Richard Ham | Become a Game Designer

So you want to be a game designer? All right! But what now…? Creative Director Richard Ham at developer Splash Damage (creators of the Enemy Territory franchise and BRINK) tells you how to become a video game designer.

One of the most common questions I get asked is “how can I become a video game designer?”  And to come straight to the point, the answer I usually give is “go design games!”  What do I mean by that?  Well, basically, take the initiative and do something.

Become a modder

If you really want to be a designer, the #1 thing you can be pursuing, right now in your spare time (when you’re not at work or school) is getting involved with the mod (‘modifications’) scene around one of the bigger games out there.  For instance, if you play WoW with any regularity, chances are you’re already using one or more mods to make the gameplay experience better (check here for more info), and those mods are often made by highschool and college students, in their spare time.  And for those who actually successfully create good, polished, useful, game-improving mods, they’re doing more than just messing around with their favourite game… they’re making a strong portfolio of work they can show to potential employers.

For instance, the most recent design hire we made here at Splash Damage was a young man named Jamie Manson, who was still in college, working on a Computer Science degree, but who had made a VERY popular map for the game Team Fortress 2.  The map was so well made (cp_Steel, check it out!), Valve took notice, paid him a bit of money to buy the publishing rights, and released it “officially” as part of an expansion pack.  When we heard about this, we swooped in and talked to him, because we knew he had some talent.

The interesting thing about this example is that Jamie originally had NO intentions of actually becoming a professional game developer.  He had made the map as a part time hobby for his favourite game, and put it out on the web just for fun.  He was going to school by day, and working part time at a grocery store, and was shocked when we called him.  So he’s a real success story, and it just goes to show that with the right level of “get up and go”, plus skills which can be learned, you can get into the industry.

Jamie Manson's cp_Steel map

So, my advice to anyone dreaming of a game design job is very simple:

1)      Identify a PC game (a currently popular one… it’s hard to get attention if you modify a game that no one really cares about or doesn’t have installed on their HD)

2)      Play it (this shouldn’t be too much of a chore)

3)      Start coming up with ideas for content

4)      Learn the tools available for modifying it, and make it happen!

For instance, if you choose WoW because you love it with all your heart and soul, you already know there’s a LOT of modifications out there, but that shouldn’t stop you trying to find some niche issue with the game that no one else has addressed, and come up with an add on to fix it (or improve an existing feature, or whatever).  Of course, if you want to pursue a WoW modification, you’ll have to learn some basic programming skills in Lua, but this is good, because it’s fast becoming a very common scripting language in the industry… if you can prove that you’ve got skills with it to put together real meaningful content, you’ve already got a leg up on a lot of people who are already in the industry!

But it doesn’t have to be WoW.  A very successful route can be the same one that Jamie took… start working on designing levels for a popular first person shooter.  There’s a lot of stuff out there already, so it’s very competitive, but it’s still a sure fire way to build a good portfolio.  Even if you don’t strike gold like Jamie did with cp_steel, you can still amass a collection of samples that you can include when applying for junior positions at developers.

Bear in mind, it is important to pick games that potential employers will recognize.  If you make a mod for WoW that makes a guy like me say “yeah, that is a problem with the game!  Wow, what a good idea for how to fix that problem!” then you’ve got yourself a good chance at an interview the next time I’m hiring for junior positions.  On the other hand, if you do some neat bit of work for a game that I’ve never heard of, or came out 10 years ago, then you’ve not done yourself any favours.

Presenting your work

Another thing that a lot of aspiring young designers royally screw up on is presenting their content.  You need to be able to send potential employers the actual files of your content (or link to websites that host them), along with instructions that make it really easy for a guy like me to check your work out.  But if you’re smart, in addition to making the mod available to me for a game that I likely have easy access to, you should also make hi-res Youtube videos of it in action, complete with voice-over narration by you, pitching me on how good your stuff is.

How well you pitch is, is a valuable skill for designers, because this gives me a chance to evaluate you on that and gives you a chance to score points for passion and professionalism. Also give annotations that point out all the specifics of how it works that sell me on why you’re a clever cat who deserves to be noticed.  It always amazes me that in the modern Youtube/Vimeo/etc. world, applicants think it’s acceptable to simply point me to a web page with some screenshots of a few levels.  That’s not doing a good job of selling yourself, not anymore.  And if you sell yourself well, that can give you a huge advantage over all your competition.

There could be something interesting in here, if only the developer could find it...

Take the initiative

These days, the two main junior level positions you can get on a design career path are in level design and gameplay scripting.  If you can prove that you’ve mastered the skills to produce good quality work in either of those two fields (or both, preferably), through successful mods/add-ons/content to existing games, you’ll eventually be able to get your foot in the door.  And here’s something equally important: if you show that you developed these skills on your own initiative (not because it was a school assignment), then you’re miles ahead of all the other folks out there who want to make games (again, including some people who are already in the industry!) but haven’t done anything about it.

Look Online for Job Openings and Skills

Final bit of advice: always be checking the job listings on Gamasutra.com, which is the all-in-one jobs board for pretty much 90% of the US games industry (Gamesindustry.biz is a good place to check for Europe).  You should be reading the job descriptions and requirements to learn directly what kinds of skills you needs to get the job you want.  And then once you’ve identified those needs, go out and develop those skills with the plethora of easily available free tools available today.  And finally, sell yourself as having successfully done that.

If you’re good, you’ll make in.  And you’ll have a fun time doing it too!