Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Rant!!
As the Final Game Project kicks off, here is what I think about this course.
Who should be a Game Designer? As Soren puts it (paraphrased by me) "I believe game design should be done by artists because they're more creative. Programmers tend to think in a linear fashion" Although he says that some programmers can make good game designers, ultimately, the GDD of the Final Game Project is to be done by the Designer track students. So much so as Josef says "Leave the programmers out of the GDD" This caused the designer track students to hand up the GDD without the knowledge of the programmers.
When I reminded Josef that we've done 6110 which both the artists and programmers attended, he claimed that all students take 6110 but ultimately, it's the design track students which will be the game designers.
What is this? The pre requisite for the design track is "MAYA profiency". I then questioned Josef whether MAYA is required to do game design. He answered in the negative. So? This does not make sense. You say that designer track students will be the game designer. The prerequisite is MAYA and YET game design does not require it. This makes me wonder if they actually knew what they're talking about.
It seems to me that they're designated Game Designers because their track is "Designer". That's like saying I can be both Genetic Engineer or Mechanical Engineer simply because my track is "Engineer".
This leads some of the students in the Designer track to have some really misguided notions about Game Design so much so that she firmly believes that she is the Designer and that everyone must listen to her. How can one liken Mario Kart to 3D Pacman?
Truly, I still firmly believe that
1) Game Designers are NOT programmers
2) Game Designers are NOT artists
3) Game Designers are NOT musicians and Audio Engineers
Game Designers' role in the Final Game Project should be given to whoever has a great idea and is able to sell their idea to their teammates. Do NOT give a reason that "Programmers do TDD so the Design Track students do GDD". This is stereotyping in a very wrong sense.
Final words: Jaime and Adrian, thank you for your guidance in this module and I do firmly believe that what you taught is correct.
Who should be a Game Designer? As Soren puts it (paraphrased by me) "I believe game design should be done by artists because they're more creative. Programmers tend to think in a linear fashion" Although he says that some programmers can make good game designers, ultimately, the GDD of the Final Game Project is to be done by the Designer track students. So much so as Josef says "Leave the programmers out of the GDD" This caused the designer track students to hand up the GDD without the knowledge of the programmers.
When I reminded Josef that we've done 6110 which both the artists and programmers attended, he claimed that all students take 6110 but ultimately, it's the design track students which will be the game designers.
What is this? The pre requisite for the design track is "MAYA profiency". I then questioned Josef whether MAYA is required to do game design. He answered in the negative. So? This does not make sense. You say that designer track students will be the game designer. The prerequisite is MAYA and YET game design does not require it. This makes me wonder if they actually knew what they're talking about.
It seems to me that they're designated Game Designers because their track is "Designer". That's like saying I can be both Genetic Engineer or Mechanical Engineer simply because my track is "Engineer".
This leads some of the students in the Designer track to have some really misguided notions about Game Design so much so that she firmly believes that she is the Designer and that everyone must listen to her. How can one liken Mario Kart to 3D Pacman?
Truly, I still firmly believe that
1) Game Designers are NOT programmers
2) Game Designers are NOT artists
3) Game Designers are NOT musicians and Audio Engineers
Game Designers' role in the Final Game Project should be given to whoever has a great idea and is able to sell their idea to their teammates. Do NOT give a reason that "Programmers do TDD so the Design Track students do GDD". This is stereotyping in a very wrong sense.
Final words: Jaime and Adrian, thank you for your guidance in this module and I do firmly believe that what you taught is correct.
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