1. Introduction to the job of Game Designer HCMC
July 21, 2012
The Game Designer
Nicolas Leymonerie
Chairman of Phuong Hoang Enix – www.ph-enix.com
Head of the Digital Creation Training Department of the Yersin University of Dalat – stkts.ph-enix.com
Unity & Allegorithmic Authorized Reseller – unity.ph-enix.vn , alg.ph-enix.com

2. Introduction to the job of Game Designer HCMC
July 21, 2012
 Introduction
Why am I talking about Game Design to you today?
 The Game Design
What is the Game Design and who can become Game Designer?
 Design a Videogame
What to do as Game Designer from the pre-production to the game’s release
 Contact Information

3. Introduction HCMC
July 21, 2012
 My background
• Nicolas Leymonerie, French guy in Vietnam since 2006, 10 years XP
• Graduated in Computer Science and Game Design
• 3 years in Paris working in game studios (Visual Impact, Cyanide Studio)
• Consultant in Game Development in Hanoi (Trangenix, Vinagame)
• Participations in about 20 games:
• PC games (Gray Matter, Loki, Winter challenge, Cycling Manager…)
• Console games ( Gray Matter, 4 Tales to enjoy, SSX3 GBA)
• Mobile games (Cadwallon: City of Thieves, Lucie la luciole, Tony)
• Online games ( 2 Kingdoms 4 Thrones)
• Various positions : Game designer, Level designer, Graphics production manager,
Programmer, 3D artist, Consultant

4. Introduction HCMC
July 21, 2012
 My actual positions in the Game Industry
• Chairman of the Phuong Hoang Enix Company (2008)
• Coordinator of IGDA Vietnam (2008)
• Reseller for Unity Technologies and Allegorithmic in Vietnam (2011)
• Head of STKTS: Digital Creation Training Department, Yersin Univ. Dalat (2012)
 This presentation
• Target: New to Game Design, Apply as Game Designer or Hire Game Designers
• Definition of the Game Design
• The work of the Game Designer in the Game development team from A to Z

5. The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do half of his time?

6. The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do half of his time?
Write Design
Documents!

7. The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do ?
Optionally: Draw concepts, draw storyboards,
program scripts, information retrieval, build
Create the game
level
concept
Set game
parameters
Test the Write Design
game Documents!

8. The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do ?
Optionally: Draw concepts, draw storyboards,
program scripts, information retrieval, build
Create the game
level
concept
Set game
parameters
Test the Write Design
game Documents!

9. The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 Game Design = Way to make a game concept understood by the
rest of the game development team then it can realize the game in
accordance with the view of the Game Designer.
• Way to do that: write documents, draw sketches, develop game prototypes,
communicate information
• Tools: Text / datasheet editors (Word, Excel), Graphics/Diagram softwares, Game
editors (Unity, Gamemaker), Emails/Regular meetings/Conference calls…
 History
• Early stage: Programmers  Game Design
• Complexity of the game production  dedicated person = Game Designer
• Complexity of the game production  Lead GD, Level designer, Character
designer, Writer etc…

10. The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What is a good Game Designer?
• Qualities : Communicative, Curious, Cultured, Creative, Consistent
• Skills : be good at Writing, Organizing, Analyzing, Conceptualizing + Tools
• Knowledge : Game industry (videogames but not only) + complementary knowledge (
mathematics, world cultures, sport, sociology, architecture etc…)
• Be passionate by making videogame more than playing game

11. The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What defines a good videogame concept:
• A motivating goal : Need to have a main objective clearly defined to be accomplished
by the player.
• Interesting choices : The outcome of the activity is unforeseeable (unexpected or
random events…), so the player has to make choices.
• Interesting consequences : By doing a choice the player expects to get an
immediate or a delayed result that is significant.
• Interesting game mechanisms : The way the player interacts with the game and the
rules must make the player pleased to master them.
• Balanced : The learning curve of the gameplay, the difficulty, the dramatic structure at
any moment of the game must be defined to support the enjoyment of many kind of
players.
• Fun : Generate strong emotions which the player enjoys or wants to overpass:
excitement, challenge, fear, amazement, surprise or even frustration. Fun comes from
the graphics, the interactions, the story and other game design elements.
• Comply with its main purpose : design-driven, market-driven, technology-driven, art-
driven, education-driven…

12. Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
 Position of the Game Designer in the Game development team
regarding the design of the game
Communication
flow – Q&A
QA Producer
Design
Marketing char, lvl,
sound..
Game
Designer
Program Art

13. Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
 Game’s life cycle and Game Designer’s main tasks
Pre-Production Production QA Beta Marketing
Define the Game Concept
Write the Game Design document
Test the game and set gameplay parameters
Provide info for marketing / gamers community
Post-mortem

14. Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
 The Game Design Document: Bible of the game
• Pitch (1/2 page)
• Scoping Document (2-3 pages)
• Genre : Adventure, Role playing, 2D, 3D, Multiplayer…
• Platform : PC, Mac, Online, Mobile, TV…
• Target market : Geographical data, age, genre, casual/hardcore…
• Selling points : slogan
• State of the competition : results, market statistics…
• Objectives : financial, market…
• Schedule : milestones, deadline…
• Budget : team, technology…
• Constraints : market, technology…

15. Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
 The Game Design Document:
• Detailed Game concept (20,50,100 or more pages depending on the game’s size)
• Core Gameplay
• Background : screenplay…
• Characters and levels
• Game mechanics
• Structure of the game : organization of the levels, duration of the game…
• Interaction: interface, controls, cameras…
• Look and feel: graphics, audio…
• Appendix: sketches, diagrams, screenshots…
• …..

16. Contact Information HCMC
July 21, 2012
• Nicolas Leymonerie: nicolas@ph-enix.com
• Phuong Hoang Enix : www.ph-enix.com
apps.ph-enix.com
• Digital Creation Training Center : stkts.ph-enix.com
• Unity reseller : unity.ph-enix.vn
• Allegorithmic reseller : alg.ph-enix.vn
• IGDA Vietnam : www.igda.org/vietnam

17. Introduction to the job of Game Designer HCMC
July 21, 2012
Xin cảm ơn
Nicolas Leymonerie
Chairman of Phuong Hoang Enix – www.ph-enix.com
Head of the Digital Creation Training Department of the Yersin University of Dalat – stkts.ph-enix.com
Unity & Allegorithmic Authorized Reseller – unity.ph-enix.vn , alg.ph-enix.com