Nerve

Games/Level Design are my main focus. I was thinking I might start with Hammer (and follow your to-do list ) and make some CS:GO maps. That way I can also incorporate the thinking behind game play, balance, the documentation and so on when putting my portfolio together - which would hopefully demonstrate the 'Games Design' thinking behind it, right? I'm also hoping to eventually work on a couple small solo/collab game projects to further my design/scripting knowledge, probably in Unity (from start to finish). Fingers crossed after a couple of years that might be enough to land me an entry level or junior designer/level designer position somewhere. I might set the portfolio up now, just that it's ready for me to add work to it as I go. I really appreciate the advice guys. By the way Puddy, I just purchased Operation Bravo and Agency is incredible, love your work, inspiring stuff!

I'll ask this here rather than start a new thread. Can someone explain to me exactly what a 'Games Designer' does? I see the term Games Design(er) thrown around a lot, but don't really understand what it would involve. I think I've seen one job ad for a Designer in the last month or so and it just sounded like mixture of everything? Asking for experience with Level Design, Scripting, Art, tools such as Unity, UDK, Maya, 3DSMax... Sorry if this is a stupid question, I just can't find a decent definition anywhere and figured it was just best to ask the people that actually work in the industry.

As much hate as it gets, Call of Duty is fun, it's that simple. Yeah, some of the stuff they use is recycled and apart from some minor tweaks and new features, it's essentially just a map pack every year, but it's an awesome one. I completely agree with Puddy and Chimeray, it's addictive. It's a tried and tested formula that just works - year after year. It's easy to pick up and jump straight into and the fact it has such a big competitive scene behind it helps. I agree that Battlefield has prioritised visuals and the game play does take a hit, but only a small one.You can't beat it when playing with friends. The maps, the destruction, the vehicles, it's just chaos. Every single time you play it feels like a totally different experience. They're both day one purchases for me!

This is awesome work! I've recently registered to help me on my quest to becoming a game/level designer and I can only hope to be this good one day. It seems like everyone around here is a god... so hopefully lots of knowledge to be gained. Can't wait to see more

Thanks for the advice, I think that's what I'll do - start small and eventually move on to things that require custom assets and more scripting/coding.

Multiplayer is just something that interests me, not necessarily the only thing I'd want to work on professionally. From what people are telling me, the general consensus seems to be self-training, which is the path I think I'd rather take so I can continue with my regular job and not have any debt hanging over me. So the best way to go about it is to simply start creating maps and mods? Are there any particular engines, pieces of software or scripting/programming languages you would recommend starting with and/or including in a portfolio? If you can recommend any resources that'd be great, just trying to get an idea of where to start. Tutorials, guides, books... anything.

Thanks for the reply. To be honest, some of the content they produce is really good. The University I was looking at has an 'in-house' studio which students can attend during the third year (placement) to work on and publish a complete game. In the past they have released several XBL and iOS games and it seems to be the students that were involved in these projects (or that got lucky with placements elsewhere) that have gone straight into work afterwards as Junior Designers and Programmers. Rockstar, The Blast Furnance (Activision Mobile), Team17, Codemasters, Rare... quite a few different studios - the Uni is known for having a good placement scheme. However, I'm guessing it was this one year placement and the resulting portfolio of work from it that helped rather than the 'degree' itself - that and the fact they were lucky. Which again makes me think, I'll just do it myself... My main interest is Design/Level Design, I've always wanted to create maps aimed at Multiplayer environments as I enjoy the competitive side of gaming. I have basic knowledge of UDK/Unity and C++ and I'm also brushing up on Maya/3DSMax too.

Right, I'll go back to the start. About 4 years ago I started a Games Design course at University, however shortly after starting I had to leave due to a change of circumstance. Since then, I've worked my way up in E-commerce, but Games will always be my passion. I'm finding myself losing interest at work, I'm not working to my full potential because it's just not what I want to be doing. I've realised I need to do something about it sooner rather than later and I'm determined to one day have a career in the Industry, I just need some advice on the best way to pursue it. I'm torn between going back to University, or just working my ass off to build my own portfolio. From what I've read on here, other websites and heard from my friends, taking the portfolio route is going to give me just as good of a chance at landing a job as going to University would. The only benefit I can see from University is the networking and the years work placement, which is what seems to have landed previous students jobs straight out of education. However, this means I'll be nearly 28 when I'm finally graduating and I'll be in around 40k debt to potentially end up where I am now anyway. What do you guys think? Are studios just as likely to hire someone with a decent porfolio and no degree? At the moment, I'm leaning towards self-training. Where would I start? Are there any websites/communities other than this that I should be involved in? Any particular tutorials/guides that helped you when you were first starting out? Any standards which I should work towards? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!