Content Designers and Writers

[Chariot]

Hey all,

I was just wondering if anyone knows of a good site or resource for content designers and what their total involvement is with the game design. I'm really new to the videogame world but wanted to know how closely the visual designers work with the content designers etc.

Any help here would roxorz

[Seedling]

Loads and loads of info on game design here: http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson52.htm

For info on the art side of things, click the games industry link in my sig. I've been an artist at a game company for six years, and I've now been a game designer for a few months, so I may be able to answer some of your questions. Feel free to ask me here or over in the game art thread. :-)

[Chariot]

Hey Seed,

Well I suppose I should ask you here because I am sure this is all general enough that some people might have a few of these questions on their mind already or might be faced with them while entering the industry.

Bare with me here because I don't have the industry titles/positions down to a science yet lol.

I'm just really curious about the content designer role etc. How closely they work with the actual visual designers of the game...

For instance character design, do the writers basically concept the character with an artist and have a back and forth relationship where that character evolves over time between their input? Or is it just a "here is the character, go make it." dynamic? Where there isn't much of a relationship at all.

[FlipMcgee]

For instance character design, do the writers basically concept the character with an artist and have a back and forth relationship where that character evolves over time between their input? Or is it just a "here is the character, go make it." dynamic? Where there isn't much of a relationship at all.

Varies between studios, but in big dev teams usually it's the art director who acts as the main liaison between the art dept. and the writers/designers. S/he, along with the lead artists, controls the look and feel of all art assets. The lead writer/designer, lead programmer, producer, publisher's producer, studio owners, can throw their 2 cents on the designs. But the AD is the main go to person for the concept artists...usually.


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[Chariot]

So this lead writer/designer you speak of, are they usually brought on as a hired gun for a project or in most cases are they the ones who have concepted and written the project to a far enough degree that a studio wants to pick up on it and they are brought on with the project?

[Seedling]

So this lead writer/designer you speak of, are they usually brought on as a hired gun for a project or in most cases are they the ones who have concepted and written the project to a far enough degree that a studio wants to pick up on it and they are brought on with the project?

As far as I have seen, the idea that someone writes up or draws the idea to a game and sells it to a company is complete fantasy. Maybe it happens somewhere, but companies are full of people with good ideas, and it's a lot safer to use someone "in-house" for any given task.

Additionally, I think it isn’t all that common for just one person to be in the role of creative dictator. Back-and-forth relationships on teams are a must, because no one person is going to know enough about writing, story-telling, game-play, visual aesthetics, and the technical requirements of art and game-making to make all of the decisions them self.


Bare with me here because I don't have the industry titles/positions down to a science yet lol.


Sorry, I’m not going to indulge in any nudity here, but if you skip to the last post of my game design thread, there is a link that gives overviews of different jobs in the games industry. I am more likely to see your questions in that thread, as well.


Well I suppose I should ask you here because. . .

I’ve already taken the time to compile many pages of information over there specifically so that I would not have to repeat it for the hundredth time.

[FlipMcgee]

So this lead writer/designer you speak of, are they usually brought on as a hired gun for a project....

Usually? Can't say, but some studios do look for sr. designers to come aboard. Just check the job section of gamasutra for requirements and openings. More established studios will likely just promote an in-house jr. writer/designer who has a good track record to lead a project (like what Seedling has mentioned).

Hired gun as in per project basis? Possible, depends on how the position's negotiated right? Between the company and individual. I know there are designer or project consultants, usually these people have years of industry experience and industry connections.

are they the ones who have concepted and written the project to a far enough degree that a studio wants to pick up on it and they are brought on with the project?

Possible. But rare. You either already possess a market proven IP (Harry Potter, Shrek, King Kong, etc.) that's just a no-brainer for game development. Or you have rock star celeb status (American Mcgee, Warren Spector, Tom Clancy, Vin Diesel) that even if you don't end up actually doing any dev work, a project already has instant cachet by just attaching your name to it. Less popular individuals just say "From the producer of hit game blah-blah-blah" or "from the art director of blah-blah-blah".

If you dream of saying you're a game designer/creator... whatever, but don't have experience or cash to make it happen just go ahead and concept your gameplay. And then hire legions of entry level coders and artists out there ("share profits", etc. etc.) who just need projects to build their portfolios and resumes. It can be a 2-person team, 3 person. Up to you. You can just mod an existing game or use flash or make pixel style/cel phone games (meaning: less resource heavy type of projects than mmorpgs from scratch code, etc.). If you're not aware, people have been hired by real studios on the basis of the mod work that they've done. Or their mod work is so good it became an officially approved and promoted module/add-on by the original game developer. Counter Strike, anyone?

[Qitsune]

If you can't code or create art, you are pretty useless in an amateur/indie game team and are likely to be dumped as deadweight. Learn to produce work that will lessen your teammates' burden.

Mobile games= localization and port nightmare (every phone is different.)