GET INVOLVED

Another great way to learn something about how to make games is to get involved in Game Jams

What is a Game Jam?

A Game Jam is an event, usually over a set period of time, where people come together to try to make games together as impromptu groups, usually with a theme. They are events where the idea is to pool resources and collaborate with others to create small games within the time limit for the event.

Some are done in person and require you to be in a certain place at a certain time to participate, others are online and more flexible.

Why should you do a Game Jam?

First and foremost it helps introduce you to other like minded game dev folks. It can grow your network of people and help you to learn new skills or meet new people to bounce ideas off.

It will also test your burgeoning skills in game development as the time and resource limitations mean you have to be both efficient and inventive!

Where do I find a game jam?

Many game dev communities around the world run Game Jams. The largest (I think?) is probably Global Game Jam which runs annually and finds people taking part at various sites around the world.

Some online communities also run very successful Game Jams. An example would be the Game Makers Tool Kit community, whose annual Game Jam has been running for quite a few years now.

So Game Jams can be a fantastic way to both connect to other game devs and to have fun stretching your skills and learning!

LEARNING

Then we have another question that I get asked a lot, and this is how people can learn more. Can they go to college for game design, and if so where should they go?

Higher Education

Can you go to college to learn a game development degree? Yes you can!

Should you go to school for game design? That's a hard question for me to answer honestly. I don't know you, or how you might approach additional schooling, or where you have the means to go. I will say that there are more and more schools developing quality game design programs. 

Where should you go?

I'm not going to comment on individual schools (given that I have both worked at one, and that I can't speak authoritatively about all the available options where you are from),

My advice though is to know what you want to do, and focus on that. The options vary a lot depending on whether you want to be a designer, engineer, artist, animator, or otherwise. 

Then do your research. Talk to students who have attended the courses you are considering. Research the professors and lecturers. See if you can gauge how successful the institution is at helping it's graduates find jobs in the industry.

There are good courses and programs out there, the key is finding the right one for you. 

Online Learning

There are also a host of options for online learning beyond watching You Tube videos. (but do not underestimate watching You Tube videos! There are some great tutorials and how-to videos on there.)

Now a word of warning here, their courses aren't free, but they do often go on sale that significantly lowers the cost. You will often be able to pick up entire courses for $10-$30, and some of the more popular ones are well made and informative. There is a lot to filter through, but sticking to some of the high usage courses can dig out some useful courses. The quality of those lone courses can vary, so research them carefully before you put down your hard earned cash, but there are good ones out there that can help you perfect your chosen game development skills.

As always with paid online learning options, be sure that you want to commit to it, as it does require your attention, but hey, you want to make this happen right? Investing on your own growth is often very worthwhile.

More organized learning courses can be found at sites like Udemy - This is one of the paid online course sites. The quality here is generally quite good. (I’ve done a few of their courses myself to learn new tools!)

GameDev.TV is an online learning platform dedicated to games specifically. It offers a wealth of interesting courses that might just kick start your game dev journey.

edX offers online learning through various academic establishments around the world, covering many topics, and one of those topics is game development.

These course are a mix of free to access and paid. There is a slant towards programming in many, but you will find a decent amount of general game dev courses there. Some courses come from pretty prestigious universities, so it is worth doing some research and finding the right course for you.

 So now you’ve started to experiment and maybe even made some games, you might have thoughts about getting into the industry in a professional capacity.

You might either start to look for an entry level job, or look into more training, or maybe even a formal education! Let’s look at each in turn.

Going Professional …

So the important first question you need to ask yourself is what kind of work in games do you want to do?

Game Development Roles

There are numerous types of positions within each of these archetypes, but the six main categories of development are

• Art

• Engineering / Programming

• Design

• Quality Assurance

• Production

• Sound and Music

Then of course you also have the business side of things - finance, marketing, legal, community, business intelligence, merchandising, all of which can exist to varying degrees depending on the size of the studio.

At smaller or indie studios it is common that people multi-task and may serve multiple roles (often out of necessity!). At a large studio you are much more likely to not just specialize, but also specialize into a sub-discipline.

Let’s take a look at Design sub-disciplines to give you an idea of what that might look like:

Design Sub-disciplines

Ok, first off, this will not be exhaustive. Different studios define these roles slightly differently, so see this more as a generalization so you can get an idea of the different types of roles.

So, what are some common game design sub-disciplines?

Content Designer

These are the folks that put the game together. They use whatever tools the studio uses, which could be, scripting languages, databases, or bespoke tools, to create the content that you get to play. Think of this as the more ‘jack of all trades’ type of designer, who might not always require as deep a technical knowledge as they are creating using tools designed for the purpose and can focus on the flow of the player experience itself.

Level Designers

This is a role which can have several different meanings. In large parts of the industry it is very similar to the above, as they will be the person who creates the flow of a level (in a first person shooter game for example). They will often use the assets provided by the art department to ‘build’ the game-play spaces.

Then you also have the types of Level Designers who might better be called ‘World Builders’ these folks tend to be hybrid artists who may also do things like sculpting terrain, painting with textures, and placing assets into the world.

Narrative Designers

This is a role that is popular among students and seems appealing to those who like writing, but comes with a caveat. Compared to other types of designer, there are a lot less narrative design positions in the industry. Content requires a lot of designers to implement. Scripts and narrative flow require relatively fewer designers. Usually there may only be one or two of this type of designer on a project.

UI Designers

These folks work on the games User Interface, and have to figure out how to convey visual information to the player in order to facilitate the game-play. This is a vital role, but is much more specialized (which means good UI designers are usually valued!). Folks who specialize here often tend to have studied other elements of visual design and / or illustration.

Systems Designer

Systems designers can take many forms, and this is an area that often has it’s own sub-disciplines. In general systems designers, work, as the name suggests, on the more systemic parts of game design. This can take many forms. Think of all the different types of systems that exist in games.

• Encounter / Combat Systems

• RPG Systems

• Reward / Progression Systems

Each has subtle differences and might lean on different skills. In general, systems design is where you might find folks stronger in math skills or statistics as well as those who prefer to specialize on the moment to moment player experience. So ‘Systems Design’ can in itself, have a pretty diverse set of designer ‘types’. imagine, for example, designing the moves and actions in a game like God of War, compared to managing the RPG systems in a traditional RPG game, or the progression systems in a strategy game.

Other Development Disciplines

The other disciplines mentioned at the top also have the same variety of sub-disciplines.

For example, an Art department at a major studio might have a bunch of different types of artists. Again, not an exhaustive list, but it gives you an idea about the sheer breadth of specialist roles that exist.

• Character Artists

• Animators

• Texture Artists

• 3D Artists

• Environment Artists

• Lighting Artists

• Technical Artists

• 2D / Pixel Artists

• VFX Artists

Likewise Engineering / Programming can also break down into a variety of sub-disciplines

• Gameplay Engineers

• Server Engineers

• Render Engineers

• Database Engineers

• UI Engineers

• Automation Engineers

• Security Engineers

In terms of sound and music you also have a variety of roles.

• Sound Designers

  • Sound Effects

  • Environmental Effects

  • UI Sounds

• Composers

• Voice Over Directors

Understand the paths …

So, as you embark on a career in games consider what the various different roles are, and start to think about what you want to be. You may end up knowing a little bit about many things, but knowing what you want to try to become can be a good guide for how to proceed.

What excites you?

What type of challenges do you like facing?

What types of problems do you enjoy solving?

What types of people do you enjoy working with?

Start with those questions and go from there. It is never too early to start to think about the path ahead.