Introduction to the job of Game Designer
Nicolas Leymonerie
Chairman of Phuong Hoang Enix – www.ph-enix.com
Head of the Digital Creation Training Department of the Yersin University of Dalat – stkts.ph-enix.com
Unity & Allegorithmic Authorized Reseller – unity.ph-enix.vn , alg.ph-enix.com
HCMC
July 21, 2012
The Game Designer

 Introduction
Why am I talking about Game Design to you today?
 The Game Design
What is the Game Design and who can become Game Designer?
 Design a Videogame
What to do as Game Designer from the pre-production to the game’s release
 Contact Information
Introduction to the job of Game Designer HCMC
July 21, 2012

Introduction HCMC
July 21, 2012
 My background
• Nicolas Leymonerie, French guy in Vietnam since 2006, 10 years XP
• Graduated in Computer Science and Game Design
• 3 years in Paris working in game studios (Visual Impact, Cyanide Studio)
• Consultant in Game Development in Hanoi (Trangenix, Vinagame)
• Participations in about 20 games:
• PC games (Gray Matter, Loki, Winter challenge, Cycling Manager…)
• Console games ( Gray Matter, 4 Tales to enjoy, SSX3 GBA)
• Mobile games (Cadwallon: City of Thieves, Lucie la luciole, Tony)
• Online games ( 2 Kingdoms 4 Thrones)
• Various positions : Game designer, Level designer, Graphics production
manager, Programmer, 3D artist, Consultant

Introduction HCMC
July 21, 2012
 My actual positions in the Game Industry
• Chairman of the Phuong Hoang Enix Company (2008)
• Coordinator of IGDA Vietnam (2008)
• Reseller for Unity Technologies and Allegorithmic in Vietnam (2011)
• Head of STKTS: Digital Creation Training Department, Yersin Univ. Dalat (2012)
 This presentation
• Target: New to Game Design, Apply as Game Designer or Hire Game Designers
• Definition of the Game Design
• The work of the Game Designer in the Game development team from A to Z

The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do half of his time?

The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do half of his time?
Write Design
Documents!

The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do ?
Write Design
Documents!
Test the
game
Set game
parameters
Create the game
concept
Optionally: Draw concepts, draw
storyboards, program scripts, information
retrieval, build level

The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What does the Game Designer do ?
Write Design
Documents!
Test the
game
Set game
parameters
Create the game
concept
Optionally: Draw concepts, draw
storyboards, program scripts, information
retrieval, build level

The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 Game Design = Way to make a game concept understood by the
rest of the game development team then it can realize the game in
accordance with the view of the Game Designer.
• Way to do that: write documents, draw sketches, develop game
prototypes, communicate information
• Tools: Text / datasheet editors (Word, Excel), Graphics/Diagram softwares, Game
editors (Unity, Gamemaker), Emails/Regular meetings/Conference calls…
 History
• Early stage: Programmers  Game Design
• Complexity of the game production  dedicated person = Game Designer
• Complexity of the game production  Lead GD, Level designer, Character
designer, Writer etc…

The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What is a good Game Designer?
• Qualities : Communicative, Curious, Cultured, Creative, Consistent
• Skills : be good at Writing, Organizing, Analyzing, Conceptualizing + Tools
• Knowledge : Game industry (videogames but not only) + complementary knowledge (
mathematics, world cultures, sport, sociology, architecture etc…)
• Be passionate by making videogame more than playing game

The Game Design HCMC
July 21, 2012
 What defines a good videogame concept:
• A motivating goal : Need to have a main objective clearly defined to be accomplished
by the player.
• Interesting choices : The outcome of the activity is unforeseeable (unexpected or
random events…), so the player has to make choices.
• Interesting consequences : By doing a choice the player expects to get an
immediate or a delayed result that is significant.
• Interesting game mechanisms : The way the player interacts with the game and the
rules must make the player pleased to master them.
• Balanced : The learning curve of the gameplay, the difficulty, the dramatic structure at
any moment of the game must be defined to support the enjoyment of many kind of
players.
• Fun : Generate strong emotions which the player enjoys or wants to overpass:
excitement, challenge, fear, amazement, surprise or even frustration. Fun comes from
the graphics, the interactions, the story and other game design elements.
• Comply with its main purpose : design-driven, market-driven, technology-driven, art-
driven, education-driven…

Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
Producer
Design
char, lvl,
sound..
ArtProgram
Marketing
QA
Communication
flow – Q&A
 Position of the Game Designer in the Game development team
regarding the design of the game
Game
Designer

Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
 Game’s life cycle and Game Designer’s main tasks
Pre-Production Production QA Beta Marketing
Define the Game Concept
Write the Game Design document
Test the game and set gameplay parameters
Provide info for marketing / gamers community
Post-mortem

Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
 The Game Design Document: Bible of the game
• Pitch (1/2 page)
• Scoping Document (2-3 pages)
• Genre : Adventure, Role playing, 2D, 3D, Multiplayer…
• Platform : PC, Mac, Online, Mobile, TV…
• Target market : Geographical data, age, genre, casual/hardcore…
• Selling points : slogan
• State of the competition : results, market statistics…
• Objectives : financial, market…
• Schedule : milestones, deadline…
• Budget : team, technology…
• Constraints : market, technology…

Design a Videogame HCMC
July 21, 2012
 The Game Design Document:
• Detailed Game concept (20,50,100 or more pages depending on the game’s size)
• Core Gameplay
• Background : screenplay…
• Characters and levels
• Game mechanics
• Structure of the game : organization of the levels, duration of the game…
• Interaction: interface, controls, cameras…
• Look and feel: graphics, audio…
• Appendix: sketches, diagrams, screenshots…
• …..

Contact Information HCMC
July 21, 2012
• Nicolas Leymonerie: nicolas@ph-enix.com
• Phuong Hoang Enix : www.ph-enix.com
apps.ph-enix.com
• Digital Creation Training Center : stkts.ph-enix.com
• Unity reseller : unity.ph-enix.vn
• Allegorithmic reseller : alg.ph-enix.vn
• IGDA Vietnam : www.igda.org/vietnam

Introduction to the job of Game Designer
Nicolas Leymonerie
Chairman of Phuong Hoang Enix – www.ph-enix.com
Head of the Digital Creation Training Department of the Yersin University of Dalat – stkts.ph-enix.com
Unity & Allegorithmic Authorized Reseller – unity.ph-enix.vn , alg.ph-enix.com
HCMC
July 21, 2012
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