How would I become an employed level designer?

[Gambit37]

OK, so I know I talk on here a lot about my business and my uncertain future direction, but indulge me in my "perfect job fantasy" for a minute...

16 years ago I was creating Doom maps and loving it. 13 years ago I was creating Duke Nukem 3D maps and loving that. Since then I've done no map making, but have tinkered with modding other games. I've always loved "game space" creation and really felt it was something I could pursue (I think I should originally have trained to be an architect!)

Let's say I want I to become a level designer. I'm nearly 38. Given that my game modding skills are currently zero and I have little or no 3D experience, I realise that I would need to spend a few years skilling up; assuming that I'm already not too old!

So what would be the best way of getting the skills required to become a level designer? How long would it take do you think to learn all the current required skills? 3 years? 5 years? More? What game engines and software should I learn? Is it even realistic to consider it at this point in my life?

[Zyx]

Ask for a box of legos for your next birthday!
I think your will of learning and keep changing yourself is great. The fact that you want to realize your dreams is great. I can't help you with your technical questions but you have my full moral support. Keep the spark of youth in you and you will never be too old.

[ian_scho]

I'm sure you could sell your self on your 'Usability Expert' side that you have as well. It's essential in games, and might get you a head start compared to 18 year olds!

A friend of mine has his son on a Computer Games Design degree:
http://www.hotcourses.com/uk-courses/Co ... 1/page.htm

Good luck!

p.s. And of course, your portfolio?... That RTC dungeon you have would be PERFECT.

[Sophia]

I'm not sure how much a level designed for an "oldschool" square-based dungeon hack would really impress anyone looking for level designers for modern 3D games. Granted, it might work better for some of the oldschool dungeon stuff that is currently experiencing something of a revival on platforms like the Nintendo DS, but I'm not sure how sustainable that is.

The best thing you can do is to learn the ins and outs of whatever editor you're going to use and then dive right into using it, of course. I don't think it'd really take you 3-5 years. It might take that long before you're "professional," but my suggestion would be to try to join a mod team as soon as possible, basically whenever you can create a basic level without too much problem, which could only take a month or two if you keep at it. Joining a mod team will let you get a lot of experience and work with people who have a similar goal-- provided it's a mod that's actually going somewhere! Too many mods are simply the pipe dream of some 17 year old kid who doesn't see them through.

FPS is pretty much the only genre that I know the ins and outs of modding, and even then, my skills at level design are pretty limited, so I'm sorry that I couldn't say anything more specific than that.

[beowuuf]

One of the level designers for Gearbox occasionally co-hosts a podcast I listen to. Apparently he had done some mods for Doom, but had actually joined when they were smaller as an unpaid (I believe) games tester. Then they realised his potential, and hired him.

I guess it can be about just having talent and being in the industry as an outsider who can get noticed. And having marketable skills and drive. I also think that because of how core engines are changed and developed, the skills and programming knowledge must be more nebulous. I guess if you can get into the inside of a small company you can grow with it, and shift a job position

Funnily, Rockstar has an office (or is it even the office?) above my friend's work in Edinburgh. So games companies are everywhere, of various sizes. There may well be a small one you can befriend


However, from what I understand the games development industry is pretty brutal. Especially when a game gets anywhere close to the year of release, and you start getting into 'crunch time'. It does sound liek the hours expected or required can get obscene. And, of course, the way the industry works is that all your creative effort can get shitcanned for political or industrial reasons.

Also, another nasty habit I've seen hinted (anyone want to clue me in as to if it's real) is that if a company cannot support rolling over the initial development staff with the staff required to push the final game, that they tend to simply let alot of staff go once a game is released.

So yeah, unless you have been modding until you drop anyway, I don't think it's an industry you would - on balance - feel happy dipping you toe into the water of.

[Gambit37]

Great advice everyone, thanks. I'm not seriously considering it as a career change, I'm just musing on what would be required if I were to try and get into it with zero skills/experience.

I totally agree with Sophia that the retro stuff is completely unsellable and not relevant in terms of a modern portfolio. One would need great examples on current tech, probably Unreal 3 or Crytek. I actually still love Half-Life 2, despite it being older, so maybe even Source too.

I think Beo's view is right too. It's a brutal industry indeed, and with the extraordinarily high cost of making games these days, everyone involved has to put in crazy hours. And as noted, many games don't make it to the shelves, dev houses go under and years of hard work is trashed with no closure. (DNF anyone?)

All in all, not something to pursue as a career. Might have been different if I had kept up with the times, and continued to learn newer tools, but I honestly wouldn't have the patience to do that in my spare time now. But If time/money was no problem, it would be a nice thing to learn.

[Trantor]

I also heard it's a very brutal industry. Somewhere, I read that only about 10% of the games that go into development eventually get released - and I'm talking about professional games, not some teenage spare-time projects. What Beo said about people getting fired all the time also sounds familiar.

I'd also say the way to go would be some sort of viral marketing - start with a blog, or join some development team that does stuff for free. Then you have a chance of people in the industry taking notice. I think the traditional way of sending an application is pretty much hopeless.

Yeah, not much new stuff I can add to the discussion, but nice to see we all seem to share similar views.

[Hajo]

You'll also face a hard competition over such job offers, since there are a whole lot of people trying to get into the gaming industry. You'll need to display skills, abilities or experience that makes you stand out of the crowd.

I'd assume that level designer is a too narrow field, and that companies look for people with game design and artistic skills, and then assign some of those to level design tasks. So I'd say, rather try to advertise yourself as game designer, not level designer.

[Zyx]

A horde of rivals for jobs can become a pool of coworkers on an self-produced project. It's all about organization.

[sucinum]

That's a cool wish, mine is quite similar: I'm really good at finding loopholes and the best way to do something, so I'd really like to do the balancing at computer games, especially for any kind of building/simulation game. Zynga could use my expertise for example.
But quite hard to display this expertise - i mean, i have written some profound Diablo 2 guides, but who wants to know? And they are german as well, so...

On the other hand, I'm in a paid job with a future and it would be quite hard to find a similar one with my low education (clerk).