Mission Scripter
As a mission scripter you will be expected to script missions. This will mean different things at different developers. You may be expected to design missions on paper and then implement them or you may be implementing missions which have been designed by someone else.
You will need creative skills to write up your idea, a wealth of knowledge about how games work and game mechanics and an ability to play test your work and revise it as needed. You will also have to be good at articulating your ideas and enthusing other people about them.
The most fun part of the job for many people is generating ideas but this is also a small part of the job. Once the design has been chosen, fully documented and is going into production you will have to implement it. The level of involvement designers have in the implementation varies from company to company. Sometimes you will be expected to write code and have a high degree of technical knowledge, sometimes you will be scripting missions using a language written by the code department and sometimes you will simply be detailing out the mechanics and giving the code department enough feedback to realise your idea.
Getting a Mission Scripter Job
You will need a portfolio or website detailing your experience in design. Example work that can usefully be used to show off your skills includes writing, designing board games, scripting simple missions, building game environments and creating your own game. Sending prospective game design documents is a bad idea unless you are specifically asked to do so.
If you have no experience then do some work for a modification team. Ideally you will be able to present your best missions or maps for potential employers to play through. Ensure that you only include work which is finished and which shows off your skills to the maximum, if in doubt then leave it out. A small range of quality examples will always create a better impression than a large range of sub-par or unfinished work.
It is common for companies to promote designers through the ranks and so a good way into this position can be the test department (this is how I got a design job). Working in test will allow you to learn the basic processes of a game developer and encourage you to think about what does and doesn´t work in games. It also helps you get round the lack of experience problem. It is important to remember even if you do get a tester job you will still need to work on those design skills in your spare time, you must be able to demonstrate an ability to generate good ideas and realise them in game.
Many universities and colleges now offer game design courses, while most designers have a degree of some sort it is not necessary to have a game design degree in order to get a designer job. In my experience game design degrees do not prepare you adequately for working in a design department and you would be better off doing a computing degree, working in test or gaining experience through making something yourself.
Useful Links for Designers
[Home ] [About] [Contact] [Site Map]