Guest Speaker – Megan Matthews
Background
Multidisciplinary game designer at UsTwo games. Specialises in Accessibility and Level Design.
Journey
Before university made many games at home – flash games and Minecraft maps. At university participated in lots of game jams. Final major project got her into a lot of cozy game spaces. First steps into industry: someone reached out on twitter and asked her to enroll into their summer program. Also got to be a junior level designer.
Worked as a freelance environment designer. Then applied to lots of different jobs. Did well on an interview but they needed more experienced designer so they passed her on to 3 other studios. Advice: if you’re nice and well mannered hiring team may help you get other jobs. Got a job at UsTwo Games as a junior game designer.
Needed a strong portfolio that shows understanding of similar games of the studio and understanding of design disciplines. Need a confident ability to answer design-based questions. Working at UsTwo Games for the last 4 years
Journey Timeline:
Graduated in July 2021.
Got two jobs in July 2021 – internship and junior level designer.
October 2021 worked a freelance designer.
The Job
Phases:
Concepting
Prototyping
Pre-production
Production
Post-launch.
Junior/intern/mid level is around in the production/pre-production/post launch phase. Not involved in the idea-generation phase.
Design:
Uses mechanics and concepts as a base for designing a level and/or puzzle. Mostly sketches until they decide to test it. Visual scripting is involved a lot more than programming. Another important part is the progression, balance, and game structure. Involves math and spreadsheets in order to maintain balance.
After all this is done play-testing occurs which is very important. Need to understand the data and how to use it to improve the game. Need to analyse the data to understand exactly what is being said. It’s often better to be there in person rather than just reading data.
Controls & UX
Takes a lot of design analysis to know how to make the game feel as good as possible and as clear as possible to understand.
Accessibility
Understanding what the market wants in terms of accessibility. Advocating for accessibility. Using play-testing data and feedback to understand what is needed. Preparing and delivering lots of talks about accessibility.
Team Design Exercises:
Cool board – Idea/mechanic that is rated on a board for how cool it is and how risky it is to try to make.
Crazy 8s – Come up with 8 ideas/mechanics/criticisms and present them to the team.
Show & Tell Feedback – self-explanatory
Portfolio Tips
Keep it updated consistently. Treat the portfolio like designing a level – think about how the viewer moves through the portfolio. How can you guide them through it?
Keep the landing page simple & easy to read. Feature a few key projects.
As a level designer you would show under your projects your diagrams, greyboxing screenshots, gameplay clips, what you did, retrospectives, etc. Explaining everything is important. Keep it all concise.
Dos & Donts
Do
Show appropriate work & how you did it – your design process.
Explain what the project was and what stage it’s in.
Clearly explain your role and what you did.
Include annotated images.
Write positively. Be confident.
Dont
Show NSFW work.
Talk negatively about people you’ve worked with.
Post images with no explanation.
Write large blocks of text.
Portfolio should show off your passions.
Networking
How to do it:
Find peers in the same field as you.
Create a supporting network.
Networking shouldn’t be annoying.
How to Talk:
Just say hi. Ask for help. Ask questions, be nice.
Summary:
Everyone has different paths into the industry.
Be open-minded – goals can change.
Network and know your peers.
Questions & Answers
Q: How much of your job as a level designer is idea generations vs problem solving?
A: 50/50. It depends on the phase you’re in during the development. Pre-production & Post-launch are a lot of idea generations, whereas production is mostly problem solving. It can be both of course, it fluctuates from project to project and problem to problem. But it is a lot of both.
Q: How do you network without coming off as using people?
A: Approach people with genuine interest, don’t go into it expecting to get a job. Just show interest in what they do and who they are rather than anything else. Getting a job is a potential possibility but never guaranteed from networking.