Job roles
Games designer – The designers think and plan elements of the game such as the story, characters and scenery. They devise the game and think about what could be added into it. They formulate a concept vision and then communicate these ideas to the rest of the team for them to build and establish. They also oversee development which can last for up to 2 years and help small teams of programmers and artists to develop a prototype game to describe to them how the game should work and be played.
Level Editor – The level editor creates the actual game world and fills it with as much detail as possible. This means the level editors use all objects given to them to not only create a level, but to create an interesting atmosphere for the game. They first sketch the level on paper and imagine what the level would be like in the actual game, making it as effective and absorbing as possible. Then they are produced in a 3D model and then tested in a game engine. Architecture of the level is very important as a bland, linear level with hardly any objects will bore the player and not make a very good game, whereas a level filled with objects, pathways, lighting and an absorbing atmosphere will surely be effective.
Lead Artist – The lead artist is responsible for the overall look of the game. They work with the games designer to receive the designers ideas and create an image as to what the game should look like and begin to create initial ideas themselves. The lead artist also puts together a team of artists and animators who then establish a lot of the art assets for the game, such as scenery, characters and objects. The lead artist mainly researches various models and textures to try to find a set which work with the games atmosphere, but initially work with the games designer and lead programmer to receive the main ideas.
Technical artist – The technical artists are like a link between the programmers and the artists. They make sure art assets can be added into the game without exceeding technical limits of the platform. Furthermore, they decide which art packages and tools the whole studio will use and test which will be most suitable for the game created.
Artist – The Artists create all visuals in the game world such as characters, objects and the environment. Concept art is firstly used to gather ideas and collaborate with others to decide which creation is best to use in the game. There are various roles for artists to take. These are:
• The concept artist – They sketch ideas for the game world, objects and characters using traditional methods (such as pen and paper)
• The 3D modeller – This person will build the models in the game such as the buildings.
• 2D/Texture artist – This person creates and adds textures to models usually created by the 3D modeller.
Animator - Animators are responsible for any movement by the game characters or objects. They create items such as walking animations for characters in the game that are told to walk to an area and they also animate some of the scenery such as trees blowing in the wind. Animations can be extremely time-intensive as the animator will have to make each movement as realistic as possible and can take quite a while to animate all characters, creatures and scenery within big games. Good animation improves immersion within a game as it will feel more realistic.
Audio engineer – These people create all soundtracks for the games. These range from simple sounds such as footsteps to atmospheric noises such as the noises created within a forest. Sound also greatly improves immersion as just like with animation, it makes the game more realistic if more sounds and noises are implemented rather than only having the sound of the characters footsteps. Creating soundtracks for a game can be a complex process as it will take a lot of thought to create a good music track and a lot of time to record every sound needed.
Lead programmer - This person leads the team of programmers and is responsible for all code created by them and him and how efficiently they work. Things created in this sector include Artificial Intelligence, physics, the game engine and interface tools. This job is very highly paid and can involve a lot of intensive work and a lot of code will need to be made.
Programmers – These people design and write the computer code for things such as the game engine. They test the code, fix bugs within the game and develop tools for other members of the development team. Programming is a very complex process and usually involves working for long hours to remove as many bugs as possible and improving AI (Artificial Intelligence). Some programmers work as general programmers whilst others work in a specific area. These jobs are usually:
• Games programmer
• Tools programmer
• Middleware programmer
• AI programmer
Project manager – This person is responsible for ensuring successful delivery of the game and on time and within budget. They use the finance provided and other resources to co-ordinate the production team. They carry out analysis on the game, ensure deadlines are met and quality is high.
Assistant producer – Similar to the project manager, the assistant producer works with all members of the team to ensure timely delivery and high quality of all items made. They can improve communication between managers and teams and managing the money used to create the game. They can also plan targets for the production staff to ensure efficiency and get the work done as quickly as possible so they don’t waste a lot of it and have to extend the release date.
External producer – They liaise between the publishers sales and marketing. They work closely with the internal producer and can sometimes have to travel large distances. They also advise the developers and give as much information as possible to the publisher. This can involve anything from co-ordinating screenshots released and handling the outsourcing of audio.
Creative director – This person is the key person during the development process who oversees any high-level decisions which affect gameplay or the game itself such as changes in audio. Each development team has its own creative director who oversees their teams work, gives advice and ensures the game works or looks as intended. It is a highly paid role that involves a lot of responsibility and stress.
QA Tester – These people play-test the game and are known as Quality Assurance Testers. They test the game for any major or minor bugs so that the final product contains as little of them as possible, suggest improvements to things such as gameplay and test the games performance to check how it runs and if it runs as intended. The QA testers play a vital role to ensure the final game does not contain any game breaking bugs which could ruin the entire experience or completely break the game as things such as glitches can be quite common. They usually repeatedly play the game to maximise as many bugs found as possible.
Product manager – The product manager’s main task is to maximise the games sales as much as possible. They can organise global campaigns to attract attention and influence the public to buy the game. A key job is defining the marketing position of their games.
I have used this site for relevant information http://www.skillset.org/games/careers/profiles/
