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业内人士解答8岁儿童如何成为游戏设计师

发布时间:2013-09-21 09:08:19 Tags:,,,,,

作者:Matthew Rossi

《魔兽世界》(以下简称WOW)论坛极少出现这么感人的帖子。而本文要分享的回帖不仅体现了论坛温暖的一面,更让我们比较清楚地看到像雪这样的大公司对新游戏设计师的要求。当论坛发帖人Aaiya替她那个想成为游戏设计师的8岁儿子询问如何实现自己的职业梦想时,跟帖者Peratryn和Daxxari为我们奉上WOW首席系统设计师Ghostcrawler的可靠回复。

这样一位在暴雪工作的大人物能腾出时间回复帖子本身就非常了不得了,但更重要的是,仔细阅读Ghostcrawler的回复,我觉得自己学到了一些新东西,我想许多人都会有兴趣读一下原回帖吧。

World of Warcraft(from pc.zoznam.sk)

World of Warcraft(from pc.zoznam.sk)

以下是Ghostcrawler的完整回复:

你好Aaiya,

Peratryn提了一些好建议,我想详细地说明一下。我确实很了解不同的游戏团队看重什么,并且我也很乐意分享。

以下内容是针对游戏设计。如果你的儿子(以及其他阅读本帖的人)有兴趣成为游戏程序员或美工,那么途径可能有些不一样。首先,游戏设计师是一个相当年轻的职业,人们通过许多不同的途径成为游戏设计师。坏消息是,竞争相当激烈。这是一个好工作,有很多玩家都想进入这个行业。好消息是,游戏行业还在成长,会有越来越多机会;等到你儿子长大成人时,规模应该更加可观了。

我要说的第一点是教育。现在,有一些大学已经提供游戏开发专业的学位了。大部分游戏开发课程都是近几年才出现的,我不知道有多少职业设计师有这些学位。但是,我这么说当然不是蔑视这些课程(个人认为看到这些课程的进步是件好事),我要指出的是,你并不需要游戏设计学位,并且大部分设计师也确实没有。事实上,想从事游戏设计,追求这些学位是错的。我们有好几位设计师的学位是计算机科学,其他设计师也有各种不同的专业出身。我们的设计师有学美术的、经济的、写作的、数学的、法律的,当然还有科技。唯一的共性就是,沟通交流技能在游戏设计中是相当重要的,因为设计师的工作中有相当大一部分是解释自己的设计和团队协作。

然后再说经验。想从事游戏设计,你确实需要一些经验。玩过很多游戏算是经验,但我们很难测试你到底有没有那种经验。所以,你最好是除了玩过大量游戏外还做过其他事。做过职业游戏设计师的行业经验当然是最好了。以暴雪在行业中的地位,我们确实可以对求职者的要求高一些,所以我们通常要求对方有经验。不过我要补充一点,我们也有许多设计师没有任何经验,但有经验总是好的。比较不知名的公司更可能给新人机会,如果你有一些经验,那么你的选择就更多了。如果你暂时得不到设计师的职位,你可以试试先在游戏公司的其他部门工作,然后找机会转到设计部。我们有几位设计师之前做的就是品质保证和客户服务的。总之,先进入这个行业最重要。

如果你在游戏行业里找不到工作,你仍然有几种选择。第一是成为非常优秀、甚至职业级游戏玩家。但这个比进入游戏开发行业更困难吧。并非所有出色的游戏玩家都是优秀的设计师,但玩家的身份可能让你在面试中加分。第二是设计自己的游戏。在这个手机设备普及的时代,这应该比以前容易多了,但仍然不是一个周末就能完成的小事。另外更重要的一点是,我们希望看到完整的游戏,因为这才能证明你能完成某事。游戏设计的黑幕之一是,好想法是廉价的。没有人会因为有一个关于职业技能或突袭战斗或甚至一款游戏的好想法就被雇用。被雇用的人是因为他们能够把这些想法继续拓展下去、预见问题、想出解决方案,等等,甚至在原来的想法已经光辉不再时把艰难的执行工作进行下去。如果你不能做出完整的游戏,那么你还有第三个选择:给已经存在的游戏制作一个副本关卡或添加其他额外内容。完成这种项目虽然比不上完成一款完整的游戏来得了不起,但仍然是管用的。(我就是这么入行的——我给《帝国时代》设计了一个场景,并且最终被发售版采纳)第四是积极参与游戏社区。你可以当版主,写关于游戏的博文或者制作视频。这些虽然不能显示你的设计才能,但至少让你更加引人注目。如果以上四种选择都不行,那么就试试参与游戏测试。这种比较复杂,但有可能因为你的测试反馈比较深刻而被认为有设计天赋。无论是哪种做法,你要做的就是充实你的游戏简历——这是你发给公司显示你的才能的东西。美工可以展示自己的美术作品,程序员可以提交样本代码,设计师必须证明自己能够设计。

如果你想成为游戏设计师,你要做的事不只是做游戏——你将成为游戏行业中的一员。你要试着跟进行业讯息、了解即将出现的平台和热门的新类型与人人都在谈论的新技术。在现在的互联网时代,了解这些信息比十多前年容易多了。此外,参加游戏大会也是有帮助的。公司通常借那些事件招聘,当你与人面对面时,你可以一次提很多问题,得到很多信息。无论是求职什么行业,我要给大家的一个建议是:搞好人际网。我们更可能维护我们认识的人,特别是如果我们还知道他有设计才能的话。这并不意味着你要给行业的某些人打电话或写邮件——这可能会打扰他们。认识一个人是不容易的,但一旦认识了,就打了可能性的大门。如果你是游戏行业的记者、知名玩家或网络设计师,那么你就有优势了。

记住,游戏工作室是做生意的。它们也要像其他公司一样搞预算、控制员工人数。为了得到一份工作,你通常要申请空缺的职位。毕竟竞争激烈,没有什么职位是为谁量身定做的。不要给公司发邮件,我从来没有见过这种做法管用。申请某个职位,如果没有,那就联系公司的HR,咨询一下是否有什么职位空缺。HR的回复就是最明确的回答,所以不要纠缠不休。我们就曾经遇到有人坚持数年给人力资源部的员工发邮件问有没有合适的职位。

那是比较残酷的部分。比较有趣的部分是,玩游戏。但不要单纯地玩游戏——你要带着学习研究的目的玩游戏。理解为什么你在玩的游戏是有趣的。思考一下如果这款游戏是你的设计的,你会修改什么。我们在面试时经常问的一个问题是:你最喜欢的游戏中,你觉得哪方面做得最差,你觉得可以怎么修改?在WOW团队的面试中,当我们提问道“你得你会对WOW做什么修改?”死得最快的回答就是“呃,这个我倒没想过。”

最后我想透露一下暴雪招聘游戏设计师最看重的一些特质;其他公司可能会更看重其他特质。

1、良好的设计感。以游戏设计师的而不是玩家的眼光分析系统。在游戏中,玩家可能寻找的是最高效的升级方法,或寻找最强大的角色培养方法。游戏设计师要做的却是,理解为什么某种方法比另一种更强大或更有效,以及这种方法对游戏来说是否是合适的(当然,还要想想如何修改它)。

2、创意。这一点可能没有许多行外人想得那么重要,但仍然是重要的。创造性问题解决能力通常比命名物品或想出好剧情来得更重要。我们花5%的时间进行头脑风暴,95%的时间坐在电脑前执行想法。(我们使用自己的专利工具,但也大量使用Photoshop、Excel和Visio)我们希望员工能处理漏洞、管理好自己的时间、解决障碍、在压力下工作、应对挑剔的反馈、知道什么时候停止什么时候前进,以及不要分心走神。这就是为什么我们那么强调在简历中看到完整的作品。

3、沟通能力。如我所说的,我们要经常互相交流、要与其他团队成员沟通、与公司员工打交道、与玩家社区对话。设计师必须能够站在他人的立场上思考,在不伤感情的前提下评价别人的想法,接受反馈,理解别人所说的东西。优秀的设计会让你觉得,他有在听你说话。我们的员工当中确实有内向的人,可能这对他们来说更加困难。

4、激情。这大概是最容易的了,但也很重要。做这份工作,你必须爱游戏。我不确定什么职业最容易发大财,但游戏设计师肯定不是。你会被要求长时间工作,即使你厌烦你还是不得不测试游戏,你得玩新游戏因为他们想看看你能从中知道什么,你会被迫放弃自己最中意的特征。对游戏的激情,是大部分人最初进入这个行业的原因,所以你也得对游戏充满激情。

我希望上述内容能有所帮助。这是一个好的起点。我离开了其他行业的工作,成了一名游戏设计师,我从来没有后悔。想入行的人面临的最大挑战是,使自己脱颖而出。说“我爱游戏”是很重要的,但还不够,因为所有玩家都会说同样的话。你必须拿出实际行动证明你对游戏的爱,并且能在不跟别人说的情况下默默地做游戏,因为你还没有面试。如果谁能做到,那么我要恭喜他。这是困难的,但值得。

祝你好运!

上述回复中有许多对希望入行的人有用的信息,即使它只是针对一家公司的用人要求。我认为,他强调的沟通能力和完成任务的能力是我们绝对要记在心上的,无论我们是不是打算找一份游戏设计的工作。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Ghostcrawler tells 8 year old how to be a game designer

by Matthew Rossi

Rarely are the forums heartwarming, but this forum thread not only delivers on the heartwarming aspect but it also gives us a reasonably detailed peek at what companies like Blizzard are looking at when they look for new designers. When forum poster Aaiya made a thread on behalf of his or her eight year old son who is interested in becoming a game designer someday, we first got a solid response from Peratryn and then Daxxari comes in with a response from Ghostcrawler.

Not only is it cool that the people who work at Blizzard would take the time to answer the thread in the first place, but upon reading Daxxari’s post with Ghostcrawler’s response, I know I felt like I’d learned something new, and I figured a lot of us would be interested in reading it over.

Rather than pick it apart, we’ll reproduce Daxxari’s entire post after the cut.

Daxxari – 8 year old wants to talk to Blizzard

Note: Ghostcrawler (Lead Systems Designer for World of Warcraft) saw this thread, and had a few thoughts to share on the subject with all those interested in pursuing a career in game design at Blizzard:

Hi Aayia,

Peratryn offers some great advice, and I can elaborate on it. I do know a ton about what the different game teams here look for, and I’m happy to share.

Most everything that follows is relevant to game design specifically. If your son (or anyone reading this) is interested in a career as a game programmer or artist, the path may be slightly different. Above all, know that this is a relatively young career, and people take a lot of different paths to get here. The bad news is it can be fairly competitive. It’s a great job and there are a lot of gamers out there who are dying to break into it. The good news is that the industry continues to grow, so there are new opportunities available and by the time your son is old enough to get a job, there should be even more, economy willing.

I’ll talk first about education. At this point in time, there are a few college degrees in game development. Most of these programs are still fairly young and I don’t know many professional designers with those degrees. Yet. This is not at all to disparage those programs (personally I think it’s awesome to watch them grow), but to point out you don’t need a game design degree and most designers don’t have them. In fact, there isn’t a “wrong” college degree to pursue for game design. We have several designers who have computer science degrees, but it varies enormously. We have designers with backgrounds in art, economics, writing, math, law and of course science. The only common thread is that communication skills are really important in game design, because a big part of the job is explaining your designs and otherwise collaborating with a team.

Next comes experience. You need some kind of experience to get a job in game design. Playing a lot of games does count as experience, but it’s the kind of thing that’s hard for us to test. You’re better off playing a lot of games and doing something else as well. Career experience as a professional game designer is of course the most desirable. Blizzard is in a position where we can afford to be really picky about who we hire so we often look for prior experience. I will quickly add that plenty of our designers didn’t have any, but it helps a lot. Less established companies are more likely to give a beginner a shot, and once you have some experience, you’ll have a lot more options. If you can’t get a job as a game designer, you can try to get a job in a game company and hope to move sideways into game design. We have several designers who worked in quality assurance and customer service. You just have to get your foot in the door.

If you can’t get a job in the game industry there are still several options. The first is to be a very good, perhaps even professional, game player, but that can be even harder than getting into game development in the first place. Not all great game players are great designers, but it’s the kind of thing that may score you an interview. The second is to design your own game. That is easier than ever in this day of mobile devices, but still not a trivial feat you can throw together on a weekend. This next part is important: we like to see completed games because it shows you can finish something. One of the dark secrets of game design is that good ideas are cheap. Nobody gets hired because they had a great idea for a class ability or a raid encounter let alone a great idea for a game. They get hired because they can take those ideas to the next level, foresee problems, come up with solutions, and otherwise put in all of the hard implementation work long after the shininess has worn off of the original idea. If you can’t build an actual game, then the third thing you can try is to create an add-on, level or some other additional content for an existing game. Finishing that project isn’t as impressive as finishing an actual game, but it can still work. (This is how I got my foot in the door – I designed a scenario for Age of Empires that was eventually included in a shipping product.) Fourth is to be involved in the game community. You can host an awesome fansite, write a gaming blog, or make your own podcast. It might not illustrate your design cred, but it can get you noticed. If all else fails, try to be involved in beta testing. It’s tricky but possible to detect a good design sense from beta feedback. In all of these cases, what you’re trying to do is to develop a portfolio – something you can send to a company to show your chops. Artists can show their art. Programmers can submit sample code. A designer needs to somehow prove that he or she can design.

If you want to be a game designer, you’ll do more than just make games – you will be a member of the game-making industry. Try and keep up with industry news. Understand the upcoming platforms and the hot new genres and technology everyone is talking about. This is much easier in the internet age than it was a dozen years ago. It’s not always feasible, but attending game conventions can help. Companies often use those events for recruiting and you can ask a lot of questions and get a lot of information once you’re talking to someone face-to-face. Advice I give for anyone in any industry to get a job is networking. We are much more likely to go to bat for a candidate we know, especially if we have some idea of their design skills. This doesn’t mean cold-calling or emailing folks in the industry – that risks just annoying them. It’s not easy to get to know people, but it can open doors. Here is where being a game journalist, famous player, or website designer can come into play.

Keep in mind that game studios are businesses. They have budgets and headcounts like any company. To get a job, you’re generally going to be applying for an existing open position. It takes the truly one-in-a-million candidate that can get a position created for them. Don’t blanket email companies; I don’t think I’ve ever seen that tactic work. Apply for specific positions, and if none are available, consider contacting the company HR representative to inquire if some might open in the future. That HR rep can be your greatest advocate, so don’t badger him or her. We have hired people who had off-and-on email conversations with our human resources team members for years before the right position came along.

That’s the hard part. The fun part is playing a lot of games. Don’t just play them though – devour them. Understand why they’re fun. Think about what you’d change if you designed the game. One question we frequently ask in interviews is: what is the worst part of your favorite game and how would you fix it? One of the quickest ways to fail an interview for the WoW team is when we ask “What would you change about WoW?” to answer “Gee, I hadn’t really thought about that before.”

I’ll close this monologue by talking about some of the traits that Blizzard looks for in game designers; other companies may place values on different traits.

A good design sense. Analyze systems as a game designer, not just a player. A player might look for the most efficient way to progress through a game or search for the most powerful choices for their character. A designer understands why a certain way is more powerful or efficient and if that’s even a good thing for the game (and again, how to fix it).

Creativity. This is less important than a lot of folks outside the industry think, but it’s still important. Creative problem solving is often more important than creativity in naming creatures or coming up with good stories.Implementation. We spend 5% of our time brainstorming and 95% of the time sitting at a keyboard trying to get things to work. (We use our own proprietary tools, but also a lot of Photoshop, Excel and Visio.) We want people who can handle bugs, manage their time, solve roadblocks, survive pressure, handle critical feedback, know when to quit and when to soldier on, and overall just not get distracted. This is one reason why seeing finished work in a resume is so valuable.

Communication. As I said, we talk to each other, other members on the team, other people at Blizzard, and the community of players. Constantly. Designers need to be able to think on their feet, criticize ideas without causing hurt feelings, accept feedback, and understand what other people are saying. The best designers make you feel like you are being heard. We do have introverts on our staff, but it’s probably more challenging for them.

Passion. This is probably the easiest one. It’s important though. You need to love games to do this job. I’m not sure what the most surefire career is for making millions, but this isn’t it. You’ll be asked to work long hours. You’ll be asked to playtest a game long after you’re sick of it. You’ll be expected to play new games as they come out to see what you can learn from them. You’ll be asked to cut your favorite feature. Passion for games is the reason most people want to get into the industry in the first place though, so you’re probably fine here.

I hope that’s helpful. It’s a good gig if you can get it. I walked away from a previous career in another field and never looked back. The biggest challenge for folks breaking into the industry is making themselves stand out. Saying “I love games” is important, but it’s not enough, because thousands of players will say the same thing. You have to demonstrate that you love games *and* know how to make them without actually being able to talk to anyone, because you haven’t gotten the interview yet. I invite anyone who makes it to let me know so I can personally congratulate them. It’s hard and it’s worth it.

Good luck!(source:joystiq)


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