How To Start a Career in Game Design (Lazy Designer Game Design) [Kindle Edition]

Brent Knowles (Author)

Book Description

Practical advice on starting a career in the video game industry and improving your design skills. This is your opportunity to learn from the lead designer of such commercial and critically successful video games as Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age: Origins. Discover how the author started his career, the pitfalls he encountered and how he overcame them. Written by an industry veteran with over ten years experience working for a major games studio.
The Lazy Designer is geared primarily towards those looking to start a career in the games industry. It discusses how to obtain a design position, such as a writer, level designer, or game system designer. Though written specifically for the game designer most of the advice will be of interest to any newcomer to the industry.
Along the way the author explores his own experiences with game development and the difficulties he encountered adjusting to life at his dream job. With practical and blunt advice, the Lazy Designer will give you the skills necessary for becoming a valued, and maybe even essential, member of any development team.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Want to learn how to be a successful designer in the videogame industry? This book will provide pointers and anecdotes from the author's own experiences.

About the Author

Brent Knowles is a writer, programmer, and game designer.

He worked at the role-playing game studio BioWare for ten years (Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age), during most of which he was a Lead Designer/Creative Director.

Now he writes full time.

He has been published in a variety of magazines including Neo-Opsis, On Spec, and Tales of the Talisman.

In 2009 Brent placed first in the third quarter of the Writer's of the Future Contest with his story 'Digital Rights'.

Product Details

• File Size: 228 KB
• Print Length: 119 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005KCM7DQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,530 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #71 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Computers & Technology > Programming > Games

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Recruitment Consultant's take... October 22, 2011

By Zakaria Ahmed Choudhury

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

For those considering getting into the Games Development industry, I'd seriously recommend you get your hands on this book. I say this as a Recruitment Consultant who has been asked the question "how do I get a job making computer games?" too many times. Compiled and written by a designer from one of the most well known Game Developers in the industry. It is a refreshing read on how one goes about entering the industry.

I found most importantly that it caused me (I'm one of those thinking about it too) to consider why I would want to get a `job in computer games'. Reflecting on his experiences when he was starting out (without getting too biographical), Brent is able to set the scene and give you an idea of the day-to-day activities of a Games Designer. The book also elaborates on other disciplines (writers, artists etc.) and how they fit together.

An informative and though provoking read; this is the first in a series of books, which cover various aspects of Games Design and Development. It has already helped me focus on what I want and how to go for it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great no-fluff introduction to the roles and responsibilities of a designer July 27, 2012

By Cal

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is short but that's because it contains no filler and wastes no time getting to the meat of the issue. If you've considered a career in game design but aren't sure how the industry works, how game companies are structured and what a designer will be expected to know before they are employable, then this is a quick low-cost intro.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read! April 22, 2013

By Guido van Santen

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Well, this book is not very big and does not give you any information about game design itself. But..... i do think this is a very good read.

Not just for people who want to start a career in game design, but for everybody that is in his/her early phase of the working life.
There are just some small (but very good) tips inside that you would normally get through working experience since you never really learn that at school/university. So those can give you a proper head start.

Spend the few bucks, its worth it. It is written in a catchy way, and it doesn't take so much time to read at all.

More About the Author

Brent Knowles is a writer and game designer. He worked at the role-playing game studio BioWare on such titles as Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, and Jade Empire. Mostly recently he was the lead designer on Dragon Age: Origins.

After ten years in the games industry Brent "retired" to focus on his fiction career.

His stories have appeared, or will appear, in Abyss and Apex, Neo-Opsis, Not One of Us, On Spec, and Writers of the Future 26.

He blogs about game design and writing at www.brentknowles.com