Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Game Designer Myths 1


'Starting salary 6 lakh toh rahega na minimum?' (for people who don't know Hindi, Should I be expecting an insanely high salary when I become a junior game designer?)was the first question an aspiring game designer working as a QA tester asked me. Without batting an eyelid I said, '...that and a company car with an all expenses paid  flat (apartment house).' 

Now the joke ends there for most of the guys with a 'heh heh....heh heh'. But the guy then added 'Really? That's awesome.' I salute you, man.

And before we proceed any further, let me be very clear that all that you are reading in this post actually happened.

'Yo Brother, I want to be a Designer.'  As I looked up and my eyes steadied on the source of that voice, I found myself looking at a bad copy of a stereotype game designer of yesteryear. Lanky build, disheveled hair, bespectacled, vague expression, sporting a goatee, Yantra T shirt, a loose fitting jeans just about hanging in there, over sized white running shoes, a couple of piercings, a large tattoo on a surprisingly thin arm. Whenever this guy spoke to me after that (which wasn't many times, mind you) there was this 'Yo Brother.' associated with it. If you want to be a rebel, be natural about it. You don't need to look like a typical stereotype game designer to be one.


Then there are a lot of people who come up with this when they know that I am a game designer.  'Mere paas ek jabardast idea hain game ka. You should be making a game on it.' or 'I have a great idea for a game.' I give them a smile and say 'Sure.' (We will really touch this topic later. I will perhaps dedicate a full post for this. So let's just wait.)

'I write a lot. Check out my blogs and fan fictions. I can be of great help in writing design documents.'  Excuse me? You write a lot? You use flowery language? You use words that makes me sit with a dictionary? And you want to help me in writing design documents?

It will take a lot of real estate to cover all the characters, for they are aplenty. For the very reason, I have started writing this blog. We will cover a few more and then a few more some other time.


Thanks for your support and keep those comments rolling.

12 comments:

Poornima Seetharaman said...

M still laughing on the first one's "Really, That's awesome" reply! Wow!! I don't think I've met that specimen, have i? :P

Real nice post.. I'm glad you are posting them regularly (unlike me :P)
Love to read them every morning! :D

Abhishek Deshpande said...

Thanks Purnima. I am going to try and keep the pace. But invariably, it's going to slow down...

Poornima Seetharaman said...

Yea I know, keep it up as long as it goes :)

Eddie said...

Great writing, simple and entertaining. Keep going, I'll read :)

avinashblog said...

very nice article,,, was wondering which category i would fall into???

Abhishek Deshpande said...

@ Avinash - You, my friend, do fall into the 'rare and raring' category. Full marks to you!

Rogue Trader said...

Fail rebel :D

But i know exactly what u mean

when i went to a gaming cafe, they all looked exactly the same

Unknown said...

Great Abhishek. Didn't know that great game designers are also great writers.

Unknown said...

so how much does a game desingner make in real??...

Abhishek Deshpande said...

@ Rishi - Let's say a game designer earns enough to bribe a traffic cop, but not enough to pay the actual challan charges.

Ninad Chhaya said...

"Yo Brother", awesome post ! ;-) Look forward to reading your post on "I-have-got-a-great-idea-you-should-make-a-game on" ... Keep writing!

Abhishek Deshpande said...

@ Ninad - It's an honor to get a comment from you. :)