Course Goals and Career Aspirations

 During the course interview back in January, I remember being asked “What area of games development are you most interested in?”. I remember my answer. My answer was that I didn’t know. I don’t have a gift for creating beautiful artwork, I wasn’t sure if creating complex scripts that control AI behaviour was for me, the only thing I was sure about was that I wasn’t sure. In the time between then and the start of the course, I went away, I researched what kind of roles a game development team was comprised of, and found that no one particular role stood out to me. Part of the reason I chose this course was because it was an all encompassing course, and it covered many aspects of game development, I felt I could maybe find the area that appeals to me at some point over the next two years.

   However the more I look into the world of games development, and how it is shifting towards independent development, I feel like narrow minded specialization in a particular area is becoming less important. Whilst being an amazing artist or programmer will always get you work in the AAA space, I believe that the modern indie dev has a much more rounded skillset, as it is necessary to be multi-functional in a small team. My focus for this course isn’t on learning any one aspect to perfection. My focus is on designing experiences and creating games. Through creating these games over the next couple of years I can hone my skills in all areas, be it programming, creating art, designing levels and systems and mechanics, writing stories, creating rich, vibrant worlds that players want to exist in, every facet of a game’s design and development.

   I am under no illusions that I am going to be a whizz kid at everything or a one man band, that’s not what I am trying to accomplish. What my aim is is to finish this course having created complete experiences. If I can do this, it will prove to me, to my tutors, to universities and to prospective employers that I have a strong, well rounded skill set that has something to offer in the world of independent game development. That is what I want to be doing long term, making the games that I want to make, the games I am passionate about. The indie game scene is the place for me to do that, whether that be joining an existing studio, or starting my own with fellow indie developers. I am confident in my ability that I will be able to do just that. Hell, one day I may even meet Ken Levine.