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Hello, so it happens im a game designer wannabe, i guess many on the forums want to be or are already designers, so i ask this to the people who know.
What does it take to be a game designer? What pointers could you give to a game designer wannabe?
Currently i have a mayor in graphic design and some work experience altought 0 insight on how game industry work. Also i dont live in the US so that could or could be not an issue too.
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"Currently i have a mayor in graphic design and some work experience altought 0 insight on how game industry work. Also i dont live in the US so that could or could be not an issue too."
Let he who is perfect cast the first stone...and I am not perfect...however...
Editing, in my ignorant opinion, is kind of a big deal. Posting spelling errors now won't win you any favors in the long run. Attention to deal, again...in my ignorant opinion, is pretty important.
I know when I buy something published, I like it to be without typos.
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Let he who is perfect cast the first stone...and I am not perfect...
Noted.
Editing, in my ignorant opinion, is kind of a big deal. Posting spelling errors now won't win you any favors in the long run. Attention to deal...
Attention to deal...
Right.
Ironic?
1) When I was learning to use the musical instrament that is my voice, a friend of mine told me practice "loud, proud, and wrong" until I started getting it right. In the same vein, you learn to design games by doing it. If you are serious about it, then don't go about it half-assed. Whether you want to design as an amateur or a professional, if you want others to take you seriosuly, then you must commit
2) Learn to accept criticism, because you will get the good kind and bad kind. Even after a game designer "makes it", he or she will continue to get both good criticism and bad criticism.
3) Look at what others have done. Don't copy them, but learn from them. The things you write needs to work with other material. When a person sees a new rule worded in a familiar way, he or she will have an easier time understanding it.
4) You need to combine standardized game design with your own unique perspective, and that takes practice. You have a unique voice, but some people need more time to find it.
5) The editorial phase is very imprtant. Its not enough for you to understand what you wrote. Anyone who reads it has to also understand how it works. Sometimes you need to be general, sometimes you need to be specific, but you always need to be understood.
6) Presentation. It should be visually appealing.
Well If you want my limited insight, here is what I have experienced.
1.) If you have questions, post them! The 3rd party community and the Paizo employees are very helpful on these boards for those who have publishing/design questions.
2.) Make sure you communicate in a clear voice. This means for message-board communication spell-check, use proper punctuation and capitalization, use paragraphs and try to state each idea in a clear and definitive manner. Avoiding slang and Leet speak can help.
3.) For designing a product you should be prepared to do your research and quite a bit of math. A quality product is consistent thematically as well as mechanically and designed with both the system and existing product in mind.
4.) Know that you will, unless you are a very rare bird, be bad at first. I was! I still am compared to some of the wonderful designers that communicate on these boards. The important part is to keep trying, you will improve.
5.) Contests! Enter everything you can, competition is fierce and fun. Also you never know when you might win. They are posted often on these forums.
I hope this helps. To give you an idea about me, I am just finishing the last layout touches on a project that I am kick-starting within the next month, and I have just filed for my own game design companies business licence. If this sounds impressive it is not! I am a newbie and have only got this far due to the help and kindness of some of the great posters here.
Good LUCK!
Hello, so it happens im a game designer wannabe, i guess many on the forums want to be or are already designers, so i ask this to the people who know.
What does it take to be a game designer? What pointers could you give to a game designer wannabe?
Currently i have a mayor in graphic design and some work experience altought 0 insight on how game industry work. Also i dont live in the US so that could or could be not an issue too.
What does it take to be a game designer? Pretty much the ability to create pdfs and an idea is all it takes in the purest sense. With paizo's store, and thinks like drive through rpg, anyone is capable of publishing game ideas.
If you are asking how to successfuly be a game designer for pathfinder, you probably want to try and get involved as a freelancer first.
As someone mentioned the most straight forward way to get involved in pathfinder is rpg superstar. Every year paizo holds a contest. The winner will get to write a module for paizo and almost certainly will get lots more work for them. Many of them are now full time paizo staff. Even those that dont win but make it far in the competition often get freelance work from paizo and from 3rd party publishers.
That brings us to the second avenue. There are lots of 3rd party publishers that you can get involved with that probably have a slightly lower barrier to entry then paizo does.
In general the idea is to try and get your work out there where people will see it. Then if its good, you can progress to new opportunities.
The community project wayfinder is also a good option. They have two issues a year, and have an open call for ideas. If you get an article in wayfinder you essentially have a guarantee that paizo staff and many 3rd party publishers will read your work. If they like it, you may well be able to get in a pitch for something else or get freelance work.
Also, i dont have the links handy, but a podcast called Know Direction has recorded most of the gencon and paizocon siminars over the last few years. Go back and find the ones about becoming a freelancer or 3rd party publisher. Theres a ton of good advice in those from industry vets.
Game design is a pretty wide category these days. Assuming you’re looking at table top rpg game design…
If you are just starting to explore the field I would recommend that you go through all of the RPG Superstar stuff housed here on Paizo's site, especially the advice & feedback from the judges. This might give you an idea (at least from the Paizo-side of things) of stuff that professional game designers/ contributors look for. Then go through the 3pp publishing area of the site - there is a lot of advice from 3PP publishers about both game design and what they are looking for from freelancers.
Also, make sure you know the game you're writing for. If you're thinking about design for Pathfinder, keep in mind the stuff that is Golarion / Pathfinder specific and know where some of the sticky widgets are located (no paladins of Red Mantis, for instance). You don't need to know everything, but know where some of the common mistakes have been made or corrected. I highly recommend looking through the FAQ's and any posts made by the Paizo design team so that you have a better idea of not only what rulings were made, but to get a bit more of an idea of what the reasons were for the decisions made.
Write & submit. Don't rely on getting in the door to the publishing industry with a 1st party publisher like Paizo or Hasbro/WotC with no design credits. Many of the 3PP's hold design contests or encounter-writing contests on a regular basis. Enter them, follow them. Seek feedback. Read feedback. Don't take feedback in a personal manner, take it in a professional manner. Rinse wash repeat. In addition to the "normal" 3PP's, check out Wayfinder (a Paizo "fanzine" available for free on the Paizo site) - it's an excellent way to get some name recognition (and equally important practice / feedback).
Perspective and professionalism. Try to take as few things personally as you can. Even when it's obvious its personal. What you say, er type, will haunt you. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not so much. Try to stay as professional as possible as much as possible, even when not Writing / posting in a "professional" setting.
Have / grow a thick skin when it comes to criticism.
Realize that game design (or any other type of writing) really is work. Treat it like you would breaking into any other professional field. It gets better / faster / easier with practice, but like any other skill or job some days are easier than others and some tasks will make you want to drink booze by the bottle and then break it over someone's head. Don't drink booze by the bottle and then break it over someone's head*. That said, while it is work and you can make a living at it, it is not a field renowned for its fiscally advantageous pay rates.
There is a lot of competition out there, work hard / good luck!
-TimD
*except possibly as a kickstarter stretch goal or as part of a charity auction / reward, of course!
