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How To Start a Career in Game Design

The Lazy Designer Book 1 (Part 4)
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Chapter 2: Being Better


Congratulations! You got the job.
Now get to work!
Getting hired is merely the first step. How your career develops will largely be dictated by your performance. There will be factors outside your control -- such as projects being canceled -- but for the most part your ability to complete tasks to quality, communicate effectively with your superiors and your peers in other departments, and to be accurate and honest with your progress, will be the measure of your career in making videogames.
I will start with a discussion of what you might expect in your work environment and then explain how you can improve your on the job performance. The final section of this chapter will address how to test your game, deliver feedback and receive feedback.
Obviously, each potential game development position will have varying expectations but these sections should supply you with general guidelines to assist you in constructing the career you want.

 

What to Expect

 Training 

In all likelihood you will receive some training before actually assuming any responsibilities. The extent of the training will vary on the maturity of the company, the size of the team, what current deadlines the team is under, and whether there is anybody around to do the actual training.
At its best training will include one-on-one time with an experienced designer, going over the tools and being shown examples of what your day to day duties will be, how task tracking systems work, and the general procedures and operation of the company. You will have time, under guidance, to acquaint yourself with the tools and will likely develop some throwaway content to develop your skills.
That would be an ideal and fertile training ground. More likely, you will be placed in front of a computer in a crowded office (or worse, in a closet by yourself) and given a task list.
No matter the quality of your training you will only get out of it what you put into it.
If training consists of being thrown at the tools and told to play for a couple days with no additional feedback, then do your best. Talk to other developers, (even if only on their lunch break because they are too busy otherwise). Figure out the tips and tricks. Hunt the company's intranet for a tutorial... has another employee recorded video of aspects of the development process relevant to you? Is there an internal wiki? Try to dig up project specific documentation too -- relevant design documents, vision documents, marketing documents? This acquaints you with the project and its direction; useful information for when you start tackling tasks.
As well, write down what you learn and post it to an appropriate place in the company's documentation system. If you have created something useful let the relevant folks know (human resources department and management). They may not have realized that there is a void in their training process and some constructive nudging could lead towards a better training process.
Eventually you will migrate out of training and into actual game development. In the next section I'll take a look at some of the various positions available in the design department and their responsibilities.

NEXT TIME: We'll continue Chapter 2 "Being Better" -- and expand our discussion of how to improve game design skills.
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