How To Get A Design Job

Posted on January 12, 2007 by Scott Jennings| 28 Comments

Read and learn this post. That is all.

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  • http://www.4thfg.com No.6

    Wow, you mean requirements docs should read like requirements docs and not like a novel or technical specs?

  • Nicademus

    I really can’t believe that Sony or EA is going to hire someone off the street to design a game for them, much less fund a game the person wants to make, based on good documentation.

    A kind in High School drew up a 80 page manual for how to built a Galaxy class star ship, haven’t heard about him working for NASA any time recently.

  • http://www.lietcam.com Lietgardis

    No.6: you’d be surprised by how often people fail to understand that.

    Nic: it doesn’t matter if you’re the most brilliant designer ever if you can’t communicate your ideas.

  • Heather Sinclair

    “I really can’t believe that Sony or EA is going to hire someone off the street to design a game for them”

    It’s not like they’re picking up lead designers on their way to Starbucks, but scrub systems interns and content monkeys? sure, and they still need to write documentation, and sometimes need to write more because the senior designers don’t want to have to do it.

  • http://www.4thfg.com No.6

    “you’d be surprised by how often people fail to understand that.” No, I wouldn’t :) but I don’t think my experience in writing good designs will serve to move me from mundane work into the gaming industry (rats). Hey, wait, but I have polyhedral dice older than many Senior Producers :p

    Nor is reading a paragraph saying that requirements must be clear magically give one the ability to do so. There’s a fine line between writing vague requirements and either requiring the impossible or writing a proxy tech design.

  • http://www.cesspit.net Abalieno

    Brandon is really absolutely wonderful. I loved his way of thinking since the first post he wrote on server structure and then more when he explained some cool things behind “Magic” (like Braids). I got the impression he is one of the few “real” designers who “get it”. Who know well what design is about and recognize game design its own dignity, its own specific discipline that should never be clumped with other parts.

    In this case, though, he doesn’t write anything that surprises me. It seems all reasonable and implicit. It’s exactly the type of stuff that I would expect from that type of work.

    The only thing I don’t really understand is why these description seem always so impersonal. Yeah, lets write precise and structured design docs, but I think it’s much more important do discuss things directly, face to face. So I have this idea of the designer “visiting” the programming office and pass there a few days, discussing with them how it’s better to deliver some intended effects and so on.

    I mean, my idea would be about a collaborative effort, more than an assembly line.

  • tazelbain

    Now all I just need is to be able to put my ideas on paper without them sounding like jibberish. I almost home free!

  • Freakazoid

    Lum, you’re going to break the heart of all those armchair designers who now think they’re going to go straight into game designing just from a well written document.

  • Scorn Emperor

    I have some comments on your comments, but I posted ‘em in my blog instead of here. Like Scott really needs more hits! :P

  • http://programmerjoe.com Joe Ludwig

    Nicademus, we aren’t Sony or EA, but we recently hired two entry-level designers. Their ability to communicate reasonably in text was a big part of why we hired them. And by entry-level I mean that neither of them had any work experience as a game designer before they started here. We’re very happy with both of them. :)

  • http://www.cesspit.net Abalieno

    After his other answers (since it’s not possible to comment over there) I’ll just say that his presence or his way to present things is refreshing.

    I hope it’s true and faithful and not a pretty way to present things to the rest of us. But I really don’t have any reasons to doubt.

  • http://http:/www.edgecase.net/devsite Cael

    I see no USE CASEs.

  • Nicademus

    Joe that would impress me greatly and give me real food for thought if I knew the hell you were or whom you worked for. Since I am ignorant of all facts I’ll suppose that you’re a small indie label funded mostly by your Dad’s online golf equipment store.

  • http://www.nerfbat.com/ Ryan Shwayder

    Before I go and read that really long post, is this a joke post or is it actually worth reading? Note: I’m running on about 3 hours of sleep.

  • d

    Joe looks to be working on http://www.flyinglab.com/pirates/index.php. Looks cool too.

  • d

    Joe is the guy that wrote this -http://www.flyinglab.com/pirates/logs.php?log_select=59340 – one of those designers with no previous experience? I’ve never seen a devlog referencing hermeneutic theory before.

    Cael, Use Cases are element 10 in the article.

  • http://www.damnedvulpine.com J.

    “Number 6″ apparently had a different meaning to those who worked for Origin post-EA buyout.

    I have yet to meet Brandon Reinhart in person, but he’s been a designer long enough to be made fun of by OldManMurray. I wonder if anime still makes him T_T.

    In any case, I hope he doesn’t go on and on about transhumanism as much as he does on the Intarwub.

    No, Ryan, it’s not a joke post. Serious stuff. Why, would Lum seriously bait and switch people like that?

  • http://www.extropica.com Scorn Emperor

    Good anime still makes me cry. ;) Come on! The end of Tenchi was heart breaking for a hard core fan! Bah. No respect :P

    Jeff Freeman once took that OldManMurray stuff and made a T-Shirt out of it! He still wears it! I need him to make another one for me, my cat destroyed a bunch of my shirts a few months back and that was one of them. :(

    I’m a programmer/designer by trade, working as a gameplay programmer at Epic when OldManMurray went after me. The bastages.

  • Jon R.

    Oh yeah? You the reason UT didn’t have any gameplay until 2k4 and Domination?

    Nice link. Read: How To Write Something That Is, For All Intents and Purposes, Going To Be Increasingly Irrelivant Throughout the Creation of Your Game

  • Evangolis

    If so, then you are screwing up by the numbers.

  • http://http:/www.edgecase.net/devsite Cael

    d: I’d rather see USE CASE written for basic user interaction with the system than for grouping. After that, i’d want sequences and client and server state machine views, from which to build low-level design docs and a full UML outline.

    This has the advantage of continual easy reverse engineering so that the specification evolves with the system.

  • http://......right MrOrange

    look at all of the people who used to run info,rant,game chit chat sites that are now in the gaming industry………… :) Unfortunatly, i did not play well with otehrs. Maybe i should have kissed more ass :(

  • internetjack

    Excellent post. A well written document about writing documents well!

    I worked for a number of years as a test engineer for Cisco which involved a fair amount of writing test procedures and training of test operators. Writing for your audience, and including some relevant information on just what was happening in the test; essentially an extra paragraph or two, was the difference between an operator telling you “Another board failed.” and “We had a second switching module fail during the data streaming portion of the test this morning.”

    It was a huge(and well analyzed) difference in the efficiency of a production line. Techinical problems were resolved up to 20% faster on average when the operators understood the basics of what was going on, versus being told to act like drones and push the start button, wait for the “Fail” or “Pass”, and then repeat.

    Abalieno:
    “The only thing I don’t really understand is why these description seem always so impersonal. Yeah, lets write precise and structured design docs, but I think it’s much more important do discuss things directly, face to face. So I have this idea of the designer “visiting” the programming office and pass there a few days, discussing with them how it’s better to deliver some intended effects and so on.

    I mean, my idea would be about a collaborative effort, more than an assembly line.”

    In my experience doing both produces the best results. Having solid documentation lets the new folks figure out what is going on and get up to speed, as well as leaving a road map for when the experienced folks move onto other projects.

    The collaborative part is good for learning how to work with your team. Every team may have the same set of titles for its members, Program Manager, Lead Designer, Test Technician, Operator, etc… but those are all unique and different people each and every time. By spending some hands-on time with every member, you get to learn how each individual thinks and processes ideas in their own way. Gaining that level of knowledge and understanding is what can mean the difference between a team’s effort succeeding spectacularily, being adequate, or failing abysmally.

    Cheers

  • http://programmerjoe.com Joe Ludwig

    Nicademus, I’m the lead programmer on Pirates of the Burning Sea. Indy, yes. Small, not really anymore. As far as I know our financier doesn’t sell golf equipment online. :)

    That devlog is from Gavin Irby, one of our mission designers. I’m more likely to write about formal logging, how much scripting sucks, or random features I’ve implemented recently.

    We didn’t hire these Jr. guys to LEAD the game, mind you, but they are doing real design work on real systems.

  • Anon

    Heyo Nicademus, you got the attention you wanted over on Reinhart’s site: http://www.extropica.com/2007/01/answers-to-comments-about-design-docs.html

  • Nicademus

    Well fuck you very much for calling an attention whore. I almost never get responded to in general, it’s just my thing.

    But I’m glad I could be of service as a disgruntled muse on this one.

  • Steve

    “If your system requires any kind of content or data you’ll probably want a tool. You do NOT want to have to edit flat text files for every item or creature in your game.”

    AKA, don’t let programmers decide how data gets entered.

  • http://www.nerfbat.com/ Ryan Shwayder

    “No, Ryan, it’s not a joke post. Serious stuff. Why, would Lum seriously bait and switch people like that?”

    Yes.

    I did give it a read and it’s a good post. I especially liked his post on server architecture and the MMO community. I’d recommend that he starts making shorter posts, though. I learned that the shorter my post and the quicker I get to the point, the more people will read it. Lazy bums!