Most want to earn a living doing something they know and love. Video game design is a career choice that appeals to many avid video game players. Designing video game graphics isnt all fun and games, though. Video game design is a real career with real benefits, such as the six listed below.2: Enjoy a casual work environment. When people are asked what they value in a job, a casual work environment often ranks quite high on the list. People dont want to feel stressed by a conservative workplace while they are trying to work, especially if the job generates plenty of stress of its own accord.3: Get paid for your work. Dont listen to all of those party-poopers who insist that you need to decide on a real job while you pursue video game design as your hobby. Video game designers actually get paid rather well. For instance, the average entry-level designer earns a yearly salary of about 43,000, while more experienced designers average about 70,000 a year. Also, full-time designers enjoy the usual benefits, such as health insurance, 401K, and other employer-sponsored programs.4: Know your job is secure. Like any industry, video game design has its ups and downs. However, game designers have a certain amount of added job security, due to the immense and growing popularity of the video game industry. For example, consider Xboxs smash hit Halo 3, which made more than 300 million in the first week after its release.5: Brag to your friends. Wed be lying if we didnt admit that this is a major benefit of designing video games. There is nothing cooler than being able to point to game on the shelf at the store and say that you worked on that game. Youll never worry again about the question regarding what you do for a living.Working in video game design obviously has its benefits. The pay is good, the work environment and the likeability factor of the job even better. If you love to play video games and have a creative personality, then a career in video game design would be a great choice.
Archive for June, 2008
Video Game Design Careers 6 Benefits To Working In The Industry
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008Video game reviews: The Temple of Elemental Evil (PC)
Thursday, June 19th, 2008Platform: PC
ESRB Rating: Teen
Produced By: Atari
List Price: $49.99
The Temple of Elemental Evil was the first real epic module I ever played in tabletop Dungeons and Dragons. Temple of Elemental Evil was an original adventure by Gary Gygax, the late great creator of Dungeons and Dragons. The great journey that began so many years ago in the village of Hommlet has been immortalized now in video game format. Using DnD 3.5 rules, game designers have turned a classic tabletop experience into a modern computer gaming hit.
Now, let me make clear from the start: The Temple of Elemental Evil is, much like the original adventure, a Dungeon Crawl. Sure, there is some interaction with in-game characters, but they are more a distraction to the crawl than anything (Much like Dungeons and Dragons itself was, back in the day!) This game is hardcore Dungeons and Dragons, its all about walking through the world killing things and taking their stuff.
From a rules-compatibility perspective, Troika (and Atari) have done an excellent job integrating the 3.5 rules into the game, even better than Bioware did with integrating 3.0 into Neverwinter Nights. This can be a downside for the player who hasn’t played 3rd edition pen and paper D&D, as there’s something of a learning curve involved in optimally using the rules to their advantage. Also, there are some feats and skills that seem to be missing from The Temple of Elemental Evil, and many of the “social” skills (such as bluff) are downplayed. Alignment plays a big part of this game, and it affects which NPCs and monsters your party fights or otherwise interacts with.
The classes are fairly balanced. The rogue is a bit weakish because of the de-emphasis on role-playing. The monk also is a lot more useful on paper than he is in a real-time video game environment. Fighters, clerics (or a paladin, in a pinch) and wizards will form the core of a good party. Characters are able to multiclass, creating a near-infinite number of possible character designs. Characters are limited to 10th level in The Temple of Elemental Evil, which is a bit of a shame. Just as your characters are becoming extremely powerful, you finish the game.
Once you’ve got the rules down, the game isn’t that hard to beat. The controls are simple enough, and the interface is arranged effectively. Combat is turn-based, keeping the game forever subject to the D&D rulebooks. For those that don’t play the pen-and-paper game, its a minor distraction; for the rest of us, its necessity!
Graphically, The Temple of Elemental Evil is worthwhile. Objects and characters are represented quite nicely, and some of the animations are just plain hilarious! Creatures are represented in line with what you’d expect; there are no “a basilisk is a 30-foot tall snake, not a stocky many-legged beast” surprises. the world itself is pleasing to the eye, and lighting effect are mostly well done.