

There were games I played and I thought it would be awesome to be able to make something like that. As a kid, Delux Paint on our Amiga was my idea of 'game design' (I had an over active imagination) because my dad wouldn't teach me AMOS. Eventually, I got a hold of 'Klik N Play', which lead me to The Games Factory and I have lots of fun being creative with it. Even made a pretty cool Sonic clone, which was lost when that hard drive died. I moved onto Dark Basic because I wanted to make some thing 3D. I loved the game design but to be honest, on many project ideas I was waaaay ahead of myself in what I'd actually be able to do. Weirdly enough. , my first project idea for Dark Basic is actually my first Unity3D project (which I'm working on now), just a few years later and now I actually have the skill to pull it off.I was gonna do it in Dark Basic Pro, but so many of Unity's features would actually save me a lot of time.
However, this is all just a hobby to me, entirely self taught and probably not the greatest programmer in the world. Game design and games programming is awesome fun, but not something I'd want to make a career out of. At least, it's a lot more interesting than say...golf.