I Have A Degree in Bullstuffery about Video Games, AMA

[crazies alt]

we'll ask but he will never answer

[Ad Bot]

[TheScout]

current mood:

[Frankie²]

lol school

[Gatysh]

current mood:

where the forget have you been

[McJob]

Does this get you more pootang?

No, just being a goddam player gets me more sweet, salty veejay.

make blockland 2

if you were to make blockland 2 what would you improve on

A sequel is an advancement in all aspects of a game; technical, gameplay, writing, graphics, audio and so forth. You could up the polycount and develop some better native functionality, but those could be done in the current engine.

Besides, is Blockland itself truly a game? ;)

Are you Ben Shapiro's long lost cousin or something

Sure.

what did you like most and least about... well the whole game designing thing i guess

Design means I get to explore my greatest questions and teach players at the same time. Game Designers are what teachers are supposed to be doing, but behind the scenes.

On the other hand...the artist and the programmer can spend a couple hours to make an awe-inspiring work that everybody loves. A game designer creates a full 80,000 word design document that extensively plans out all the functionality, content and timelines, and everybody groans at the read load. Furthermore, everybody thinks they know what game design is, which means that you're often valued a lot less than you're really worth. I can't work as a proper designer here in Australia because there's no room for anybody except the specialists (hence why I do programming).

did u get any trash proffessors

The one I had for Internship Prep spent way too time helping the fashion students and not enough time actually explaining anything remotely useful to how the internship process actually worked.

is your dream game to design a lego ratchet and clank

Nyet. My dream game is, funnily enough, about the mind (and dreaming, sort of). I have that idea locked away in a vault for now though; I'd need a AAA-level everything to get it done.

Right now I'm working on something with a Mad Max vibe. Should be good.

What was your favorite class and why?

It's really tough to pick out of the HD classes (funnily enough, my grades are on par with the effort and interest I had in the class), but probably Understanding Programming as I spent more time tutoring the rest of the students than I did learning anything.

Is blockland dying?!?!?!

Until Badspot reveals his financial, who knows?

I'm only halfway there...

WOOOOAH-OH, LIVING ON A PRAYER!

mcjob quick make a game we can fight to the death in

I actually could, but I'd end up spending too much time implementing the "Summon Lord Tony" spell where you cast a bit of bait and wait for the invincible troll.

[beachbum111111]

Right now I'm working on something with a Mad Max vibe. Should be good.

Is that why you've been playing the Mad Max game on Steam so much? Also is that the game that your working with Filipe on?

[McJob]

Is that why you've been playing the Mad Max game on Steam so much?

A bit of research, a bit because I've become deeply obsessed with the Mad Max franchise in the past couple months. I finished the game a little whole ago (if you ignore races and the skill challenge things for achievements, but I completely finished off the map and all missions).

Quite a lot of stuff I didn't like or agree with. I'm taking my influences from the movies, not the game.

Also is that the game that your working with Filipe on?

No, I'm not a part of that any more. I actually won't be getting a team for this project until I have a viable vertical slice as proof of commitment and quality. It's gonna be a while.

[beachbum111111]

No, I'm not a part of that any more. I actually won't be getting a team for this project until I have a viable vertical slice as proof of commitment and quality. It's gonna be a while.

Hows your modelling skills? I don't think I've ever seen you post any art (although I admit I haven't been on the 3d modelling topic or drawing topic in ages).

[McJob]

Hows your modelling skill?

Not amazing. I have a great grasp of Maya and 3DS Max, but I just lack the ability to turn the fuzzy, general ideas in my head into actual viable bits of art (hence why an art class held me back one year).

So, I can merge and modify, retopologise, UV unwrap, bone or create materials for existing meshes (I can even do guided sculpting; i.e. Having a background plane with an outline of the character's shape), but I can't go straight from the beginning unless it's a very simple shape. The good news is that my game is made out of blocks, for which giant libraries exist.

[beachbum111111]

Not amazing. I have a great grasp of Maya and 3DS Max, but I just lack the ability to turn the fuzzy, general ideas in my head into actual viable bits of art (hence why an art class held me back one year).

So, I can merge and modify, retopologise, UV unwrap, bone or create materials for existing meshes, but I can't go straight from the beginning unless it's a very simple shape. The good news is that my game is made out of blocks, for which giant libraries exist.

You probably (and by probably I mean definitely) already know this but a good way of designing a character is by drawing a front view and side view of them, bringing the images into Maya (or in my case Blender), and then placing the images and basically building the model by moving the polys into the shape of the images. Of course that requires you to be good at drawing.

UPDATE: didn't see the bottom part of your post, whoops

[cooolguy32]

Amazing Job!
after highschool, I might get a degree in programming.

[McJob]

When it comes to proper teamwork, I generally stick towards the theoretical/functional side of games.

Designers usually play two hats; the design hat, and then either the art or the code hat. Very rarely audio. A high level designer is expected to understand all the fields, but that doesn't mean they can't specialise. Specialising is good when you're not in a management position, as the design work stops about half way through as all the game rules are concreted into place and managers lay down the "No New Content" marker, so you need to have something else you can do (or else you're an expensive paperweight). I'm a code dude, which means I can also rapidly prototype and demonstrate my ideas (even if they look like stuff).

It's not to say that I have no appreciate for the art-side at all, but I generally only have an idea of the "feel" (moodboard-level) of what the game should look like, and I defer specific designs to concept artists who have the whole job of coming up with the best visual designs to match the feature/story spec.

[Farad]

Not sure if I should ask this, but how's the salary starting out in game design and do you expect much increase in salary over time?

[beachbum111111]

Not sure if I should ask this, but how's the salary starting out in game design and do you expect much increase in salary over time?

You start at around 50k which can double over time. But it all depends on what your job is.

[McJob]

how's the salary starting out in game design and do you expect much increase in salary over time?

Game Designers tend to make as much, or slightly over, the amount of a Programmer of the same rank in the same company, but that's usually because Designers are often much closer to Managers than anything else (and hence shoulder more responsibility for a better paycheck).

Entry level? I can tell you that my current pay-check every month is pretty dismal, but that's not helped by being part-time. Then again, I'm working for a small time mobile app developer in a junior position. My full-time payrate is equal to just over $50k. If you were to get started at a AAA development house on big name games, you'd probably be making in the ball-park of up to $70k a year (but you would have to be a loving talented beast to get through the interviews for that gig).