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Before this interview, I knew absolutely nothing about game design. However, after I realized: this area is not as little as it may seem. And if, having this knowledge earlier, I were asked what I would be when I grow up, I would say with the conviction of a child: a game creator!
My interlocutor is Nikolay Evtikhiev, a teacher at TeachMeSkills, who dreamed of creating games since he was 13. But, as an adult, our hero got into web development. And even in this turbulence, he still dreamed of ending up in GameDev. Time passed, and the dream came true. Today, Nikolay, in addition to teaching, works as a producer at CM Games, is developing and leading a VR drag racing project.
In the interview, we talk about the attractiveness of the industry, types of game designers and a new course.
— Let's talk about... GameDev in general. What attracts you?
— It attracts you with creativity and a social media marketing service community of like-minded people. You can come up with different things, implement them, discuss them with the team. This is probably the coolest thing about GameDev. And, of course, it's interesting to hear what players say about your product.
— How is the team structured? What is its minimum composition?
— There are two streams: operations and production. Operations is management. These specialists manage and ensure that everyone stays within the budget and deadlines.
As for production, it is also divided into branches. The first is art. All artists belong to it. Then the adjacent branch with art is interfaces (UI/UX design). The third is game designers. The fourth is programmers who implement everything that was invented, QA specialists. And sound is a separate branch.
For a minimum project, you need one game designer, one programmer, and one artist.
— Who is a game designer and what is their function in the project?
— A game designer is the architect of the entire game. Their main task is to create the player's experience. They develop mechanics and levels, think through where the player should look at a certain moment and at what stage they should want to pay.
There are several areas in game design: level design (responsible for building levels), narrative (thinks over the story within the game), monetization (how the game will pay off) and balanced design.
— The word "design" can scare many people? Is game design somehow related to design in its direct sense?
— Interesting question. What's scary about the word design?
— For example, people who do not have an art education, seeing the name of the course, may think that to study they need to confidently hold a pencil in their hand and draw an even circle without a compass.
— Game design is about something completely different. It does not operate with "artisticity". A game designer must be able to draw at the level of conveying their thoughts to other people. You don't have to be Michelangelo for this. Everything is done schematically, using little people or references from the Internet.
There definitely needs to be taste. And it is achieved through training. Few people are born game designers. People learn this. And my experience shows that this can be learned. So there is no need to be afraid.
— Do I understand correctly that even someone who is great at running Threads can find themselves in game design?
— Of course! This is narrative game design. You can try yourself there, but only if you can write stories, not just some notes. Game studios often look for guys who write well. Then good visual novels come out of this.
— These are just pictures with variable text that pops up. And depending on what you choose, the story will develop further.
— Yes, yes, this is a visual novel. A typical representative of the genre. Really, the whole task in such projects is just to write stories.
— You mentioned a level designer. Tell us what he does?
— A level designer specifically designs and creates the architecture of a level in such a way as to direct the player's gaze. For example, first- or third-person games, in which they like to highlight a place with a bright light source. This is the work of a level designer. He specifically placed this source there because he wants the player to pay attention, he wants the player to go there. All this serves one purpose - to lead the player along the desired route.
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發表於 18:17:16