I see the value in the course especially for those who know they want to be in a visual arts major, but are perhaps unsure which one; first year students in particular. I also found the speakers to be interesting.

However, I am a senior IGST major in this class. I already had lectures like this four years ago. Perhaps more advice on how to be a creative rather than a student.

Part 1

I don’t have something to say about each individual presentation. I found them all interesting, but not all necessarily thought provoking. I always find it inspiring to see artists create and show their work. To see a variety of art types and styles, from photography to sculpt was interesting. I wish there was a professor to represent video games however.

Part 2

Create a 5-year plan. What are your long term goals beyond college? What do you need to do to accomplish those goals?

2016-2017: Finish up the school year and continue creating small games to hone my skills along side with what I learn in class. In the summer, I wish to get a job or internship related to digital media creation. (best case in video games).

2017-2018: Graduate after the Fall and start a full time job quickly afterward. Continue creating games in my free time.

2018-2019: Continue working but have an idea and work on a specific game with intention to release commercially (longer than the same games I’ve made).

2019-2020: Still have the job and work on the game.

2020-2021: Release the game an start a new one.

Part 1

Of all the speaker series we’ve had so far this was the relevant to me and one I was least excited about.

Being a senior IGST major, my day is full of video games. Video games are definitely art, but they’re very different from a painting or a poem. There’s a different attitude to it. Deadline. Business. Pressure. I appreciated hearing from different artists and how they get to create. There’s not much flexibility in games so my creative side loves to see art applied in ways that aren’t video games because that’s all I see the rest of my day.

However, the presentation did have good information– especially for my underclassmen colleagues. The most helpful being the explanation of different roles and possible jobs. I wish they would have had someone to represent programming and engineering because that’s often most confusing and varied.

I am glad that a smaller mobile studio came and spoke. It is more realistic to the current job market than having EA swoop in and dazzle us with their AAA wonderment.

Part 2

How do you combat lack of motivation or a creative block? Or just being so busy with other stuff in life that there isn’t time/energy to work creatively.

One designer I’ve been following for sometime is a game developer who goes by Miguelito or @wtfmig on Twitter. Mig is a coder and pixel artist who works on indie (independent of a publisher) games with many of his friends. This is the type of game development career I would like to have as well: small teams based out of our personal offices making fun, unique games.

His style is bright, fun, and sarcastic. I enjoy that he documents much of what he does on his Twitter and I can watch the progression of his development. He has recently started using the game development GameMaker which I also recently started learning. It’s very encouraging to follow along with someone while learning.

Here are some links to his work from July to now

Getting all the range checks and menu cancels in order before I move on to anything too hypeworthy pic.twitter.com/1hT8TFGdiJ

— Mig (@wtfmig) October 21, 2016

I used to do a comic about bees pic.twitter.com/F6mS99YEOR

— Mig (@wtfmig) October 6, 2016

Super unsettling sky pic.twitter.com/aNszPylmdL

— Mig (@wtfmig) July 19, 2016

The first .gif is from his current GameMaker game. From what I’ve observed, it’s a turn based top-down isometric adventure game.

The second image is a drawing he made that I think about often despite it’s simplicity. It’s charming and makes me laugh.

The final .gif is from a game he started making when I first began following him. This is a later .gif. It’s a game about dodgeball and I’m really excited to play it after so many months of watching.

My future, at least the next year, is very planned. Since I’m a senior, I pretty much have my final year laid out: what classes to take, when I need to get a job, when I need to move out. It’s actually rather straight forward. Much of it depends on my getting it done– a different topic all together.

My future plans are very customized to me. They would have to be. I don’t understand how someone in technology and design could follow someone else’s path.

I probably won’t get to travel abroad in my time with St. Edward’s. I just don’t have the time left and many of my classes are specific and would be difficult to find replacements for. If I could go abroad, I would want to go places I have a personal interest in rather than professional. Professionally, I should go to Australia or Japan. They have strong video game industries. Personally, I would want to either go to Iceland or return to my childhood home in Italy. At this point, I’m planning vacations and not study abroad opportunities.

I am no long apart of any student groups. I tried a bit at the start of last year, but between my job, classes, personal projects, and modest social life, I found the stress of the orgs not worth the reward. I’ve never been one for school spirit or organizations so I do not feel I am missing much on a personal fulfillment level. After spending all day in classes, studying, and working, I am burned out of being on campus.

I related to Camille Dollins a lot in class after her presentation. I particularly liked her anxiety box and her entrepreneurial efforts that went into it.

This relates to me as a game designer because a lot of what I make are also things that could essentially grow into something I try to sell– whether on Steam or to publishers. It was a path that I was glad to see so directly reflected in another branch of visual design. It surprised me to see as game development is closer to business than most other arts.

The most valuable piece of advice I received was more of an example. I liked how Dollins worked on internships not directly related to the design she already knew (like the box or UX design). She branched out and used the internship as the learning opportunity. As I’m looking for internships now, I’m taking this deeply into account.

Part 1: Complete the skills inventory & action plan questions below, and post to your blog.

SKILLS INVENTORY (copy and paste questions into your blog)

For each class ask yourself the following:

1. My greatest strengths in _Game Design and Development_ include:
2. For greater success in this course, I need to: Attend class and continue learning in my own time.

Computer skills:

1. My computer skills include: Navigation in Windows and Mac OS. Operating Microsoft Suite including Word, Powerpoint, Excel and Access. Operating Adobe Suite including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Audition, Premiere Pro. General knowledge about Game Maker and Unity.  Comfortable in Python.
2. I still need to learn: More about the engines and coding languages.

Research & writing skills:

1. My greatest strengths as a researcher/writer include: Technical writing and general communications.
2. I need to work on these aspects of research and writing: Actually making myself write and proof reading my work.
3. I learn best & accomplish most when: I can disconnect and focus solely o my task with no distractions aside from loud music.

ACTION PLAN

Choose one class that you are struggling with or are not doing as well as you could.
Now make a list of 10 ways you could improve your performance in this class.

American Dilemmas– I’m getting high marks but I hate being there.

1. Don’t skip the class.
2. Go to Writing Center for essays.
3. Schedule time to work on this class specially.
4. Do the required readings.
5. Do the suggested readings.
6. Take notes.
7. Pay attention in class.
8. Try to not zone out or draw instead of engage.
9. Find extra sources and double check credibility.
10. Work with my classmates to edit.

PART 1

The first project I have been working on is a very simple game made in Scratch. It’s called “Space Twins.”

You can play the game here.

I am responsible for all aspects of the game’s creation including art, code, and mechanic design. Here were the requirements of the game. We had 4 days to have a playable demo.

“Building off our discussion today, the purpose of this exercise is to build feedback into your game (both positive and negative) through means other than numbers. Figure out ways of rewarding (or warning) the player that uses visual cues, art cues, GUI (Graphical User Interface) elements, and, of course, sound effects.

You must follow these guidelines:

1. Give it a unique title.

2. No numeric scoring.

3. No numeric timers.

4. Single player.

5. As with your “Fear the Goat” game, it must provide a compelling three-minutes of gameplay.

PART 2

The strongest aspect of Space Twins is it’s code. It’s easy to understand, even to people who didn’t write it, and it’s efficient. While I’m sure someone more expirence  coding, they could make it better, but with the expirence level I’m at, I’m very happy with it.

Weakest is gameplay design. I want to make it longer (my next step). The major downfall with puzzle games is that they have no replayability. This is why procedurally generated puzzle games do well.

To improve the game conceptually, I will need to update some of the sprites and lengthen the game out. For technical improvements, I could go through and combine some code blocks and look at how other similar games are coded and learn from those.

PRESENTSTIONS

Seeing the upperclassmen presentations was interesting– especially since two of the presenters are my colleagues in class.

The photo communication presentation was my overall favorite. I’ve never studied photography so hearing someone speak to their experiences and show us photos was a particularly interesting. I liked hearing how she used her study abroad to benefit her photography, as I am having trouble connecting my major to a program abroad.

Seeing the graphic design presentation was interesting in a different way. As a hobby for years I’ve been studying graphic design and designing things causally for my friends. Now that at my job I am actively creating, I’ve begun to put together a portfolio. I liked seeing that we have different approaches to it. Many people assume all graphic design is that same.

The art in education presentation didn’t hold me in particular. I’ve never had much interest in teaching, although I did like hearing from a transfer student point of view. I expirence a lot of frustration from it and there is something in knowing other people have similar expirence– although I wish it was easier to transfer.

The final interactive game studies was… weird to watch. I am a senior in the already small program so seeing Omar and John present was strange. Many of the games and projects discussed I either worked on, or were created in the class they were made in. There is also something about knowing the presenters personally that removes a bit of formality.

WEBSITES

http://www.lachab.com/

I like this website because it’s clean and direct. No distracting visuals. There are a couple changes I’d make in copy, but overall it’s purposeful.

荒川区で現金化！すぐにできるおすすめの店舗を紹介します

This site, like the last, is clean and sharp. The design elements are crisp while the content tells you what you need to know.

https://bert.house/en/

I enjoy this site because it has a distinct personality but is not overwhelmed. Quirky has a tendency to be too much. However, this site is easy to navigate and fun.

I have the interesting situation where my favorite artist and author are the same person. The artist and novelist Brom has captivated my interest for years now, so when I read my favorite books, they are often accompanied by my favorite illustrations.

Gerald Brom, much like myself, was raised in a military family in which the family moved and relocated often. He draws inspiration from a the different places he has lived. Brom began his illustration early and already had many major clients by the time he was 21. My favorite part of his career however is his work as a movie concept artist. He worked on one of my favorite childhood movies, Scooby-Doo (2002). When I go back and rewatch the movie, I can see his influence in the set design.

An original oil painting. (I actually own a print of this)

However, the most captivated I get with Brom’s works is when I accompany his illustrations with his written words. He is able to create masterful and creepy worlds that somehow fit in our own. I would not classify his writing as fantasy or horror. It is difficult for me as a fan to define.

While I have already read everything he’s written once but there are certain books I go back to and reread. It is comforting to me and being able to reexamine the art after learning to create more of my own gives me new perspective on it.

The cover of Brom’s first book, Plucker. Brom illustrated and wrote the book.