An essential skill for a game designer is knowing how to analyse the games you play. So watch this video to learn how to "think like a game designer" - ruclips.net/video/iIOIT3dCy5w/видео.html
@@lrgogo1517 I imagine that was the aim. Not to clash, but to keep it at a lower frame rate. I like it, I don't think it clashes too much. It's really nice seeing Mark experiment with animation.
One tip to game designer interviews: Go the extra mile. I was asked to create new game mechanics about X in a Zoom meeting. I wasn't satisfied with my answers and kept thinking "I should have said this and that instead". Instead of feeling sorry for myself I took initiative and sent a follow-up e-mail: "Here are some additional ideas that I would send to a design partner later on (if this was a real task)". This gave me a few precious days to iterate my ideas and shape my thoughts into a more coherent form. It also shows that you're proactive and interested in the position. The CEO replied that he really liked my additional ideas and I got the job which starts next week. Note: Only send a follow-up message if it genuinely brings something new to the table. A follow-up message that only remixes your previous ideas or even worse, apologizes or makes excuses about the previous interview can be counterproductive.
"Unfortunately, I'm not really equipped to answer this question." Mark, the fact that you're so well-equipped to _ask_ the right questions is why you and your channel help so many people. Seriously, thank you so much for everything.
I think what he's saying is more-so that this type of question needs a collaborative group of answers from multiple people depending on the companies and level of experience in the industry. He certainly COULD answer the question, but it can't be answered perfectly just from one person's experience alone.
@@christophercampbell2171 I have no problem with what he said. The humble way in which he said it made me think about how well-qualified he is to _ask_ good and relevant questions, and I felt like expressing my gratitude that the content he posts presents the answers he finds in such a great way.
Yeah his videos are all done with a great sense of intelligence and experience with game design that you know this guy always knows what he's talking about.
I work as s QA Manager for a few years now and I can surely say, that testers almost never leave our company. They often know so much about the games they work on, their opinions become invaluable during the design of new features. There are some, who stay at the QA department as they enjoy the craft. Others reach such a level of knowledge, that they feel the need to express themselves, they join the design teams and improve the games even further. As a manager, I always find it exciting, when someones steps up and wants to use their skills this way. They are always given the opportunity to shine and I am given new CV's :) But honestly, I've never complained, because now they're making the games/company better. And they're happy.
@@heek8964 Many companies have official listings on their webpages or on LinkedIn. I advise you to first check out any company, which produces games you personally like. You never know.
@@hoga70 I will speak from my own experience, don't know if it's the same at other companies. The company I work at is located in an area, where game development is not really a thing. Therefore looking for experienced senior game tester, who can work in-house (from the company premises) is almost impossible. We usually hire people with no prior experience and train them ourselves. When I hire someone these are the traits I look for: 1, Love for games - Candidate has to love games and be a passionate player. 2, Soft skills - Work well with the team and other departments. The candidate has to have good verbal and written communication. Be patient and have a calm attitude in tense situations (they sometimes occur due to time pressure - by that I don't mean crunch time). 3, Technical skills - As our company works on mobile games, you have to know how to work with PC, Android and iOS devices. Have basic knowledge of working with databases and be able to write simple SQL querries. 4, Eye for detail and analytical thinking - Be able to spot mistakes and understand possible relations between various aspects of the game. 5, Open mind - Be open to learn and improve all the time. Be able to process feedback (good and constructive) and use it to grow. 6, Experience with any public or private alpha or beta tests is welcome. 7, Testing is repetitive and not as easy as people think, so be prepared for that ad take it as a part of the job. 8, English language is a must (advanced level, native speaker not required). BONUS 9, Never go into an interview with the goal of doing something else soon. The company will put resources and time into you and expects you'll work at the position. The advancement to game design comes naturally after some time (which may take years). 10, Of course, any experience in testing is welcome and an advantage.The ISTQB certificate or certificate of any kind is also not required at our company, but others may require it. I hope I've listed all (it's getting quite late here :D ) If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. :) But as I've mentioned, this is my personal experience and the way I do things based for the needs of our company . It may differ from other companies (our is mid-sized with about 250 people).
@@MykeDeeFox Is it okay to be honest about entering QA with the goal of learning and gaining experience, for a future GD position? Is it okay to be honest that a career in QA isn't what you have in mind?
As a Level Designer (who has taken several different positions) in a large studio, I have some input to give. If you want to work at a larger studio, keep in mind that you will have less input on the work you do. The larger the studio, the more cooks involved in the same pot. Consider how important it is to you that you have control over what you do. If you don't mind changing your work repeatedly on other people's whims, then you'll definitely be more comfortable in a large studio than someone who likes to have more complete control over their work.
Do you know anything of narrative design? That's the area I'm interested in pursuing. Would published (or unpublished) novels make for a good portfolio, or should I put more stock into gaining general game dev skills?
I want to know how many times the public criticized something the higher ups though was a better idea than what was initially planned. Better yet, how many times have reviews said they should’ve done something that secretly got cut from the game rather than what they went with in the end
@@WasatchWind I'm sadly not too versed in that particular field, so take my suggestion here with a grain of salt. I think it would be helpful to look into some aspects of general game dev, namely how writing and text gets implemented into games in your case. Knowing the limitations of engines and how to write around said limitations would be an asset.
You don't need to be an expert speaker or extreme extrovert, but just have a basic level of social skills. Just being friendly and able to work with other people. The #1 advice I would give is to work in as many group or collaborative projects as possible (game jams, school projects, anything.) Working with people is vital for game development because it's such as team-oriented process. Unless you're making the entire game yourself, you will have to be communicating with someone. (And even the solo developers will have to communicate with people at some point.) I would argue that working well with others is actually *_more_* important than pure technical or design skills. You can be the best designer in the world, but if you're an asshole that nobody can stand being around, it's going to be difficult and sometimes even impossible to make a game. You still need skills of course, but if given the choice to work with the best designer I don't get along with, or a less skilled designer I *_do_* get along with, I will always choose the person I work well with because the game will ALWAYS turn out better. If you look at any game that didn't turn out great, there's a good probability it was the result of some kind of bad work environment and/or team that wasn't gelling with each other. Anyways, this turned into a huge wall of text. But in short: go to as many (game) social functions as you can to practice communicating with others! And do as many group game projects as possible! It's also a good way to see if this is even something you want to do every single day for 10 hours a day for the rest of your life!
@@AZ-qw1kz Exactly as you said. Communication is about whether or not you can talk clearly and communicate your idea across and convince others. It's not about being the center of a team or making dramatic speeches. A few examples of what employers look for * Can you listen and give proper feedback. Reword what is being told and verify if you understood things clearly. If there are unclear points, can you ask them * Can you explain your thought process in a way that the other person can follow your logic? Talk about assumptions you are making and how you arrive at conclusions * Can you write down your thoughts and explain them through not only words, but diagrams, sketches etc. * Are you someone who they'd enjoy work with. This is probably the hardest and especially during interviews. But showing your own personality is a huge plus
My best advice for any aspiring game designer: If you think being "the idea guy" is enough, you'll never make it. Everyone has great ideas. What makes great games is the people willing to bring their great ideas to life through hard work and dedication. Learn to code, learn to draw, learn to write compelling stories. Learn all of it. Do it. Don't tell yourself "Oh I'm not good at that". Nobody's born an artist, a coder, or a writer. You become one. Get on it.
Its a shame that I can't visualize or draw for my life, I really wanted to be a game designer or at least a game animator, but I dont know if I'm capable
Thanks for including Dreams. It's imo the most straight forward tool to learn Gamedesign. It teaches working with a team on a vision and how important it is to consider every part of a Game. It's amazing for greyboxing too and testing out styles for Levels.
@@_mossy_8520 yeah I know. But the player base is decreasing which is sad. I hope it becomes multi plat so that more people can show off their creativity.
I've recently finished my education as a game designer and landed a job in the industry and I can confirm Mark is entirely correct in this video. Game design isn't easy, but it is incredibly rewarding to see the work you've designed be brought to life. (HEY MARK I MADE A SUPER AKWARD SELFIE WITH YOU AT BREDA UNIVERSITY SOME YEARS BACK. GOOD MEMORIES)
Have you gained much knowledge of how narrative design works? Right now I'm working on writing several novels and I'm wondering what kind of day to day tasks a narrative designer does, and if I have the skill set for it.
@@WasatchWind Narrative design is a lot different from writing a story like a book. The key difference is player interaction: rather than your audience being a (passive) observer in the story they are an active participant. This interactive nature makes all the difference, and it means that you need to be aware of the design needs of the game you work with. What are the key ways in which a player interacts with the game? How can we use that to tell a story? Knowledge of the basics of game design are important here! I think it's about making the story happen through the player and their actions, rather than having it happen at the player. I hope that makes sense!
If you're thinking about going to school to learn game design: In my experience, the diploma you get isn't as important as what you do while you're there. The people you meet (both professors and peers), the things you learn (both design-related and not), and the projects you make (again, both design-related and not) are what you get out of it. Uni help facilitates that process of meeting others and creating projects. That's why I choose to go to Uni for game design, but it's not for everyone. Plus if you're in the US like me, there's a large price tag next to that experience.
@@dante6582 Hey dude, if you don't think school is right for you, that's very okay! Speaking as someone currently employed as an LD fulltime, I would encourage participating in game jams, doing your own research projects (Make a blog post about a game's level and break it down, rebuild it in an engine, talk about why it works), and creating small projects. That can help you land small contracts that can continue to build into 'official experience', and crafting a portfolio site. Your mileage may vary but I think it's a sensible path that helps you grow into the role you want to reach someday.
RIP to the autistic people who think they're going to game design school to learn game design while not realizing that they should be doing this social nonsense too. The disproportionate importance of networking is such an NT scam
@@cv5953 It's a fact of every industry, not just the games industry. People are more likely to want to work with if you're, at the very least, cordial with them. If you're a dick, yeah, you're going to find it harder to get opportunities. That's just life.
Yep, can confirm. After finishing a university where I studied Computer Science I took some online courses of Unity what allowed me to create a few simple games, I then took a job as a QA in the local studio near me and now, three years later I am a Lead Designer on a multiplayer FPS game.
@@danielebrahimi5946 It's not necessary but it certainly helps. Especially when communicating with other departments, like coders - which will happen fairly often. I can't write fully-featured code myself, but I know the principles and can script for sure. Scripting is something you will most likely do as a designer. It all depends on what kind of specialization you are willing to pursue. Some will require zero coding knowledge - like Level, Monetization, Economy designers to name a few. On the other hand, if you want to be a part of Gameplay, Systems, or Quest design, coding knowledge of varying degrees will be needed for the most part. It also depends on the studio you work for. In the first one, I didn't need any coding, in the second I do script with provided tools on a daily basis.
@@VenusAsAFormerBoy i am no game designer but a cs graduate. i have passed many tests before interview but never cracked an interview yet. i fuckin hate interviews.
Veteran designer here currently managing a team of 20 other designers. This is one of the most accurate summaries I've seen of both what the job is and what dev teams are looking for when evaluating candidates. Thanks for putting this together!
Yeah I forget that as the name 'game makers toolkit', the channel is aimed at young game designers especially. Its nice of this video to specifically go in detail about it. I just watch the channel for the great video game analysis.
As a game designer who's a bundle of nerves, incredibly I think covid actually helped me land my first role! Being able to interview at home where I felt comfortable made the process a lot easier... and they can't tell how much you're sweating and fidgeting lmao
@@joshuawright691 i know i'm super late but i hope you see this... technically if you don't want to spend time and money on college than all you need is good creativity artistic and coding skills because take these skills in hand and you have a shot because to become a game designer you don't technically need a degree. and you're only what 24r now as of this? you have plenty of time. i hope you take this as good advice/tips
1:04 And then theres the single-creator games, where the game designer does: Programming Level Design Art Gameplay Design Soundtracks Marketing Just everything
The real power of a game designer is how well they can bring their ideas out from their minds and into reality, whether that's the map design you've been imagining or some in-game economy model you've been toying with mentally. The real proof is how well you can make all of them exist outside of your head.
You do know that this isn't necessarily the Problem that there's a lack of QA testers or that they aren't taken serious enough. The Problem might have been that they didn't have enough time, bad management of staff and resources, overambitious or rapid growth.
QA testers being regarded as expendable, low-value assets is a self-feeding problem. Management doesn't want to pay even more people full-time wages, so they hire contractors - it's easier to justify contracting QA than anything. Then the middle management views them as outsiders who don't get their game, and don't take them seriously or load their workflow appropriately. Then staff view them as outsiders who blow in late in the day, do a bad job, and cause them more work that they could have done better, because they don't see that this is the inevitable result of upper and middle management setting up QA to fail. Then upper management sees that everyone's upset at how much work QA takes to how much it achieves, and wonders why it bothers paying them so much, hiring cheaper staff for shorter times next game - making all the problems worse.
Game designer here, the first requirement is the most important requirement, you can't stress this enough. MAKE STUFF. If you want to BECOME a game designer then BE a game designer, make games, design them, share, fail, learn, keep going.
@@OxChiquitaXo I don't have a degree, I dropped out of university and build up my portfolio with projects, some finished, some unfinished, and also documentation (which is required by game designers). My projects allowed me to get a great job that other candidates with degree but no projects couldn't.
@@JC02official if finishing projects is a problem try gamejams, or work with other people that instead of adding ideas they cut your ideas and set delivery dates (these is what a producer would do)
I guess my best advice is to stay open. "Game designer" is one of the only jobs people outside of the industry knows but there is so much more. When I was a kid I wanted to be an animator for movies. During my first internship I fell in love with compositing (which involves almost no 3D). Comp can be very technical so I started coding, so I moved to the dev department. Finally I ended up IT in a video game studio. Not really what I wanted in the first place, but definitely a job i'm happy with today :)
Something like 70% of the devs I work with started in QA before they became designers, so it's not totally bad advice, but QA is definitely a difficult job where people are treated like crap and paid next to nothing so I always feel bad mentioning it to aspiring devs.
Both are true. It's a way to immediately get the mystique of video game popped for you (but I'd argue that this disillusionment is a good thing in the end), and you're risking a pretty bad environment (depending on the studio), but it really is one of the best ways to wiggle your way into the industry and it opens doors for further development. Just don't apply at a huge company, as they treat their QA department like crap and tend to lay off people regularly.
@@KristofDE Yeah, EA and Ubi are know for being very bad to their QA. EA doesn't even employ most testers directly, they are subcontracting smaller companies to employ the testers for them.
@@KristofDE And yes, working in game QA does pop that illusion of games being made with fairy-tales and sugar (I do hope we reach a point where we can design directly with our imagination), I think those that still want to be designers after going through the QA nightmare are the ones that will probably stick with it.
In the past I am a physical education teacher, and now I am a Game Designer and this is now my dream job! After graduating from courses in game design, I could not get into the industry for about 1.5 years, I had to get a job and earn extra money in various jobs, but I never stopped. I created a small indie team and we created a prototype of a mobile game, in parallel with this I created a board game. This allowed me to find a job. Thanks for the video, it was very interesting! And that's right, you Mark, you noticed here, everything is clear), so it is.
"Soft skills" is such an important little detail it almost deserves its own video, I've lost track of the number of indie collab projects I've been in that just disintegrated because the guy in charge didn't know how to coordinate a group. Project management skills are extra important for casual indie projects where you don't necessarily have a paycheck to motivate people to keep coming to meetings...
I really appreciate how you mentioned crunch and exploitation in the last third of the video. I believe it's important to warn people about the insides of an industry that (sadly) often predates on such passionate and creative people. Great video as always
I quit a game dev course after becoming very disillusioned with the industry. Crunching, low wages, having to move abroad for job and lack of career progression killed my passion for it.
As usual, very nice job. The matter is very delicate. Getting into a game study is even harder than presented here. The industry has a very high "entrance fee", not only for game designers. I would add the following to the analysis you made here: 1) Don't underestimate knowledge about project management - even only understanding the difference between waterfall and agile methodology can assure your perspective employer about your adaptability; 2) Try and be as technically involved as possible. Study basic graphical concepts, like lighting, terrain generation, machine architecture, animation; 3) A degree, as said, is not needed - let's say that it can help your CV stand out, mature connections, involve more people - but at the end of the day, it's your already done job that really counts; 4) That brings me to the toughest point of all: to enter the industry, as a designer especially, you need to be the top option - everybody wants to do this job, to work at games studios, to relocate in Canada or UK or Japan and revolutionize the industry. Ask yourself: "Am I the best at doing this? Can I demonstrate it? How? Am I able to back up my takes during an interview? On the first day at my new job, could I be a leader?" Gaming industry is an all risk - high commitment - lowish reward option in your life, with high demand and low offer. At which point, you'll be asking yourself if maybe producing your own game isn't the best thing to do. These are the reasons why Unreal or Unity have such an amazing success and why the independent industry is way more interesting and varied than AAA titles most of the times. Having said that, being someone who tried hard and failed to get into the industry, I may not be the best person to support :) Great content guys, keep up the awesome job!
how to become a game designer: no one is hiring game designers without experience, so you become a indie devoloper, learn art and programing and now you can design your own game. Thats is what I am doing
As a generic college student I'd like to add a footnote to your video: pretty much everything Mark said applies to many other jobs too. No one teaches you what you have to do to get a job, or to get your dream job, but essentially he said it all: you need experience, which you can get with internships of lower level jobs, you need some kind of referral, which can be a degree, a portfolio, or any kind of knowledge which is directly related to the job you're applying to. You'll need relationships to get through: it doesn't matter if you think it's useless, professors, students and people already working in the industry will always help you if they can and want to. You need soft skills to get through your interview, HR is not there to give you a mark on the test, it's there to see if you're fit and passionate about what you are going to do. And most importantly, you'll get rejected by many different people many different times, but don't let that stop you from trying again and again. After all, Thomas Edison did 1600 prototypes before inventing THE Lightbulb.
Wow. With this video (and potentially that indie one!), I think GMTK is reaching a point where it rivals many game design courses for its content. Now we’re covering the practical out-of-game stuff in the industry! I’m sure you’ll never see this Mark, but thanks so much for putting these videos together over the past few years. You’ve led a RUclips niche that’s become an incredible resource for people like me trying to learn about game design. Best of luck with everything in the future!
I was asked early on in my career in an job interview what my favourite game was and how I would improve it. It was Majoras Mask and to me it's an flawless masterpiece especially knowing how short and stressfull the development time was. I couldn't come up with a good answer because I was focused on how to actually improve upon it in reality - but they wanted to hear how to improve it only theoretically. I was used to work in a small studio where everyone has to do a bit of everything and it's important to consider such things especially as a game designer but they were a bigger company which had one role for the design part and an entirely other role that would decide upon feasability of those design ideas.
Any advice on how to get the required 2-4 years experience in game design and a released AAA title before getting one's first game design job? Just wondering if those requirements actually have something of substance to them or if it's just hot air to discourage the honest folks.
@@hauntedshadowslegacy2826 if a job is asking for that then thats a clear sign that isnt a job for new people. as mark states, finding other positions that are low entry is the best way to go about things.
@@dataecto6135 He was making a joke about how jobs require ridiculous previous experience for entry level. It's not looking to attract skilled new designers, it's looking for an excuse to pay an experienced designer an entry level wage.
Young people liking video games : "I want to be a game designer, I have tons of ideas for video games in my head !" Video Games companies : "Let me introduce Microsoft Excel to you".
@@Gunnee4 Game design may be not what you think. In Japan many of them are called "game planners" and their job is to plan events that happen in the game, and for that they use Excel. So if you think game designers always use fancy softwares like Unreal Engine, think again.
to be honest , you might not ACTUALLY want to be a "game designer" and instead you just want to pich ideas, or design characters or animations for game, in Wich case you need to remember to specialize for that, because while some of the process is similar you have to know EXACTLY what you want before you start investing into it and you can know if you actually like something if you enjoy gaining experience with it or if you do it for fun, but obviously monetizing it is way different from it being a hobby, and there is only so much you can do with a hobby so it might be better to work on what you love.
it helps to you make your own little game first with GMS or Godot to understand a little bit further what you actually want to do in game development :)
Yeah, 100%. Even when you look at the wider field of software dev, the industry is full of people who decided they wanted to be programmers because they loved playing video games. So they assumed, "I love playing games, so I will definitely love making them! You need to program to make games, so I will study programming!" Then they went to college for CS, realized CS was absolutely not at all what they were expecting, but they felt stuck, so instead of switching they just got a degree despite not enjoying what they were doing at all. It's a big mistake people make these days. We're told, "Do you what you love and you'll never work a day in your life!" This _can_ be true, but the trick is that you need to be very specific about what it is you love. If you love reading fiction, that doesn't mean you will love writing fiction, so don't go spending a lot of money on an English major before you know whether you like writing. If you love cooking good food at home, that doesn't mean you'll love being a restaurant chef. If you love listening to music & going to shows, that doesn't mean you'll love composing music. And if you love playing games, that doesn't mean you'll love _making_ them. Make sure you actually love the act of making games before spending a lot of money trying to learn how to do it.
Yeah, the guy who would make Cave Story realized this early on when he wanted to make video games, so he treated it more as a hobby and got a job at a printer company instead. I feel like that could work better for a lot of people who want to make their creation using almost entirely their own vision, instead of someone else's.
T Z i have not started coding yet but i can only see myself working with art or video games so i feel like i dont have much of an option of careers to pursue that i would actually like
what if you made it so that one player wins if both players do the same thing and the other wins if they do different things. it requires establishing which player is which at the beginning, but the odds are completely even and it even eliminates the posiblity of a draw.
You would need to add in different balancing elements with the loss of one of them. Let's say you remove paper- that means, by default, rock would always beat scissors. If we're talking in the context of damage ratios, maybe you change that so that a rock inflicts only 90% damage on scissors (and surviving scissors can try to accumulate or progress towards a secondary mechanic that can defeat rock)- or maybe rock still does 100% damage but scissors can inflict 10% damage. So, now, you've open up the possibility where scissors would lose one-on-one, but groups of scissors could overtake a rock. Now you've introduced the question of how many scissors should it take, balancing that, etc.
As a designer, let me just reiterate the importance for projects: Finished, not perfect! Let it be flawed, and explain what lessons you took away from its flaws. Iteration and retrospective shows growth to employers.
Here is a tip from a dev about networking: There is nothing more frustrating than having someone talking about you just to clearly use your current position and own network. Don't forget that we are people too. The best way to increase your network is to SINCERLY get interested into others. Discuss of their past work, of challenges they might have encountered and share experiences. Show that you are passionate about Game Design (or any other field you're into) and that you actually CARE about it. This is the best way to meet people and build true relationship that can, maybe, open some doors some day. Also do not forget that we have life outside of our job too. Do not harass people if they don't answer you. While video games is our passion sometimes we just want to do or talk about something else than our job. :)
Mind if I ask for a word of advice regarding this? I'm trying to get into Narrative Design/Writing in games, working on a few pieces for my portfolio, and honestly the networking side of things terrifies me for this exact reason. The last thing I want is to make the person I'm trying to be friends with and build my network with feel like I'm just using them. or only talking to them because of their job. But, especially if the only chance I have to potentially interact with people in the industry is online, how should I go about trying to be friends with a person on social media (or wherever) without it feeling disingenuous? Where and how do you make that initial contact in a way that's organic but also let's you build a network? On a specific studio's discord maybe? Because like, combing through twitter looking for someone to mention their game dev job and then just commenting on everything they post would just feel realllly scummy to me lol. I want to build real friendships with people, and even if it doesn't "lead anywhere" I feel like it would be really fun and insightful to talk with people who make games. Plus, you know, new internet friends are always nice. Any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated, because honestly this gives me so much anxiety lol.
@@svenbtb So first as said in the video put a link inside on your profiles to your blog/website where we can read your stuff. Also share it online, even if you don't have any followers. You'll never know when someone is going to check it out. Then try to find event for writers and discuss with people there. About the theme of the event, stuff you've read/play and you find particularly well written. Like you said there might be communities of writer on Discord, Reddit or random forum. You might want to look into that and interact with them. Follow a bunch of writers on Twitter and try to interact with them if it's pertinent. Let's say they are talking about some series, give your opinion on it, start a debate, ask question about their perspective on it. Like you said commenting every post will not be relevant. But sometimes they might talk about a subject you like a lot and the discussion will become natural. They might even check your profile and that's when the link to your projects will be relevant ;) In the end don't freak out to interact with someone. As long as you're not like "Here is my Resume, can you give me a job in your company?" it will be ok :)
@@svenbtb One last thing. Once you start to have friends that are in the field you'd like to work. Party with them. They will most likely have other friends in that field too that you'll meet around a beer without even discussing about your job.
Why hasn’t this information been more easily accessible before?! I’ve been killing myself over the past few years looking for what the role of a game design even is supposed to mean! Thank you so much for making this video! Albeit a little late for me hahaha but better late than ever.
I actually got a place as a game design student at one of the best universities in germany in cologne which i am extremeley excited about. The decision to apply for this university was influenced by this channel, since i got so many exciting gamedesign ideas i want to make happen thanks to inspiration by this channel. I hope you will keep on making these great videos for a long time. Thank you.
Important Note: This applies for every industry. Working as a employee: Get experienced, go out and meet people, use social media to your favor. Create a portfolio. Independent or your own boss: It's an uphill battle everyday. Don´t give up. It's so rewarding to see what a single person or a small group can achieve.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I'm an engineering student and I'm almost finished with my degree, so I'm starting to look around for an internship: it's literally the same thing, experience, portfolio, relationships, way of and soft skills. Maybe there's a bigger necessity for a degree, but that also depends a lot on how low are you willing to start (and level your way up) and where do you wanna work.
As an avid GMTK viewer its pretty fun to see my face pop up at 4:56 . From one of my dev-vlogs over at @Myrkur Games :) Great video as usual! The biggest thing, when it comes to applications, is a good looking portfolio and obvious passion! Try to sculpt your portfolio to match the studio you are applying to. E.g. don't show only 2d platformer puzzle projects when applying for a designer position on a AAA fps . Those projects help to give depth to the portfolio but showing that you are comfortable, working on a similar project you are applying fore gives you a very good chance at getting that job interview 👍
Yup, me included. I last touched Batch when I was ~14 years old, and fiddled with a smidge of CSS for a few months in high school. Boxes and wires? Thaaaaaank you! So much better, yo.
I went the programming route. I'm really glad I went that path because although it was a struggle, the struggle was worth it. I can basically design whatever system I want and I'm not confined to someone else's idea about how a game should work, which gives me so much flexibility. That being said, visual scripting systems have really improved over the years. It's great more people are able to express themselves. I'm a very technical person and like knowing how everything works, so VS was never an option for me.
As a game designer, i approve this message! For real, that's so close to the talk I give to students about getting into the industry it's amazing. Good job on making it all fit in 15min, i'll definitely link back to this in the future. Really great job! I would only add that reading books is a plus (as in every job) and that being curious and proactive are definitely 2 major qualities. Also, don't be afraid to say "I don't know" or "I'm not sure I understand" and then asking for some pointers or cues especailly for junior positions. It proves you are humble and can seek help / feedback / support if needed.
I'm also 24 and hoping to get into the industry. Sucks that a) everywhere is locked down (I have asthma, so I can't go anywhere anyway until I get vaccinated), and b) I'm too disabled to drive a car in this motorist-worshiping country. Despite being in an area with plenty of big players in the games industry, I just can't get a break. Would be cool if people in minority groups had an easier time getting into the industry. I'll bet it would go a long way toward making healthier, safer, more-inclusive studios, too.
What's the first programming language I should learn if I wanted to make something like a graphic adventure game? (which I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, would be the easiest and most economic type of game for one single developer)
@@Vicente480 I'm not an expert but I am taking a class in programming. The language that you pick doesn't matter so much as your understanding of general programming elements. There are many elements that are the same for many languages. C++ is prevalent in games from what I know. If you're just starting out, try to write a simple text-based adventure console game or something really simple OR you could see what you can do with blueprints in Unreal. That's code-esque but I think it's more of a block language, which means you're not actually writing the code.
As an designer to be, you should practice your ability to communicate your design ideas to other people. I work as a gameplay engineer and therefore work tightly with game designers of all sorts. I frequently sit in interviews with potential designers. The one quality I cherish and look for in my designers is their ability to communicate ideas and concepts to me. I rely on my designers to come up with smart and engaging ideas. They need to rely on my to bring those ideas to life and realize them in the game. You might have the most brilliant idea of a game in your head - but at the end of the day it only matters how much of that idea ends up in the heads of your team.
Here is what NOT to do become a professional game designer: 1. Refuse to work during crunch-time 2. Complain about being underpaid 3. Join a union 4. Or anything else that would improve your wellbeing at the expense of the bottomline of an uncaring corporation
Thank you Mark for this video. It's going to help a lot of people. One piece of advice regarding your portfolio as a Level Designer that I can give is to explain the reason behind what you show. It's really helpful to the people who are going to look at your work if you mention what you were trying to do, what kind of emotion you wanted to create, etc. As a designer, you need to think about that as it's how you are going to convince people daily that we should follow your ideas. A big part of a designer's role is to sell your ideas and convince others to help you create what you have in mind. Another important aspect is to mention what when wrong and how did you adapt to the new challenges that you faced while creating that piece. Finally, explain your creative process from start to finish. How do you work? Mark mentioned that during an interview, you will be asked questions to validate if you are a good fit for the team and the studio culture, but it's also really interesting to see how you think and work and how the team actually in place can benefit from your process.
@@zac2806 hey @zac2806 the video mentioned you graduated from Staffordshire, did you like experience there, scale 1-10, what course recommendation stuff like that please
As someone who lives on Cuba 12:54 hits extremely hard. Even moving to anywhere else in South America bring me a LOT more opportunities from where I live in...
Woop Woop. Teesside! As an additional note, when applying, dont be scared to apply for Full Time positions in your preffered job role (skipping internships). If you can prove yourself with a sweet portfolio project, and the test during the interview (if you are given one), an employer may just take you onboard! It really is a Dream Job with a lot of great, friendly people! If anyone has any questions, drop em below and I will do my best to answer them (as a Level Designer).
@@emixinfinity9053 For Level Design (LD) I would primarily prefer UE4, but my workplace uses a 'custom version' of CryEngine/ Lumberyard. Additionally I tend to use Maya for modelling whiteboxes before importing to the Engine.
@@smudge2172 Really, when I was trying to get into the industry, I applied to any Level Design job I could find for FPS games all over Europe (and a few in the US). I think I applied to 80 positions before getting a couple interviews. Ideally, you should tailor your CV/ Portfolio for the job you are after. For FPS, make an FPS project. 2D platformer jobs would expect a 2D project, etc.
I feel like lot of game devs are great people with lots of skills of creating something. But I also feel like many of them lack a little bit of understanding of games, like they don't know what players want, what games are fun and so on. They just focus on their 'craftsmanship'. I don't know mby it's not true, that's why I ask. That brings it to me, I as huge gamer, reallly wanna do some job about games, but I really like to think about them (like GMTK here). And I'm not sure if spending years of crafting one product is for me, mby I'll better suit as game critic/journalist.. who knows
Having shipped over 15 games in a various roles ranging from QA, Programming, Design, Production, I think this video is great. The only thing I would try to clarify is that "scripting" IS programming. It's not the same as programming natively in C++, but blueprint is a very powerful scripting language that is object oriented. You need to understand software engineering fundamentals in order to maximize your potential in that scripting language.
This video inspired me to apply to study game design at a university when it came out. I'm know in my 5th semester :) Thank you so much for shaping my life
"The games industry has a lot of problems like crunch" So do the university programs. In my undergrad at Digipen, I was consistently doing 80-hour weeks through almost the entirety of my sophomore and junior years. Almost put me off on the industry entirely, and I made sure after graduating to only go work for companies that have a healthy work-life balance - of which very few exist.
university programs are often meant to prove you can get through crunch, and can learn a lot of info in a short amount of time. It's also about learning time management, learning to deal with many stresses at once, etc.
@@cassou124 while that is fair, it's still pretty bad to put students through horrible stress because crunch is genuinely horrible to the psyche and to mental health
Noclip's Hades development docuseries is a really great look at what game designers really do, and how their decisions result in the experiences we get from their games.
I've been trying to get into the industry for years - I started coding at 13, now I'm nearly 30. Fair to say, I've got a decent bit of experience under my belt. The problem is, I just can't get hired anywhere, and I don't know why. So I've decided to just go it alone - I'm currently running my own indie studio and working on a web game called Egg Trainer. Hopefully, it'll pay off this time.
Hi im 14 and ive been learning to code and make games. ive been thinking of the future and wether or not i would want to get into a big company or join an indie studio or even make my own indie studio! and i was wondering if you could give me any advice? like how did you reach this point and what should i do and should i not do to prepare? stuff like that obviously its probably a bit early to be thinking about these things but im really interested! and good luck on your game btw, hope it goes well!
@@TheWeen344 Thank you! I'd mainly recommend one thing: make things! Make what you like to make, and learn a new technology every so often (that's two things). At 13 I was using GameMaker, and at 16 I decided to start using C++ with SDL. I wasn't too concerned with what I was going to do in the future, all I remember is that I really enjoyed making games, programming and learning new stuff. I went to Australia's equivalent of community college for 2 years (mostly learned teamwork there), and eventually picked up Unity a couple of years ago. I did things simply because I enjoyed it - if you do the same, eventually you'll find that you've got a lot of skills that you can apply to a studio with. Just remember that working at a studio is super different from working for yourself, but the payoff is worth it. Also, learn how to learn - that's a big skill in itself; you'[ll never know everything you need for a job, but knowing how to learn it when you need it is crucial.
@@Ratstail91 thank you so much for the reply and advice! im currently learning unity and its great! ive joined and sumbitted to a few game jams and im currently doing a udemy course on C#, and i cant wait to get into it! i have many ideas once again thank you for the advice!
Advice: Remember that when/if you get to the interview that it's a two-way street. You are interviewing them just as hard as they are interviewing you. Go in with questions about the culture, work hours, who you will be working alongside and underneath. Ask about what on-the-job training they have because most likely they will have some proprietary software that you've never touched before. Make sure the position is what you want to do. Being in a company or a position that you end up not liking will turn the fun into.... well... less fun. (speaking from experience)
Hey, I'm a 4th year Undergraduate student set to graduate this year. I wanted to say that participating in game jams is one of the best way to get material for your portfolio. Even if you don't manage to finish, as long as you can show of your work, and explain your iterative process through a website, or a small article, then you can really have a good piece.
Just wanted to say that subtle touches like your User Experience Designer don't go unnoticed. Always impressed with your commitment to inclusion in your work.
UX can go unnoticed...when its good. More often than not people (myself included) DO notice User Experience Designer choices especially after an update... because they make most users think "What fucking user feedback asked for that useful function to get buried in menus in order to prioritize a new button 99% of users will never willingly press?!?!"
I was getting anxious at the job interview part, and then I remembered I already have a job in the industry and how I should be thankful for getting here so young. If I have one advice to share, it would be to be curious, keep learning everytime, never feel like knowing everything and obviously... make stuff. But really, I insists : make stuff, a lot. Getting a job in the industry is about having experience and remember that you don't need to wait to have a job to have something to show. Good luck to everyone pursuing their dreams and keep having fun in the process.
My greatest hobby is studying game design, coming up with mechanics and ideas that I keep mostly to myself, It's been a childhood dream of mine to make a game, but honestly, actually working in the game industry doesn't apeal to me at all, it looks like one of those jobs that can quickly consume your entire life, and I would much rather keep this personal passion as more of an artistic and ludic endevour, something to do when I'm relaxing, without any grand ambitions so as not have my life depend on it. I think joining an indie group of game devs would be nice, like minded people, but it's hard to find them, especially in South America haha
I think you nailed it at the end of the video. "Just make stuff" For the longest time, and still kind of do, struggle with my identity as a game designer. I always thought that just because I don't have a job at some big company and working at it full time that makes me less of a game developer. It really hasn't been till this year that I've been more supportive of myself and my work. My wife has always been majorly supportive in my creative endeavors and always said, "it doesn't matter if you don't have some big designer job, it matters that you're still passionate about it and working on games"
I watched your videos when I just started designing games. Now I've done about 10 game jams and I use the advice from your videos for inspiration. Hopefully, I can release a full game soon. Remember, as difficult as making games seems, you need to start somewhere, and every project you make will inch you closer to your game making goals.
To be fair, if you made the levels yourself, and they show creative use of the engine, it could be a refreshing addition, alongside other works of yours.
I knew the very first advice before you said it. Make stuff. For several years I've told myself that I'm going to start but keep delaying it. There's no other way. Make stuff. Great video, Mark. Very, very helpful.
I an 17,5 yo and I plan to become a game designer. I have done a lot of scetching for characters, weapons and stuff, but I have also made perk and ability lists, tried to balance what my future games will have. One time, I made a mathematical function and put shots to kill as a valuable in the Y axis and reload speed to the x axis, and started spraying weapons on the line, above it if they were cheaper or bellow if they were more expensive.
I've spoken for years on how to help get jobs in the games industry. It is so gratifying to get confirmation that much of my knowledge is on par with others and still practiced today. Thank you again for a wonderful video.
Someone here studying Game development and hoping to apply as designer in an intership in just a couple of weeks. Thanks, really. I studied psychology expecting ir to help become future game designer and, when you mentioned it, I nearly started crying, realizing I hadn't wasted 4 years of my life. In the last year i have watched a lot of your videos and they helped me to improve my design skills. Thanks by heart
Thank you so much for this, As the “amateur game developer” I am, I try and learn many things because one day, I want to have a team : musicians, programmers, artists and more, working together to create entertainment. I am young and got a way to go... but I try and do what I can for now.
1: Want to make a game. 2: Get RPG Maker (any will do, or even another maker if it has premade assets - but if it doesn't then just use pixel stick people - NOBODY WILL CARE!). 3: Use a tutorial for the game engine you purchased. Follow every step. 4: Using what you've learned you can now start making a game with it. If you forget something then revisit the tutorial until you learn it. You won't know everything at first but you'll gradually learn new techniques, limitations, workarounds for those limitations, and more. The MOST important thing I can tell you, however, is that you don't need a team to start learning. You don't need to work for a big company. You don't "need" anyone. "You" can do it. Just believe in yourself and keep working. Keep writing, building, and moving forward. Nobody can stop you but your own self doubts. A lot of youtube videos will tell you that you need social skills and to work with a team to make a game happen. No! That's not true! These videos are made by competition who want you gone from the equation, and the best way to do that is by putting a wall of doubt in front of you. Saying that people need social skills during this pandemic will be even more discouraging. Don't believe them. You've got hands. You've got fingers, and nobody is holding them down. Just do it!
*Person:* how do I become a game designer. It looks like fun to do. *Video:* work all night every night. Have this one thing become everything in your life. Nothing else matters... unless you work at a big studio where you get to work on horse testicles. *person:* yeah... maybe not then...
@@glendarjj3991 Yea, you're competing with some of the people most capable of forming addictive obsessions with their work. They have become the game, drained enough bottles of mountain dew that they are more hummingbird than human. And you have to keep up.
Fantastic video as always! One thing everyone should keep in mind is that ‘design thinking’ is a skill that CAN be learned, it’s never out of your reach and it’s also never too late to start learning.
Even as a game designer since 2006, I still found this video is super relevant. Keep learning and embracing new challenges, enjoy and treat your life as the best game you have ever played, is playing and will play!
I've been following you for a long time, and had to comment as this will be the video I'll reference when anybody asks me this question in the future. What a great video. It highlighted everything I basically did in order to land my first job as a designer. I worked my ass off while studying, spending all my free time on game projects or social events around the industry. Not the most healthy way to go about it(mental health is important), but doing the grind for sake of learning and forcing myself to network made me the right guy at the right place when a company needed a new designer. I was the only guy my friend knew, that in he's opinion was a good designer with lot of potential and something to prove it with. That coupled with a business background and some knowledge on programming helped me stand out and landed me my job. If you are new, having small finished crappy projects is way more important than having one really good polished one. The faster you fail the faster you learn, and if you can explain why you failed and show that you learned from that failure, even better. But doing small projects usually helps you learn a lot faster because the polish part.
0:08 Soo interested already when I hear "kids and teenagers" Hahah! I am actually a kid going to step into teenage and such a co-incidence, that I also look for forward for becoming a game designer and Game developer and this came in my feed!
I changed to studying game design in college two years ago because of GMTK and this video gives all the answers I've been looking for about the industry. Thank you truly from the bottom of my heart
As someone who has had a really though time thinking about what i could do after this last year of highschool and getting very stressed out by it. Thank you for giving us these tips and thank you for making such a good video wrapping up a lot of important info i am really excited to start working on getting to learn game design more and do the best of my ability and im gonna need a lot of practice but this video really made me inspired and informed of everything i need to know for now. Im def subscribing
Some great advice in this video. In addition to what Mark touched on regarding critique - I personally find that getting negative feedback is more important than positive. I always request feedback from QA and tell them not to hold back. There's a natural tendency for people not to mention anything negative about your work (well not to your face!). But I demand it, straight up asking them “what’s wrong with XYZ”. If they suggest something that fixes an issue, then I go away, redesign it and try to incorporate their suggestions. I would rather get a few negative comments from the QA than a few thousand on social media! Remember everyone’s a designer!
Man imagine going into an interview and the interviewer asking you what games are you playing and whats good and bad about them. That sounds like a dream come true compared to lying about what books im reading lol for college interviews.
Awesome video! I am a game programmer working in the industry, but I have one advice which is told in this video as well: MAKE THINGS! No matter if it's a short mobile game, a 3D animation or a narrative multiple-choice thingy, developing something gives you a lot of experience. Try Game Jams as well!
Question I'm a fiction writer and that's always Been my bread and butter since childhood. I've gone to school for creative writing for games and have created my own RPG card game / boardgame and have written / published a novella , and have dozens of independent creative works of fiction that I've created over the years. I am not the best designer in fact I'd say I've got hardly any talent or skill in that area at all but I really would love to write for games and have that for my primary vocation. With my skillset do I have a chance of working in the game industry?
This should be shown in schools because game design is very demanding by kids and teens this day and age and would be very helpful for them to know how what to expect in the workplace if they want that field.
"I'm not really equipped to answer this question." And here I thought, with everything that can be learned from this channel, that Mark is a game designer by trade.
An essential skill for a game designer is knowing how to analyse the games you play. So watch this video to learn how to "think like a game designer" - ruclips.net/video/iIOIT3dCy5w/видео.html
Hi
Here's one resource I want to get my hands on that I believe will let me improve: design docs for released games. Where can I find them?
Unrelated question, when is the next gmtk game jam? And related question which option is the Easiest to become successful or make a decent wage.
Search "Design Doc" on Scribd. Though there should be a good central resource for them...
GMTK Jam 2021 will be announced soon! If you just want success / money, there are probably better routes than game development!
The pixel-art animation you've done in this video to demonstrate points is just another reason why your videos are always next-level.
I love pixel art in general, and game makers tool kit videos. 2 great things mashed together.
haha, epic. Pretty epic to see giant RUclipsrs give encouragements to one another
I also appreciate the effort to make these animations inclusive!
If I may nitpick, the pixelart is animated at a set framerate that clashes with Mark's usual silk-smooth infographics.
@@lrgogo1517
I imagine that was the aim. Not to clash, but to keep it at a lower frame rate. I like it, I don't think it clashes too much.
It's really nice seeing Mark experiment with animation.
One tip to game designer interviews: Go the extra mile.
I was asked to create new game mechanics about X in a Zoom meeting. I wasn't satisfied with my answers and kept thinking "I should have said this and that instead". Instead of feeling sorry for myself I took initiative and sent a follow-up e-mail: "Here are some additional ideas that I would send to a design partner later on (if this was a real task)". This gave me a few precious days to iterate my ideas and shape my thoughts into a more coherent form. It also shows that you're proactive and interested in the position. The CEO replied that he really liked my additional ideas and I got the job which starts next week.
Note: Only send a follow-up message if it genuinely brings something new to the table. A follow-up message that only remixes your previous ideas or even worse, apologizes or makes excuses about the previous interview can be counterproductive.
That’s great advice!
Oh you got it! So how's is it going now? And do you mind sharing more of your experiences?
Hey so how's the job been?
Hows it going?
You literally showed that game designers need one thing to be effective. Time
"Unfortunately, I'm not really equipped to answer this question." Mark, the fact that you're so well-equipped to _ask_ the right questions is why you and your channel help so many people. Seriously, thank you so much for everything.
I think what he's saying is more-so that this type of question needs a collaborative group of answers from multiple people depending on the companies and level of experience in the industry. He certainly COULD answer the question, but it can't be answered perfectly just from one person's experience alone.
@@christophercampbell2171 I have no problem with what he said. The humble way in which he said it made me think about how well-qualified he is to _ask_ good and relevant questions, and I felt like expressing my gratitude that the content he posts presents the answers he finds in such a great way.
Yeah his videos are all done with a great sense of intelligence and experience with game design that you know this guy always knows what he's talking about.
Your profile pic made me laugh 😂
Lies again? Google Drive Upload Files
I work as s QA Manager for a few years now and I can surely say, that testers almost never leave our company. They often know so much about the games they work on, their opinions become invaluable during the design of new features. There are some, who stay at the QA department as they enjoy the craft. Others reach such a level of knowledge, that they feel the need to express themselves, they join the design teams and improve the games even further. As a manager, I always find it exciting, when someones steps up and wants to use their skills this way. They are always given the opportunity to shine and I am given new CV's :) But honestly, I've never complained, because now they're making the games/company better. And they're happy.
So where could one apply?
What would you look for in a potential QA employee? Do the things Mark mention in this video (portfolio?) also apply to QA?
@@heek8964 Many companies have official listings on their webpages or on LinkedIn. I advise you to first check out any company, which produces games you personally like. You never know.
@@hoga70 I will speak from my own experience, don't know if it's the same at other companies. The company I work at is located in an area, where game development is not really a thing. Therefore looking for experienced senior game tester, who can work in-house (from the company premises) is almost impossible. We usually hire people with no prior experience and train them ourselves. When I hire someone these are the traits I look for:
1, Love for games - Candidate has to love games and be a passionate player.
2, Soft skills - Work well with the team and other departments. The candidate has to have good verbal and written communication. Be patient and have a calm attitude in tense situations (they sometimes occur due to time pressure - by that I don't mean crunch time).
3, Technical skills - As our company works on mobile games, you have to know how to work with PC, Android and iOS devices. Have basic knowledge of working with databases and be able to write simple SQL querries.
4, Eye for detail and analytical thinking - Be able to spot mistakes and understand possible relations between various aspects of the game.
5, Open mind - Be open to learn and improve all the time. Be able to process feedback (good and constructive) and use it to grow.
6, Experience with any public or private alpha or beta tests is welcome.
7, Testing is repetitive and not as easy as people think, so be prepared for that ad take it as a part of the job.
8, English language is a must (advanced level, native speaker not required).
BONUS
9, Never go into an interview with the goal of doing something else soon. The company will put resources and time into you and expects you'll work at the position. The advancement to game design comes naturally after some time (which may take years).
10, Of course, any experience in testing is welcome and an advantage.The ISTQB certificate or certificate of any kind is also not required at our company, but others may require it.
I hope I've listed all (it's getting quite late here :D ) If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. :) But as I've mentioned, this is my personal experience and the way I do things based for the needs of our company . It may differ from other companies (our is mid-sized with about 250 people).
@@MykeDeeFox Is it okay to be honest about entering QA with the goal of learning and gaining experience, for a future GD position? Is it okay to be honest that a career in QA isn't what you have in mind?
As a Level Designer (who has taken several different positions) in a large studio, I have some input to give.
If you want to work at a larger studio, keep in mind that you will have less input on the work you do. The larger the studio, the more cooks involved in the same pot.
Consider how important it is to you that you have control over what you do. If you don't mind changing your work repeatedly on other people's whims, then you'll definitely be more comfortable in a large studio than someone who likes to have more complete control over their work.
Do you know anything of narrative design? That's the area I'm interested in pursuing. Would published (or unpublished) novels make for a good portfolio, or should I put more stock into gaining general game dev skills?
I want to know how many times the public criticized something the higher ups though was a better idea than what was initially planned. Better yet, how many times have reviews said they should’ve done something that secretly got cut from the game rather than what they went with in the end
@@notproductiveproductions3504 Both of these happen all the time, can confirm.
@@WasatchWind I'm sadly not too versed in that particular field, so take my suggestion here with a grain of salt.
I think it would be helpful to look into some aspects of general game dev, namely how writing and text gets implemented into games in your case. Knowing the limitations of engines and how to write around said limitations would be an asset.
@Jesse Mathis Yeah, being able to compromise is definitely important no matter the team size.
"You need interpersonal skills like communication"
Me: *starts sweating profusely*
SAMEEEEE
You don't need to be an expert speaker or extreme extrovert, but just have a basic level of social skills. Just being friendly and able to work with other people.
The #1 advice I would give is to work in as many group or collaborative projects as possible (game jams, school projects, anything.) Working with people is vital for game development because it's such as team-oriented process. Unless you're making the entire game yourself, you will have to be communicating with someone. (And even the solo developers will have to communicate with people at some point.)
I would argue that working well with others is actually *_more_* important than pure technical or design skills. You can be the best designer in the world, but if you're an asshole that nobody can stand being around, it's going to be difficult and sometimes even impossible to make a game.
You still need skills of course, but if given the choice to work with the best designer I don't get along with, or a less skilled designer I *_do_* get along with, I will always choose the person I work well with because the game will ALWAYS turn out better.
If you look at any game that didn't turn out great, there's a good probability it was the result of some kind of bad work environment and/or team that wasn't gelling with each other.
Anyways, this turned into a huge wall of text. But in short: go to as many (game) social functions as you can to practice communicating with others! And do as many group game projects as possible! It's also a good way to see if this is even something you want to do every single day for 10 hours a day for the rest of your life!
Hilarious I have that strength so it's gonna be easy
So meeee🙌🏻
@@AZ-qw1kz Exactly as you said. Communication is about whether or not you can talk clearly and communicate your idea across and convince others. It's not about being the center of a team or making dramatic speeches.
A few examples of what employers look for
* Can you listen and give proper feedback. Reword what is being told and verify if you understood things clearly. If there are unclear points, can you ask them
* Can you explain your thought process in a way that the other person can follow your logic? Talk about assumptions you are making and how you arrive at conclusions
* Can you write down your thoughts and explain them through not only words, but diagrams, sketches etc.
* Are you someone who they'd enjoy work with. This is probably the hardest and especially during interviews. But showing your own personality is a huge plus
My best advice for any aspiring game designer: If you think being "the idea guy" is enough, you'll never make it. Everyone has great ideas. What makes great games is the people willing to bring their great ideas to life through hard work and dedication. Learn to code, learn to draw, learn to write compelling stories. Learn all of it. Do it. Don't tell yourself "Oh I'm not good at that". Nobody's born an artist, a coder, or a writer. You become one. Get on it.
an idea is worth next to nothing if you can't execute it.
I can't upvote this comment enough
Damn man, this applies to any artistic/creative pursuit. To put it simply, JUST DO IT
@@officialrohinmusic Dedication always pays off.
Its a shame that I can't visualize or draw for my life, I really wanted to be a game designer or at least a game animator, but I dont know if I'm capable
Thanks for including Dreams.
It's imo the most straight forward tool to learn Gamedesign. It teaches working with a team on a vision and how important it is to consider every part of a Game.
It's amazing for greyboxing too and testing out styles for Levels.
Hey, you're the guy making the Avatar fan game!
Good luck, mate! ^_^
Too bad it's only on ps4.
@@muhtasimfuad5130 thats how consoles drive up sales :(
@@_mossy_8520 yeah I know. But the player base is decreasing which is sad. I hope it becomes multi plat so that more people can show off their creativity.
Dreams is what got me started. Probably true for tons of people.
I've recently finished my education as a game designer and landed a job in the industry and I can confirm Mark is entirely correct in this video. Game design isn't easy, but it is incredibly rewarding to see the work you've designed be brought to life.
(HEY MARK I MADE A SUPER AKWARD SELFIE WITH YOU AT BREDA UNIVERSITY SOME YEARS BACK. GOOD MEMORIES)
I remember that! Congrats!!
Have you gained much knowledge of how narrative design works? Right now I'm working on writing several novels and I'm wondering what kind of day to day tasks a narrative designer does, and if I have the skill set for it.
How would you counter the problem with players spamming in character action?
@@notproductiveproductions3504 make it so that that one action is not always optimal, which can involve adding debuffs or buffs, and tweaking numbers
@@WasatchWind Narrative design is a lot different from writing a story like a book. The key difference is player interaction: rather than your audience being a (passive) observer in the story they are an active participant.
This interactive nature makes all the difference, and it means that you need to be aware of the design needs of the game you work with. What are the key ways in which a player interacts with the game? How can we use that to tell a story? Knowledge of the basics of game design are important here!
I think it's about making the story happen through the player and their actions, rather than having it happen at the player.
I hope that makes sense!
If you're thinking about going to school to learn game design:
In my experience, the diploma you get isn't as important as what you do while you're there.
The people you meet (both professors and peers), the things you learn (both design-related and not), and the projects you make (again, both design-related and not) are what you get out of it. Uni help facilitates that process of meeting others and creating projects.
That's why I choose to go to Uni for game design, but it's not for everyone.
Plus if you're in the US like me, there's a large price tag next to that experience.
Would you say it's possible(or rather, probable) to land a job working in game design even if you do not have 'official' experience like a diploma?
@@dante6582 Hey dude, if you don't think school is right for you, that's very okay!
Speaking as someone currently employed as an LD fulltime, I would encourage participating in game jams, doing your own research projects (Make a blog post about a game's level and break it down, rebuild it in an engine, talk about why it works), and creating small projects. That can help you land small contracts that can continue to build into 'official experience', and crafting a portfolio site. Your mileage may vary but I think it's a sensible path that helps you grow into the role you want to reach someday.
@@dante6582 I can't speak to the probability, but I know or know of a lot of people who don't have a game design diploma who get jobs.
RIP to the autistic people who think they're going to game design school to learn game design while not realizing that they should be doing this social nonsense too.
The disproportionate importance of networking is such an NT scam
@@cv5953 It's a fact of every industry, not just the games industry. People are more likely to want to work with if you're, at the very least, cordial with them. If you're a dick, yeah, you're going to find it harder to get opportunities.
That's just life.
One day in rockstar games
Sergei:"Scott you gotta program the horse balls today"
Scott: I can do the tail as well if you want
Sergei: No need. That's what Isaac is doing
You got it boss
@@ea8455 lmao
today = this month
*horse digestive system
Yep, can confirm. After finishing a university where I studied Computer Science I took some online courses of Unity what allowed me to create a few simple games, I then took a job as a QA in the local studio near me and now, three years later I am a Lead Designer on a multiplayer FPS game.
Are you lead designer at the same studio you did QA at? Or another studio?
@@slimxshady6111 Yeah, it was at the same studio. But I have moved on since.
@@Ryuuz Thank you for answering!
Is coding necessary to be a game designer or game director?
@@danielebrahimi5946 It's not necessary but it certainly helps. Especially when communicating with other departments, like coders - which will happen fairly often. I can't write fully-featured code myself, but I know the principles and can script for sure. Scripting is something you will most likely do as a designer.
It all depends on what kind of specialization you are willing to pursue. Some will require zero coding knowledge - like Level, Monetization, Economy designers to name a few. On the other hand, if you want to be a part of Gameplay, Systems, or Quest design, coding knowledge of varying degrees will be needed for the most part.
It also depends on the studio you work for. In the first one, I didn't need any coding, in the second I do script with provided tools on a daily basis.
I don't even want to be a game designer but the part about interviews stressed me out anyway lol
Become an intern in an indie studio and get some experience from there
I loathe interview tests. And the pressure of someone watching makes me blackout.
@@hkr667 Interviews have consistently been the most terrifying experiences of my life
@@VenusAsAFormerBoy i am no game designer but a cs graduate. i have passed many tests before interview but never cracked an interview yet. i fuckin hate interviews.
i have scene people with far less coding ability than me getting jobs but i always get rejected.
Veteran designer here currently managing a team of 20 other designers. This is one of the most accurate summaries I've seen of both what the job is and what dev teams are looking for when evaluating candidates. Thanks for putting this together!
Sir do you have any socials ? I need some guidance regarding this career
This video's going to help a lot of people! Great stuff, as always.
I need a crossover between the two of y’all
I just rewatched two videos of yours today
Watch this guy's videos people. You are missing out
Ay,
Yeah I forget that as the name 'game makers toolkit', the channel is aimed at young game designers especially. Its nice of this video to specifically go in detail about it. I just watch the channel for the great video game analysis.
As a game designer who's a bundle of nerves, incredibly I think covid actually helped me land my first role! Being able to interview at home where I felt comfortable made the process a lot easier... and they can't tell how much you're sweating and fidgeting lmao
I’m 23 and never did video game design can I start becoming one now?
@@joshuawright691 me too
@@joshuawright691 i know i'm super late but i hope you see this... technically if you don't want to spend time and money on college than all you need is good creativity artistic and coding skills because take these skills in hand and you have a shot because to become a game designer you don't technically need a degree. and you're only what 24r now as of this? you have plenty of time. i hope you take this as good advice/tips
@@lilgingy75 25 lol
@@lilgingy75 thank you
1:04
And then theres the single-creator games, where the game designer does:
Programming
Level Design
Art
Gameplay Design
Soundtracks
Marketing
Just everything
when you're trying to avoid social interaction at all costs
In smaller teams that is correct, though usually game design and programming are very alike
Add production
@@filippocucina7001 that falls under everything lol
The real power of a game designer is how well they can bring their ideas out from their minds and into reality, whether that's the map design you've been imagining or some in-game economy model you've been toying with mentally. The real proof is how well you can make all of them exist outside of your head.
I like you were talking about how QA is important for a game while showing footage from Cyberpunk 2077.
Very buggy footage (which is just cyberpunk footage)
do you think qa fixes bugs
You do know that this isn't necessarily the Problem that there's a lack of QA testers or that they aren't taken serious enough.
The Problem might have been that they didn't have enough time,
bad management of staff and resources, overambitious or rapid growth.
Cyberpunk 2077 has just become the epitome of 'buggy game'
QA testers being regarded as expendable, low-value assets is a self-feeding problem. Management doesn't want to pay even more people full-time wages, so they hire contractors - it's easier to justify contracting QA than anything. Then the middle management views them as outsiders who don't get their game, and don't take them seriously or load their workflow appropriately. Then staff view them as outsiders who blow in late in the day, do a bad job, and cause them more work that they could have done better, because they don't see that this is the inevitable result of upper and middle management setting up QA to fail. Then upper management sees that everyone's upset at how much work QA takes to how much it achieves, and wonders why it bothers paying them so much, hiring cheaper staff for shorter times next game - making all the problems worse.
What do you do for a living?
I'm a horse designer
What do you do for a living?
I make a horse run.
Game designer here, the first requirement is the most important requirement, you can't stress this enough. MAKE STUFF. If you want to BECOME a game designer then BE a game designer, make games, design them, share, fail, learn, keep going.
What educational requirements did you need? Ex. Bachelors degree in what, certificates in what, etc.
@@OxChiquitaXo I don't have a degree, I dropped out of university and build up my portfolio with projects, some finished, some unfinished, and also documentation (which is required by game designers). My projects allowed me to get a great job that other candidates with degree but no projects couldn't.
@@kevindahl-skog7992 how per year does this earn ? If you don't mind me asking TIA
Been designing custom levels for games since age 7. Now developing a whole game. I spent 5 years working on it and I'm nowhere close to finishing it.
@@JC02official if finishing projects is a problem try gamejams, or work with other people that instead of adding ideas they cut your ideas and set delivery dates (these is what a producer would do)
I guess my best advice is to stay open. "Game designer" is one of the only jobs people outside of the industry knows but there is so much more.
When I was a kid I wanted to be an animator for movies. During my first internship I fell in love with compositing (which involves almost no 3D). Comp can be very technical so I started coding, so I moved to the dev department. Finally I ended up IT in a video game studio.
Not really what I wanted in the first place, but definitely a job i'm happy with today :)
How has a 15 minute video from some guy on the internet given me a clearer path for the future than the sixth form I've been at for 6 months
I've been there, bud.
Because THIS guy knows what he is saying.
And he REALLY wants to help unlike... you know... :-)
What I like most about your videos is the absence of ads
Me too!
Adblock Plus user ;-)
As soon as I heard "Start with QA and get promoted." I immediate had PTSD of "How to no longer want to work in the game's industry."
lol
Something like 70% of the devs I work with started in QA before they became designers, so it's not totally bad advice, but QA is definitely a difficult job where people are treated like crap and paid next to nothing so I always feel bad mentioning it to aspiring devs.
Both are true. It's a way to immediately get the mystique of video game popped for you (but I'd argue that this disillusionment is a good thing in the end), and you're risking a pretty bad environment (depending on the studio), but it really is one of the best ways to wiggle your way into the industry and it opens doors for further development. Just don't apply at a huge company, as they treat their QA department like crap and tend to lay off people regularly.
@@KristofDE Yeah, EA and Ubi are know for being very bad to their QA. EA doesn't even employ most testers directly, they are subcontracting smaller companies to employ the testers for them.
@@KristofDE And yes, working in game QA does pop that illusion of games being made with fairy-tales and sugar (I do hope we reach a point where we can design directly with our imagination), I think those that still want to be designers after going through the QA nightmare are the ones that will probably stick with it.
In the past I am a physical education teacher, and now I am a Game Designer and this is now my dream job! After graduating from courses in game design, I could not get into the industry for about 1.5 years, I had to get a job and earn extra money in various jobs, but I never stopped. I created a small indie team and we created a prototype of a mobile game, in parallel with this I created a board game. This allowed me to find a job.
Thanks for the video, it was very interesting! And that's right, you Mark, you noticed here, everything is clear), so it is.
"Soft skills" is such an important little detail it almost deserves its own video, I've lost track of the number of indie collab projects I've been in that just disintegrated because the guy in charge didn't know how to coordinate a group. Project management skills are extra important for casual indie projects where you don't necessarily have a paycheck to motivate people to keep coming to meetings...
For sure
soft skills are underrated nothing like a game not getting finished because no communicates.
I really appreciate how you mentioned crunch and exploitation in the last third of the video. I believe it's important to warn people about the insides of an industry that (sadly) often predates on such passionate and creative people. Great video as always
I quit a game dev course after becoming very disillusioned with the industry. Crunching, low wages, having to move abroad for job and lack of career progression killed my passion for it.
“Stop asking plz. I need my sanity.”
Haha thanks for this. Love the work y’all do!
As usual, very nice job. The matter is very delicate. Getting into a game study is even harder than presented here. The industry has a very high "entrance fee", not only for game designers. I would add the following to the analysis you made here:
1) Don't underestimate knowledge about project management - even only understanding the difference between waterfall and agile methodology can assure your perspective employer about your adaptability;
2) Try and be as technically involved as possible. Study basic graphical concepts, like lighting, terrain generation, machine architecture, animation;
3) A degree, as said, is not needed - let's say that it can help your CV stand out, mature connections, involve more people - but at the end of the day, it's your already done job that really counts;
4) That brings me to the toughest point of all: to enter the industry, as a designer especially, you need to be the top option - everybody wants to do this job, to work at games studios, to relocate in Canada or UK or Japan and revolutionize the industry.
Ask yourself: "Am I the best at doing this? Can I demonstrate it? How? Am I able to back up my takes during an interview? On the first day at my new job, could I be a leader?"
Gaming industry is an all risk - high commitment - lowish reward option in your life, with high demand and low offer. At which point, you'll be asking yourself if maybe producing your own game isn't the best thing to do.
These are the reasons why Unreal or Unity have such an amazing success and why the independent industry is way more interesting and varied than AAA titles most of the times. Having said that, being someone who tried hard and failed to get into the industry, I may not be the best person to support :)
Great content guys, keep up the awesome job!
how to become a game designer: no one is hiring game designers without experience, so you become a indie devoloper, learn art and programing and now you can design your own game. Thats is what I am doing
Good luck!
Good luck man. This ain’t gonna be easy
Update? Any links or info ? Best of luck
Any updates?
As a generic college student I'd like to add a footnote to your video: pretty much everything Mark said applies to many other jobs too. No one teaches you what you have to do to get a job, or to get your dream job, but essentially he said it all: you need experience, which you can get with internships of lower level jobs, you need some kind of referral, which can be a degree, a portfolio, or any kind of knowledge which is directly related to the job you're applying to. You'll need relationships to get through: it doesn't matter if you think it's useless, professors, students and people already working in the industry will always help you if they can and want to. You need soft skills to get through your interview, HR is not there to give you a mark on the test, it's there to see if you're fit and passionate about what you are going to do. And most importantly, you'll get rejected by many different people many different times, but don't let that stop you from trying again and again. After all, Thomas Edison did 1600 prototypes before inventing THE Lightbulb.
Wow. With this video (and potentially that indie one!), I think GMTK is reaching a point where it rivals many game design courses for its content. Now we’re covering the practical out-of-game stuff in the industry!
I’m sure you’ll never see this Mark, but thanks so much for putting these videos together over the past few years. You’ve led a RUclips niche that’s become an incredible resource for people like me trying to learn about game design. Best of luck with everything in the future!
Thank you!
I was asked early on in my career in an job interview what my favourite game was and how I would improve it. It was Majoras Mask and to me it's an flawless masterpiece especially knowing how short and stressfull the development time was. I couldn't come up with a good answer because I was focused on how to actually improve upon it in reality - but they wanted to hear how to improve it only theoretically. I was used to work in a small studio where everyone has to do a bit of everything and it's important to consider such things especially as a game designer but they were a bigger company which had one role for the design part and an entirely other role that would decide upon feasability of those design ideas.
me whose been a game designer for 4 years: yeah ill watch this
@Cool and Smooth Tooth congrats, the joke went so far over your head it has achieved a lunar landing
Any advice on how to get the required 2-4 years experience in game design and a released AAA title before getting one's first game design job? Just wondering if those requirements actually have something of substance to them or if it's just hot air to discourage the honest folks.
@@hauntedshadowslegacy2826 if a job is asking for that then thats a clear sign that isnt a job for new people. as mark states, finding other positions that are low entry is the best way to go about things.
@@dataecto6135 He was making a joke about how jobs require ridiculous previous experience for entry level. It's not looking to attract skilled new designers, it's looking for an excuse to pay an experienced designer an entry level wage.
@@herbivorethecarnivore8447 oh shoot. now the joke flew over me onto the moon. how the turntables
Young people liking video games : "I want to be a game designer, I have tons of ideas for video games in my head !"
Video Games companies : "Let me introduce Microsoft Excel to you".
What a great way to kill interest.
And competition I suppose...
Can you, kindly explain? 😶
@@Gunnee4 Game design may be not what you think. In Japan many of them are called "game planners" and their job is to plan events that happen in the game, and for that they use Excel. So if you think game designers always use fancy softwares like Unreal Engine, think again.
@@nullpoint3346 To be fair, don't fix what's not broken.
The problem is with the word designer. It gets confused with artist / animator. Game planner would be better
to be honest , you might not ACTUALLY want to be a "game designer" and instead you just want to pich ideas, or design characters or animations for game, in Wich case you need to remember to specialize for that, because while some of the process is similar you have to know EXACTLY what you want before you start investing into it and you can know if you actually like something if you enjoy gaining experience with it or if you do it for fun, but obviously monetizing it is way different from it being a hobby, and there is only so much you can do with a hobby so it might be better to work on what you love.
it helps to you make your own little game first with GMS or Godot to understand a little bit further what you actually want to do in game development :)
Yeah, 100%. Even when you look at the wider field of software dev, the industry is full of people who decided they wanted to be programmers because they loved playing video games. So they assumed, "I love playing games, so I will definitely love making them! You need to program to make games, so I will study programming!" Then they went to college for CS, realized CS was absolutely not at all what they were expecting, but they felt stuck, so instead of switching they just got a degree despite not enjoying what they were doing at all.
It's a big mistake people make these days. We're told, "Do you what you love and you'll never work a day in your life!" This _can_ be true, but the trick is that you need to be very specific about what it is you love. If you love reading fiction, that doesn't mean you will love writing fiction, so don't go spending a lot of money on an English major before you know whether you like writing. If you love cooking good food at home, that doesn't mean you'll love being a restaurant chef. If you love listening to music & going to shows, that doesn't mean you'll love composing music. And if you love playing games, that doesn't mean you'll love _making_ them. Make sure you actually love the act of making games before spending a lot of money trying to learn how to do it.
Yeah, the guy who would make Cave Story realized this early on when he wanted to make video games, so he treated it more as a hobby and got a job at a printer company instead. I feel like that could work better for a lot of people who want to make their creation using almost entirely their own vision, instead of someone else's.
what would that be called then
T Z i have not started coding yet but i can only see myself working with art or video games so i feel like i dont have much of an option of careers to pursue that i would actually like
"What would happen if you remove an option from rock paper scissors"
It would become an incredibly bad game
Do you want to draw or lose?
what if you made it so that one player wins if both players do the same thing and the other wins if they do different things. it requires establishing which player is which at the beginning, but the odds are completely even and it even eliminates the posiblity of a draw.
@@sutr8512 That's already a thing.
@@sutr8512 Like Odds & Evens?
@@xxgn never heard of it before, but yeah. same thing with a different coat of paint. wikipedia also gives 'matching pennies' as another example.
You would need to add in different balancing elements with the loss of one of them. Let's say you remove paper- that means, by default, rock would always beat scissors. If we're talking in the context of damage ratios, maybe you change that so that a rock inflicts only 90% damage on scissors (and surviving scissors can try to accumulate or progress towards a secondary mechanic that can defeat rock)- or maybe rock still does 100% damage but scissors can inflict 10% damage. So, now, you've open up the possibility where scissors would lose one-on-one, but groups of scissors could overtake a rock. Now you've introduced the question of how many scissors should it take, balancing that, etc.
As a designer, let me just reiterate the importance for projects: Finished, not perfect!
Let it be flawed, and explain what lessons you took away from its flaws. Iteration and retrospective shows growth to employers.
Really appreciated since I'm getting back in the groove after so long.
Thanks!
Here is a tip from a dev about networking: There is nothing more frustrating than having someone talking about you just to clearly use your current position and own network. Don't forget that we are people too.
The best way to increase your network is to SINCERLY get interested into others. Discuss of their past work, of challenges they might have encountered and share experiences. Show that you are passionate about Game Design (or any other field you're into) and that you actually CARE about it. This is the best way to meet people and build true relationship that can, maybe, open some doors some day.
Also do not forget that we have life outside of our job too. Do not harass people if they don't answer you. While video games is our passion sometimes we just want to do or talk about something else than our job. :)
Mind if I ask for a word of advice regarding this?
I'm trying to get into Narrative Design/Writing in games, working on a few pieces for my portfolio, and honestly the networking side of things terrifies me for this exact reason. The last thing I want is to make the person I'm trying to be friends with and build my network with feel like I'm just using them. or only talking to them because of their job. But, especially if the only chance I have to potentially interact with people in the industry is online, how should I go about trying to be friends with a person on social media (or wherever) without it feeling disingenuous? Where and how do you make that initial contact in a way that's organic but also let's you build a network? On a specific studio's discord maybe? Because like, combing through twitter looking for someone to mention their game dev job and then just commenting on everything they post would just feel realllly scummy to me lol. I want to build real friendships with people, and even if it doesn't "lead anywhere" I feel like it would be really fun and insightful to talk with people who make games. Plus, you know, new internet friends are always nice.
Any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated, because honestly this gives me so much anxiety lol.
@@svenbtb So first as said in the video put a link inside on your profiles to your blog/website where we can read your stuff. Also share it online, even if you don't have any followers. You'll never know when someone is going to check it out.
Then try to find event for writers and discuss with people there. About the theme of the event, stuff you've read/play and you find particularly well written. Like you said there might be communities of writer on Discord, Reddit or random forum. You might want to look into that and interact with them.
Follow a bunch of writers on Twitter and try to interact with them if it's pertinent. Let's say they are talking about some series, give your opinion on it, start a debate, ask question about their perspective on it. Like you said commenting every post will not be relevant. But sometimes they might talk about a subject you like a lot and the discussion will become natural. They might even check your profile and that's when the link to your projects will be relevant ;)
In the end don't freak out to interact with someone. As long as you're not like "Here is my Resume, can you give me a job in your company?" it will be ok :)
@@svenbtb One last thing. Once you start to have friends that are in the field you'd like to work. Party with them. They will most likely have other friends in that field too that you'll meet around a beer without even discussing about your job.
I'm a solo game dev and game designing and programming in general is my hobby, so I don't think I worry about those problems that much
Why hasn’t this information been more easily accessible before?! I’ve been killing myself over the past few years looking for what the role of a game design even is supposed to mean! Thank you so much for making this video! Albeit a little late for me hahaha but better late than ever.
I actually got a place as a game design student at one of the best universities in germany in cologne which i am extremeley excited about. The decision to apply for this university was influenced by this channel, since i got so many exciting gamedesign ideas i want to make happen thanks to inspiration by this channel. I hope you will keep on making these great videos for a long time. Thank you.
Congrats!
Important Note: This applies for every industry.
Working as a employee: Get experienced, go out and meet people, use social media to your favor. Create a portfolio.
Independent or your own boss: It's an uphill battle everyday. Don´t give up. It's so rewarding to see what a single person or a small group can achieve.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I'm an engineering student and I'm almost finished with my degree, so I'm starting to look around for an internship: it's literally the same thing, experience, portfolio, relationships, way of and soft skills. Maybe there's a bigger necessity for a degree, but that also depends a lot on how low are you willing to start (and level your way up) and where do you wanna work.
As an avid GMTK viewer its pretty fun to see my face pop up at 4:56 . From one of my dev-vlogs over at @Myrkur Games :)
Great video as usual! The biggest thing, when it comes to applications, is a good looking portfolio and obvious passion! Try to sculpt your portfolio to match the studio you are applying to. E.g. don't show only 2d platformer puzzle projects when applying for a designer position on a AAA fps . Those projects help to give depth to the portfolio but showing that you are comfortable, working on a similar project you are applying fore gives you a very good chance at getting that job interview 👍
This video launched just few minutes before a GD interview... thx for the great boost!
Good luck!
Hopefully you got the place :)
Daleee, espero que dê tudo certo pra ti!
I'm a 3d modeler for an indie studio and the best piece of advice i have is keep your boss and team notified
Visual scripting has opened the door for so many people to become game devs, and it’s quite amazing.
Yup, me included. I last touched Batch when I was ~14 years old, and fiddled with a smidge of CSS for a few months in high school. Boxes and wires? Thaaaaaank you! So much better, yo.
I stuck with and pushed Scratch for quite a while, and it made quite a nice stepping stone into text-based scripting.
@@hauntedshadowslegacy2826 Ue4's Blueprints system is AMAZING and what I use
I went the programming route. I'm really glad I went that path because although it was a struggle, the struggle was worth it. I can basically design whatever system I want and I'm not confined to someone else's idea about how a game should work, which gives me so much flexibility.
That being said, visual scripting systems have really improved over the years. It's great more people are able to express themselves.
I'm a very technical person and like knowing how everything works, so VS was never an option for me.
As a game designer, i approve this message!
For real, that's so close to the talk I give to students about getting into the industry it's amazing. Good job on making it all fit in 15min, i'll definitely link back to this in the future. Really great job!
I would only add that reading books is a plus (as in every job) and that being curious and proactive are definitely 2 major qualities. Also, don't be afraid to say "I don't know" or "I'm not sure I understand" and then asking for some pointers or cues especailly for junior positions. It proves you are humble and can seek help / feedback / support if needed.
I’m a 24 year old software developer and it’s so hard to to start this career path! I’ve tried! So it’s really nice getting to know more
I'm also 24 and hoping to get into the industry. Sucks that a) everywhere is locked down (I have asthma, so I can't go anywhere anyway until I get vaccinated), and b) I'm too disabled to drive a car in this motorist-worshiping country. Despite being in an area with plenty of big players in the games industry, I just can't get a break. Would be cool if people in minority groups had an easier time getting into the industry. I'll bet it would go a long way toward making healthier, safer, more-inclusive studios, too.
What's the first programming language I should learn if I wanted to make something like a graphic adventure game? (which I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, would be the easiest and most economic type of game for one single developer)
@@Vicente480 I am personally starting with Pico 8 because it's simple. You could try it too.
@@Vicente480 I'm not an expert but I am taking a class in programming. The language that you pick doesn't matter so much as your understanding of general programming elements. There are many elements that are the same for many languages. C++ is prevalent in games from what I know. If you're just starting out, try to write a simple text-based adventure console game or something really simple OR you could see what you can do with blueprints in Unreal. That's code-esque but I think it's more of a block language, which means you're not actually writing the code.
Something I saw on reddit a while back is that software development yields bigger bucks because more companies see the value.
As an designer to be, you should practice your ability to communicate your design ideas to other people.
I work as a gameplay engineer and therefore work tightly with game designers of all sorts. I frequently sit in interviews with potential designers. The one quality I cherish and look for in my designers is their ability to communicate ideas and concepts to me.
I rely on my designers to come up with smart and engaging ideas. They need to rely on my to bring those ideas to life and realize them in the game.
You might have the most brilliant idea of a game in your head - but at the end of the day it only matters how much of that idea ends up in the heads of your team.
Here is what NOT to do become a professional game designer:
1. Refuse to work during crunch-time
2. Complain about being underpaid
3. Join a union
4. Or anything else that would improve your wellbeing at the expense of the bottomline of an uncaring corporation
Aka: Why you should never work for a triple AAA games company.
@@Orange_Swirl AAAAAAAAA
Mmm, I sure would love to become a corporate slave so I can make video games most people can already make better in their own basements.
Thank you Mark for this video. It's going to help a lot of people.
One piece of advice regarding your portfolio as a Level Designer that I can give is to explain the reason behind what you show. It's really helpful to the people who are going to look at your work if you mention what you were trying to do, what kind of emotion you wanted to create, etc. As a designer, you need to think about that as it's how you are going to convince people daily that we should follow your ideas. A big part of a designer's role is to sell your ideas and convince others to help you create what you have in mind.
Another important aspect is to mention what when wrong and how did you adapt to the new challenges that you faced while creating that piece.
Finally, explain your creative process from start to finish. How do you work? Mark mentioned that during an interview, you will be asked questions to validate if you are a good fit for the team and the studio culture, but it's also really interesting to see how you think and work and how the team actually in place can benefit from your process.
So cool to see Zachary Preece's name come up in this! I've been his lead on Watch Dogs Legion, he is very talented!
Ayy I work with him and I see he's here!
Ooo could you ask him his experience at Staffordshire Uni, on a scale 1-10 recommend.
@@alpha3518 Tag @zac2806 from the replies - that's him :)
@@zac2806 hey @zac2806 the video mentioned you graduated from Staffordshire, did you like experience there, scale 1-10, what course recommendation stuff like that please
As someone who lives on Cuba 12:54 hits extremely hard. Even moving to anywhere else in South America bring me a LOT more opportunities from where I live in...
Woop Woop. Teesside!
As an additional note, when applying, dont be scared to apply for Full Time positions in your preffered job role (skipping internships). If you can prove yourself with a sweet portfolio project, and the test during the interview (if you are given one), an employer may just take you onboard!
It really is a Dream Job with a lot of great, friendly people!
If anyone has any questions, drop em below and I will do my best to answer them (as a Level Designer).
What tools do you use
What process would you recommend when job-searching?
@@emixinfinity9053 For Level Design (LD) I would primarily prefer UE4, but my workplace uses a 'custom version' of CryEngine/ Lumberyard. Additionally I tend to use Maya for modelling whiteboxes before importing to the Engine.
@@smudge2172 Really, when I was trying to get into the industry, I applied to any Level Design job I could find for FPS games all over Europe (and a few in the US). I think I applied to 80 positions before getting a couple interviews.
Ideally, you should tailor your CV/ Portfolio for the job you are after. For FPS, make an FPS project. 2D platformer jobs would expect a 2D project, etc.
I feel like lot of game devs are great people with lots of skills of creating something. But I also feel like many of them lack a little bit of understanding of games, like they don't know what players want, what games are fun and so on. They just focus on their 'craftsmanship'. I don't know mby it's not true, that's why I ask.
That brings it to me, I as huge gamer, reallly wanna do some job about games, but I really like to think about them (like GMTK here). And I'm not sure if spending years of crafting one product is for me, mby I'll better suit as game critic/journalist.. who knows
Having shipped over 15 games in a various roles ranging from QA, Programming, Design, Production, I think this video is great. The only thing I would try to clarify is that "scripting" IS programming. It's not the same as programming natively in C++, but blueprint is a very powerful scripting language that is object oriented. You need to understand software engineering fundamentals in order to maximize your potential in that scripting language.
the most important advice as an upcoming indie dev is, NEVER GIVE UP.
IMO, that's way overrated. Sometimes the smart move is to give up and that's ok. It really depends on the situation.
@@Ayoul yeah especially if they overscope or something
This video inspired me to apply to study game design at a university when it came out. I'm know in my 5th semester :)
Thank you so much for shaping my life
"The games industry has a lot of problems like crunch"
So do the university programs. In my undergrad at Digipen, I was consistently doing 80-hour weeks through almost the entirety of my sophomore and junior years. Almost put me off on the industry entirely, and I made sure after graduating to only go work for companies that have a healthy work-life balance - of which very few exist.
how were you working 8 hour days 10 times a week how
@@maschae4500 80 / 7 = 11 or 80 / 6 = 13
@@maschae4500 probably including homework. College homework are counted in the credit hours.
university programs are often meant to prove you can get through crunch, and can learn a lot of info in a short amount of time. It's also about learning time management, learning to deal with many stresses at once, etc.
@@cassou124 while that is fair, it's still pretty bad to put students through horrible stress because crunch is genuinely horrible to the psyche and to mental health
Noclip's Hades development docuseries is a really great look at what game designers really do, and how their decisions result in the experiences we get from their games.
I've been trying to get into the industry for years - I started coding at 13, now I'm nearly 30. Fair to say, I've got a decent bit of experience under my belt. The problem is, I just can't get hired anywhere, and I don't know why. So I've decided to just go it alone - I'm currently running my own indie studio and working on a web game called Egg Trainer. Hopefully, it'll pay off this time.
Wishing the best of luck to you!
@@SuperRitz44 Thank you so much!
Hi im 14 and ive been learning to code and make games. ive been thinking of the future and wether or not i would want to get into a big company or join an indie studio or even make my own indie studio! and i was wondering if you could give me any advice? like how did you reach this point and what should i do and should i not do to prepare? stuff like that
obviously its probably a bit early to be thinking about these things but im really interested! and good luck on your game btw, hope it goes well!
@@TheWeen344 Thank you! I'd mainly recommend one thing: make things! Make what you like to make, and learn a new technology every so often (that's two things). At 13 I was using GameMaker, and at 16 I decided to start using C++ with SDL. I wasn't too concerned with what I was going to do in the future, all I remember is that I really enjoyed making games, programming and learning new stuff. I went to Australia's equivalent of community college for 2 years (mostly learned teamwork there), and eventually picked up Unity a couple of years ago. I did things simply because I enjoyed it - if you do the same, eventually you'll find that you've got a lot of skills that you can apply to a studio with. Just remember that working at a studio is super different from working for yourself, but the payoff is worth it. Also, learn how to learn - that's a big skill in itself; you'[ll never know everything you need for a job, but knowing how to learn it when you need it is crucial.
@@Ratstail91 thank you so much for the reply and advice! im currently learning unity and its great! ive joined and sumbitted to a few game jams and im currently doing a udemy course on C#, and i cant wait to get into it! i have many ideas
once again thank you for the advice!
Advice: Remember that when/if you get to the interview that it's a two-way street. You are interviewing them just as hard as they are interviewing you. Go in with questions about the culture, work hours, who you will be working alongside and underneath. Ask about what on-the-job training they have because most likely they will have some proprietary software that you've never touched before. Make sure the position is what you want to do. Being in a company or a position that you end up not liking will turn the fun into.... well... less fun. (speaking from experience)
Kudos for making the awesome pixel animations inclusive. It's a small detail but it didn't pass unnoticed. That was very nice
I'm glad you acknowledged some issues within the industry and not just said "work really hard and you'll have your dream job" or smthn like that.
Hey, I'm a 4th year Undergraduate student set to graduate this year. I wanted to say that participating in game jams is one of the best way to get material for your portfolio. Even if you don't manage to finish, as long as you can show of your work, and explain your iterative process through a website, or a small article, then you can really have a good piece.
Just wanted to say that subtle touches like your User Experience Designer don't go unnoticed. Always impressed with your commitment to inclusion in your work.
UX can go unnoticed...when its good.
More often than not people (myself included) DO notice User Experience Designer choices especially after an update... because they make most users think "What fucking user feedback asked for that useful function to get buried in menus in order to prioritize a new button 99% of users will never willingly press?!?!"
I was getting anxious at the job interview part, and then I remembered I already have a job in the industry and how I should be thankful for getting here so young. If I have one advice to share, it would be to be curious, keep learning everytime, never feel like knowing everything and obviously... make stuff. But really, I insists : make stuff, a lot. Getting a job in the industry is about having experience and remember that you don't need to wait to have a job to have something to show. Good luck to everyone pursuing their dreams and keep having fun in the process.
My greatest hobby is studying game design, coming up with mechanics and ideas that I keep mostly to myself, It's been a childhood dream of mine to make a game, but honestly, actually working in the game industry doesn't apeal to me at all, it looks like one of those jobs that can quickly consume your entire life, and I would much rather keep this personal passion as more of an artistic and ludic endevour, something to do when I'm relaxing, without any grand ambitions so as not have my life depend on it. I think joining an indie group of game devs would be nice, like minded people, but it's hard to find them, especially in South America haha
I think you nailed it at the end of the video. "Just make stuff"
For the longest time, and still kind of do, struggle with my identity as a game designer. I always thought that just because I don't have a job at some big company and working at it full time that makes me less of a game developer. It really hasn't been till this year that I've been more supportive of myself and my work. My wife has always been majorly supportive in my creative endeavors and always said, "it doesn't matter if you don't have some big designer job, it matters that you're still passionate about it and working on games"
I watched your videos when I just started designing games. Now I've done about 10 game jams and I use the advice from your videos for inspiration. Hopefully, I can release a full game soon. Remember, as difficult as making games seems, you need to start somewhere, and every project you make will inch you closer to your game making goals.
It gets me super pumped for my career, knowing that someone out there is waiting for me.
I have to prove myself!!!!!!
brb gonna fill my portfolio with really bad Mario Maker Levels, so I can be hired by bethesda.
To be fair, if you made the levels yourself, and they show creative use of the engine, it could be a refreshing addition, alongside other works of yours.
1. Make a better Mario game than Nintendo within Mario Maker
2. Apply to Nintendo
3. ???
4. Profit!
@@DRida64 To be fair a creative use of Bethesda's engine would probably break it even more than it already is.
"Those levels are a buggy mess, and most of them aren't even finished! When can you start?"
@@cityuser You seem to be missing the "get fucked by Nintendo" step.
I knew the very first advice before you said it. Make stuff. For several years I've told myself that I'm going to start but keep delaying it. There's no other way. Make stuff.
Great video, Mark. Very, very helpful.
Failing an interview is not end of world. It actually a good thing, you get experience, you can know what you was missing so you can work on it.
I an 17,5 yo and I plan to become a game designer. I have done a lot of scetching for characters, weapons and stuff, but I have also made perk and ability lists, tried to balance what my future games will have. One time, I made a mathematical function and put shots to kill as a valuable in the Y axis and reload speed to the x axis, and started spraying weapons on the line, above it if they were cheaper or bellow if they were more expensive.
Omg, so glad you're covering this Mark!
I've spoken for years on how to help get jobs in the games industry. It is so gratifying to get confirmation that much of my knowledge is on par with others and still practiced today. Thank you again for a wonderful video.
1:42 Props for making one person in the Office sitting in a wheelchair.
It’s the beauty of game design, there are no limits
I find it particularly impactful that the sprite represented the UX designer, since accessibility so often starts in interface design
@@Ian-nc1nd haven't even noticed that! absolutly true
Someone here studying Game development and hoping to apply as designer in an intership in just a couple of weeks. Thanks, really. I studied psychology expecting ir to help become future game designer and, when you mentioned it, I nearly started crying, realizing I hadn't wasted 4 years of my life. In the last year i have watched a lot of your videos and they helped me to improve my design skills.
Thanks by heart
Thank you so much for this,
As the “amateur game developer” I am, I try and learn many things because one day, I want to have a team : musicians, programmers, artists and more, working together to create entertainment.
I am young and got a way to go... but I try and do what I can for now.
1: Want to make a game.
2: Get RPG Maker (any will do, or even another maker if it has premade assets - but if it doesn't then just use pixel stick people - NOBODY WILL CARE!).
3: Use a tutorial for the game engine you purchased. Follow every step.
4: Using what you've learned you can now start making a game with it. If you forget something then revisit the tutorial until you learn it.
You won't know everything at first but you'll gradually learn new techniques, limitations, workarounds for those limitations, and more.
The MOST important thing I can tell you, however, is that you don't need a team to start learning. You don't need to work for a big company. You don't "need" anyone.
"You" can do it. Just believe in yourself and keep working. Keep writing, building, and moving forward. Nobody can stop you but your own self doubts. A lot of youtube videos will tell you that you need social skills and to work with a team to make a game happen. No! That's not true! These videos are made by competition who want you gone from the equation, and the best way to do that is by putting a wall of doubt in front of you. Saying that people need social skills during this pandemic will be even more discouraging. Don't believe them. You've got hands. You've got fingers, and nobody is holding them down. Just do it!
"How to Become a Game Designer"
2:48 - Proceeds to show the single most sleep-deprived looking human I have ever seen
This comment need to have more likes!
at least you know what you're getting into :D
*Person:* how do I become a game designer. It looks like fun to do.
*Video:* work all night every night. Have this one thing become everything in your life. Nothing else matters... unless you work at a big studio where you get to work on horse testicles.
*person:* yeah... maybe not then...
@@glendarjj3991 Yea, you're competing with some of the people most capable of forming addictive obsessions with their work. They have become the game, drained enough bottles of mountain dew that they are more hummingbird than human. And you have to keep up.
@@glendarjj3991 what if ur an insomniac and never sleep at night?
Fantastic video as always! One thing everyone should keep in mind is that ‘design thinking’ is a skill that CAN be learned, it’s never out of your reach and it’s also never too late to start learning.
The moment Mark mentioned that we need interpersonal skills I knew I was fucked if I wanted to join a game company
My idea: find a partner and make games with him/her ;-)
It worked for some small game studios.
@@igorthelight yea I actually never even wanted to join one of the "big name game developers" since I know it's more like a rat race in my opinion
Interpersonal skills are a must in any creative job, to be honest.
@@shreyanshsingh379 100% agree!
@@adenrius True. At least some marketing skills. Or know someone that have them :-)
Even as a game designer since 2006, I still found this video is super relevant. Keep learning and embracing new challenges, enjoy and treat your life as the best game you have ever played, is playing and will play!
very good timing! i was just wanting to get into the industry ^^
shoot for the stars
What could be better than the fact that mark actually researched about gamedev in India.
I've been following you for a long time, and had to comment as this will be the video I'll reference when anybody asks me this question in the future. What a great video. It highlighted everything I basically did in order to land my first job as a designer.
I worked my ass off while studying, spending all my free time on game projects or social events around the industry. Not the most healthy way to go about it(mental health is important), but doing the grind for sake of learning and forcing myself to network made me the right guy at the right place when a company needed a new designer. I was the only guy my friend knew, that in he's opinion was a good designer with lot of potential and something to prove it with. That coupled with a business background and some knowledge on programming helped me stand out and landed me my job.
If you are new, having small finished crappy projects is way more important than having one really good polished one. The faster you fail the faster you learn, and if you can explain why you failed and show that you learned from that failure, even better. But doing small projects usually helps you learn a lot faster because the polish part.
0:08 Soo interested already when I hear "kids and teenagers" Hahah! I am actually a kid going to step into teenage and such a co-incidence, that I also look for forward for becoming a game designer and Game developer and this came in my feed!
I changed to studying game design in college two years ago because of GMTK and this video gives all the answers I've been looking for about the industry. Thank you truly from the bottom of my heart
As someone who has had a really though time thinking about what i could do after this last year of highschool and getting very stressed out by it. Thank you for giving us these tips and thank you for making such a good video wrapping up a lot of important info i am really excited to start working on getting to learn game design more and do the best of my ability and im gonna need a lot of practice but this video really made me inspired and informed of everything i need to know for now. Im def subscribing
Some great advice in this video. In addition to what Mark touched on regarding critique - I personally find that getting negative feedback is more important than positive. I always request feedback from QA and tell them not to hold back. There's a natural tendency for people not to mention anything negative about your work (well not to your face!). But I demand it, straight up asking them “what’s wrong with XYZ”. If they suggest something that fixes an issue, then I go away, redesign it and try to incorporate their suggestions. I would rather get a few negative comments from the QA than a few thousand on social media! Remember everyone’s a designer!
Man imagine going into an interview and the interviewer asking you what games are you playing and whats good and bad about them. That sounds like a dream come true compared to lying about what books im reading lol for college interviews.
It's not as much a dream when your dream job is on the line.
Awesome video! I am a game programmer working in the industry, but I have one advice which is told in this video as well: MAKE THINGS! No matter if it's a short mobile game, a 3D animation or a narrative multiple-choice thingy, developing something gives you a lot of experience. Try Game Jams as well!
Question I'm a fiction writer and that's always Been my bread and butter since childhood. I've gone to school for creative writing for games and have created my own RPG card game / boardgame and have written / published a novella , and have dozens of independent creative works of fiction that I've created over the years. I am not the best designer in fact I'd say I've got hardly any talent or skill in that area at all but I really would love to write for games and have that for my primary vocation. With my skillset do I have a chance of working in the game industry?
"It's not what you know, it's who you know."
Me, an introvert: "Guess I'll go die."
This should be shown in schools because game design is very demanding by kids and teens this day and age and would be very helpful for them to know how what to expect in the workplace if they want that field.
"I'm not really equipped to answer this question."
And here I thought, with everything that can be learned from this channel, that Mark is a game designer by trade.