Ask a Game Designer a Question

[RollForInitiative]

Busy day so I'll only tackle the next five questions. Keep 'em coming! I'm really enjoying seeing what people have on their minds and I hope you're all enjoying the thread too.

What's the process you have to go through to get ideas for games considered in your company?

I honestly can't answer that. Given that triple-A titles take so long to develop, there's never appeared to be any surplus of time or manpower to warrant my pitching of a new idea. We already had plenty in the wings when I came on board in the first place so I've never asked about it. From what I've heard, it basically boils down to making a pitch document/proposal and finding the time to get it pitched to our higher-ups to see if they bite. Beyond that, I couldn't say.

What have you worked on?

I've done work on Jade Empire, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Oh, another one if I may be so bold...

From looking at concept art and designs for several games, it has become very apparant that games are often shipped well short of the creative vision originally held for them. About how much would you say a retail release usually has to sacrifice of its original vision in order to abide by time, budget or staff constraints?

*whistle* That's a rough one. I'll go ahead and say that no game is ever as good at release as it had the potential to be during development. I'm not saying anything against the people that develop them and I'm not saying that we're trying to screw the audience over. I'm simply saying two things: as far as concept art goes, there aren't enough real-time rendering polys in the world to match what those guys can put on paper sometimes. Models just can't look quite as good as concept at this point but it's getting a lot closer. Good concept artists tend to concept with the limitations in mind as well, which helps a lot.

As far as design goes, some things just aren't feasible from a tech standpoint and get cut. Some things just aren't as fun as they originally sounded and get cut. Some things just can't be crammed into the game within the schedule and, yes, get cut. It's the harsh reality and we do what we can to mitigate it.

I can't really throw a number at your question. It would be unfounded nonsense to do so and, with my luck, would wind up being quoted somewhere it shouldn't. I suppose all I can really say is that a project that's well managed, well scheduled, and supported with solid tools is going to see a minimal loss from concept to release. The poorer any of those elements become, the greater the gap you're going to see.

Are you a <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA>code monkey, or do they allow you to be creative?

I do a lot of work in engine-specific scripting languages, but I'm not a code monkey. My directive usually boils down to "this is the objective to meet." I'm free to meet it as I see fit, within reason. I get a lot of creative freedom in polishing, tweaking, and crafting the experience at the actual gameplay level. I may not ever be changing the writing or overall goal, but I have a lot of control over how it plays out. Naturally, you still go through a lot of peer review and that will influence the end result, but I don't feel like I'm being told to "do this exactly as I say."

How is it developing games for current gen systems? Is it more of a monolithic task than ever? Is it getting easier as we go?

It's certainly become a monolithic task. What we try to do within a single game has continued to grow in complexity, resulting in more bugs and more time spent debugging. As the hardware improves, we can't help but try to do more. I've been on teams with a couple hundred people and it's staggering to think that we really need all of them to get the job done. I won't say "gone are the days when a small team could bust ass to make a great game" because that would be denouncing the indie game developers, but it's certainly become a lot tougher.

 

[TiefBlau]

How and with what skills does one break into the industry?

 

[Embz]

What country/region has the most job opportunities for a game designer?

 

[Anah'ya]

Hm. I suppose that question will go unanswered, but wha' the hell, I'll give it a shot anyway.

How do you balance the pressure put on you by your audience (or the publisher for that matter) with what you want to create? I appreciate a developing studio that listens to it's fans much as anyone else, but at times I can't help but wonder if some of the expectations limit the creative freedom of the brilliant minds behind the game. The thought that a title might take another direction not because it was meant to do so, but because of outside influence alone, makes this Taffer sad.

 

[veloper]

Where do you look, if you want to know as a developer what features and ideas sell the game to more gamers?

Do you do market research? Or perhaps do you listen only to the core fanbase or do you just make the game you always wanted to play yourself?

 

[Dexiro]

For someone that's looking to get into the industry as a programmer some day, where would you say is a good starting place?

I'm lazily learning Actionscript 2/3 for Flash at the moment.
When i kick things back into gear a bit more what would be a good path to follow? Should i dive into the modding community, or try learning C or something?

Oh and where did you start off?

 

[squid5580]

I don't know if you can answer this question but it has been bugging me for a while. First off let me say I am a fan of GOOD DLC. I have bought all of the DA:O and ME (1 & 2) DLC packs for the 360. So the question is what is up with the stupid pricing? I am not talking about the 10 bucks or whatever it works out to. I am not talking about it being to expensive. I am talking about the 560 points. Do you guys have any control over this? Do you not know how we can buy points? Why do you insist on forcing us to buy more points than we can really use leaving us with a balance that is absolutely useless to us?

 

[RollForInitiative]

Managed to squeeze in one more answer!

Will my creative visions be accepted or will they be neglected?

If I provide a story, how the gameplay works, the characters and basically everything about the world.
Will such visions be rewarded or discarded?

My goal is to get accepted into [a href=http://playgroundsquad.com/]PSQ[/a] and realize my dream about becomming a Game Designer, but I'm afraid that my ideas will be discarded and that the actual work that I've imagined it to be is nothing but a fairy tale..

I guess what I am asking is..
Is it better to become an author instead of a game designer if one wants creative freedom?
Alternative, is it better to make your own company for creative freedom?

True creative freedom is, in all honesty, a bit of an urban legend. A big team will have a number of people contributing, while a small team is likely to feel pressure from their publisher. In either case, you're also going to get pressure from groups like GEOPS, who ensure that your content is fitting for distribution over wide areas.

A bigger company is going to be able to shirk the latter two of those issues, but will be subject to the first in force most of the time. Arguably, you could retain total creative freedom by working entirely on your own or completely ignoring everyone else's efforts to contribute, but neither of those are particularly feasible. If you desperately want that much creative control, it's better to stick to a medium that requires less people, such as writing. Of course, even there you have to deal with an editor.

Bottom line? If you want to go professional with something, be prepared to be relaxed with your creative control. If you love something too much to let anybody else touch it, you're better off not going pro with it in the first place. Game development is an industry that promotes the free-flowing sharing of ideas, information, and opinions. It's very team-oriented and it requires people that can share that mind set.

My best advice to you would be to go for what you're dreaming, but be prepared for the consequences. Don't hold something so tightly that you'll be blind to the ideas of those around you. You never know. They might be on to something. =)

Either that, or go nuts in the modding community and see if you can put what you're thinking of together.

 

[Funkymonk761]

if this is an ok question to ask, what piece of work has made you most proud and similarly what do you feel you could have improved ?

 

[Nomanslander]

Can I get a job at Bioware?

I'm almost done with my school for Game Art Design and...=P

Actually I'm curious about what you think makes a good RPG in today's market. Obviously game designers are starting to focus more on the shooting mechanics and cover system, and does it seem the actual RPGs elements are dwindling?

 

[SergioPhoenix1911]

1)Can I get a Job in game industry as a game designer by studying a course in a University?
2)I love to create. What is best to take a course that is called Games Concept Design or a Computer game design?