game design for beginners

I know what I want to do for a living, down to the very specifics, which is kind of a new development for me. I want to be a computer game designer. Specifically I want to end up as a lead designer. Ultimately I would love to design my own games, which I would think is the ultimate goal of anyone in that line of work.

I know this isn't an original goal for someone like me but it is most certainly the only thing that I KNOW that i want to do. I owe to myself to at least try to make it in the industry and see for myself if it's for me or not, especially while I'm still young and single.

A designer works on the creative aspects of game development. A designer writes a GDD (Game Design Doc) which outlines all aspects of a game's design in a way that allows programmers, artists, level designers, and the like to create the game with a certain amount of individual creative freedom.

A lower level designer, like a level designer, will work on individual portions of a game, working on the game-world, developing scripts, character placement, etc. A lead designer will work with everyone on the team and coordinate the production of the game. The position requires creativity, good writing and communication skills, the ability to sell an idea and oneself, and most importantly a love of games.

I've been reading that these positions can be very taxing, as many game dev teams regularly work in "crunch time," putting in consecutive 60, 70, even 80 hour weeks! Realistically I will need to start working on level design for a few games and a few styles, posting my creations on the internet for constructive criticism. This will allow me to make a name for myself and produce an actual product to show off what skills I may have.

I've read that most people in the industry start off in QA (Quality Assurance) as testers. These positions don't pay very well, can be very monotonous, and the hours tend to be extreme at times.

All for the love the game though, right?

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