So many game designers are programmers as well nowadays. Is it so extremelly helpful for a game designer to have programming skills and in which ways programming skills aid a game designer?
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\$\begingroup\$ Prototyping and tweaking core systems. With things like "game feel" or "kinaesthetics" or whatever you call it, it's hard to describe that in a drawing or in words. In the end you just need to tweak it and test it. Having a programmer sit next to you for some trial and error prototype modifications seems like an arduous to soul-sucking duty. But that's just one of the many advantages. \$\endgroup\$PeterT– PeterT2013-10-11 22:52:52 +00:00Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 22:52
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\$\begingroup\$ This will vary by company, segment of the games industry, and a lot on personal opinion. You should maybe narrow this down a bit. \$\endgroup\$Sean Middleditch– Sean Middleditch2013-10-11 22:53:31 +00:00Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 22:53
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\$\begingroup\$ @SeanMiddleditch What's the problem with personal opinion? You're some kind of robot? \$\endgroup\$bzrr– bzrr2013-10-11 22:55:04 +00:00Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 22:55
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Jovito easy there, don't be condescending especially when you're new. Stackoverflow is a Question and Answer site that prefers questions that have a definite answer or as the box at the "Ask Question" page tells it: "We prefer questions that can be answered, not just discussed. Provide details. Share your research." More details can be found here \$\endgroup\$PeterT– PeterT2013-10-11 22:56:55 +00:00Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 22:56
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Jovito: and that's not a good fit for this particular site. Try gamedev.net or chat if you're looking for this kind of info. SE sites tend to prefer concrete questions in which there can be a single "best" answer that can fit in a few paragraphs. It's not a bad question to ask, this is probably just the wrong place to ask it, that's all. \$\endgroup\$Sean Middleditch– Sean Middleditch2013-10-11 23:16:53 +00:00Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 23:16
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Well, if you want to program games, it's pretty beneficial to have those skills. But at least from what I've seen of game design, a lot of it is breaking down larger problems into smaller ones and building towards the whole. Being able to break down problems like that is HUGE in programming, so my guess is a lot of game designers recognize that and want to enhance that skill, or they just want to see another aspect of the actual process of making games. Especially if they're a project lead, they need to understand the work of everyone working under them in order to be the best project lead that they can be. That being said, if you just want to do art, or animation, or sound or anything like that, you don't need programming, but if it interests you at all it's not the worst skill/hobby to have.
