Best way to sell yourself as a Game Designer?

[Jophilli]

Hello all, I am a senior in Game Production at a school in Michigan and I am starting a class called "Game Production Capstone." Basically we choose whatever type of project we want to make while in this 10 week course and it becomes the capstone of our portfolio, per se. There are a modicum of things I could do and am having a hard time deciding what would best promote my skills, but also what would best help me land a job in the industry?

My interests include Level Design and concept art or illustration, mostly. I am thinking about designing a 3D level in UDK; what are game developers (or even graphic design/web design firms) looking for in fresh graduates?

[Void(null)]

You may have more luck with this thread:

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=724

And to note. The Gaming industry has absolutely no clear path of entry for any company and most AAA companies will not hire for any real position without you having at least 3 years of experience and 2 other AAA titles under your belt.

Vicious circle, cant get the experience you need without a job, cant get the job without the experience.

Good luck.

PS. We seem to always have a shortage of Paralegals and Nurses. Just something to consider.

[medierra]

I guess the first thing I would suggest is that you consider the kind of job you want to land. There are all kinds of different game companies, with different cultures, that could look at the same thing and see it as either a pro or a con for a candidate. Basically, you can't please everyone, so figure out what audience you're selling yourself to.

As an example, I've noticed a lot of game schools have students work on some sort of group project to create a small game. A lot of them that I've seen are very abstract, artistic, and / or are flash games. I imagine some companies might look at this and, if done well, think it clever or appreciate the artistic vision. I look at them and I'm like "Wtf is this? What does this have to do with traditional 3d game development?" I want a candidate's submitted materials to make me feel confident that they're capable of doing the type of work we need them to do.

So you may want to gear your work towards the type of company you think you'd want to work at.

I think the UDK map sounds like a good idea personally. If you can create a really solid map, I think that would demonstrate practical skills that would appeal to a lot of companies. Even if a developer doesn't use the Unreal Engine, a well-made map would demonstrate aesthetic judgement, level layout sensibility, and technical proficiency on a real industry tool. All the more so if the company does use Unreal, which many do.

I'd be hesitant about including art if you're going after a design position. This could confuse people as to whether you're looking for a design or art position and, unless your concept work / illustration is very good, it may detract from your application.

Just my $0.02

[thedarkwolf333]

The abstract project issue was something I had to deal with at my college. The school apparently thought that Game Maker was a viable game development tool for professionals. *Rolls eyes.* Game Maker is for teaching amateurs the basic logic behind in-game actions and decisions, but not much else, in my opinion.

[Jophilli]

I appreciate your input guys. Thank you Medierra, didn't really expect to hear from you but you are exactly the person I wanted to hear from! Yes... that does make sense. I suppose it would be best NOT to make a hodge-podge of a portfolio and really focus on one aspect or the other. Very wise words.

Also, LOL at Game Maker. Really? I tinkered around with that when I was like... 14?

I do also realize that the portfolio should almost be tailor-made each time you look at companies that are different from each other. Good tip.