Table of Contents – Lazy Designer: How to Start a Career in Game Design

I don’t think I have ever posted the table of contents for any of the Lazy Designer books, so figured I would rectify that now.

Here’s what is inside the first book in the Lazy Designer series.

First, the blurb:

Practical advice on starting a career in the video game industry and improving your design skills. This is your opportunity to learn from the lead designer of such commercial and critically successful video games as Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age: Origins. Discover how the author started his career, the pitfalls he encountered and how he overcame them. Written by an industry veteran with over ten years experience working for a major games studio.
The Lazy Designer is geared primarily towards those looking to start a career in the games industry. It discusses how to obtain a design position, such as a writer, level designer, or game system designer. Though written specifically for the game designer most of the advice will be of interest to any newcomer to the industry.
Along the way the author explores his own experiences with game development and the difficulties he encountered adjusting to life at his dream job. With practical and blunt advice, the Lazy Designer will give you the skills necessary for becoming a valued, and maybe even essential, member of any development team.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 – Starting Your Career
How to Prepare for a Career in the Games Industry
Caution! Danger Ahead!
Understand What You Enjoy
Education
Teaching Yourself
Learning Technical Skills
Becoming a Writer
The Job Search
The Resume
The Portfolio
Applying
The Interview
What Not To Do
Summary

CHAPTER 2 – Being better
What to Expect
Training
Positions
Work Environment
Task Management
Overview
Get Lazy
Technical Skills
Estimates
Don’t Deliver Low Quality Work
Single-Tasking
Test Cycle
Purge Thy E-mail
What Did Not Work
Random Bits
Giving and Receiving… Feedback
How to Submit Feedback that Will Make it into the Game and not the Recycling Bin
Don’t Wait for Feedback, Ask for it
Summary

CHAPTER 3 – Overcoming Obstacles
The Cost of Videogames
Cool – The Most Dangerous Word in Game Development
Too Many Bees
Communication and Meetings
Communication, In General
The Art of the Meeting
E-mail
Failing and Fixing
Rejection
Learn from Rejection
Squashing Bugs
Crunch – Dread Nemesis or Surprise Ally?
Your First Crunch
A Bad Crunch
A Good Crunch?
And…
Summary
Thank You!
Links
Further Reference Material
Ten Years At BioWare
Lazy Designer Series
Glossary
About the Author

And here’s a snippet from a review of the Lazy Designer:

For those considering getting into the Games Development industry, I’d seriously recommend you get your hands on this book. I say this as a Recruitment Consultant who has been asked the question “how do I get a job making computer games?” too many times. Compiled and written by a designer from one of the most well known Game Developers in the industry. It is a refreshing read on how one goes about entering the industry.

Read the rest of Zakaria’s review.