Creative Director The Creative Director oversees the entire game project; they are responsible for the look and feel of the game. They are linked to various parts of the making the game, such as designing the story, having an input on the game as itʼs built, and the soundtrack and voice acting. They oversee any high-level decisions that affect how the game plays, sounds, and looks. Not all game companies employ Creative Directors. Some companies prefer to continue to split the duties between a game's Lead Artist, Lead Programmers, Designers, and Producers. Where the position is used, each game development team has its own Creative Director. Some highly experienced and talented Creative Directors oversee multiple projects. At the start of a gameʼs production, the Creative Director will sit down with a small core team of writers, and outline the basic story and characters for the game. As the game's development continues and more staff are added, the Creative Director works closely with the Lead Programmers, Artists and Designers to ensure all the code and art assets produced, as well as playable versions of the game, are of a sufficiently high quality. They deal with issues arising such as new features and any major redesigning of characters and scenarios. Aside from overseeing the gameʼs production, the other main role for a Creative Director is to promote the game, this varies from hosting the gameʼs announcement at events such as E3 and discussing the game in interviews with companies such as IGN, GameInformer etc, they also promote the game to the sales and marketing department. There are three main qualities to succeed in being a Creative Director, these are: experience, artistic vision, and the ability to inspire others. Aside from the main route of having five years experience, there are two other ways you can get into this job role; one way is to work your way up through different jobs such as a Lead Artist or Lead Designer. Another way to progress to this role is from a similar position in the film or special effects industries.

Creative Director: Jonathan Blow Jonathan Blow is an American independent video game designer, who is most known for his 2008 hit Indie Game Braid. He is currently working on The Witness, which is due out some time this year. Before Braid, Blow wrote the inner column for Game Developer Magazine. Braid was a massive success, and received critical acclaim with an aggregated score of 93% on Metacritic. Blow stated he made the game as a personal critique on game trends, he funded the three-year project with his own money. The game was unique because it was revealed at the end that your character (the assumed protagonist), was actually the antagonist. One of Braidʼs most praised features is the ability to rewind time in game, this feature was unique as it not only allowed players the chance to fix any mistakes they made, but it was also essential to complete the game. Webcomic artist David Hellman designed the artwork for the game, but it went under several revisions until Blow was satisfied with it, this was within his right as it is one of the jobs of a Creative Director to do so.

Games Designer

• Devising what a game consists of and how it plays, defining all the core elements

• Communicating this to the rest of the development team who create the art assets and computer code

Qualities to succeed:

• Be able to communicate your vision to artists, programmers, producers, marketing staff, and others involved in the development process

• Be able to accept constructive feedback on your work

• Be imaginative and creative

• Have good written and verbal communication skills

• Have good basic visual design and drawing skills

• Be reasonably fluent in a range of 2D and 3D graphics and animation packages, such as 3D Studio Max, NUKE or Maya. As well as having some programming skills at least at ‘scripting’ level

• Possess a thorough understanding of game play theory

• Have storytelling and narrative development skills

Approaches to career:

• The path most people take in to this career is through graduating at a degree level from university and then either looking for a job or if your talented being offered a job from a company.

• The other option is to create independent games and show your portfolio to an employer, whom you are trying to seek employment from.

Shigeru Miyamoto:

• He is famously known as the man who created some of the world’s best selling video games;

• Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., The legend of Zeld, Yoshi, Star Fox, Kirby Super Star, Mario Kart, Super Smash bros., 1080° Snowboarding, Pikmin, Metroid Prime, Nintendogs, Wii Sports

• Since the 1970s Shigeru Miyamoto has been making video games his first big hit was Donkey Kong an arcade game madein the early 80ʼs which every gamer knows about today, this simply difficult platform game created the most well know characters ever, Donkey Kong, Mario and Princess Peach.

• Shigeru has been offered countless jobs with lots of different companies but has remain faithful to Nintendo who let his childhood memories and imagination loose onto the world.

• As a Games Designer he has had input into a lot of different areas of the games heʼs help build, but it all goes down to defining the core elements in Donkey Kong for example the core elements were jump to avoid the barrels and climb up the ladders.

Audio Engineer

An Audio Engineer designs the soundtrack, sound effects, and oversees the voice actors recording their lines in a video game project. Depending on the engineer & Creative Directorʼs preference, they may begin work early on in the gameʼs production, and adapt as the game changes and takes shape, or they may choose to come in after production on the game is complete. The composer for The Last of Us, Gustavo Santaoalalla, chose to begin work early on in the gameʼs production. Audio Engineers work for development studios. The size of the audio department depends on the company, but can consist of just one or two people who are sometimes required to work very long hours. Audio Engineers also work for specialist outsourcing companies and localization services that ʻre-versionʼ games for different territories. The main qualities for being an Audio Engineer include being able to compose and perform music first and foremost; you must also have sound engineering skills and knowledge of the relevant tools and technology. An Audio Engineer must also possess “aural skills” and a sense of timing. It is also essential they have an understanding of the gameʼs theme and atmosphere. A Creative Director may decide that he/she does not like a sound/ soundtrack during production, and the Audio Engineer will then have to tweak it (working with the Creative Director) to a point they both agree on. There is no set route you can take to become an Audio Engineer in the games industry. A musical background is essential as the role usually involves composing and performing music. You will also need experience of sound recording, editing and mixing. You will need to show creativity, resourcefulness, a range of styles and a love of games, rather than skills in specific technology and tools. Audio Engineer Example CaseStudy: Gustavo Santaoalalla

Santaoalalla began his music career in 1967, when he co-founded the group Acro Iris. Santaoalalla began working on film soundtracks in the 1990s, and in 2006 won the Golden Globe award for his soundtrack Brokeback Mountain. In 2013 he composed the soundtrack for The Last of Us, this was his first soundtrack he composed for a video game. Santaoalalla began work on the score early, using the concept art for inspiration; he played around with a variety of instruments including unorthodox ones, to create a soundtrack that gave the game a tense atmosphere.

Level Editor

The Level Editor defines and creates interactive architecture for a segment of a game, including the landscape, buildings and objects. While they must stick to the agreed overall design of the game and characters, a Level Editor has a lot of freedom when it comes to designing a specific level; they define the environment, general layout of the spaces within the level, and lighting, textures, and forms. They also define the characters and objects involved, whether they are player-controlled or NPCs, and any specific behaviors associated with the characters and objects. A Level Editor also designs the gameplay for the level, they add any challenge the player will face, and how the player must best them. They also design what skills are required to navigate successfully through the level. They also design the atmosphere for the level. Before building the level, a Level Editor will first sketch their designs in 2D on paper or on 2D drawing software. They have to imagine they are the player, imagine their experience, and draw out the many possibilities in the level the player may encounter. The ideas are then worked out in 3D and tested in the game engine, which produces further ideas. In consultation with the Programmers and Artists, the Level Editor draws up a detailed inventory of level ʻassetsʼ (all the objects and programming requirements needed to make the level run in the game in its final form). The main qualities for being a Level Editor are to have knowledge of 3D modeling and a firm grasp of game design principles, have the ability to visualize layouts, and to be imaginative and creative. A good Level Editor should also be able to work in a team and independently. Two ways of becoming a Level Editor are: working in other parts of video game design, such as a QA tester, and work your way up, the other way is to have industry experience and to be educated to degree standard. You will definitely need an understanding of the conventions of game playing and an awareness of the target market. Case Study: Jose Astacio (No picture available) Jose Astacio has worked on various films and TV Shows before designing levels in the 2013 game The Last of Us. He has worked in visual effects, and also worked in the art department in the hit film Avatar.

QA Tester

A QA (Quality Assurance) Testerʼs job is to play through the game when it is either finished, or nearing a finished stage to check for bugs, glitches and other game-breaking problems. They test the gameʼs performance against the designerʼs intentions, identifying problems and suggesting improvements. They test for bugs in the software, from complete crashes to minor glitches in the programme. They also act as the gameʼs first audience, reporting on its playability and identifying any aspects that could be improved. While this sounds like a fairly relaxed job, it does involve a lot of discipline, as they are responsible for the quality of the final product. They must ensure the game is free of flaws, graphics & audio glitches, and potential copyright issues before the game is released to the public. QA Testers must know which issues are the most important to sort out, and they prioritize all the issues they encounter whilst playing. They also have to work to strict deadlines. Testing involves playing a game over and over again, testing different levels and builds (incomplete ʻdevelopment versionsʼ of a game, sometimes with various features missing). The work can be repetitive and tedious, but Testers have to test long after the novelty and fun factor may have worn off. However, QA Testers must also accept that they have only limited influence over a gameʼs design, they also need to anticipate all the ways the game may be played, and test the game accordingly. QA Testers must have a good knowledge of games on the market so they can evaluate a game against its competition correctly, they must also be able not only to identify and record a problem, but also to try to work out what is causing it, and above all, they must have a persistent passion for playing video games. The best ways to become a QA Tester is to either work in other departments first such as Art Design or Programming, the other way is to work in video game retail, as this provides useful background knowledge and an awareness of audience needs. Case Study: Sally Reynolds

Sally Reynolds left school at 17 without any qualifications and began working in a mobile phone shop, she was passed over for a promotion due to her lack of A Levels, she then went back to college, then went to University after. After Uni, she had various jobs including a retail one, but was un-happy in all of these. Eventually she came across Jagex. "People who didn't think very much of me because of the lack of qualifications... I can absolutely prove them wrong now." – Sally Reynolds.