So You Want to be a Designer

Continuing their new series on breaking into the gaming industry, Bethesda Blog’s Matt Grandstaff has advice for players who dream of designing their own games one day.

After you’ve got the education, one of the best ways to get that coveted designer job is to start as an artist or programmer. Even an occasional QAs, such as testers, can get the company’s attention. Also have an idea of which of the five general types of developers you want to work as.

You also have to be able to show companies your skills and creativity.

You want to be a designer. Here is how you do it:

Get your hands on the Source SDK, The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, the Neverwinter Nights toolset (either game, 1 or 2 or both!). Make lots of mods. When the time is right and you have a chance to interview for a design job, show them all your kick ass mods.

Quite frankly, your first mod is probably going to suck. Chances are, so is your second mod. But you will never make a good mod unless you can get your crap ones out of the way.

Make your mod match where you want to work. You want to work here? Show us mods using our Construction Set. Want to work at Bioware? Learn the Neverwinter Nights (Aurora, I think is what its called). Want to be first person shooters? Make maps for Half Life or Call of Duty, or Portal maps.

Developing mods is a good way to show a company that not only do you have knowledge, ideas and talent; you aren’t afraid of hard work.

We want to know that you will work your butt off, that you have a thick skin and take criticism, that you are committed to learning and adapting, that you can absorb knowledge and teach yourself.

Read the full article on the Bethesda Blog.