Tuesday 12 February 2013

So, You Wanna Be A Game Designer? - Farzad Minoo Damania's Newspaper Publication in Parsi Times



Hi Friends,

Check out my article on Parsi Times Newspaper dated 2nd February 2013, on “So, You Wanna Be A Game Designer?”.

Article Title: So, You Wanna Be A Game Designer?
Article Date: 2nd February, 2013
Article on: Parsi Times Newspaper
Article Author: Farzad Minoo Damania


Career in Game Design -  Newspaper Article by Farzad Minoo Damania

You can read the entire transcript of the article below:
 
Let’s discuss a Career Option where Passion Meets Profession. Welcome to the world of Game Design…
 
Career in Game Design:
Many of us have spent our childhood days playing video games and computer games such as Super Mario, Road Rash, Mortal Combat, and Need for Speed. Kids and teenagers today are hooked onto games such as Angry Birds, Farmville, Rock Band, Grand Theft Auto, Counter strike, and Ages of Empires. If you are crazy about playing video games, and possess a creative and logical flair for designing, then you may consider a career in game design.
 
Personality Attributes:
Possessing strong interest and liking for video and computer games is the first basic criteria for being a professional game designer. But that is not all. You should be good in drawing and sketching. You need to be creative, innovative, detail oriented, patient, and systematic in your work. A successful game design is only possible by a combined effort of several gaming professionals. Thus you should have the capability to work well in a team or group setting. Other skills required are strong analytical, time management and leadership skills. As a game designer, you should also possess good sense of colour, size, proportion, excellent visualization power, and follow a multidimensional approach to design. You need to follow the 3 C’s – coordination, cooperation, and conciliation. 
 
Scope of Opportunities:
There are several parts to designing a game. Developing the overall theme, design, storyline, characters, animation, programming, level setup, sound effects, background setup are some of the stages involved in game design. Thus several people are involved in creating a game. You could be working as a game designer, game developer, game programmer, game artist, game tester, game script writer, game manager, network programmer or sound engineer. Game Designer is responsible for the playability, fun factor, game level designing, and user interface of the game. Game Developer works on software development and deciding the rules and theme of the game. Game Artist uses his/her creativity to create characters and animate them in 2D and 3D. Game Programmer is involved in designing and developing the program code of the game. Game Tester performs quality assurance and works on finding mistakes and bugs in the game. Game Script Writer creates the story of the game, and writes dialogues for various characters in the game. Sound Engineer is responsible for the overall acoustics and sound effects of the game such as explosions, crowd noises, and stormy weather conditions. Network Programmer develops the program code for game usability on the Internet or LAN setup. Game Manager ensures that the game is developed on time and within budget. 
 
Education Qualifications:
If you are looking for a job role such as game designer, developer, programmer or engineer then you should possess strong technical background in computer science, programming, networking, engineering, and information technology. Thus, a graduate/postgraduate in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Applications and Information Technology would be preferred for these job roles. If you are applying for job as a game artist, sketch artist, storyboard artist, or script writer, then you should possess strong creative background in animation, 3D modelling, visual communication, graphics, VFX, sketching, caricature art, and creative writing. A graduate / postgraduate in Animation, VFX, Fine Arts, Game Art, and Digital Media would be preferred for these job roles. With growing interest in the field of game designing, many institutes are now offering courses with a specific focus on game art, game development, and game design. 
 
Pros and Cons:
Pros: First of all, career in game design provides you a platform where your profession and passion are the same. If you are skilled in your work, you can get a good salary. Since this field requires you to be creative and logical, you get 360° knowledge of both the fields of Arts and Information Technology.
Cons: This career requires a detail oriented approach. You will be following tight schedules, and you should possess the ability to work in stress and pressure situations. Also, working hours can stretch to 10-15 hours a day. Since this is an evolving career in India, there are limited job opportunities. However, the scope of growth of gaming industry is very high.

For all your career queries, reach out to me on farzad.damania@gmail.com or 9833971773.
Your feedback is highly appreciated.

Best Regards,
Farzad Minoo Damania
Career Counsellor & Corporate Trainer
Career Nurturer
http://www.careernurturer.com
Mob: 9833971773

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