Producer + Designer + Programmer = Developer

The Gaming Division of the company I work for has four (4) classifications for employees: Game Producers, Game Designers, Game Programmers, and Game Developers. I will try, to the best of my understanding and knowledge, give you a general scope of the responsibilities of each position.

• Game Producers - Game Producers are the people who conceptualize a game. They are the guys who tell you what type of games to make. They would mostly try to think of a new game concept, or at times browse the web for existing games and find ways of improving them. If you see a game and find it cool, or crappy, then these guys are the ones who'll receive the praises or the criticisms. They also delegate the work to the designers, as well as programmers.
• Game Designers - Game Designers are also known as the Graphic Artists. They are responsible for making the graphics, and layout of the games we play. And at times, they also provide the music, and sound effects for the game.
  
• Game Programmers - The people who make the games come to life. Producers work closely with the programmers to make sure that all aspects of the game are followed, and the game plans are enforced.
• Game Developers - Producers may be designers, and programmers may be producers... but if you put all three together, then you have a Game Developer. A game developer conceptualizes a game, then makes the graphics, then programs the game.

I would say that most, if not all, game developers are freelancing. It would be quite a rare catch to find a developer in a game development company because these companies usually have producers, designers, who take care of the pre-production process of the game. Game Developers have an easy way out since they don't need to make everything, and as such, are "demoted" to either designers, or programmers.

Post It!

Most of the time while sitting in front of my PC, whether surfing, playing games, or programming, I would grab a piece of paper and write down notes; reminders of sorts... like appointments, usernames and passwords, or almost anything that should cross my mind. This would leave the place littered with paper that would at most times be misplaced and make the place look like a dump. With that in mind, i present to you my Flash Desktop Wallpaper.

This has been one of my fave works of all time. It has a few neat features which help me get on with my day while at work. First off, the notes.

The Notes solves almost all my note-taking problems. I can add notes, place them anywhere on the desktop, then delete them if i no longer need them. What's cool about it is that even if you turn off your PC, the notes will still be where they're supposed to be.

Calendar and Event Reminder. Not wanting to forget all those dates and occassions, these guys prove to be a valued addition to the app. Just like the notes, event entries can be added and deleted, and will hold events for the whole year. A little note at the bottom of the event list also reminds you of the number of days left before the next event. Both the Calendar and Event Reminders auto-update, meaning you don't have to turn off your PC to see the date change.

Picture Slideshow. A picture slideshow loads images from a specific folder located on the harddrive. It is currently set to load images in 5 second intervals. You can also drag the picture frame (container) to any part of the destop.

And lastly, an MP3 Player. Similar to the picture slideshow thingie, the player loads mp3's from a specific folder on the harddrive, which acts as your playlist. Basic functionality includes power on/off, play/stop, and forward/back. You can also drag the player to any part of the desktop.

A lot of people, friends and family mostly, have showed interest in this desktop tool and have ask me whether i'd go commercial with it. Right now it works fine for me, but it will need a bit more tweaking before it's ready to multiply. To date, only three people have this installed as their desktop wallpaper: a marketing executive, the CEO of the company I currently work for, and myself.

Back on Track

I'm Back. After almost a year of inactivity, i've finally found the time to get things up and running again. Sorry for the delay, but things have been quite hectic after my last post. I am now currently working as the lead game developer for an online flash game portal here in the beautiful city of Dubai.

In the days to come i'll be posting my experiences working as a game developer so all you game-developer-wannabees will more or less get an idea of whats it's like to be one.

In the meantime, it's back to work. I'll be showing you my works a bit later on when i free up some of my time. Cheers guys!