365 days in the life
one year ago today was my first day at Zenimax. one year ago today i was trying to put eight great years of Mythic behind me, and come to terms with how complete a fresh start this was, and the magnitude of the opportunity that lay before me.
i was reconnecting with peers i’d worked with off and on for more than a decade. i was sitting in a bare office, looking at a fresh windows install with no audio software or hardware whatsoever. i was trying to remember where the bathroom was.
twelve short months from then ’til now. and here i am, sitting in front of a game-in-progress that has interactive music, voiceover, and combat & ambient sound effects integrated to a suprisingly complete degree. and we’re just getting started, folks.
one year later, and my initial optimism and enthusiasm has not been abated by months of actual work. quite the opposite – the past year of rubber-hitting-the-road has *raised* my expectations, not lowered them. that’s a nice change from the kind of situation where the reality on the ground forces you to make compromises, sacrifices, and deals with the devil until that high bar you had once set for yourself is nothing more than a wistful recollection.
a long time ago, the Professional Objective on my resume arrogantly proclaimed i was out to “realize the unrealized potential of game audio”. after a few years and a few games that fell short of that lofty boast, i struck that from my resume and replaced it with something more sensible. but the past year has got me thinking about that turn of phrase again…and that this is the best chance i’ve had yet to actually back up the bluster with substance.
so i blow out the single imaginary candle on my imaginary cupcake (chocolate), and make a wish to finally fulfill that original Professional Objective. :)
So before I go to college for game design I was looking into getting some know-how about game creation. But I have no clue were to start. This is a issue for me because I don’t have any code knowledge or flash knowledge or anything really. So I have been reading up online and haven’t really have a clue were to start. Any suggestions? Ohh and thanks for all your help just reading your blog has helped me out.
so, you are going to college for game design? if so, that sounds like a good place to start. :) my suggestion was going to be to step back and think about what exactly you might want to do in the industry. lots of people say “i wanna make video games”, but as soon as you ask them what specifically they see themselves doing they can’t really answer.
if you know you’re interested in design and are going to study it in school, that’s a helluva start right there. but you might also think about all the other disciplines – programming, art, audio, content, QA, etc. – each of which has a myriad of sub-disciplines (eg you might be a concept artist, or figure artist, or fixture artist, or world artist, etc.). there’s lots of things one can do…hell you could even be a good old fashion marketing or IT guy, which isn’t game development strictly speaking but it puts you at a game company.
so i guess the short answer is: familiarize yourself with the different facets of game development and ask yourself which one(s) you have an interest in and / or a talent for.
(disclaimer: i always feel half-dishonest trying to answer questions like these, since i fell ass-backwards into my career and can’t really speak to this from personal experience.)
Well first I should clarify, that I plan to go to college I’m not in college yet. The part I think I want to go into is level design. I think I could have a real talent for it (granted I have no experience) and I have this ability to remember the layout of levels very well. Hey how is the game coming along? Hope it turns out well for you guys and can’t wait to see it (unless it is a Barbie game or something like that, just not my thing).