ABOUT GAME DESIGN
What is Game Design?
Designing video games is not as easy as playing them. A lot of hard work goes behind building the playable products.
Game Design is a culmination of technical and creative disciplines like programming, computer science, creative writing and graphic design. The Game Designers visualize an idea, plan, create characters, code, design levels & rules, render and actually bring to life the game for the users. They may do this individually or with a team.
How to become a Game Designer?
A four year degree course is the basic requirement to start a career in the field. After completion of their degree, students may intern with Game Design Studios to have a better understanding of the industry. With the technology advancement, gaming has evolved as a thriving industry, providing a fulfilling & lucrative career opportunity across the globe. Gaming studios with large production budgets have further drastically increase the demand for talented professionals.
Game Design Eligibility Criteria
To pursue a bachelor’s degree in Game Design, a student should pass 10+2 as a qualifying examination from a recognized State or National Board of Education. Age limit, stream specification and minimum qualifying marks in 10+2, can be other criteria’s of eligibility, which may vary among colleges. Some colleges have also introduced seats for NRI quota, for which the qualifying criteria varies.
Entrance Exams for Game Design
All popular colleges conduct entrance exams in order to offer admissions to aspiring candidates. Some of the top Entrance Exams for Design are conducted by NID, NIFT and CEPT.
Game Design Course Curriculum
Some of the subjects taught include:
- Game Art
- Animation Fundamentals
- Design & Production
- 2D & 3D Graphics
- Story Telling
- Game Psychology
- Character Design
- Programming
- Visual Effects
- Level Design
- Graphic Design
- Human Computer Interaction
- History of Gaming
Game Designers can specialize in the following fields:
- Digital Animator
- Programmer
- Storyboard Artist
- Storyline Developer
- Content Writer
- Texture Artists
- Character Animator
- Level Designer
- Game Tester
- Interface Designer
Why choose Game Design?
Why Game Design motivates the Design Community. Here are some of the common motivations:
- Designing Games is a creative process: Designers use their imaginations to create a fantasy world of Game Design, with a distinctive set of rules, characters and game world. It provides designers with a unique opportunity for creative expression.
- It is a challenging job: In order to create a successful game, a designer handles many challenges of technical and artistic nature. This can be a learning and rewarding experience for most designers.
- Good for the society: Games are not only created for fun, but sometimes also have a social impact like in case of educational games. Making an impact on the society through your games may be a big motivation for game designers.
- Helps to develop innovative approach: Designers can push the boundaries, innovate and experiment in terms of game story, technology and play.
- It is financially rewarding: Game Design can be a well-paid career for designers as many games become popular and successful and generate revenue.
FAQs for Game Design
Q. Are Game Designers in demand?
Ans. With the rising popularity of Digital Games, definitely the demand for Game Designers has increased. There is huge scope for Game Designers in India & abroad as the gaming industry is in boom.
Q. Do I need to be good in Maths for Game Design?
Ans. Yes, knowledge of Mathematics is required, especially for the works in Graphics & Animation portion.
Q. What are the qualities required for Game Design?
Ans. To become a Game Designer, you need to be good in programming or coding. You should be passionate about games and should understand the gaming market, as in what are the latest trends or foreseeing what will work in the industry. Creative & artistic skills help in all design fields. Human factors, UX/UI or understanding user interaction is another important requirement.
Q. How to become a Game Designer after 12th?
Ans. You can start with getting familiar with the field. Then prepare for the college entrance exams, get admission and complete your degree. Make an impressive portfolio, get an internship or some industry experience. Now you are ready to apply for a job.
Q. Do I need to learn programming to become a Game Designer?
Ans. A Game designer needs to know a bit of different fields like UX/UI, Animation, Programming, Storytelling etc. Yes, it does help if a Game Designer has knowledge of programming.
Q. Where can I learn Game Design?
Ans. There are a number of Design Colleges that offer Undergraduate & Postgraduate courses in Game Design like NID, MIT Pune etc. All these colleges offer admissions on basis of design entrance exams. You first step in realizing your dream is to start preparing for the design entrance exams of the above institutes.
Q. How many years does it take to become a Game Designer?
Ans. A four year B.Des Undergraduate Degree in Game Design is the basic requirement to enter the Gaming Industry.
Q. Is Game Design hard?
Ans. Game Design is as hard or easy as any other design discipline. The fierce competition & the constant demand for new & fresh Games can be challenging for some, at the same time the field is filled with ample opportunities & provides a fulfilling career for the talented individuals.
Q. What are the jobs opportunities in Game Design?
Ans. A Game Designer can specialize and work as a UX/UI Designer, Game Writer, Game Animator, Game Programmer, Game Artist, Game Tester, Game Audio Engineer etc.
Q. Is Game Design a good career?
Ans. With the huge popularity of video games, especially among youngsters, the gaming industry is expecting huge growth in terms of revenue. This makes Game Design a secure and dependable career to choose.
About the Author: Anu Handa is an Interior Designer, DIY Artist, Co-Founder and Educator at Mosaic Institute of Design. She has been the lead blogpost writer at www.mosaicdesigns.in since 2009. Her educational background in Interior Design, Urban Planning and the English Language has given her a broad base to cover a range of topics in her articles. Anu has spent 15+ years training Design & B.Arch Aspirants for entrance exams.
Passionate about Design Education, she’s briefly worked with Annamalai University as a paper setter for Design Exams. Likes to write about Design, Architecture and related fields, on online platforms like Quora. Aims at challenging the conventional & age old teaching methodology.
