Question for Unity Developers that work with designers

Hello,

I just had a question for Unity developers that have worked alongside designers. I was wondering what are some of the big challenges that you have faced while working with designer, if there are any? I'm trying to figure out some of the issues a developer might face while communicating and developing a concept that a designer puts forth. Thank you!

 

Designers are not the 'idea' people, that's kind of a myth that is perpetuated simply because why bother correcting player impressions.

The role of designers is much like the role of other skilled professions in games. Figure out all the details needed for implementation. Many designers today are the ones coming up with the algorithms used, they work forward all the numbers, it's a ton of detail work for the most part.

Most of the actual challenges I've had working with design are fairly technical and mundane. The largest chunk of time I spent with designers as a lead dev, was working out how to represent the data, what tools were needed, etc.. Or going over combat systems and working through what is easy or not technically, talking about best compromises, etc.. As a lead the most common interaction I had with designers and other stakeholders, was someone coming to me asking 'how hard would this be'. It's our job as developers to help guide things in terms of how much they cost to implement.

 

Thank you very much for your insight snacktime!!

 

The ideal sweet spot is for the developer to be producing tools to allow the designer to work without needing the developer. Unity's inspector is really powerful, and much of design can happen there.

 

Thank you Kiwasi!

 

Also because there is no shortage of would-be designers trying to recruit a team, but who bring no experience or technical skills to the table -- only a ridiculously ambitious concept and a jealously-guarded design document.

 

Ideally, a "designer" would bring more to the table than just a design document. Most working designers in official positions frequently do more than just cook up concepts. Often they are coders as well, or at least scripters. Frequently they bring some element of visual flair to the project, it isn't unusual to see designers who do concept art, story-boarding, and possibly even finished production art. Designers should ideally be able to do a lot of heavy lifting where user experience and interface layout are concerned.

Aside from that, it's just a matter of collaboration. Some people can handle it. Some can't I strongly recommend learning to handle it if you are currently less inclined. While quite a bit can be achieved on your own, most of us end up needing to work with others.