But today! Today, was the last day of GDC, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. My day was filled with panels designed for students to help them break into the industry. And boy did it ever help.
The first talk I attended was advice on building a good portfolio for visual arts. There was a lot of good tips and good advice that could be applied to job interviews in general. The sample work they showed from various students' portfolios was all really impressive. Too impressive. By the end of the panel, I had lost all hope of ever becoming a visual artist. These guys are just way too good at what they do, and they've been drawing their entire lives. I don't have the raw experience to compete with them. So it was all a very intimidating and belittling experience. But it also proved to guide me towards the light.
I have respect and appreciation for visual artists, but it was never what I wanted to do. See, I had always been under the impression that "game designer" was a very prestigious position, and you couldn't just get a job as a game designer. So I figured visual arts would be a great stepping stone to take me where I really wanted to get in the end, which is just to design some GAMES. So after that horrifying panel, I was inspired to do a little Googlin'. I now had some concrete questions I wanted answers to, and that's basically what I wanted to get out of GDC. Not necessarily answers, just questions. My questions were as such:
1. What is an entry level game design position?
2. What does a game designer do on a day to day basis?
Pretty basic stuff. Not exactly the kind of thing I could feel comfortable with asking a panel of distinguished professionals in front of a large audience. So I found my own answers!
As it turns out, in recent years in the industry, game design CAN be an entry level position. Obviously a student fresh out of school isn't going to land themselves a job as creative director or lead designer, but they don't necessarily have to find a weird convoluted path to their dream job by learning unrelated skills like programming and fine arts. The eye opening article I read can be found here at Game Career Guide's website (the same group that had their logo all over the panels I went to today). Additionally, that article linked me to this article, which was equally eye opening with regards to my second question. Today, these two articles provided me with the knowledge and hope I was craving from GDC.
Later that day, filled with hope and an angus beef hamburger, I went to a lecture which gave general tips on how to break into the industry. It was much more relevant to me, and I learned some more very basic things.
According to the lecturer, it takes three people to make a game. (Or rather, three ROLES.) You need an artist, a designer, and a programmer. However, it takes five people to run a studio. In addition to the previous three, you need a marketing man to make sure your game gets out there, and a business man to handle contracts, publishers, and that sort of thing. Upon hearing this my first thought was, "That's all?" It seems so simple. So delightfully simple! If I'm a designer, then all I have to do is find four talented people that can fill those roles in order to start my own studio? A five man team means no bureaucracy to get in the way of creative vision. It means that I could be the creative director of a project right away. Sure the scope of the games wouldn't exactly be enormous, but I'd be making the games I want to make with a wonderfully small team.
But even still, that's a long way off. I still don't have the skills necessary to commit to doing something that serious. But all these ideas are buzzing around in my head now that I have a stronger understanding of how the industry works. It's very exciting to finally figure some of this basic stuff out. It's so hard to get any insight into the way this industry runs as it's all shrouded in secrecy from big business. GDC was a great way to step behind the curtain and see what's going on.
The final panel I attended was a great high note to end the conference on. A collection of huge gaming celebrities took the stage and answered questions about how to get into "AAA Game" development. I.e., your Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid, that sort of thing. The gaming equivalent of a big-budget block buster.
The big names and recognizable faces on stage talked about the difficulties people can face when trying to achieve that dream of directing "the game." It's a long road to get there, to get to the point where publishers will trust you with hundreds of thousands of dollars based on your reputation. Honestly, I'm not sure it's worth it. Yes, it would be like heaven to have that kind of money to make a game with, but the road to get there is so long and arduous, that I wonder if it really is better than being an integral part of a small indie team right away.
My main takeaway from that panel is that big companies are a great place to learn things and gain experience, but huge development studios like that have to deal with a lot of issues that simply don't apply to indie developers. Maybe it would be good to get an entry level design job at a studio like that, learn as much as I can, and then start my own studio.
But anyways, this post is turning into far too much of me idly day dreaming so I'll cut myself off here. Coming to GDC has really been an amazing experience and I'm so glad I did. If there's anyone else out there who gets the opportunity to come, even if you are clueless like I am, I definitely recommend it. It is completely worth while.
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| So long, GDC. |
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