Are you crazy about video games and are ready to get a role in the development process itself? Of course, as you can imagine, the industry of game development has a variety of careers which include absolutely different tasks. This article will guide you through the major professions available to the true devotees of video games.
Game designer
Certainly, everything starts with game design which is the design of the entire concept of the product. It is crucial to distinguish the difference between the process of designing a video game from the process of developing a game.
Game designers are working on the concept of a game, its mechanics and characters. Undeniably, the creation of locations and graphics as well as a game plot are also the responsibilities of a game designer.
Pay your attention to the fact, even though this career seems to be particularly creative, it also requires solving many practical tasks and especially planning. These are game designers who are responsible for establishing deadlines, choosing frameworks for development and also setting a scale for checking the effectiveness of completing the tasks.
Even though this sounds like a variety of general tasks, game designers also have to be aware of the technologies and tools required for the creation of games.
Game developer
A game developer is a person who is responsible for coding a game. Of course, it is required from such a person to be fluent in programming languages and art least one of the game engines used for creating video games. A huge advantage is the knowledge of English.
UX/UI designer
You might have already come across such a profession as a UX/UI designer. This person is responsible for creating the appearance and functionality of a product in such a way as to make it user-friendly.
As a rule, the basic requirements for this profession are advanced knowledge of such programmes as Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop and Sketch, however, it will be a way easier for UX/UI designers to work if they understand at least the basics of behavioural psychology.
Illustrator
Illustrators working in a team of game developers have a lot of tasks. Of course, the entire visualisation of the ideas of game designers is the task of illustrators. In addition to it, they are usually responsible for creating other items as advertisement materials and merch.
Animator
It is crucial to understand that the process of animation of the characters and objects living in the virtual reality is not the task of illustrators and it is not even the responsibility of game developers. This is achieved by specially educated animators who are usually working with such tools as Maya, Blender or 3ds Max. Without these specialists, the 2D or 3D models created by illustrators will not be brought to life.
Screenwriter
It is not obvious to many people who would like to enter the world of game design that there is one more curious and absolutely essential profession available in this industry. This profession is a screenwriter who is creating all of the details of the plot of a game, writes all possible dialogues and is even creating the personalities of the characters of a game.
On small companies, the task of a screenwriter is usually shared with the general profession of a game designer which means a lot of work and responsibility. Certainly, it is absolutely crucial to understand the preferences of players and their expectations in order to create the final product satisfying the fans of a game.
Tester
Even though testers do not need to know too much information about game development, their profession is crucial for the success of game development.
As the name suggests, testers are testing games and of course, one of the most crucial tasks of these specialists is finding any possible bugs in the games. Still, it is not the end as they are also responsible for checking how a game is living up to the expectations of its players.