Hello! Welcome to Games Design at Chelmsford College. You're about to take your first steps towards a career in one of the fastest growing creative Industries.
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Games Design is a specialised industry, you will need to understand the job roles available and work towards one that matches your own goals, interests and abilities. The four roles we investigate in year one are:
Gameplay Designer
Narrative Designer
Level
Designer
Systems Designer
Task 1
Research
Analysis
Research is an important skill in the games industry. This might involve looking at the competition for a game you are planning, gathering real-life reference for your projects or teaching yourself new skills.
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For this task, you will need to look into the first two jobs on our list. Using information you will gather online, you need to answer a few questions about the roles. This will help develop your knowledge of the game design process and support the practical work you'll do in task 2.
Important
Don't copy and paste information, or use A.I.
This is really easy to spot and doesn't help you. We're interested in your interpretation of information, not how well you can repeat facts.
Task 2
Design
Document
Now that you know a little bit about two job roles, you'll experiment with the kind of tasks associated with each. There are two parts to this work, you will need to design some of the core elements for a game, then design a level that suits those elements. This is a pen and paper exercise, you won't be asked to make this game so don't worry about including things that you don't know how to make yet.
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Your game must be in 2D.
If you already have an idea, run with that, otherwise, you can use this random game generator to start you off.
Once you know what you want to do, complete the following tasks.
Gameplay Designer
Objective
What is your player trying to achieve? E.g. Get to the end, collect all the things, etc...
Obstacle
What is between your player and the objective? E.g. Platforming, enemies, etc...
Feature
What can your player do to overcome the obstacle and complete the objective? E.g. Jump, climb, hide, etc...
Theme
Describe the setting and aesthetic style of your game, consider the characters, visuals and sounds.
Synopsis
Describe your game in a single paragraph (100-200 words).
Level
Designer
Now you know the elements of your game, you will go on to design a level that showcases them. You should plan a level that is fun and engaging, while showing the player how to play. For this exercise, you should ignore any elements of theme and just focus on the gameplay. You can see some examples of good level design plans below.
Design a minimum of one level for your game, you should annotate your design to explain sections, as in the two examples above. You can use any format to complete this task, pen and paper is fine or you can use any digital drawing software. If possible, use a grid to keep your work clear and neat. Remember that level design and environment art are two different roles, you can planning a space, not creating the visuals that will eventually go into it.
Wrapping up
Hopefully you have enjoyed these initial tasks, they will give you a flavour of what you'll be learning over the next two years at Chelmsford College. Games Design is an exciting area to study, it's hard work but very rewarding. Soon you'll be bringing your ideas to live, sharing them with players and seeing other people enjoy the games you create.
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If you have any questions about the tasks above, or the course in general, you can contact me using the email barrettt@chelmsford.ac.uk
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I will be on leave for most of the summer but will get back to you as soon as I'm able.
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I look forward to seeing you in September and seeing the work you have completed.
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Thom