8th December
As you can see from the notes I took, there was a lot of helpful information. All our questions were answered, and I will try to make a resume of the talk.
As we are anxious and excited to get into the industry, this talk started with our number one question: "What gets you the job?".
According to Joel Beardshaw, you have to have a mix of practical skills such as coding, 3D modelling and skills in 3DS Max or Unreal. You also need to have a creative spark and be communicative and professional during interviews. One tip that I found really interesting was to think of 3 things you're good at in order to sell yourself. You have to be confident and show what you can bring to the company.
He then proceeded to explain how the development process for a game works and what are the areas they focused on:
a. Ability and Memoria
b.Level Layouts- focused on making the player feel clever, process included creating multiple board designs and iterations
c.Controls and UX
d.Progression and Game Structure- focused on how to make the player want to try again after they lose
We all noticeed that he had a lot of screenshots of the process, of the playtesting, arranged as pictures cronollogically on google drive. This was an interesting type of version control.
He adviced us to make moodboards, digital boards and paper prototypes when coming up with an idea. He showed us how Miro boards work and how they used them for prototyping.
One of the workshops they used within the company was "Pitch 8 things in 8 minutes". They also use one-on-one collaboration.
He mentioned that within the industry, it's very important to be a "Collaborative Communicator" and a "Team Player", alongside creativity and skills.
I also found it very interesting when he mentioned they appreciate people who bring inspiration from other areas outside games-this is a big indicator to me that they are looking for complex employees with multiple passions and hobbies. I also found art that artists who also know about the technical side are really appreciated-it only proves that all you learn is going to be useful and that I must not be afraid of diving into code and other areas.
As for Cv and experiences- "How you make is just as important as what you make"
Freelance looks good
Solo and Passion Projects are important
A great but focused portfolio with a brief description on each project
An understanding of the project and the development
Conscious Decision making (a reason for every artistic choice)
Good reflection (say what didn't work and why, and what solution you found)
"Your start doesn't define you"
I found this very inspiring. My take on it is that sometimes you have to stop waiting around and just start making games. It is a learning curve. He also mentioned that lesser known companies still offer big opportunities, so you mustn't be afraid to take up a job.
"Find what you enjoy the most"
Try to enjoy the process and find out what area you like working on and focus on that.
Development of the game:
Development shouldn't include major changes, it's supposed to focus on how to wrap up and deliver the game.
Preproduction is about getting as many ideas as possible and testing them out.
Make schedules/timelines for your game development
Make a profit plan
Think about the audience/demographic for your game and what your platform might be
I found it interesting that Ustwo picked Netflix as the platform for their game-later he explained the reason behind this decision-trying to appeal to a new audience that isn't interested in games but might want to give it a try; other reasons is that most people have a Netflix subscription and so the game would reach a wide audience.
Overall I found this talk extremely helpful and optimistic and I will cretainly keep in mind all of these tips in the future.
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