HOW TO FIND A GOOD DESIGNER

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• HOW TO FIND A GOOD DESIGNER

(How to spot them, hunt them down, and capture
one for your very own.)
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Game designers good ones are hard to find.
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Even with training programs, its not an easy
process.
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But there are some things that are common to all
designers that you can look for.
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INTRODUCTION

• Who is this strange man in front of you?

• Strange Man Chris Avellone

• Chris Avellone Head of Design, Obsidian
  Entertainment

• (May be a fake name.)

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Obsidian Entertainment

• New company, formed in 2003.
• Composed of industry veterans from Interplays
  Black Isle Studios.
• Mostly goof around doing role-playing games of
  all shapes and kinds.
• Some of the titles weve done include

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Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II The
Sith Lords
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and Neverwinter Nights 2.
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• Obsidian started with 5 people.
• And this fool standing before you was the only
  designer.
• Role-playing games need a lot of designers.
• A lot.
• A whole lot.

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So you need a good designer for your game.

• How do you spot one?

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• Well, designers are the weird ones.

• Just like me.

• The most important aspect is not what you see,
  but whats inside.

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Good Designer Basics

• Designers design games.

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Good Designer Basics

• True, but?

• not the whole truth.
• Trade secrets shhhhh.
• Good designers design games for free.

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• Designing Games Television

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• Designing Games Sleeping

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• Designing Games Eating

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• Designing Games Dating?

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• The reason why I am not a good designer.

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What Else Makes a Good Designer?

• Designers play games.

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What Else Makes a Good Designer?

• Designers watch others play games.

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Designers play games that are fun.
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Designers play games that are NOT fun.
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Good Designers can tell you WHY a game is not
fun.
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Designers do not like NOT having fun.
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Good designers can turn a seemingly bad idea
into a good one.
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Good designers play their own games.
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Good designers play their own games. A lot.
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Good designers do their research.
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For sports and racing games, theres tons of
real-world research you can do.
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(As long as you dont carry it too far.)
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Good designers are like sponges.
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Good designers cross-pollinate.
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Good designers recognize theres a lot to learn
from other forms of entertainment.
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Good designers know their license.
No matter what it takes.
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But research can have its perks.
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Good designers know their target audience.
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And this is because a good designer is selfless.

• Designer you dont want

• and a designer you do.

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Good designers know theyre providing a service.
And that service is entertainment.
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Good designers can put themselves in the players
head.
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Good designers imagine what someone else should
think and feel when playing their game.
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They recognize that others may have different
styles of play other than your own and try to
account for it.
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What Else Makes a Good Designer?

• Designers fail.

• A lot.

• And good designers dont let it stop them.

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Good designers are not married to their ideas.
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Designers in the Industry

• Previous points were for designers by nature.
• The coming points are for what makes good
  designers in our industry.
• Theres general qualities all employees should
  have showing initiative, innovation, attention
  to detail, etc. Heres some points that are
  especially important for designers.

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Good designers play well with others.
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Good designers can also communicate well with the
team.
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this is providing vision.
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Good designers know exactly what their game is
trying to accomplish.
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Without that, things fall apart very quickly.
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Good designers know when to STOP.
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So with all this in mind, how do you find a good
designer?
Chances are, they will find you.
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Then you test them.
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Testing Them

• Post an ad.
• Give them a set of directions.
• Check out their communication.
• Ask them some simple/not-so-simple questions.
• Why do they want to be a designer?
• Why do they want to work for you?

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Testing Them

• What kind of games are they playing?
• We ask what they think about those games in
  detail.
• Whats the format of their answers?
• If you like things so far, ask them to show you
  what they can do.
• And see how long it takes them.
• Thems the basics.

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So what to look for in a designer?
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You want a designer who loves designing and would
do it no matter what.
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You want a designer who would work hard to design
a game.
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You want a designer who can design efficiently.
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You want a designer who plays a lot of games
bad, good, fun, not fun, the whole range.
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You want a designer who can critique the games he
plays.
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You want a designer who can take those critiques
and use them in his own designs.
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You want a designer who realizes they are making
games for others.
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And most of all, you want a designer who takes
pride in their work.