Download Gaming Career Assignment: Use the job descriptions and websites

Gaming Career Assignment:
Use the job descriptions and websites provided and any other credible sources you wish to answer the
questions listed below in this handout.
Answer each question in sentence form and in detail
Also answer this:
Are you surprised about anything you found out about game development jobs & careers?
List the sources you used to help you research your answers
GAME DEVELOPMENT TEAMS & CAREERS
.
We know designing a game like Call of Duty or World of Warcraft takes many different people with many
different talents working together. Let’s find out more about these different jobs within a game
development team. I think you will find there are a variety of career opportunities within the gaming
industry and skills like programming and graphic art are universal and can be applied to all types of
industries and businesses including, but not limited to game development.
As we go through this information think about:
1. What types of talents are needed in an art or programming gaming job?
2. Which ones sound most interesting to you?
3. What type of schooling or experience would you need?
4. Is anybody hiring for game development, are there job openings?
5. What kind of salary could I expect?
6. Would I have to move?
7. Do you think game development skills could be used in other industries – examples?
Development team
Developers can range in size from small groups making casual games to housing hundreds of employees and
producing several large titles. Companies divide their subtasks of a game's development. Individual job titles
may vary, but roles are the same within the industry. The development team consists of several members.
Some members of the team may handle more than one role.
Team size can vary from 20 to 100 or more members, depending on the game's scope. The most
represented are artists, followed by programmers, then designers, and finally, audio specialists, with two to
three producers in management. These positions are employed full-time. Other positions, such as testers,
may be employed only part-time.
Let’s look at these team roles individually and get some descriptions of what they do.
A development team includes these roles:
Designer
A game designer is a person who designs game-play, conceiving and designing the rules and structure of a
game. Development teams usually have a lead designer who coordinates the work of other designers. He /
she is the main visionary of the game.
One of the roles of a designer is being a writer, often employed part-time to conceive a game's story
(narrative), dialogue, commentary, journals, game packaging content, hint or cheat code system, etc. In
larger projects, there are often separate designers for various parts of the game, such as, game mechanics,
user interface, characters and dialogue.
Artist
A game artist is a visual or graphic who creates the game’s art & graphics. The art production is usually
overseen by an art director or art lead, making sure the agreed upon vision is followed. The art director
manages the art team, scheduling and coordinating within the development team.
The artist's job may be 2D oriented or 3D oriented. 2D artists may produce concept art, sprites, textures,
environmental backdrops or terrain images, and user interface. 3D artists may produce models or meshes,
animation, 3D environment, and cinematics.
Programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer who primarily develops video games or related software (such
as game development tools). The game's codebase development is handled by programmers. There is
usually one to several lead programmers who implement the game's starting codebase and oversee future
development.
There are several individual programming roles in developing a game including:
Physics – the programming of the game engine, including simulating physics, collision, object movement,
etc;
AI (artificial intelligence) – producing computer agents using game AI techniques, such as scripting, planning,
rule-based decisions, etc.
Graphics – the managing of graphical content utilization and memory considerations; the production of
graphics engine, integration of models, textures to work along the physics engine.
Sound – integration of music, speech, effect sounds into the proper locations and times.
Game-play – implementation of various game rules and features (sometimes called a generalist);
Input processing – processing and compatibility correlation of various input devices, such as keyboard,
mouse, gamepad, etc.
Network communications – the managing of data inputs and outputs for local and internet game-play.
Level designer
A level designer is a person who creates levels, challenges or missions for computer and/or video games
using a specific set of programs. These programs may be commonly available commercial 3D or 2D design
programs (we will be using one of these called Game Maker to design our games starting next unit) or
specially designed and tailored level editors made for a specific game.
Sound engineer
Sound engineers are technical professionals responsible for sound effects and sound positioning. They
sometimes oversee voice-overs and voice acting and other sound effect creation.
Tester
The quality assurance is carried out by game testers. A game tester analyzes video games to document
software defects and bugs. Testing is a highly technical field requiring technical computing expertise, and
analytic competence.
The testers ensure that the game falls within the proposed design: it both works and is entertaining. This
involves testing of all features, compatibility, etc. Although, necessary throughout the whole development
process, testing is expensive and is often actively utilized only towards the completion of the project.
Here are some common job titles and careers for game development:
Game Designer
Game Programmer
Mobile Apps / Social Network Games
Graphic Design
Sound Engineer / Audio Programmer
Project Manager
Physics Programmer / Engine Programmer
Systems Tester
Technical Writer
Here are some good websites to research job descriptions, career opportunities, wage & hiring trends in the
game development industry (there are others as well):
http://www.jobtarget.com/c/search_results.cfm?site_id=101
www.monster.com
http://asunews.asu.edu/20100712_computergamingprogram