Should I Really Pursue My Dreams Of Being a Game Designer?

Question

Um, I know some of you are probably tired of hearing this sort of question. But i really need an answer from an outside source and not from my family. My reason why is that they too seem confused about the matter which often results in conflicts and in some occasions plain out war. I'm really in love with this profession and all the things that come with it. I just graduated from high school and I'm currently going to cal state long beach during the fall going for a nursing major. Here's the stitch. My parents want to go into nursing because, obviously, it pays a lot and doesn't come with the ups and downs and risks of being a game designer. However, despite how interesting nursing appears to me, it just doesn't APPEAL to me, you know. In addition to this I really don't see myself in this career and helping other people with their physical needs and problems. Not that I'm not a caring person or a kind person, I'm told that every day. But I don't really see myself doing that for the REST of my entire life. I actually see myself having nightmares of being a nurse, where I'm alone (nurses work long hours and have no social) and miserable and really fat, like HUGE. But then again I see myself with a nice place to live and living an average good life. But here's my vision as a game designer. I see myself being happy and surrounded by my good friends and my first cute boyfriend. I also see myself as a young woman who knows what she wants in life. And as for my home, its beautiful, but not out of the box, just average and cozy. But what I notice most of all is that i'm happy. So basically what I'm asking is, should i go for game designer, despite the risks that are in it and the possibility of making my parents angry with me or be nurse, where the possibilities of me making it are high and the pay being good. But in the end I'm unhappy and miserable. So just give me some advice because i really don't want to make a mistake in my life where I end up regretting it in the end. So help please.

Answer 1

It sounds to me like you already know which one you truly want.  But I’ll give you my two cents anyway…

Being a game designer isn’t easy.  It’s very competitive to get a job, and even when you have a job there’s always the looming threat of so many other people who want your job, that you have to continue to be the best you possibly can be every single day.  You need to be creative on demand, every day for the rest of your life.  The hours can be long, and burning out often means getting fired.

But it’s a really fantastic job.  The pay is actually pretty good – there's a game industry salary survey from 2006 here: http://gamecareerguide.com/features/266/... that lists Designers on page 4.  Average starting salary is $43,000 per year, and average salary across all titles and experience levels is $63,000.  Out here in California you'll get paid a bit more.  The job is never the same from one day to the next, people in the industry are a blast to work with, you’ll never be bored, and in the end you may just help to create the next huge game.  If you can keep up with the stress and the pressure and the schedules, there’s no other job like it.

One thing to keep in mind – and I’m mentioning this only because I run across it a lot here on Yahoo – is that game design is all about the math and writing that goes into making a game fun.  Game designers don’t create the art, and they don’t program the games.  We figure out the stats for every weapon, the controls of the game, the leveling up system, etc.  Everything about gameplay.  We use math to balance the gameplay and make it fun, and then write it all up and hand it over to the programmers and artists to put into action.

So as a designer, you’ll need to have strong writing skills, strong math skills, and an deep understanding of what makes a game fun.  A lot of designing is about refining something until the fun suddenly blossoms out of it – for instance, The Sims wasn’t fun to play *at all* until about two months before it shipped.  Sometimes it’s as simple as changing the damage of a sword from 35 to 32.  Sometimes it’s a complete overhaul at the last minute (did I mention the long hours?).

You need to do what you love no matter what.  Most parents of people in the game industry don’t like or understand what their children do (though we’re just starting to see the first second generation families).  I know game developers whose parents are confused by what they do, who ask them when they’re going to get a “real job” every time they see them, and even who have told them that they’re going to h**l for making games.  But most parents come around, and are proud of their children’s accomplishments, if sometimes still a little confused.  ;)

If you want to ease into this, try taking some math classes with your nursing classes.  I usually suggest going through Calculus 1.  Take Statistics if you can, which is also very useful.  Throw in a couple of writing classes as you can.  And spend as much of your free time as you can playing games and taking notes while you play, being as specific as you possibly can about what you don’t like and what you would change – again, it can be as simple as a slight change to the damage of a weapon, or changing the wording in one sentence of dialogue.

Finally, you’re in a really great location to start looking into the industry.  LA is one of the largest game industry hubs in the US, and you’re surrounded by top-notch companies, from Sony and Insomniac to the north of you to Blizzard and Obsidian to the south.  Go to IGDA.org and look for meet-ups in your area.  The industry is very welcoming to motivated students.  I would also *strongly* recommend you join the Women In Game Development mailing list (again, very welcoming to students) http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listin... .  You’ll find women on that list who have gone through all the same things you are going through now, and will be more than happy to mentor you as you work towards your dream of being a game designer.

Best of luck, and I’ll keep an eye out for you on the Women in Game Development list!  ;)