What is it like to be a Game Designer?
👋 Hello, World! Many people are wondering how is it like to sit in front of your PC and spend 5 or more hours designing games, dealing with buggy bugs, and documenting everything. Therefore, I just thought it's gonna be handy to share my daily routine as a Game Designer.
Oh by the way, if you're questioning what exactly a game designer does, lemme explain it too. Game design is the process of designing the content and rules of a game; the gameplay, environments, storyline, and characters. Most of the time, Game designers have to code too. A games designer may specialize in one category (level design, documenting, balancing difficulty) or all depending on the size and complexity of the project. And if you're making an Indie game, you have to switch your job title to Game Developer, as I did.
Techstack 🛠
Game Developer's Techstack is not that wide but includes some complex tools.
A Game Engine: Most of the games are made using a Game Engine, and they're not written from scratch. Widely used Game Engines are Unity and Unreal.
Programming Language(s): Every game engine has one or more programming languages that support it. As an example, Unity's mainly used language is C#, but C++ can be used too. It's not essential to learn every language that your engine support, but it's a Plus!
Photoshop or Similar Tools: Art is also an important part, and 3D modeling is a plus too!
IDEs: Even you're a Game designer, you will have to code sometimes. Therefore, it's essential to learn common IDEs used in Game development, especially Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code.
Documenting Tools: Documenting is essential in Game Development. You will have to write Game Design Documents, Press releases, and a lot more! I personally use Google Docs and Notion for this.
Daily Routine 🗓
Well, I don't think Game developers/designers have a typical working day which is the reason for me to be a game developer.
Every day, you will have to learn something new, exciting and sometimes it can be boring. And the best thing, there's a higher probability of meeting at least 2 bugs a day 🐛
In these days, I'm working on my own project, Wheel Rider so I start my day with the To-do list.
No need to lie, you may not complete everything there, and just don't worry about it!
If you're making a game with a team, everything is different. One day, you will be writing the GDD, fixing bugs, or just hanging out with team members. And the next day, you will be working so hard on Player controls and have no free time.
What's Good and What Sucks?
Good things first.
What makes me happy is meeting every type of person every day. I will find very talented people, as well as novices. No matter what kind of person is it, I have to work with them.
And the next most rewarding thing is seeing how Players enjoy our games. Looking at the Game analytics is the best gift for my hard work, not just money.
Thinking about what sucks, I don't get anything. Maybe, Promoting? Promoting the game, especially before releasing is such a difficult thing to do. When it comes to Indie games, Promoting or Marketing is the main factor for success. You as much effort into marketing a game as you do into making it.
Productivity Boosters?
Of course, all of us have productivity boosters, which help us to work like mad. For me, there are a few. Coffee, Chocolate, Cookies, and Music! 🎧
Summing Up
If I everything into one sentence, Being a Game developer/designer is something really exciting and rewarding! And did you know that Game Designers are happy? According to a survey conducted by CareerExplorer, video game designers have rated their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 3% of careers!
And that's all for now, Happy designing!
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