PLAYING OFFLINE: Tim Eckhoff, 2nd from the left, often plays board games with colleagues at work. It helps him to develop creative ideas for online games. Eckhoff is a software engineer for Berlin games developer Wooga.
By Tobias Hanraths
In the beginning there was only a few. The early computer games were often developed by small teams or even single individuals in garages or bedrooms, often while also working at a “real” job.
But today the computer games industry generates billions of dollars in sales and employs tens of thousands around the world.
In the early days game developers were almost exclusively programmers and computer scientists but nowadays other specialists are as least as important, says Thomas Bremer, a professor at the game design programme taught at Berlin’s High School for Technology and Economy.
“There are three parts — the technical part, the creative part and the game designer,” he says.
The third one is the most recent — “That’s only slowly emerging as a separate activity.” Game designers decide the rules on which the game is based. “Without the game designer there is basically nothing,” Bremer says.
The art designer and game artists are the people that ensure that there’s something to look at when you’re gaming: they design the world of the game and the characters in it. They’re also responsible for the user interface, for example menus and other displays. And of course someone has to take care of the music and sound effects.
Programmers provide the technical framework for the game and the art design and combine the different elements into a finished product. Their task has changed the most in recent years, Bremer says, because many games are now based on so-called engines, ready-made software that can provide the technical backbone for any game. Programmers are therefore used more for the online infrastructure of a game.
When it comes to training to be a game developer, students can opt to specialise or pursue a general overview. Tim Eckhoff, a software engineer with Berlin-based game developer Wooga since 2013, did the latter. He studied game design at the Media Design High School in Berlin, getting an overview of everything first followed by specialisation at the end.
The wide range of study he pursued proved a challenge when he started work. “I had a lot to learn at the start. A year of specialisation doesn’t replace a complete science degree.” But at the same time it had advantages: “It helps very well with team communication.” By knowing what exactly, for example, an art designer does Eckhoff can give better feedback.
That’s very important in the normal day-to-day work, he says. At certain phases of a project he might not spend large parts of his working day at a computer. “When we’re coming right up to the completion of a game there’s certainly more programming. Before that there’s a lot of talk, some days meetings can take up a third or two-thirds of the day.” So games developers also need soft skills such as empathy and an ability to debate and discuss.
Playfulness is also needed for the job and not just on a computer - sometimes Eckhoff and his colleagues play a board game for fun but also to try out new ideas. Game developers don’t necessarily spend a lot of time playing on their games console during their spare time. On the contrary: “Someone who plays a lot is not necessarily a good game developer,” says Professor Bremer. “Sometimes an outside perspective is even an advantage.”
Apart from developing new games, there are other jobs in the games industry, including traditional corporate tasks such as sales, marketing and personnel which people enter by the usual route for such jobs.
At the same time people educated as game designers aren’t restricted to just that role. “Our graduates go into other areas, up to management consultancy. Game designers are motived experts, something that’s also applicable in other fields,” Bremer says. — DPA
