Where are all the Level Designers?

[Minos]

I'm with James: we are hardcore and can never get enough of this. I can see myself working full-time 40 hours a week and then going home to work on mods or personal projects.

[General Vivi]

Interesting thread to read through.

I think level designers are very underestimated in the game design industry. Environment artists get all the credit for making the awesome-looking models/textures, the people that make the game immersive through gameplay don't get as much credit at all.

I AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT!!! SOOOOO BAADDDDDDDDDD

Also, I feel like we are the hardcore punks of level design that like to design 24/7!

most of the people that I have worked with in the past were from design school. A lot of kids from the Guild Hall it seems are emerging "new trend"

But we also have a lot of older level designers that just come in and do the 9-5 and go home to their families and stuff.

[hessi]

serious: game industry isn't the best place for having a family. regarding those people i know most of them changed the company at least each 3rd year. good luck relocating with a wife and children. one reason for me not to be in this industry tbh.

[e-freak]

serious: game industry isn't the best place for having a family. regarding those people i know most of them changed the company at least each 3rd year. good luck relocating with a wife and children. one reason for me not to be in this industry tbh.

this question is driving me mad as well. though I see this as a general problem in our "new globalized" world.

[Hourences]

As the industry grows older and expands more (more places to work near your house!), it will become less of a problem.

It has to, or else this industry cannot move forward.

And I know plenty of devs with families.

[hessi]

this won't change my experience. might be a problem that is correlated with the country you live in.

[General Vivi]

yeah it kinda sucks i guess. Cause if you have kids you don't always want them moving and not growing up with friends.

[Warby]

actually at ioi i get the feeling that me zacker and mazy are the only 3 people there that don't have kids !

i understand perfectly why anyone with a family would do ld (or any game dev job) 9 to 5 and not 24/7 like most of us do

[kleinluka]

serious: game industry isn't the best place for having a family. regarding those people i know most of them changed the company at least each 3rd year. good luck relocating with a wife and children. one reason for me not to be in this industry tbh.

one reason for me not to get a wife lol

[hessi]

serious: game industry isn't the best place for having a family. regarding those people i know most of them changed the company at least each 3rd year. good luck relocating with a wife and children. one reason for me not to be in this industry tbh.

one reason for me not to get a wife lol

shame on you, nerd!

[Furyo]

I can also definitely understand why some don't want to move anywhere and stay in their hometown, but life is about choices and priorities. If you want to work in the games industry, you will most likely have to move around from time to time at best, every year in the worst case scenario.

I was brought up moving around from city to city every 3 years or so, sometimes even from country to country. I know exactly what some of you are referring to here as something you (or others) do not want for their family, but on the contrary that is exactly what I would like for my family. It's all personal choices, and being a level designer or a biochemist has nothing to do with it.

On the topic of continuing on the mod scene after you've made it in the industry, I can definitely see where even the most hardcore designer will fade away from the community after a while. It takes its toll, and for every problem you encounter working on your own, you realize the games you've worked on bring a lot more to your career than anything you come up with yourself. So there really only is self motivation to keep you going, and we all know how that swings back and forth. Besides, having a balanced life overall is probably what will keep you from burning out entirely including at your job.

The 9-5 attitude is as respectable as anything else, and is commonly shared throughout all industries and all countries (that have 9-5....). At the same time, I would personally advise people that are typically looking for that kinda working hours to stay away from certain positions in the games industry, like the aforementioned producer.

[-HP-]

I can also definitely understand why some don't want to move anywhere and stay in their hometown, but life is about choices and priorities. If you want to work in the games industry, you will most likely have to move around from time to time at best, every year in the worst case scenario.

I was lucky to get a job on my hometown, for now... but if I had to move to another country (which will probably happen in the future anyways, its my current goal) I wouldn't think twice about it! I didn't worked my ass of all this years to say "no" to a great career opportunity.

But yes, that matter does worry me, we wont be young forever, and sooner or later we'll have to settle down. House, wife and kids.

[Jetsetlemming]

Since a lot of industry level designers are posting in this thread, I wanted to ask a question: How many of you have a responsibility in the project to actually create art assets over creating the level geometry, sticking the art assets in and on it, and scripting it all together?

[Furyo]

You know HP, I used to think exactly like you. "What will happen if I choose this job 10 years from now". I always was told throughout my school years that I had to choose a career path, and stick to it. Then came my business school, that basically told me that at the rate things are, I would change jobs 6-7 times during my career, as an average. I thought the French system really didn't make room for that many changes to happen, in a country where your diploma still dictates what you'll do for the rest of your life.

And then I chose to change my career path, worked my way in myself, through sweat and tears as a random loner locked away in my room in front of an often puzzling piece of software (SourceSDK) and made it happen. The only long lasting thing I got from that is that it's possible to beat the odds and the naysayers, and that in 10 years time, should I decide it's again time to move on and do something else to support the family I'm yet to have, that I will be able to do it.

The outlook I now have is that there is no longer any career whatever it is I end up doing. There is only a series of different life experiences you choose to do or not do. And only now do I understand what my teachers told me during business school, there is no longer any certainty about any career you can choose to do, so you might as well enjoy yourself and do what you like doing at the present time. Hard, unpleasing and tedious as it may be from time to time.

You'll also find that recruiters can be interested in your other job experiences and draw new responsabilities from even your hobby. A good friend of mine that lurks around Mapcore was recently bumped up in his Insurance company because of his experience with the SourceSDK. My own experience is that recruiters who show this ability increase my desire to work for said company too.

[Furyo]

Since a lot of industry level designers are posting in this thread, I wanted to ask a question: How many of you have a responsibility in the project to actually create art assets over creating the level geometry, sticking the art assets in and on it, and scripting it all together?

I don't create any art asset, especially since I wouldn't know how the hell to, but I work hand in hand with the level artist to make both visions fit. And I do all my scripting (and some on other maps as well). That's entirely project related though. On Rayman, it was all about gameplay and scripting, never even had to talk to the artists.