well i was just wondering about the devs of skyrim, i was just able to watch the video of the dice thing and it was very interesting. i was wondering if there were people at bethesda that helped work on skyrim that weren't programmers, i know that games are made by programmers, but are the programmers the only ones who are involved in the process? is every dev a programmer? is the whole team capable of programming? i ask because i'd love to get into the gaming business but i'm not interestted in programming, but more-so like ideas, like i have many great ideas but i'm not really interested in programming. do you guys have like a team of people that's just thinkers? who comes up with sick ideas that the programmers then work on?

Big tip.....everyone has ideas....and if you've only got ideas but no skill to make them....well the programmer or level designer with ideas will get the job before you.

There are normally the script writters and world designers that do most of the 'ideas', but for a script writer you need good writing skills (a game like Skyrim would have as much dialogue and text as a novel or more) and as a level/world designer you need to be able to create concept arts, detailed plans etc and you need multiple ideas as not every one you make would be accepted.


There is more to games then programming now, if you look at the Creation Kit (modding tool for SKyrim) you'll see to design levels and dungeons you don't need any programming skill. But its the same sort of thing, programming skills will boost your ability to make your work really unique and special.

There are over 100 people fitting that description, each with different jobs to do. It must be a major job just documenting what everyone's doing. I bet 10 people are devoted just to that.

So are you saying it's no ones job to just think? Can Todd program? Does he?

I'm pretty sure that people don't get paid to have ideas. people get paid to make them a virtual reality
Though our resident Vsions could tell us more (pwease? :3)

Well the people doing the story writing are being paid to come up with ideas.....but its also part of their job to get those ideas into some format (written word) in detail so that other people like artists/designers/programmers know what it is.


It would be very rare for someone to be paid 'just to think up ideas', as anyone can get ideas and the best ones come from group brainstorming sessions rather then from an individual at a desk. Also, an 'ideas' guy is pretty useless once the planning stage is over....they would have to be able to do something else.

You hear this a lot from people thinking of getting into games....but pretty much if you want your idea to be reality, unless you are super lucky, you'll have to do (at least part of it) yourself.

but what about Todd? does he participate in the programming? i'm pretty sure Todd has his hand in every facet of the process, but he's not a programmer..

Welcome to your new non paid job. that is pretty much the point of the forums. Sit around, come up with ideas, share them and not get paid for it... well you do... it's just a negative as you pay for it in the forum of a DLC... but you still get it made sometimes if your ideas are good...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Howard

His job could best be described as a project manager (those he also does promoting and other stuff). He would be at the top making sure each aspect of the development team was on schedule and doing what they were supposed to. Project Management is the most important role in a development, but it also involves a lot (I mean absolutely tons) of paperwork and planning. He might be there with the brainstorming sessions to give his ideas, but that is not his sole job, he would be trying ot be apart of every area of the development team, and would have at least some knowledge about every part, from programming an engine, creating a dungeon, making a 3D model.....he mighten be able to do them as good, but he would know the processes for it.

He would have learnt that by being a part of the company and so many games for the past 15 years, as how can you manage a group of programmers if you don't know how to program?

my dad is a lead designer at TESLA automotive and he doesn't know how to do their jobs..he just tells them what to do..

I would be a great "idea guy" but unfortunately lack the paperwork and credentials to land those kind of jobs. I've come up with original game concepts, characters and all, that people have said they wish they could play them...I do too

If you really think you can become a team manager for a games company that is even big enough to hire one, by all means go ahead. It just ain't gonna be easy.

no one said anything about me becoming the lead team manager for a gaming company lol..i'm simply asking if dev teams have people that strictly just give out ideas. that's it.

In the software business, "dev" (developer) almost always means "programmer". In fact, nobody that I know uses the word "programmer" because ... well, that's what developer means. And because to be a developer, you need skills besides programming.

Somebody in game design who is purely an "ideas guy" is pretty rare, but some companies do use writers and artists to come up with stories and designs. However, more likely than not they work on contract as freelancers. Or they are clients who are paying for the software to be developed.

And yeah, a project manager is the one who rides herd on the project. Where I work, a project manager is typically responsible for determining what the software is gonna do, based on input from clients, and within the limits of what the developers say is possible and the client is willing to pay for. Often they will sketch the layouts of the way the screens will look, and co-ordinate various technical aspects of the process (getting the sysadmins to set up the development systems, researching what tools are needed, etc). Todd probably has project managers working under him, responsible for different aspects of game development. Or maybe not - I don't know how big the team is. Since they don't have clients to deal with, they can probably do with fewer managers.

nope, anyone coming up with ideas has a double role somewhere else....since what's the point of having someone who is only useful in certain specific areas that anyone else could fill.

Like I said in my first post...the closest to an 'ideas guy' are the storywriters and the concept designers....they come up lots of ideas as part of their job.....but concept artists are normally good at drawing/making things to show the ideas, and storywriters do all the text based stuff on top of coming up with the ideas.

I personally plan on going into concept design for some gaming company, hopefully. I'm a fair writer, I have awesome ideas (all of which are quite original), and I've been buffing up my drawing skills which are fairly good already. If only I could post some of them on the forums.

Why can't you? Genuine question, not trying to be a dike.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure anyone who finished elementary school has the writing skills needed for the level of dialogue in Skyrim.

A word of advice, OP: Everyone has ideas, and most people think their own ideas are great.

edit: oops! Ninja'd--big time.