"I'm about to enter my freshman year of college. If my ultimate career goal is to become a game designer, what should my major be now? Computer studies? English/Lit? Our E/L department has a self-directed major in screenwriting, would that be of any use? What exactly are the qualifications for game design?"

Submitted by: Allen Delany, class of 2001

Answered by: Scott Murphy (designer, Space Quest, Sierra On-Line)

"First, you need to ask yourself what type of games you are most interested in. This will help in tipping you in the direction of what type of programming would be most likely used. So, regardless of what you decide I recommend highly that you take computer science. It's very important that you understand the process of physically creating a program, in your case a game, understanding the concepts of it as well as the type of software used in development. It's important for you as a designer and it's important that you are able to communicate with the programmers on your game. Also check out the art side a bit. Understand what you can about 3-D modeling and the engines that run it.

"English lit? I don't know about that. The screenwriter course could come in quite handy though. You need to have vision, an ability to tell a story in an interactive environment, and you need to have your own style, Style is very important in my opinion. You also need to be able to create a concise game document. That would involve using a word processor to write your story and a spreadsheet, database, or project planning software to break down the elements of the game and to represent the logical flow of your creation.

"But then, you could do it the way I did almost 15 years ago. Move to a place like, say, Yosemite so you can backpack in all your spare time. Work as a motel maid, a waiter, do a few years of cooking and then bug a local software company until they are forced to give you a job, and then find out you no longer have that spare time. Unfortunately, that might not work these days now that I think about it. Never mind. Get the sheepskin.

"Good luck with your studies and keep an eye on that market. It changes quickly and it's good to be aware of trends and what really is innovative and fun. Oh yeah, remember that word; fun. Fun is REAL important. If you don't have any then your game might reflect it and that could be a disastrous thing."

"I actually haven't the vaguest idea how one becomes a game designer. My guess is that everyone you ask will provide you a different answer.

"Chris, our son, wanted to be a game designer. What we had him do was spend lots of time learning the 'tools of the trade.' He has spent hundreds of hours with 3d studio max (expensive, but so is college). He was signed up for a game programming school (Digipen in Vancouver). He wrote tons of little practice games in Basic. I really believe having a solid technical foundation is critical. On the 'creative' side, I kind of believe that you are either someone who can write - or you aren't. To build this skill just start writing short-stories. Write articles for newsletters, local newspapers whatever. The best way to learn to write is by writing - and there is always someone who needs an article somewhere. Write game reviews. Whatever.

"With respect to college: You need specific skills, not a broad education. Creative writing, C++, Java, web page design, Graphic editors etc. It doesn't matter what your major is - it just matters that you know games, writing and computers."

"The best advice I can give you, Allen, is to ignore all college classes and spend all your freshman year playing computer games. While that won’t help you get a job, it is about as helpful as advice from me! I was a music major, have degrees in education, taught public school and played professionally for years. What qualifications do I have? Well, I watched a lot of movies, I hung out with theater people, and I once knew someone who had passed a Fortran class. In other words, game design is such a new field, there simply are no rules to learn it. I understand there are a couple of colleges now teaching game design, but I don’t know if they get offers upon graduation. The only common thread I know is design a game, show it to people and make them believe you can bring it to fruition. Sure you need to be able to write (assuming the game has dialogue), you need to understand code, you need to develop an eye for graphics, you need auditory training to know when sounds are right or wrong, but more than all that, you need imagination and I don’t know anywhere you can 'learn' that."

"All three of your choices make good sense (and, speaking as a biochemistry major, a lot more than mine!). You should follow your heart."

"Majoring either in Computer Science or English, depending on your strengths. It's good to minor in the other one. I do feel CS is important, because designing something like an adventure game is very logic intensive. It's really like programming with words in a way, so I feel anyone without strong experience at the kind of logic and detail that programming requires will be at a disadvantage. Not to mention that having a strong abilities with computers in general is a must. I feel writing is important to game design, that's why I emphasize English, but you can be strong at writing without taking English and vice versa. The important thing is to write a lot and often to improve your skills.

"I also recommend dabbling in the other areas will be important to the project: take some film directing courses, some 'intro to art history' courses and some music courses. This will help your communication and team work with the rest of the game's developement team and allow you to function as director of the project, which most designers aspire to.

"But these are all skills. The most important thing is an obsessive love of games of all types and an ability to visualize what you want the final product to look, feel, and play like."

"I would urge, above all else, any majors or courses that deal with communications. Simply put, I feel you can be a successful designer without being a programmer or an artist... but you MUST be able to communicate. This will help your ability to lead, once that becomes an issue... it will help your ability to communicate with the public... and it will allow you to create documents that can be useful rather than confusing for internal development teams. All too many focus on CompSci as if that alone would give them the background necessary to design games... and that is all too often untrue.

"It is probably unnecessary to say it, but the other element that is somewhat less tangible is passion for games. A game designer who sees it as a job or who sees games as something to work on during the day is far less likely to be successful. The ones who make the best games are almost all highly passionate about their work... for them (or perhaps us), it is far less a job and far more a hobby that we are incredibly fortunate enough to get paid to do. If you find yourself spending large amounts of your 'spare' time playing games, dabbling with game ideas, writing/drawing/coding, or the like... you are likely a candidate. If not... stop now, and look for another career path."

"I think your major should be something you are truly interested in -- a minor in multi-media studies, sprinkled w/ computer science classes would be advisable. I have a degree in film and came to designing games by way of producing TV... A long story. The point is, I was interested in visual story telling and I pursued that major. Had the school I went to had a multi media studies program I would have minored in that. As it was, I minored in English. If you read a lot, write a lot and play a lot of games you’re half way there. Understanding plot, story structure, character development, dialogue, even closer. By having a well rounded education you’re introduced to many different thoughts, ideas & people -- the same people, you will want to buy your games. Remember -- you don’t make games for yourself, you make them for other people. Sure, you need to love the game you’re making and want to play it, but you’re making a commercial product (gasp!) -- a product that will be affected by a Marketing department, a Sales department, a product that will be dictated by a budget. There are so many factors to consider when bringing a game to life -- there is so much that goes on from the time the idea is accepted and funded to the time it goes gold, ships and sits on a shelf, to the moment a person parts with their cash and takes it home to play. When you design a game, all those factors will affect you.

"I live by a simple statement when designing: To accept and transcend limitation can be a source of creative vibrancy, whereas to eliminate it with money almost always leads to inertia.

"Enjoy school - it’s a wonderful time to be alive!"

"I would suggest you major in programming with a minor in writing, that way you can get in the door!"

"If I wanted anything to do with Computer Games right now, I’d major in computer studies. Programming will always be essential. However, I also strongly advocate a wide variety of secondary studies, sort of the liberal arts approach for a minor - Creative Writing, Screenwriting, some Theater Directing classes, Communication Skills, and a little business management.

"I wouldn’t advise taking the full major in Screenwriting. The computer science major will get you directly into the computer game company’s doors.

"I don’t have the computer knowledge, and I probably couldn’t break into this industry now. Fortunately, I had a computer nerd for a husband. :-) I didn’t have any management or people skills, and those skills are vital for game designing. You have to work with others as a manager, or at least a guide. So people skills not only aid you getting a job in the first place, but they make the job easier.

"Qualifications for being a Game Designer -- Lion Tamer, Writer, Task Master, Director, Artist, Casting Director, Project Manager, Visionary, Bitch.

"You have to have the vision to see where the project needs to go, and the balls to get others to do what you want done, without offending them.

"(There, how’s that for some career guidance?)"

"Like Al’s, my own experience probably won’t help get someone else started on the right path to the glorious world of game design. After all, I got my degree in geology and worked as a computer graphics artist for 8 years. But what I wish I knew more about was technology, that I had played more games through the years, and that I had taken more writing courses (especially dialogue). In the user’s case, I’d tell him that a lot depends on what kind of game he wants to design. If it’s anything but adventure, he should probably emphasize computer science."

"More than any other area of computer game development, I suspect that game design is the least likely to be successfully taught in a school setting. I may be wrong and I will certainly take a look at graduates of a game design program if they apply to us, four years from now. In the meantime, though, I will continue to find game designers from other sources that would take you less time, commitment, and cost to explore.

"Nearly all of the game designers that I know originally hired on with a software developer or publisher in some other capacity, then moved into game design by repeatedly demonstrating that they had clever ideas that they were able to persuade a programmer or artist to include in a game. Of our current designers, for instance, one was hired on as a game tester, one hired on as an entry level programmer, and one came from tech support, manning phone lines to answer questions from players. It is much easier to be hired for any of these jobs than to get hired as a game designer.

"I did once hire a professional game designer. He had developed a pen and paper role playing game that I was impressed with and I hired him to design and help direct a computer role playing game that we were beginning. It was a disaster. He could not translate his experience as a paper gamer and dungeon master into the very different design experience required for a computer game. He would rarely play computer games and never really understood how they were different from the games that he knew and loved. We eventually let him go after failing to help him train past that difference. A tester that I hired at the same time he was hired now has his job and is performing brilliantly. He knows and understands computer games. He can talk to programmers and he knows what can and cannot be done in code. He is creative enough to go beyond what was done last year. But, I was not aware of these traits until I had worked with him for months and they became apparent through experience. I could not have seen these capabilities in a resume or a brief interview."

Assistant Designer
Assist director by researching and developing product story lines, concepts and treatment for assigned products. Communicate ideas with various product development staff to ensure support. Work with team to define the creative vision and "fun factor". Create and update design documents and make them available to team members for their use in executing the design. Support the director in ensuring integrity of the game design and quality of the finished product.

College degree or equivalent plus 2 to 3 years experience in the game industry. Must have been extensively involved in one or more successful product development cycles and demonstrated strong organizational, communication and problem solving skills.

Sports Game Designer
Duties & Responsibilities:
Scripting, and in some cases Directing, both new and existing series of sports products for Sierra On-Line, including formulating strategies for entering new product categories. The successful applicant must be able to assist in directing programmers, artists, sound crew, and testers working on the design to insure that it is implemented properly. Knowledge of the sport's rules, conventions, history, and competitive products must be adequate to answer team questions about implementation of a simulation of that sport. Presenting and preparing presentations regarding potential products. May be called upon to design, or oversee the design, of a conversion, upgrade or sequel to an existing series, or to completely script or oversee the scripting of a smaller new series. Contributing with ideas and writing to the entire conceptual package of a product, including users' manuals, maps, reference cards and hint books.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:
Formal education (college graduate) with minimum 4-5 years of professional writing or game design experience. Intimate knowledge of several major league sports, on field, as well as the workings of a major league front office, including: drafting, trading, salaries, and scheduling. Software design & development, ad agency, television production, film production, or magazine experience with emphasis on writing and design skills; experience in contributing to the creative process as part of a team; ability to take direction and accept criticism; experience in giving direction to subordinates. Demonstrated ability to work under deadline and to fulfill responsibilities with minimal supervision. Demonstrated ability to develop an idea from concept to finished product. Demonstrated presentations skills adequate to "pitch" new product ideas to management. Superior command of the English language. Well organized and disciplined. Demonstrated ability to create interesting characters and plot lines; possesses the ability to see stories visually; has a very well developed aesthetic sensibility. Strong familiarity with computer entertainment software. Must have, or be able to develop, a solid understanding of gameplay and the ability to differentiate a good game from a bad one. Demonstrated potential to produce "hit" product. Able to create product which takes into account all the complex issues associated with balancing content versus performance and disk space usage.

Desirable personal characteristics:
Obsessive, determined nature - yet flexible enough to accept direction; highly disciplined "no excuse" attitude; vivid imagination... a "touch of genius;" knowledge of and/or interest in a broad range of subjects.

Read more questions and answers!