So you're probably here because you yourself are in a similar position to me (trying to get on the industry ladder and become a game designer) or you might be here to look at all the fails and tactical face palms!!
I should have started this last year when my course started but what can I say, I was swept up in the bliss of taking that one step closer to becoming the all powerful 'GAMES DESIGNER'. And to be honest I can't believe how quickly the last year did go, it literally just shot by... So much to learn, so little time to do it. Script Writing, Programming, Graphic Design, Marketing and Research Techniques, Understanding the Industry, Pre-Production, Production and Distribution - and the list goes on!
But I'm getting ahead of myself a little here... My name's Pete and as I'm sure you've guessed its my ambition and dream to become a Games Designer, and not just any Games Designer, but a really really good one :-) I'm living in Nottingham, UK at the moment and Studying at Confetti Studios which is also in Nottingham. After I left school I bummed around for about 8 years, never knowing what I wanted to do other than I knew I was creative. Then I saw an exciting poster on a bus which explained about courses tailor-made for people wanting to get into the games industry, and the rest is history! So what have I learnt about the industry?... It really does seem like the hardest thing in the world to get into!
Being a mature student (26) studying a college course (BTEC ND) I always try and keep my eyes and ears open so I can try and work out the best way to go and get into things. There's a lot of people that keep mentioning Quality Assurance as a good starting point to work yourself up from, but this really is the bottom rung for me. I'm not at all a snob, just that I want to start making head-way as soon as I can, that 30 mark isn't looking too far away after all! So in an ideal, ideal world I'd love to start off as a junior game designer, a position where I would be quite happy to be the 'butt' of every other game designer in the department's jokes, have to always fetch the tea, stay late, start early, work the weekends - all so I could have at least a small contribution to the game concept.
I was at MCM expo last Saturday, a big festival for Animé, Video Games, Comics, Sci-fi, etc. It was actually the first one I've been too (fail, and here I call myself a wannabe games designer) but it was really really good. Once you got past all the guys with hairy beards walking around dressed as girls from a Japanese Animé and the signs saying 'free hugs' I got to immerse myself in a world of media that's just very exciting. I might as well get this off my chest now. I am a massive fan of the Assassins Creed Franchise, and am extremely excited about the new Brotherhood game coming soon. At the expo they were showcasing the multi-player mode of the game and had a few Q&A sessions with Mathieu Gagnon (Technical Director for Ubisoft). I am actually really pleased no one was around to see me literally salivating over the guy.
At the end of the Q&A, I went to speak to him and asked him the age old question of whether he had any tips on how to best get in the industry and the guy said 'Its just about working you're ass off, trying to become and expert in the area you want to go into and try and get out there and meet as many people as you can involved already in the industry'. Thanks Mathieu!
So, anyway, I'm working on my Final Major Project (FMP) this academic year which consists of producing a demo/vertical slice (VS) of a game. Pretty cool huh? It's not that I'm complaining but we have to do everything to the tee, so that means, doing primary and secondary research to justify the game and whether it's needed in the market, producing a game design document (GDD) with supporting pre-production materials (treatment, back-story, character profile, character art, environmental art, weapon design and art, etc). If I was working in industry then some of these steps I'd have to go through, so all in all, it's a great experience, but I can't help but remember that there are people out there making games with their programming know how who haven't done any of this, and still manage to get on that ladder!!
Anyway, in this blog, I'll be talking about my experiences in trying to get from where I am now through to the Industry. If you've got any feedback or comments, I'd love to hear from you.
So I'll write again soon
Cheers
Pete
P.S Can I please now apologise for all and any exclamation marks I put into my blogs, I just love using them! ;-)
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