What’s the thing I see aspiring game designers and developers get wrong more often than anything else? They don’t know the difference between Game Design and Game Development.
So what are these?
- Game Developer –
- Anyone who is part of the process – from start to finish – in the concepting, creation and release of a game.
- Game Designer
- Someone who determines the rules and challenges of the game experience.
Likewise, many confuse Game Developers with Gameplay Programmers or Engineers.
- Gameplay Programmer
- Someone who instructs the computer in how to enforce the rules of the game.
- Game Engineer
- Catch-all term for all technically proficient developers, be they gameplay programmers, server programmers, build and platform techs, etc.
Or even confuse game design with game artists or character designers!
- Game Artist
- Anyone who produces visual assets for use in the final product, from concepts, to models, to textures, to visual effects. These can be environmental props (plants), buildings, devices, etc.
- Concept Artist
- Someone who draws concept sketches of a scene or location to set the vision and tone for an area. The other game artists will often start from these concept images when creating assets.
- Character Designer
- A concept artist who draws concept sketches to help express an individual character within the bounds of the visual direction of the Art Director.
The industry has confusing terms and many layers of different disciplines that work and coordinate together to make a game real. It’s naturally you might not get it all — these layers grew over time to become what they are now.
If you’re at the beginning of your journey and are being held back by thinking that you MUST need to know how to code to even begin learning about Game Design or Game Development — you’re wrong!
… and that’s okay! If you are interested in game design or game development, you don’t need to know how to code first.
Don’t get me wrong – Coding is a powerful and vital skill in the modern era.
However, you can start your journey now. If you want to start making games, you can make pencil and paper adventures or board games right away to start practicing your design skills without a team behind you.
Want to learn more? Check out our beginner’s course at http://www.gamedesignskill.com