I want to be a game developing writer.

[nirharpaz]

My long time dream that i'm working on is entering the games industry, and build up computer games.
I'm talking on being conceptual creator (characters, units, plot act), not a programmer.

does anyone know if there is a need of any academic knowledge, and what kind of, to be on my resume?
what kind of skills do i need except for overdeveloped imagination and creativity to get into the large companies in this field?

[edit: title changed by qubodup]

[charlie]

I think the important thing is to build up a portfolio. Have a browse of DeviantArt and see what concept artists do. You need to be doing something similar.

Also I would encourage you to contribute to an open source game. Plenty of them need concept artists.

http://www.deviantart.com / http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=concept
http://www.opengameart.org / http://opengameart.org/art-search-advan ... id=concept

[nirharpaz]

DeviantArt looks like the field of graphic design no?

[charlie]

You said concept artist. Artist implies art. Or do you mean writing?

[qubodup]

My fault, I fixed the title but in fact wronged it.

[Julius]

Being able to sketch a storyboard and making some decent concept art will definitly help you though.

However I wouldn't get my hopes high for such a carreer as ideas are cheep and games are not exactly known for their great stories.

[nirharpaz]

have you any contact details to companies in the field or do you know anyone who work in the field whom i can talk about?

so what direction do you suggest Julius? building basic story rich games like browser games or app games by cooperating with a programmer?

and what really goes on in the plot building teams in companies? what are they dealing with?

[nirharpaz]

i'll fix my word.
when i talked about art i means writing the story-line, characters, aspects in the game and means to make it balanced (so no character can become overpowered over others for example, or increasing the depth of thinking needed to master the game without making it TOO complex)

i didn't talk about graphic artist

[Julius]

I don't think this is really the right place to ask this, as we are mostly hobby game developers.

Google turned up with this:
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features ... er_an_.php
http://www.writing-world.com/freelance/games.shtml

Maybe that helps.

But as I said... being able to also draw nice concept art to illustrate your story idea will definitely be a big asset for finding such a job (or a job at all).

For this I can recommend this site with a lot of nice example and links etc:
http://www.conceptart.org/

Drawing is easier than you think btw... it's mostly a lot of practice and learning the right tricks. It's not something you are able to magically do or not.

Edit: but a word of warning... the gaming industry consists mostly of badly paid slave labor type of jobs, so think twice before choosing such a career :-/

[sireus]

Edit: but a word of warning... the gaming industry consists mostly of badly paid slave labor type of jobs, so think twice before choosing such a career :-/

True dat. Their motto is "it's on honor to work for us, so why should we pay you". Same story as with some startups.
Now, the fun thing is that at the same time they complain about not getting enough qualified people. Hmm, why, I wonder...
Generally, it's a bad idea to specialize on one specific job. For example, if you're a programmer at a game development studio, you're probably still qualified for most other programming jobs. But if your job is "writer for big game dev companies"...

[nirharpaz]

well that means ill must have my general knowledge, capabilities and education not only for "writer for big game dev companies", but might be for TV (to be honest, after the depth and level of freedom i must provide for the player, writing for TV sounds like a piece of cake), cinema or even the ability and connections and reputation to work on my own projects.
one of them is in progress just about.. already now.

you are so right, still, to be honest, you talk about the same problems of studying for professionalism (programming, medicine, law, finance... even cooking) or studying more abstract subjects.

i can even add to your words that the game development industry in my country is very small.
this is why i'm looking for the subject that can promote me towards this thing and in the same time provide me with some basis for "plan B".
and this is why i'm in such a dilemma you really touched the point bud.
I believe that there are SOME companies that pay reasonable wages.

BTW when talking on very large companies that pay very bad for there writers.. are you talking on the US or worldwide? are you talking on huge monsters like Blizzard or EA or on dev companies in general?

you gave strong statements that cleared the complexity of my simple damn question "what the hell is a good field for me to study?" do you have any ideas of potential answers?
don't think too much, thinking is bad. if you think on something, throw me an answer, i'll check in the universities if it fits in or not.

besides of brainstorming, if you know anyone who works in the industry and willing to advise me by mail, i'd appreciate it.

[nirharpaz]

just to clear this up.
the title was given by Iwan to clear up the question.
I want to be a game developing writer.
the large company stuff will only apply if it fits in. there are so many startups and medium to small companies that create games.
and perhaps my faith will lead me to invent the next "angry birds"...

[qubodup]

So you want to be a game designer?

Writing mechanics? Or writing story?

[nirharpaz]

what do you mean by writing mechanics?
i think understand but i'm not completely sure

[qubodup]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_mechanics

what language(s) are you fluent in?

[nirharpaz]

i defiantly prefer game mechanics, yet i don't feel uncomfortable with story writing.
if i have to pic, then the mechanics.

languages? you mean english spanish act? or java C++ act?

[qubodup]

natural languages, not programming.

[nirharpaz]

phew, *removing the sweat from my forehead*

I know English and Hebrew at high levels, and Spanish at communication level.

[nirharpaz]

and if you are talking on this
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/so ... e-designer
when saying mechanism writer

than that's about exactly it!

[FreakNigh]

You need to determine if you want to be a game designer or writer. If you want to be a game designer there are a ton of books out there on the subject and you should start by reading one or two to understand the field. There are game development schools out there... Full Sail has a masters in game design - http://www.fullsail.edu/degrees/game-design-masters .

If you want to be a writer, something no different then a creative writer but for books. Then you should have no problem admitting that some sort of "english" / creative writing university degree is what you want. Then while you are getting the degree continually work on your portfolio and try to get internship (or even work for free) experience as a game writer.

[nirharpaz]

i'm definitely talking about designer