Lately I have been debating with myself alot. Partly because I hate having arguments with other people and because debating with yourself regularly leads to some good and healthy decision making ( or atleast I believe so .. )
Did I mention I've started designing games at my work place? For all practical purposes I would like to not mention anything more than that...and would like to rephrase the above statement by saying, I have started 'learning' how to design games at my work place..
So before I elaborate on that, allow me to give you some background deets.. I have worked in this company for almost two years now .. and at every step I have learnt so much.. it is phenomenal ..I started off as a trainee ( a different story altogether, remind me to pen that down later ) and then moved onto becoming a User Interface designer. With a remarkably talented teacher like Ravi Raj Moolya (For anyone who is looking for pure talent in the graphical field and a wonderful human being to work with, your search might end here ) I got a chance to polish my skills , develop confidence and showcase the little talent i possessed graphically.
There are very few people who actually understand the term 'Make the most of what you have.' And my boss totally falls under that category. I hold no degree in gaming or graphic designing . But the chances I have been given to prove my expertise despite that, is just incredible and generous on his part. Anyone who sees potential beyond a stamped degree according to me should be titled a Saint.
So recently I was given a chance to explore my talents in the field of game design. Creative writing , letting your imagination go crazy.. thats what its all about right? but let me tell you Game Designing is all that and the following..
From a personal stand point here is what I gathered.
It requires more thought than what I must've put in while choosing my career ( no kidding)
Level Designing is a bitch
The whole process of trial and error is taxing and with Time Management being one of the most important things in game production it can also lead you to tears (of frustration of course)
White hair and loss of hair with stress is of course inevitable (that goes without saying )
And having a programmer rejecting your ideas or a Tester pointing out flow faults is disheartening and demoralizing.
So i debated with my self for the longest time whether designing was worth all the stress i was taking. And whether i should give up and return to being just a UI designer. Negative thoughts prevailed for the longest time till i got a chance to think about it while on a break.
But hang on that is not why I'm here. No venting in blogs is one of my many strict policies. So here is what brings me to the reason why I'm blogging about this at all.
It happened so that we had to reuse graphics from a discarded concept to make a new game. A new game that was not based on an original concept . It was like reskinning this very state of the art sort of a game.. and it took me some time to come to terms with the fact that as a first project I wasn't working on an original concept. It was borrowed. I felt horrible about it for almost two nights till i came across this article about Innovation in Games. As dramatic as i may sound but that article changed my thinking to a great extent.
So with everything I have stated above, it may seem like Game Designing is something you shouldn't do. Or you shouldn't think of it as something fancy. Wrong. I was a donkey to think of it like that ( no offense to donkeys) but I was being stupid . So here is what that Magical Article taught me.
Innovation. You like a game you borrow the concept and add your bit to it (preferably something new ? ) that is innovation. It could be you adding another game mechanic to the already existing game .. or adding a feature or a system which does not exist in the original game.. A game designer's job is to basically provide the player with a better experience each time.
So if there is a good game out there and you feel it can be spiced up a little more. Go ahead and do your thing I say! ( avoid going to Jail over copyright issues though..just saying :/ ) Well that article for starters helped me ease those nerves.. and offered me a new perspective.
Then i moved onto the next chapter of the game. Level Designing .. Did i mention it was a bitch.. i already did ..didnt I? Doesn't matter.. once is never enough. Levels are the most important and the most challenging part of a game.
It takes two seconds for a player to stop playing if the level fails to keep you hooked. My first project and I had no clue what thought went into crafting good levels. I studied each level and the flow of the game we were using for reference.. I even finished the game in order to understand what I was dealing with. And with each step I was more and more thankful to the fact that I had something to learn from. My perspective towards game design was changing. And the bitch was starting to become a pet now..
Everything just began to make total sense to me. Screw those guys who think we're not being original. To make good games in the future... to make original games in the future , it is always prudent to learn from something which already exists.. That is how you hone your skills .. learn techniques. Almost like a lab experiment. Those experiments we did in college had been drafted by someone else! .. We still carried them out in the process of learning! My first project was exactly like that!.. I didnt have to feel bad about using an already existing concept.. i was learning..
With each step i was beginning to reason more and more. Things didnt seem random any more.. Even that stress seemed more fruitful! I was learning good stuff after all!
Game Design is some work if you take it up seriously... Im planning on continuining with it till it completely turns me bald, with Tubthumping playing at the back of my head as my new theme song. You will also need a good critique .. in my case that would my Boss. Believe it or not he has an eye for all the right mistakes ..
And now that i have tried my hand at something tried and tested ... something with which you can't really go wrong... it's time to get original and 'innovative'. This world could do with some new good games what say ? ;)
And now that I have typed out this directionless blog just to doctor my own confused thoughts ..the question still remains..To be a Game Designer or Not to be one
Answer :Well the answer is definitely TO BE!
Haa saying (read typing) it out loud (read bold) felt so much better!
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