作者：LIZ ENGLAND

过去我一直好奇为什么会有这么多人对“游戏设计师”带有错误的印象。在我看来是因为并缺少足够关于游戏设计的描述内容去帮助人们理解，并且人们也未真正去寻求答案。

但似乎是我想错了！

以下是来自关于游戏设计的建议文章中的一系列内容。我们是通过在谷歌搜索像“如何成为一名游戏设计师”，“如何制作电子游戏”，“找到一份制作电子游戏的工作”以及“怎样才算是游戏设计师”等关键词组而得到这些内容。我希望人们在最初萌生想要致力于游戏开发时能够先在网上进行搜索。

不幸的是有很多内容充满了各种广告（游戏邦注：即关于以营利为目的的学校会提供“游戏设计”学位等等），而谷歌却还未能处理这些问题。

证据1：Digital Dreamer的《如何成为一名游戏设计师》

“这些公司都想聘请一些了解创造游戏的利弊的人。他们想要那些了解优秀的关卡设计vs糟糕的关卡设计的人。而能够做到这点的唯一方法便是不断玩电子游戏。”

但是玩许多电子游戏也不足以让你变成一名优秀的设计师。能够玩游戏也不意味着你就能够制作游戏。就像我很喜欢吃东西，但是我却不是一名专业厨师。

证据2：Education Portal的《游戏设计师：工作介绍和要求》

“游戏设计师有职责设计角色，关卡，谜题，图像和动画。他们可能也需要编写代码，使用各种计算机编程语言等等。根据其职责，他们可能需要对项目管理任务负责，并且需要测试早前的电子游戏版本。”

这便是“所有制作游戏的人都是游戏设计师！”的谣言的典例。

设计师==关卡和谜题。

美术师==角色和图像

动画师==动画

程序员==代码和计算机编程语言

项目管理者/制作人==项目管理

质量测试员==测试早前游戏版本

游戏开发者==上述所有

证据3：HowStuffWorks的《如何成为一名有用的电子游戏设计师》

“电子游戏设计师必须拥有一系列强大的技能，包括编程，制作视频图像并且了解硬件的基本组件。”

这看似是三个随机选择的不同角色。

编程技能是属于程序员。“视频图像”技能是属于图像程序员，除非特别强调图像部门。“硬件的基本组件”比较不同，但应该指的是索尼或微软等开发真正硬件的公司中主机程序员或硬件工程师。这可能也指代着引擎程序员，即那些帮助创造能够运行于特定主机或平台上的游戏的人。

证据4：Study Magazine的《如何成为一名游戏设计师》

“拥有像图像设计或网页设计等学位对你来说是有帮助的。你不需要从任何特别内容开始，只需要将电子游戏创造当成一份长期但是有时候也会乏味的工作便可。”

从1997年开始网页设计开始拥有自己的学位。而图形设计并非我们在游戏中使用的真正术语—-它更多的是指代2D logo，网站或UI的开发。

作为一名游戏设计师，你可以从很多特定内容开始你的工作。而图像设计和网页设计则不包含于此。

证据5：eHow的《如何成为一名电子游戏设计师》

“学习与电子游戏相关的术语和技能。电子游戏设计师也可以被叫做图像设计师。未来的电子游戏设计师可能会更精通摄影，特效，图像设计和3D动画。”

第一个句子非常接近！但是第二句却完全是在乱说。电子游戏设计师从未被当成图像设计师。

游戏设计师并不需要了解任何有关摄影，特效（这是FX美术师的工作），图像设计或2D动画（这是动画师的工作而不受设计师）等内容。

证据6：Shmoop的《电子游戏设计师的职位要求》

“你可能会惊讶地发现有不少电子游戏设计师拥有一些图像设计的经验，即使他们并不具有专门的学士学位。试着想象：你将创造惊人的设置，角色服装和战斗场景。”

设计师并不需要图像设计经验，尽管这并不是什么不好的经验。

设置？也许它们表示的是“关卡”？但这却很模糊，并且使用了错误的术语。“角色服装”让我认为这个人了解的是电影而不是游戏—-正确的术语应该是“角色图像”或者“vanity”（表示服装组件），并且这都是属于角色美术师的领域，而非设计师。

“最后，我们必须记得现实世界的业务体验也能够帮助你做好电子游戏设计师的工作。你将能够监督预算，时间线以及团队成员的每周工作。”

设计师从不需要监督预算，时间线或团队成员的每周工作。这是制作人或项目经理的工作。在游戏产业中我并未拥有任何财政管理经验。我也许清楚发行商对于我们游戏的投资，但却不了解其具体细分。我并未去控制时间线—-时间表是由制作人，工作室上层领导和发行商所决定的。

证据7：eHow的《成为一名游戏设计师的要求》

“入门级游戏设计师的理念有点用词不当。存在入门级图像美术师，程序员甚至是游戏音乐师，但是设计师在其职业生涯中将扮演其中的一个角色。”

设计师并不需要作为图像美术师，程序员或游戏音乐师。就像我便是直接进入设计领域。而其他人可能会先参与QA测试工作然后便直接进入设计领域。

的确存在入门级设计职位，但这需要的是先前的一些经验，即使这些经验是源自你的空闲时间的尝试。对于美术或编程职位也是如此—-存在入门级职位，但你需要在获得工作前先成为一名优秀的美术师或程序员。

证据8：Creativepool的《游戏设计师的工作描述》

“游戏设计师一周大概工作35小时。”

哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈！

按照他们的说法应该是加班了，而这是一篇来自英国的文章，所以他们的劳动法应该比美国严格，但这仍让我觉得很好笑。

不同的公司对于加班可能拥有不同的政策，这值得我们再写一篇文章进行分析。而其主要宗旨便是在说游戏开发是一份辛苦，需要工作到很晚且没多少假期的职业。

证据9：Sokanu的《电子游戏设计师的职业生涯》

“大多数设计师至少都做过测试员，即他们可以最先尝试编码并观察到别人的“错误”。”

并非大多数设计师都曾做过测试员的工作。虽然有些设计师一开始是作为测试员并从中获得发展，但这并不包含所有设计师。

测试员也并不需要尝试编码。我不知道这到底是在指代什么。

“最后，环境设计师的职责是创造游戏中的不同场景和环境。”

并不存在所谓的“环境设计师”。应该是由“关卡设计师”负责创造场景（或者应该说是关卡，任务和游戏玩法）。而“环境美术师”将创造环境图像并致力于关卡的美学和视觉效果的创造。

证据10：How Do I Become A的《如何成为一名游戏设计师》

“了解计算机编程语言是必要的。一些电子游戏设计需要优秀的理想主义者。游戏制作，游戏机制，关卡设计，游戏资产评论，开发分析等等都是带有技能的优秀的学生可以选择开始的职位。每一个游戏设计项目的特定领域都会开启一些机遇。刚刚走出学校的学生们可以从战斗系统设计，游戏玩法设计，经济管理，甚至是多人玩家游戏设计开始。”

游戏资产评论？经济管理？我不知道“开发分析”到底意味着什么。其它术语也不是很准确。这整段内容包含了一些乱七八糟的术语。

我们并不想要理想主义者。（同样地，有很多文章使用了“完美主义者”—-这也是在撒谎）。游戏开发是包含挑战和奖励的一种枯燥的工作，但这一过程绝对与完美不沾边。拥有乐观主义是件好事，但如果是理想主义者的话，他们的心应该早被伤透了无数次吧。

同时……

在这些网站中存在一些让人不安的建议趋势并组成了游戏产业中非常可怕的一部分：具有掠夺性且以盈利为目的的学校。大多数建议性文章都是以高中生或立志成为游戏设计师的人群为目标，反复提醒他们需要拥有像“游戏美术和设计”这样的学位，否则他们便找不到工作，但这也意味着只要他们拥有这些学位，他们面前便会出现许多“无限制的”工作。

证据11：Game Design School的《如何成为一名游戏设计师》

“为了成为一名成功的游戏设计师，你不能只是依赖于自己对电子游戏的热情。你还需要获得来自学校的教育才能巩固自己作为游戏设计师的资格。”

但事实上你并不需要来自学校的游戏开发教育。我经常建议学生们获得来自传统学校的4年制学士学位是因为这是美国任何文职工作的基本要求，并且如果他们未能进入游戏产业，那么这张学位证书也能在之后派上用场。

基于游戏的学位课程并不能为你的简历加分，更别说将其作为必要要素。很多这类型的课程真的很糟糕，并且根本不可能提供给学生们他们投身工作时所需要的技能。甚至有些学校已经在游戏开发者圈中树立了糟糕的名声，如果让这些开发者在你的简历上看到这样的信息，你应该也会给他们留下不好的印象吧。

作品集才是帮助你找到工作的关键，而即使没有学校你也能够创造属于自己的作品集。虽然有些学校能够帮助你，但是大多数都是在做白工。

证据12：How To Become A Game Designer.com

“为了成为一名游戏设计师，你需要在众多提供游戏设计或互动娱乐课程的学院或网上大学中参加一个2年或4年的课程。”

这是错误的。这是网站假装提供给人们有关游戏的教育但实际上却是一个市场营销网站的例子。

对于游戏开发者来说，如果你曾好奇为什么有许多学生上着那些教授给他们关于游戏开发和游戏设计的错误理念的课程，那么你现在便拥有答案了。他们花了那么多钱进行市场营销和招聘，但是几乎每一篇被认为是最佳的且关于游戏的文章都是付费广告。

学生们应该仔细着眼于这些网站并识别出哪些学校是在做广告。如果你加入了这些学校，或正考虑是否加入，你就应该谨慎地想一想。这些致力于做广告的学校并不会提供给你任何高质量的教育，相反地他们只是想着如何通过学费和学生贷款等方式赚钱。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转功，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

WHAT GAME DESIGNERS DO (ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET)

By LIZ ENGLAND

I used to wonder why so many people had totally wrong impressions of what a “game designer” was. I mean, I just assumed it was because there wasn’t enough out there written about game design to help people and that they, in turn, weren’t really seeking it out.

I was so, so wrong about that!

Below are a list of quotes from advice articles on game design. These were found by simply googling key terms like, “How to become a game designer”, “How to make video games”, “Getting a job making video games” and “What is a game designer”. This is what I expect people to search for when they get the first inkling that maybe – just maybe! – they want to work in game development.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of content mills out there full of advertisements for for-profit schools offering degrees in “game design”, and Google hasn’t figured out how to deal with these yet. It took until about page 4 or 5 of the results to get any good articles from actual developers.

Exhibit 1: Digital Dreamer’s “How to Become a Game Designer”

These companies want to hire someone who knows what makes a game good, and what makes a game bad. They want someone who knows good level design vs poor level design. The only way to do this is by playing, and playing AND playing video games over and over again.

Playing lots of games is not going to make you a good designer. Just because you can play games doesn’t mean you can make them. I love to eat but that doesn’t make me qualified as a chef.

Exhibit 2: Education Portal’s “Game Designer: Job Info and Requirements”

Game designers have duties like designing characters, levels, puzzles, art and animation. They may also write code, using various computer programming languages. Depending on their career duties, they may also be responsible for project management tasks and testing early versions of video games.

This is a classic example of the “all people who make games are game designers!” myth.

Designers = levels and puzzles.

Artists = characters and art.

Animators = animation.

Programmers = code and computer programming languages.

Project Managers and/or Producers = project management.

Quality Assurance Testers = testing early versions of the game

Game Developer = all of the above

Exhibit 3: HowStuffWorks “How Becoming a Video Game Designer Works”

A video game designer must have a strong set of skills, including programming, video graphics and hardware essentials.

These are three different roles seemingly chosen at random.

Programming skills are for programmers. “Video graphics” skills are for graphics programmers, unless the author meant “art” in which case it falls firmly in the art department. “Hardware essentials” is bizarre but may refer to a console programmer or hardware engineer at, say, Sony or Microsoft developing the actual hardware. It may also refer to engine programmers, who help make the game run on a specific console or platform.

Exhibit 4: Study Magazine’s “How To Become a Game Designer”

It can be helpful for you to have a degree in something such as graphic design or web page design. You don’t need anything specifically to start, just a lot of imagination and persistence as video game creation can be a long and at some times tedious job.

Web page design might have been a degree… in 1997. Graphic design isn’t really a term we use in games – it refers more to developing 2D logos or websites or possibly UI artists (but they are usually called “UI artists”).

There’s a lot you specifically need to start a job as a game designer. Graphic design and web design aren’t really among them.

They got “tedious” right though.

Exhibit 5: eHow’s “How to Become a Video Game Designer”

Learn the terms and skills associated with video game related careers. Video game designers are also referred to as graphic designers. Prospective video gamer designers must be familiar with photography, special effects, graphic design, and 3D animation.

The first sentence is so close! It’s perfect! It’s… followed up by a completely nonsensical statement. Video game designers are never referred to as graphic designers.

Game designers do not need to know anything about photography (no one does this), special effects (the role of the FX artists), graphic design (not really a thing), or 2D animation (the role of an animator, not a designer).

Exhibit 6: Shmoop’s “Video Game Designer Qualifications”

You might also be surprised to learn that a fair number of video game designers have at least some graphic design or art experience, if not a full-fledged bachelor’s degree. Think about it: you’ll be creating outrageous sets, character costumes, and battle scenes.

Designers do not need graphic design or art experience, though it’s not a bad skill to have.

Sets? Maybe they mean “levels”? If so that’s true, but it’s so vague and using the wrong terminology. “Character costumes” makes me thing this person knows about films and nothing about games – the correct term is “character art” or maybe “vanity” (to refer to clothing pieces), and both are the domain of a character artist, not a designer.

Finally, remember that real-world business experience will also help you excel in a video game designer job. You’re overseeing budgets, timelines, and team members’ work weeks.

Designers are never overseeing budgets, timelines, or work weeks. That’s a producer or project manager’s job. I have never, ever had any experience with financial figures in the game industry. I may know what a publisher is spending, total, on our game, but not clue how that breaks down. I have no control over the timeline – milestones are agreed upon by producers, studio upper management, and the publisher.

Exhibit 7: eHow’s “Requirements to Become a Game Designer”

The idea of an entry-level game designer is a bit of a misnomer. There are entry-level graphic artists, programmers and even game musicians, but designers work as each one of these during their career.

Designers do not necessarily work as graphic artists (proper term: artist), programmers, or game musicians (proper term: composers or sound designers). Some, like me, entered directly into design. Others have previous experience in QA testing and were promoted up through there.

There is such a thing as an entry level design position, but it requires prior experience even if that experience is developed in your own free time. The same is true of an art or programming position – entry level jobs exist, but you need to be a good artist or programmer before you can get the job.

Exhibit 8: Creativepool’s “Game Designer Job Description”

Games designers work around 35 hours a week

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Caveat: they do mention possible overtime, and it is a UK-focused article so their labor laws may be a bit better than here in the US, but this still made me laugh.

Different companies have different policies about crunch, and that deserves a whole other article to do justice. The main takeaway is that game development is a work-hard, work-late, work-often career for the most part, though there are a handful of places that have avoided this.

Exhibit 9: Sokanu’s “Video Game Designer” career page

Most designers will spend at least some of their time as testers, where they can experiment with coding and watch others’ mistakes firsthand.

Most designers do not spend time as testers. Some start off as testers and get promoted up through the ranks, but not all of them.

Testers do not get to experiment with coding. I’m not even sure what this would be referring to.

Lastly, an environmental designer is responsible for creating the different scenarios and environments of the game.

There is no such thing as an “environment designer”. There are “level designers” which create the scenarios (better referred to as levels, missions, and gameplay). There are “environment artists” which create the environment art (duh) and work on the aesthetics and visuals of those levels.

Exhibit 10: How Do I Become A’s “How To Become A Game Designer”

Computer programming language understanding is a must. There are several levels of video game design that want good idealists. Game production, game mechanics, level design, game asset reviewers, development analysis and more are all places where a good student can start depending on his skill level. Opportunities are open in specific areas of each game design project as well. Fresh out of school graduates could begin in combat systems design, game play design, economics director or even multi player game design.

Game asset reviewers? Economics director? Those are made up terms. I have no clue what “development analysis” means. The other terms are pretty inaccurate, too. This whole paragraph is a mess of terminology.

We don’t want idealists. (Similarly, a lot of articles use the term “perfectionists” – that’s also a lie). Game development is a lot of grunt work that is challenging and rewarding in its own way, but the process is far from perfect. It’s nice to have some optimism, but idealists are going to have their hearts broken really quickly.

Meanwhile…

There’s a really troubling trend of advice on these sites that contributes to an awful part of the game industry: predatory for-profit schools. Most of the advice articles are aimed at high school students or aspiring game designers and tell them, over and over again, that they NEED a degree in things like “Game Art & Design” or else they cannot get a job, but imply that if they get the degree there’s so many ‘limitless’ jobs out there.

Exhibit 11: Game Design School’s “How To Become A Game Designer”

In order to be a successful game designer you can’t only bank on your passion for video games. You need a solid education from a respected school to solidify your candidacy.

You actually do not need an education in game development from a school. I often recommend students to still get a 4-year bachelor’s degree from a traditional school because that is essentially a requirement for any white collar job in the US, and since the vast majority of them will not get into the game industry a degree will help in the long run.

A game-focused degree program does not give you extra points on your resume, let alone treated as a necessity. A lot of these programs are really bad and do NOT provide students with the skills they need to actually enter the workforce professionally. Many of them have developed such a bad reputation among game developers that seeing them on your resume is a red flag.

Your portfolio is the key thing that will get you a job, and you do not need a school for it. Some schools can help you develop that portfolio. Most of them can’t.

Exhibit 12: How To Become A Game Designer dot com

In order to become a game designer, you will need to attend either a two year or four year program at one of the many colleges and online universities across that nation that offer programs in either Game Design or Interactive Entertainment.

This is wrong. Wrong! This is an example of a website pretending to educate people about games but really acting as a marketing site for predatory ‘universities’.

For game developers, if you ever wonder why there are so many students in bad programs teaching them wrong ideas about game development and game design, you have your answer. They spend so much money on marketing and recruiting, almost every top-ranked information article about getting into games is basically a paid advertisement.

For students, take a look at these sites and check out what schools are ‘advertised’ on them. If you are attending one of these schools, or contemplating attending one, you should think really hard about that. An advertisement on a crappy content-mill website is a huge red flag that the school isn’t interested in quality education but in how many dollars students can bring to them in the form of tuition fees and student loans.

That’s the end of this for now. I’ll do a follow-up with misleading (and sometimes unintentionally hilarious) game development advertisements eventually but I think this article sums up the scale of bad information out there.(source:lizengland)