We need a team... |
Creating
a game takes a lot of time, money and people depending on the size.
Two years is about standard however some titles take longer for a
variety of reasons, be it team size, sheer size of the undertaking or
being put on hold. In order for a game to be seen from beginning to
end, a team is required. A team of specialised craftsmen that have
their own respective area to work under.
For
game design, these roles might include:
Lead
Designer
Art
Director
Various
artists such as environment and concept
3D
modellers
Animators
Programmers
Sound
such as Musicians, Composers and SFX.
This
is not a full list instead just a brief one of the more art based
areas. Of course for a game to get anywhere it needs more than just
the ones who construct it; areas such as quality assurance, accounts
and licensing and the all important publisher are all working in the
background to make sure it even stands a chance.
This
is speaking in general, naturally this is not the only way to make a
game. Take Minecraft for example, started in a Scandinavian's bedroom
went through a few years of a long and grueling (for the fans) beta
until finally coming out for retail whereby the creator was already a
millionaire and used the funds to open his own studio. Goes without
saying he had help along the way however.
Blizzard
Entertainment, or Activision Blizzard (not to my taste) is one
of the largest and most successful gaming companies currently out
there, largely due to the success of their reinventing of the MMORPG
genre (accessible to a wider audience than just die-hard no-lifers)
have quite an inspiring story, at least I thought so. You rarely
think of how a company started, or how it was ten years before you
knew them and every time it's often a surprise to me. Blizzard, the
unstoppable behemoth of the game world started out as Silicon and
Synapse. With just three people and one goal: Make good games. Simple
yet the passion these three had was unwavering.
Now
look at them! Raking it in. They went from just twenty people in
their first two games (both won game of the year for their respective
genre) to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHz2ky-jng8
Left to right: Frank Pierce, Mike Morheim, Allen Adham |
After
watching the Blizzard Retrospective (above) I feel saddened that I
may never have those experiences that those guys did. My idol,
Samwise Didier, was their first artist. The thing that really gets
me, for the reason that I'll never get that chance, is that he found
the job... in a newspaper. God sake, a newspaper? As if the local
cornershop needed a paperboy. A freaking newspaper stating 'artist
needed.' So he rolls on down to their tiny office in nothing but his
finest pair of cut-off jean-shorts, a portfolio thrown together in a
box and then proceeds to get the job. I wonder how many people
applied to that role? Makes me cry in my sleep at the thought that
now you have to compete with artists by the hundreds now. Yet at the
same time it's a bittersweet feeling. Sad because the odds of getting
a job are extremely low yet good as it shows just where the games
industry has gone. Twenty years ago, when Didier applied to Silicon
and Synapse, games were a thing to be shunned; seen as time-wasting
brain drains to the now colossal household entertainment that if you
don't play them, especially given the vast variety, you're probably
an emotionless void devoted solely to a life of consistent
mediocrity.
The
problem with gaming becoming hugely successful, or rather the problem
it presents, is that everyone and their dog wants to work in the
industry and there just aren't enough jobs going even more so due to
the current economic climate. Bad times.
Could
be worse, at least I have one year's grace before being shoved out
into the rat race. I'm not holding my breath for a job when I leave
the course but I'll keep going. At least I'm on the right course as
well. I realised a while ago that the projects aren't arbitrarily
devised. When I joined the course I thought I'd be drawing vikings
and modeling elfen women however when I got here it was all about the
wheelie bins and transit vans! Aaaawwww yeah buddy now we're talking!
Bullshit aside, these projects were dull when I was doing them
however in hindsight they made perfect sense. In my own time I can go
and do whatever I like but it's these projects that are designed
solely to get you up to speed that really improve your skills. In the
first year, after the fundamentals, it goes House, Van, Gladiator,
Weapon; which translates to environment(kinda), vehicle, character, prop.
Well
how about that? In the first year we're given a taste of the
different 3D artist roles within a company which also helps us decide
what to specialise in. Visual design starts off at the basics (and I
mean BASICS, colleges don't teach you shit) like perspective,
rendering and life drawing whereas the critical studies aspect
bolsters your knowledge of game theory, what really goes into making
a game before you've even done your first concept.
Whether
a job is waiting for me or not, I feel what I've been learning here
is turning me into a keen game artist as well as, excuse any
arrogance here, a game designer.
Come
at me, life!
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