By: Myles Davis(UI Artist and Marketing for Breach Of Space)
Four years ago I knew nothing about what it took to make a game and in thirteen days my team and I will be publishing Breach of Space!
I was not the person who knew what they wanted to do for their whole life in high school. I just tried to do my best in school and go on about my day. My reasoning for pursuing game design was because I loved to play video games. Not because of my love to create or want to make something to be enjoyed by many. I did not really think that far ahead I figured I would just show up and everything would fall in place. This turned out to be far from the truth. I entered college as a freshman with no artistic skills or programming knowledge. This was a fresh start.
Now, here we are four years later and what do I have to show for it? Frankly, I wish I had more to show than I do. The one thing I wish I would have known before entering the game design field is exactly how intensive it is. You can not just show up and coast. I was not aware that a game design degree would not speak for itself. It requires an intense amount of dedication to practicing outside of the school setting. Practicing what exactly? Which I think is a great question because a key component to consider when pursuing a career in game design is learning what your concentration will be. This could be anything from UI/UX, concept art, 3D Art, programming, marketing, production, and much more. There are a lot of roles to fill and figuring out which one to pursue can be difficult. This proved to be especially difficult for me as it was not something I thought about or considered before starting this journey. I did not think of all the drastically different elements and skillsets it took to bring a game together. Many game design majors come in with prior programming knowledge or artistic skills but for the ones that do not the learning curve just became that much steeper.
All hope is not lost though, it is just important to know what is ahead when starting the game design journey. Having started from nothing it took a long time before I was confident in calling myself a game designer. The results were far from instantaneous and the journey becomes extremely discouraging at times. It was hard at times to understand how abstract concepts and playing dungeons and dragons in class was helping me learn but eventually, it all clicked. Understanding the fundamentals behind game design and game theory helps build a mind-frame that helps along in the development process. I can not speak on every other school's game design program but in my experience, the program at my school was very focused on creating a well-rounded curriculum. I feel that I know a little about a lot. Constantly, I felt that I was starting to get good at something, and then I would never use it again. I felt this phenomenon a lot which is why it is so important to practice outside of the curriculum. I will say this could have been my own undoing because of the classes I scheduled. Frankly, I was not interested in being a one-trick pony which is why I was led to try so many paths. I was interested in everything and always wanted to learn something new and expand my skillset.
Well, it turns out I was just in luck! When publishing an indie game with a small team resources are slim even if you are not a group of college students. There is no budget to hire an artist to make a character design because there is no budget at all. Thus becomes the need to wear multiple caps. This is a necessity for success. The lead artist can be a programmer and the sound person also does marketing. To succeed expect to have to fill gaps. Game design is all about evolution and adapting. Twenty years ago no one could have imagined the scale and magnitude that the game industry would become. Do not get stuck in the past always look to learn and adapt.
Overall, I believe that my education was valuable and taught me the skills to be a great game designer. As everyone always says “you get what you give.” Which is the perfect way to describe game design. If you want to pursue game design the key component is that the results will not fall in your lap. Know what you want to do, make a game plan, and stick to it.