Creative department:
Game desginer
A games designer's job is to define and create how the game is played, the physics, the looks etc.
This includes them having to develop the rules of the game, the setting story and characters, props such as weapons and vehicle and different ways the game may be played.
They work with programmers, artists, animators, producers and audio engineers to turn their original vision or someone else's, who has hired them's idea into a working game.
Games designers work around 35 hours a week, but they may need to work longer hours as deadlines approach. This means this role can get very stressful at times, depending on the target quality. They work in offices and spend long periods sitting at a desk using a computer.
Some of the main qualities and skills a games designer should have are being creative, imaginative and original, be fluent in a number of software packages, understand the market and target audience for computer games, have problem-solving skills and enjoy IT and playing computer games. The games designer over all has more control over the project than other roles so its not compulsary to be a good team player, but no one likes a stubborn, pushing around boss either. So its always good to be negotiative and open to suggestions.
Level Editor
The Level Editor creates interactive architecture for parts of a game, including the landscape, buildings, and objects. For example it is the level editor's job to make it interactive tin can on the floor interactive. Meaning, if someone walks into it, does it make a sound, does it move, does it get crushed or damaged etc. Making a tin can interatctive is farely easy compared to other parts of the job. Destructable enviorments are becoming a must have and trend in war games or destruction games recently. Destructable enviorments as the name refers, are enviorments that can be altered, deformed and destroyed if interacted with. For example a tank shoos a shell at a wall and the wall breaks, cracks or explodes. That only hapopens if the level editor scripted destructable enviorment in the game.
They must be true to the overall design specification, using the characters and story elements defined by the Game Designer, but they often have considerable scope to vary the specific look and feel of the level for which they are responsible.
Lead programmer
The lead programmer is in charge of the project. It is up to him to decide dead lines, what aspects of the game stay (while in development) and what goes. He/she also picks what art concept should be used, sounds etc. The lead programmer can overall tweak aspects of the project. In a big project the lead programmer can also be referred to as the architect. The role of the lead programmer varies from project to project but mainly their job is to keep track of work being done and to make sure it meets deadlines (if given). A lead programmer also acts like a mentor to developers, programmers and other members in the project.
Programmer
The programmer's job is to design, code, test and debug the game. This includes coding things varying from if an object can be interacted with, what it does when interacted to designing the physics of the game.
If there are any problems or bugs found the programmer's job is to fix them.
Lead Artist
The looks of the game lye in the hands of the lead artist. He/she are in charge of the how the game looks, backgrounds, objects, skins of players, textures and all mesh. Usually the lead artist designs their own art for the game known as concept art. there will be a lot of drawing so the lead artist has to pick the right softwares and equipment required for the project.The artist produces concepts like scenery, characters, foes, objects, weapons, the skins, mesh and backgrounds to be used and usually it is then showed to the lead programmer to make the decision of what is best out of the conecpts and that is then rendered into the game. This job requires members to be creative and without this aspect you can not go too far into job and have less success. Good software knowledge for example what to use to draw from endless software options out there is also essential because the right or wrong software used can have a massive impact on the looks of what they draw. If an artist is really good at what he/she does and use the wrong software, the end result can look bad and leave a bad image of the maker.
Technical artist
The main areas of responsibility for Technical Artists include setting up and maintaining the art production workflow as well as making decisions about which art packages and tools a studio should use.
Technical Artists are also charged with investigating new techniques and implementing them. The job often includes a teaching element, with the Technical Artist sharing their knowledge via training and mentoring sessions with other artists.One large part of the job involves keeping up to date in changes in technology, both in terms of console hardware, art packages and new techniques. The Technical Artist is expected to be able to create custom tools to improve the efficiency of their team. This is usually carried out using the scripting languages included in the main modelling and animation packages.
Artist
Artists work under the supervision of the Lead Artist. They create art for the game according to the requirements given and they're usually in charge of the assets they create.
The job itself has a few different roles for example an artist may specialize in designing characters or scenery and backgrounds others may specialize in mesh and textures.
The different types of artists are as follows:
Concept Artist usually using traditional materials (eg pen and paper) rather than computer software, the Concept Artist sketches ideas for the game worlds, characters, objects, vehicles, furniture, clothing and other content. They also suggest level designs, colour schemes, and the mood and feel of the game. They are usually very good at perspective drawing and architecture. Although not involved in creating the actual game art, their concept will determine the look of many aspects of the game.
3D Modeller builds the characters, objects and environments of the game, including life forms, scenery, vegetation, furniture, and vehicles, etc. They need to balance visual richness and detail with the constraints of the game's technology.
2D/Texture Artist creates and applies textures to characters, environments and game items, such as the surfaces of walls and floors of buildings. This is also a highly skilled area, which requires considerable knowledge of lighting, perspective, materials, and visual effects.
Animator
The animator's job is to bring the concept art of characters and objects to life. They lay a working skeletal structure and build on top of that. Building on top means putting on layers of the character mechanics, how the movements are operated and how certain parts and the whole structure itself reacts when interacted with.
a good example is the player (Steve) in minecraft. The movements of the character when viewed in 3rd person are quite limited. It can be argued the animators were lazy or maybe that is just how the character was always supposed to look. When the character is interacted with, compared to lets say a character for the GTA series, the legs stay stiff and the arms do too. The legs and arms move back and forth but very stiff and straight. This means the skeletal structure under the character skin is very basic.
One of the important roles of the animator is to lay a foundation under objects and characters and depending on how thorughly this is done, the object or character's movements can be either very limited or realistic (Gta characters and objects).
QA TESTER
A game tester's (Quality assurance) job is to test the game thoroughly before it gets released. This job requires good computing expertise, analytic competence and critical evaluation skills. As a QA tester you must play the game with a very open and crazy mind in order to find software defects (bugs) and document them so the developers can fix them. Bugs and defects need fixing asap because some can lead to cheating for example money glitches and bugs in GTA 5 meant people did not work hard to make money in GTA Online, they simply acquired a dns bug by changing their dns to a modified one and when they log into their console, they would have millions which would usually take months to make legit. In order for a fair game for everyone involved bugs such as thuis are usually fixed as soon the developers hear about them which usually happens rapidly nowadays due to the internet's large hacking and glitching community. The job of a qa tester has been seen down upon recently and it is said to be excessively strenuous and unrewarding, both financially and emotionally.
Audio engineer
The Audio Engineer creates the soundtrack for a game. This might include music; sound effects to support the game action, such as gunshots or explosions, character voices and other expressions, spoken instructions, and ambient effects, such as crowd noise, vehicles or rain.
The soundtrack helps to create a more immersive experience for the player by reinforcing the mood of the game. It can also enhance game play by affecting the tempo and adding emotional depth.
Poor sound can affect the gameplay and the player's opinion on the game.
Audio Engineers work for development studios, both independent and publisher-owned. The size of the audio department depends on the company, but can consist of just one or two people who are sometimes required to work very long hours, particularly as launch dates approach.
Project manager
The project manager is in charge of dead lines and making sure the game meets the specifications and requirements given to the project team. The project manager has to make sure dead lines are met every week and check milestones (Make sure certain work is done by the set dead line). Usually the project manager has a timeline made for the team which shows how much and what work has to be done by the set dates.
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