The document provides an outline for a talk on navigating a career in the games industry as a graduate. It discusses the speaker's journey from university to current roles, including an internship and junior designer position. It outlines the various types and sizes of game studios, available job titles, and resources for graduates seeking help or opportunities. The day-to-day responsibilities of different roles are explained, along with tips on creating an effective portfolio as a game or level designer to highlight one's skills and projects. The talk concludes by noting everyone's career path is different and to keep open-minded while pursuing short and long-term goals.
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In this short version of the talk held at the Transmedia Workshop 2014 in Solothurn (Switzerland), I summarize the key phases in the development of a video game and the main pitfalls to look for.
A presentation delivered at iDesignX Australia 2017 containing definitions and reasons for taking a game-based learning approach. Demonstration on how to map existing L&D roles to game development tasks and project management best practice. A seven step practical process for developing a learning game with additional instructional design and game design tips at gerardfriel.com.
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In this short version of the talk held at the Transmedia Workshop 2014 in Solothurn (Switzerland), I summarize the key phases in the development of a video game and the main pitfalls to look for.
A presentation delivered at iDesignX Australia 2017 containing definitions and reasons for taking a game-based learning approach. Demonstration on how to map existing L&D roles to game development tasks and project management best practice. A seven step practical process for developing a learning game with additional instructional design and game design tips at gerardfriel.com.
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Interest in learning games and gamificaton of learning is high. But how do you do a good job of designing great learning games? This session walks you through six "lessons" learned from designing digital learning games.
Essential Guide to game content development for those who think they have a great game idea, but don't know what to begin with.
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production - game development stages, insights from real-life game development cases
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Just a game Assignment 3
1. What has made Louis Vuitton's business model successful in the Japanese luxury market?
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for Louis Vuitton in Japan?
3. What are the specifics of the Japanese fashion luxury market?
4. How did Louis Vuitton enter into the Japanese market originally? What were the other entry strategies it adopted later to strengthen its presence?
5. Will Louis Vuitton have any new challenges arise due to the global financial crisis? How does it overcome the new challenges?Assignment 3
1. What has made Louis Vuitton's business model successful in the Japanese luxury market?
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for Louis Vuitton in Japan?
3. What are the specifics of the Japanese fashion luxury market?
4. How did Louis Vuitton enter into the Japanese market originally? What were the other entry strategies it adopted later to strengthen its presence?
5. Will Louis Vuitton have any new challenges arise due to the global financial crisis? How does it overcome the new challenges?Assignment 3
1. What has made Louis Vuitton's business model successful in the Japanese luxury market?
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for Louis Vuitton in Japan?
3. What are the specifics of the Japanese fashion luxury market?
4. How did Louis Vuitton enter into the Japanese market originally? What were the other entry strategies it adopted later to strengthen its presence?
5. Will Louis Vuitton have any new challenges arise due to the global financial crisis? How does it overcome the new challenges?
2. Talk Outline
- Introduction and my journey.
- What the industry looks like for a graduate.
- Where to find help.
- My day-to-day/What does a designer do?
- Portfolios for Level/Game Designers.
- Different journeys and Goals.
- Q&A.
5. My Journey
- University: studying Games Design
And Art
- Lost and didn't know what role I
wanted to do
- Limitbreak Mentorship
- Game jams
6. Moving on from university
- Finished my 3rd year project:
Gardeners Grove.
- Junior level designer at Playtra
games.
- Scholarship to Code Coven/Facebook
gaming summer program - Game
Designer.
My final
year degree
project
7. Career Journey
Summer Program: working on a
game called “Trailer Tales”
Playtra Games: creating battles for
the game “Grid Force - Mask Of the
Goddess”
8. Burnout
And taking a step back.
- Freelance Environment designer @
Carrotcake studio.
- Taking our game “Trailer Tales”
forward for funding.
Lost Camper Games Team
9. Next Steps
- Short term goal: A full-time game design role.
- Mid-Term goal: publish “Trailer Tales”.
- Long term goal: My very own indie studio.
10. What does the industry look like for a Graduate?
?
?
?
11. Graduate Outlook
- Scary but full of opportunities.
- Lots of remote work.
- More roles are asking for a Degree in Games.
- There are more places to find jobs.
- There are government schemes to help you
get a games industry job.
12. Studio sizes and types
AAA - Internships, Graduate roles, Junior roles, Offers training, Set role.
AA - Graduate roles, Junior roles, Some training, Set role.
Indie - Junior roles, Often no training, Taking on multiple roles at once.
Publishers - Often for more experienced designers.
Outsourcing - Indie studios will hire juniors, established studios hire seniors.
Mobile or FtP - Graduate opportunities, perfect for experience, fast paced.
Freelance - Difficult to get the ball rolling, Very flexible, Multiple projects.
13. Job Titles
- Narrowing yourself down will rule out opportunities (ie. its better to say
I’m a ‘Game Designer’ with a specialism in Level Design).
- Some jobs will be asking for an “Environment Designer” but you might
actually be doing the role of a “Level Designer”.
14. Where to get help as a Student/Graduate?
- Limit Break, Navee Mentorship, Prospela/Into Games Mentorship
- Grads In Games, Code Coven, Ukie (#raisethegamejam), Out making
games (OMG), Women Making Games (WOMG), POC in play, Game Devs
of Color Expo, Safe In Our World.
- Tranzfuser, Tentacle Zone, D&AD awards, Barclays eagle labs, UK Games
Fund.
- DISCORD SERVERS - Work with indies, Game Dev Network, The Design
Den, Code Coven.
- Game Jams: look for ones with industry mentors or judges.
15. Day-To-Day
What do I do?
How has each role been different?
Key Skills
In Graduate Roles
16. Junior Level Designer
- Joined during the development/Production cycle.
- My aim: to identify problems with the gameplay and design solutions.
17. Junior Level Designer
- Morning meetings, SCRUM/AGILE framework, every 2 weeks sprint review,
new sprint creation, and project retrospective
- Check tasks on Hack n Plan
- Testing game, logging bugs
- Tweaking variables to balance mechanics
- Working with programmers to implement new design tools to speed up
development
- Designing and implementing AI patterns, Attacks and movesets
- Designing and implementing character attacks
- Taking user playtesting data and converting into deliverables
18. Day to Day as Freelance Environment Designer
- Log hours on spreadsheet, creating invoices (gotta do your taxes)
- Create new area using documentation
- Plan the layout (sketch):
- Water, Cliffs, Paths, Texture
- Implement first layer^
- Create plant layer
- Decide soil level and herb type (balance)
- Compose plants in scene
- Check from player POV, check items can fit in spaces
- Separate scenes and send to client
19. Game Designer - Trailer Tales
- Creating game mechanics
- Sketching and Greyboxing levels
- Testing and reviewing gameplay
- Talking with the programmer to implement gameplay
- Creating pitch decks for funding
- Publicizing the game at online events
- Attending interviews or talks with the team
21. Portfolios
Think of it like giving a gift
- You think of the recipient and
what they want/like
- You create a budget/timescale for
getting that gift
- You think about the contents of
the gift
- When you give the gift you think
about presentation (wrapping)
- When the person opens the gift
they react to it
Giving a Portfolio
- You think of the recipient and
what they want/like
- You create a budget/timescale for
creating your portfolio
- You think about the contents of
the portfolio
- Think about presentation of
portfolio (website, blog etc.)
- When the person opens the
portfolio they react to it
23. Project page
- Show your wide-range knowledge
here.
- Include a catchy image and short
description.
24. Portfolio tips for game designers - Projects
- Diagrams
- Greybox/Whitebox screenshots
- Gameplay gifs (with description)
- List what you did
- Postmortems/Retrospectives
- Trailer reels are not that great: explaining stuff is a lot more useful
If applying to indie studios, show extra skills if you have examples of them.
- Music creation, working with sound designers
- Programming
25. Project Example
Project status, my role, link, and
description.
Gameplay trailer.
Key areas of work that I
completed.
Design sections: deep-dive
breakdown into puzzle design.
26. Portfolio Do’s and Don'ts
Do:
- Show appropriate work and how
you did it.
- Explain what the project was and
what stage it is in.
- Clearly explain your role and what
you did.
- Include annotated images.
- Write positively.
Don’t:
- Show inappropriate work (This is
not the space for NSFW projects!).
- Talk negatively about what other
people did or didn't do.
- Post lots of images with no
explanation.
- Write an essay. If it takes too long
to read, they will never see it all.
27. Different journeys
- No one will have the same path.
- Be open minded, take opportunities that suit you.
- Create long-term and short-term goals.
