There are a ton of skills that go into game development. Audio, graphics, programming, writing. And developing all those skills takes a tremendous amount of time. Especially if you try to learn them all at the same time. I got lucky. Many of these skills I had before ever starting to become a game designer. So I thought I’d share a little of my background and how I got these skills.
I’ve also talked about how I got my start in game development specifically. It’s a pretty unique story. Check it out and tell me how you got your start too.
Programming
The skills I’ve had the longest and contribute the most to me as a game designer are programming. My start in programming goes all the way back to college. I graduated with a Bachelor’s. One of my two focuses was Information Technology. And it was a web design course that started my interest and experience with code.
Since entering the workforce, I’ve held two different positions focused on programming.
The first was for a commercial direct mail company. It was pretty easy, but very repetitive. After about 6 months, I ended up building an automation system to handle 80% of our repeating daily jobs. I still think about that system and how it could be improved with what I know now.
My current position is also tied to programming. It also goes back to my original exposure to code. I work as a professional web developer (Drupal backend). Ironically, this web site is not made in Drupal.
And like most programmers, I’ve made tons of personal projects throughout the years. Mainly automating parts of my life that I don’t like doing over and over. A watering system for my wife’s garden. Scripting out monthly expense/savings reports (I love finance and investing). Stuff like that.
Graphic Design
Remember that web design course I mentioned? The professor from that course got me started on my path down another of my game designer skills: graphic design. After class one day, I asked my professor how I could really pursue web design further. Their recommendation was to take graphic design courses.
Initially, I was absolutely terrible at it. But eventually I fell in love with. So much that I ended up making it my other college focus. And marrying another graphic designer.
Similar to programming, I’ve held two positions related to graphic design.
The first was as a technical artist along side my wife at a decal printing shop. My role was to take provided artwork and split it into individual colors for whatever print method was being used. Loved the products that we made and still have many of them in an art book.
The second position was for the same direct mail company I was a programmer for. I actually started the company as a graphic designer. Worked in that role for a few years before moving over to the programming side.
Music
Music is probably my greatest passion. If I had thought I could actually make a living from it, I probably would’ve been a music major.
I’ve been a multi-instrumentalist since high school. Started on euphonium, picked up tenor sax for jazz band, and eventually cello for orchestra (I just have a thing for tenor voices, I guess?). My dad also bought me my first guitar during high school. I’ve played both rock and acoustic venues over the years.
Ironically, I did not pursue music in any way during college. Long story for another time.
About 5 years after college, my wife convinced me to get back into it. And I got into it hardcore. I started to (and still do) play with several local ensembles. Also started teaching myself music composition. I now own way more music theory books than any one person really should own.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, our ensembles couldn’t meet up. So I used that time to start learning classical and jazz piano.
Video Games
And of course, I’m a huge gamer. I remember playing Double Dribble and Stealth ATF on my uncle’s NES when I was little. My first console of my own was the SNES with the Killer Instinct bundle (still have my Killer Cuts CD!). Was one of the OG Pokemon trainers back in 3rd grade. Super Smash Bros: Melee tournament player in high school (state/local scene, nothing fancy). Halo 2 LAN parties in college. Way more /played in World of Warcraft than should really be mentioned.
While I definitely love modern gaming, a lot of the “retro” games still have a special place in my heart. Especially the SNES era.
Conclusion
While I don’t think you need to have all these to be an effective game development, I do think having a strong understanding of each of the skills is important. You can more effectively communicate with your team, know how to pick the most useful assets, or hire the right artists/composers/programmers to work with.
With a background in graphic design, music, and programming, I’m think I have a pretty strong start. My biggest challenge will be to put all those skills together effectively and design good games. Honestly, I’m a little surprised I didn’t pick up game design sooner. I feel like I had a lot of the skills needed to become a game designer. But it just never really occurred to me to put them together.
Which skills do you think is most important for a great game designer? Did you have those skills when you started or develop them later? Leave a comment down below and share your thoughts with us.
