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Category: Professions

When game designers deal with artists

Published by Paolo on 05/12/2021

I have dealt with game artists everyday for many years. My background is computer science, that is why I find it challenging to understand them well. Someone said to me once “you will never understand artists” laughing at my face.

Something I know, anyways. All the people, all the time, give their opinions to the artist. I like it, why blue? Mmm I don’t know. Honestly? I would put that on the right.

You have to be efficient in talking to them. The best way I know? Describe to them what you are seeing. Use your honest and sincere words and wait for their comment on your description.

If something does not convince you, ask them questions. You are a game designer, but the game design is something the whole team will do. Also them. Do not lose the opportunity to use their brains. Facilitate the act of game design and respect their ego. Which, in some cases, can be very high.

How to deal with your boss

Published by Paolo on 28/11/2021

One of the things I wanted to understand earlier when I started working as a game designer is that part of the job is making your boss successful.

Your boss could be the founder of the company you work for, in the case of small businesses. In this case, he will likely have to be accountable to investors. Try to understand the pressure he has and adapt your proposals to it.

It is not important in the profession to be right. The important thing is to deliver the things done. It does not matter that your idea is not accepted, very often there is an external pressure that causes them to take paths that may seem wrong.

Better to make our proposals, but willingly accept the impositions. The facts may prove us right, or we may discover other things we have ignored.

If your boss is a more technical person, better focus on trying to guide him on the more business side. We try to understand the context in which we work and which solutions can be simpler and faster to implement. Our importance in the team will increase!

If your boss is a manager, or a person who generally reports to the CEO or some other manager, it is appropriate to accompany our proposals with spreadsheets with numbers that we can generate. Money, or success metrics!

We must try hard to deliver these numbers, otherwise we risk our proposals being rejected because our boss is unable to defend them properly to superiors.

It is important to empathize with our leaders and understand what profile they have. If they are successful, we’ll be that too!

Game designers and Product managers

Published by Paolo on 27/11/2021

The difference between a Game Designer and a Product Manager sometimes seems subtle. There is quite a big difference in concept, instead

Both figures exercise the act of game design. Deciding how the game should be. In fact, the whole team does that. Game designers are just facilitators of the act of game design.

Both figures are involved in studying the competitors in depth.

The main difference is the following: while the game designer works in the game, the product manager works on the game.

The product manager is the figure who defines roadmaps, objectives and above all who deals with the positioning of the game on the market. It is the bridge between development and business.

The game designer defines the mechanics and features in detail, making sure everyone on the team is really contributing.

It often happens that game designers, frustrated by the fact that they have no decision-making weight, look a product manager position. Only to find themselves frustrated that they are not working in the game, but on the game.

Too often I have met with product managers who are basically ex game designers and enter into issues they shouldn’t. Not because of inability, of course,. but because they take time away from other duties.