Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

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to working in games is being disciplined about constantly growing and updating
your skills.
Also, don’t forget that opening yourself up to a wide range of gaming projects on
many platforms gives you critical insight into project problem solving that can cut
across genres, budgets, and platform specifics.
In this chapter, as we finish up our conversation about building game content, I’m
going to talk about several diverse kinds of opportunities in gaming available to the
modern game designer, and the importance of keeping your own set of skills diversified.
WHY DIVERSIFY?
There are many great practical and growth-oriented reasons to diversify your skill set
and even your method of approach to the game industry. It’s tough out there! It can
be very difficult to get your first game development job. I have shoeboxes full of
rejection letters at home to prove it. Talk to other developers and you’ll hear the same
thing … getting that first job wasn’t easy, but the good news is that you can afford to
be optimistic.
Even game developers with many years of experience on well-known titles face
rejection along the way. It’s hard not to take it personally at times, but you simply
can’t afford to let it weigh on you. Here’s my advice: keep an eye on your target goals
in gaming (these you’ll have to define for yourself), and then keep your head and
heart behind your skills pursuit at all times. To the best of your ability, practice your
craft regularly. Try not to let any one industry get you down, and if it’s any comfort at
all, try to remember that many people before you have felt the same kinds of anxieties
in their own pursuits.
If you have a strong love for game programming, pursue it with all of your might.
Good game programmers are always in demand. In my experience, it’s a different
kind of employment picture for artists and designers. The only artists and designers
I’ve known who have been able to work constantly for extended periods of time are
those who have significantly diversified their skills. When they’re not working on
game projects, they are storyboarding; illustrating magazine, CD, or book covers;
doing stop-motion animation for music videos; doing web work; doing concept and
character designs; and so forth. In short, they never entirely “rely” on the game industry,
or any one industry for work, and they try not to get pegged down as only a
texture artist or only a modeler. Even if they are currently hard at work on the perfect
game title and times are good, they keep their skills tuned and ready to change direction
at a moment’s notice.
Gaming is clearly a growth industry. It’s had shakes and bumps from the beginning.
It is somewhat recession-proof, as people are always going to want to play
games, and the number of gamers grows every year. The best game developers will
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Getting Started in Game Development