My Journey to Game Dev
The Inspiration
I started playing games when I was very young. Some of my oldest memories I have are of playing games at my cottage on older consoles. It was around this time I played the game that would forever change my life. Ocarina of Time
This was the very first game I can recall where I asked myself the question. How are games made? What makes them fun to play? Before that I had never really questioned how games were made. I was too young to fully understand how computers work so I came up with all sorts of wrong (but creative) theories on how games worked. It made me curious to pursue how games were made.
Trial and Error
It wouldn’t be until grade 7 or so that I began experimenting with making games. These were projects I created in RPG Maker. None of them are finished and none of them were good however they were crucial to gain an early understanding of how games were laid out and how they were built. In high school I enrolled in our programming class which saw us creating games using Greenfoot a modified version of Java. Not only did I now understand how games were truly put together I got the opportunity to work with a team and create some really fun simple games.
Overcoming Doubt
The end of high school was rapidly approaching and I needed to make a decision about where I wanted my life to go. I wasn’t entirely sure about pursuing games as a career then. I was worried I wouldn’t be good enough and didn’t have the skills to succeed. I wanted to create games that people were excited to play with fun mechanics, challenging levels and characters that people really empathized with. I didn’t think I could. Then I played a game that changed me once again. Celeste.
This game holds a special place in many people’s hearts but for me it was the ultimate inspiration to pursue what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to move across the country to a city I’ve never been in before but after playing Celeste it got me to think about why I wanted to do this. It helped me give myself the confidence I needed to pursue this crazy dream of mine.
Never Give Up
My time in Humber was both incredible and challenging. I made lots of great friends and got to work on excellent projects with fantastic people. I learned all about game development and was implementing the mechanics I was designing. There’s one day that sticks with me. I had created a simple project inspired around celeste’s dash mechanic and providing the player with iframes during the dash. I remember one of my professors played a game I had designed and had a load of fun. Suddenly others started watching and getting excited about playing the game. I have never felt happier in my life.
Something changed during my second year though. I took on a lot of work and was pushing myself really hard. I began to feel like I couldn’t do it. I began to doubt myself and my abilities. Was I good enough? Would I get a job afterwards? Why were the mechanics I was designing not fun? Why can’t I solve this bug? Then another game came in to help me. Wandersong.
Wandersong is all about facing incredible odds and never giving up. It’s unrelenting sense of optimism was infectious. It’s mechanics were simple yet elegant and created a strong emotional link between myself and the game. It encouraged me to push on and pursue my dream.
The Joy of Design
I managed to find a job at Crystallized Games Inc and it’s been incredible! The team is fantastic and I’m learning something new everyday. One day though I wanted to work on something myself and start a new personal project. I wanted to focus on design aspects as a way to refresh myself. The result was One Bullet. I had so much fun on the project. It cemented the fact that I want to become a game designer and use my experience as a programmer to help me along the journey.
Conclusion
I wanted to share my story of how I wanted to get into game development and my journey along the way. One day I will create memorable characters and mechanics that players all around the world are going to love!