Positives, negatives and everything in between fickraken

@Lloyzerdk:

Make topics in the Video Games Section to discuss game elements and I'll try my best to discuss them with you. If you make it about opinions I'm certain others will joing in as well.

Check out sites like http://extra-credits.net/ to figure out what kind of games you'd like to play a role in, and which game mechanics you find important. These can be game mechanics that don't exist yet even, especially if you find them lacking in the current game industry (for example, a lot of the games you see out there are just remakes of remakes with perhaps a new feature and better graphics, don't you want to play something entirely new for a change?)

Get into programming so you can understand the basics of what is possible in game design.
You don't have to start off with incredibly fancy stuff.
Check out game development environments like XNA, Unity and that C# Mono library thing. Minecraft was made in Java. While I can't recommend Java myself, I have made an entire 3D game in it that had everything except fancy animations and sounds, in 10 weeks working on it 3 days a week iirc, with a team of 4. Most of that time was spent building the framework. Once you have that, you can start playing around.).
Check out engines/ libraries that can make your programming life a lot easier. You won't have to spend as much time building your framework with this.

Start taking a notebook with you (a physical one) at all times so you can write down whatever clever little idea for a game you have. They come at weird times.

Start reading articles online on Game Development Methodologies/ Programming Methodologies. A lot of Design Methodologies can be used (at least in part) in game design and programming as well, and vice versa. There are quite a lot of them.
I can recommend the Agile Project Management using Scrum methodology. When you're working alone or in a small team, just throw most of the methodology out of the window and focus only on the daily or weekly sprints: come up with a cool idea, work on it for a week (has to be finished at the end of the week, as far as possible, preferably in a stable state which can be tested), then put it aside and work on another cool idea the week after.

After a couple of weeks you'll see you've gotten a lot better at game design and have explored a lot more ideas.

As always, try to keep the 80/20 rule in mind. 80% of the work requires 20% of the effort, the last 20% of the work requires 80% of the effort. For now it is fine to just ignore those last 20% of the project so you'll save yourself a lot of time and keep the proces fun.

If you want to be a game designer and not a game creator/ programmer, try to focus on coming up with the inner workings and concept art. What should the art style be? How much freedom should the player have? etc.

I gotta say that while I love video games and can't think of any other occupation I'd like to go in, I feel like I don't have a lot of passion to pursue it. For instance, I'm kind of lazy and don't have the urge to spend my free time learning everything there is to know about how games are made. With so much there is to see and learn, it feels more like work instead of leisure. Maybe that'll change if I look into transferring to a college that has courses geared specifically towards video games. Does anyone else feel like this sometimes?

Slivendiferious wrote:

Pos: Mentally I'm doing fantastic, physically I'm doing relatively ok. I'm slowly getting better...
But mentally.... woosh. I didn't even realize I hadn't been this optimistic in a long time.

Optimism is a great thing, isn't it?

Wall of text incoming!

Lloyzerdk wrote:

I gotta say that while I love video games and can't think of any other occupation I'd like to go in, I feel like I don't have a lot of passion to pursue it. For instance, I'm kind of lazy and don't have the urge to spend my free time learning everything there is to know about how games are made. With so much there is to see and learn, it feels more like work instead of leisure. Maybe that'll change if I look into transferring to a college that has courses geared specifically towards video games. Does anyone else feel like this sometimes?

If your age tag is to be believed, you're 19 years old, Lloyzerdk.

I’ll tell you a little secret I have learned between my 19th and my future 24th birthday, but to get there you’ll have to read through my story.

Four years ago (when I was your age) I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life at all. The year before that I thought I wanted to become an architect, but after a mandatory internship of two weeks at an architect through my school, I somehow lost all interest in architecture.

At the last minute I decided I wanted to do something with game design. Physical games, as I've been accidentally designing them (heh, "designing them") since grade school. I only had one prototype board game to show for it at the time, and perhaps half or maybe even a full notebook filled with ideas for stories or game elements. Or just something that would be really cool to turn into a card game.

My other hobby was drawing back then, and I did not want to pursue that further at the time. I did not have the confidence in my drawings skills I would have needed and there are no drawing courses on university level in my country.

And that is something I definitely wanted to do, go to university.

So I went to Industrial Design Engineering.

Mostly, it was not what I expected it to be. I also did not learn how to design board or card games in the four and a half years I've spent there now. But while it is still very different from how I imagined it would be back then, it is awesome in ways I could not have foreseen. In a way, it is much better than I thought it would be.
I have met so many great and interesting people, and I have learned so many interesting things. I learned many things I didn’t know I wanted to know, and I’ve also learned many things I definitely did not want to know, especially at 19 years old.

During my projects at this university I’ve had my doubts quite often. There have been moments I wanted to quit, moments in which I thought the projects and exams were stupid and put together by morons and moments in which everything sucked. My bachelor graduation project was such a project. Three years (four in my case) of projects and exams all lead up to that project, in which you combine everything you’ve learned up until that point.

And I literally asked myself: “Is this really what I want to do the rest of my life?”
And the answer came quietly: “…Probably…?”
I really wasn’t sure.

Because I screwed up at some point, I still had to do two elective courses after my graduation project. Those two courses are probably the most fun courses I’ve followed during my bachelor, and they rejuvenated my interest in design.
That screw up is one of the best things to ever happen to me. I became a student assistant for the course OF THE YEAR two years in a row, enrolled in two great elective courses and in the following summer vacation, I spent 6 weeks as an intern in a real (albeit informal) design agency. And it was awesome.

During that internship I learned how much more actual designers know through their experiences and master education than I do, and I decided I wanted to continue learning. I decided to do the Industrial Design Engineering Master track as well.

And only now, six weeks later, surrounded by deadlines and projects and exams, I can confidently say that I have made the right choice when I started studying Industrial Design Engineering. It was definitely worth it.
And I still don’t know what I want to do after I graduate! I might start working full time at my part time job as a designer, I might start doing research at my university, I might even start studying something completely different, like drawing or architecture.

And that’s ok!

The thing is, Lloyzerdk, it’s going to be ok either way! You don’t need all the answers yet. Heck, you don’t need all the answers yet even 5 years from now! Six, if you count the year I still have to go before I graduate again.

It doesn’t even matter all that much what you study either! I know someone who graduated on Product Design, and has been doing Marine Logistics for an important harbour for the last 15 years. I can tell you you’ll learn nothing about harbours and ship logistics at Industrial Design Engineering. Similarly there are people who study law or finance and become great designers or CEOS of design companies, and there are people who study Computer Programming and become really renowned movie directors.

As long as you have a college or university degree, a lot of doors will open up for you, and you’ll always end up somewhere. It’s probably just not where you expected it would be. If all else fails, you could always try to start your own company, become a youtube celebrity, become a serial entrepreneur, come up with a cool product or service and market it through kickstarter, or, as Arn pointed out, write a book. Of course there’s nothing wrong with wanting to do these things from the get-go either!

But for now, just do whatever you are most interested in.

What are your hobbies? What do you enjoy doing the most?
I know it is tempting to say sleeping (even just for the sake of being annoying) but I have found that sleeping your days away, for me at least, is a very unfulfilling existence. Seems like a waste of everyone’s time.

If you want to be involved in game design, then just go to a game design college.  It will likely be very different from what you expect it to be, and you might not enjoy all of it. Give it a chance though! If it isn’t your thing, either drop out and try something else, or turn it into your thing. There’s no reason to (always) play by the rules.
And if it is your thing, that’s awesome! Nothing lost either way (except money, but it will be a valuable experience either way).

You don’t have to feel passionate about anything yet. In my experience, passion has to grow and be nurtured. It comes with age and experience. And in that regard, both of us are still terribly young ;)

So yes, it will definitely change when you start studying game design, and you don’t have to spend all of your free time learning everything there is to know about game design at all. Some people would find it interesting, some people would like to have that basis before they go to college and others just need to spend their free time on completely different things otherwise they will go mad.

Suikiwiden wrote:

Slivendiferious wrote:

Pos: Mentally I'm doing fantastic, physically I'm doing relatively ok. I'm slowly getting better...
But mentally.... woosh. I didn't even realize I hadn't been this optimistic in a long time.

Optimism is a great thing, isn't it? :D

Yes! Yes it is.

The thing is, if you had asked me two weeks ago how optimistic I was on a scale of 1-10, I'd have said 8.

And right now I would still say 8. But it would mean 16 on the previous scale.

I'm taking java at community college now so I'm getting a taste of programming. There's some interesting stuff but I have trouble remembering all the stuff I've learned so I don't know if I'll get a job as a programmer.

One aspect about gaming that does interest me though is localization. One thing I do with my free time is write game scripts and transcriptions to gamefaqs and contribute to the Aselia wiki, so I've spent a lot of time with the English language. I know Yume Hanabi is a translator, so if she still comes here I'd appreciate it if she gave me pointers. I guess learning Japanese would be useful, but last I checked my college doesn't offer courses on that.

EDIT. And does anyone know where the song in this video is from? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtPCk7yyfT8
I feel like it's from Sword Art Online but I don't know in which episode it plays.

Nearly got in a car crash today, driver drove into the pedestrian sidewalk like wtf. Think I sprained my ankle thanks to that.

Just in time for MIDTERM WEEK too, geez.

Neg: I was going to make a post about how strangely peaceful I felt an hour ago and that I felt that, come what may, I'll somehow make it through.

While the latter still kind of holds true, I no longer feel peaceful. I am overwhelmed with the intense desire to punch something right now...

Pos: After 8 years I'm finally getting a new mattress! My old one has like a crater on it that covers 3/4 of the mattress. I'll be able to sleep normally again!

Nice Sui, idk how I'd sleep in an 8y/o mattress with a giganto crater.

Exams done!!! ..... for today.
Time to limp back home since I don't got bus money and spend the next 5+ hours on this shit assignment.

Neg: Missed my mail since I was at school and everyone was out of the house...... 10 MINUTES before my bro and sis get home, gotta pick it up tomorrow.

Neg (and a very big neg): This is going to be a long one and I already know talking about this is not going to make me any friends here...because all my anger recently has something to do with politics & social issues.

A lot of times, I feel like certain issues I see gets this hand waving as if people just ignore it because they want to remain ignorant, be in denial, or something like that. It has irritated me, especially when I feel like I'm the ignorant one. I know about a certain fiasco that shall remain nameless but after I describe it, I think you're going to figure out what I'm talking about. This fiasco is claiming it's to demand for better journalistic integrity within gaming. However, all I really came across is that this fiasco in nothing more than people being misogynistic just because of two certain women being more prominent. One is because she's calling out how unfair the portrayal of women are in gaming while another was because of some bitter ex-boyfriend of someone that happens to be some indie developer and start exposing some dirty laundry just because she wasn't what he thought she was. Oh, and did I mention the former is now getting death threat? Real classy there...NOT!

You know what? This really proves how alive misogyny is (and just on the death threats alone)! I already know people are going to read this and continue hand waving over it. I feel like I'm going to end up screaming, "Stop ignoring it! This is important! Start paying attention!"

Maybe I'm so upset because I learned 10 years ago that, "Ignorance is not bliss! Ignorance is ignorance! Plus ignorance is what leads to problems in our world!" I've become paranoid about how I'm subliminally sexist or even racist in my head & don't even know it.

It's because of how wrong I am that I'm belittling myself over it and it's been a common occurrence for me. Of course, I was willing to rant about this here because, maybe, I might feel better saying something, even if I end up getting hate for saying it.

(To be fair, I did end up reading more about the people who wants better ethics in gaming journalism after I was about to post. Since it was those people who wanted to do right getting mixed up with the wrong people, I think where a lot of my rant came about and why I feel so angry over ignorance. Not to mention, I still feel paranoid about my ignorance over issues on sexism & racism.)

NEG: Eeeuuurrrgh. My work situation is completely f***ing toxic at this point. I come home from work - often at least an hour late and not actually paid for that extra time because I'm on salary - feeling like my brain wants to break free of its cranial prison and run screaming into the distance. I can barely even think right now I'm so stressed. Due to current circumstances I can't quit, because I have no idea where I would even go. I just grin and bear it, putting up with constant, nonstop bulls**t.

By comparison, being at home is nowhere near as bad, but still not good.

I can describe how I'm feeling at this very moment in two simple words.

F*** everything.

Fick: Seems like I need 9 hours of sleep these days to keep up...

That's slightly inconvenient. =/

Pos: I found Monster Hunter Jazz songs. Monster Hunter. Music. Jazz'd.

Best discovery ever.

Cless Aileron wrote:

["Gamergate" stuff]

So ignoring the horrible banner those people are waving, the legitimate concerns are being buried underneath the fact that this is the internet. The Anita Sarkeesian thing I really don't want to touch because that shouldn't be lumped into "Gamergate" in the first place, and the fact that other issues are getting pulled into this fad is just making the whole thing worse.

The baseline of this whole problem was that Zoe Quinn chick's dirty laundry. She apparently was sleeping with a bunch of people in the industry, and various people who may or may not have reviewed her content or gave her coverage may have done so (or rather, done her.) The problem is that there were so many conflicting stories that it's difficult to get an accurate representation of what she actually did, versus what she's supposed to have done. It's pretty obvious that she was up to some gross shit, and there was definite evidence of her fuckbuddies trying to cover up the situation (one of the mods on the /r/Gaming subreddit even, there was a claim that she was doxxed, which apparently never happened, and posts were being deleted en masse even if they weren't inflammatory.)

The biggest problem I see is how the major networks treated that Zoe Quinn thing, by disowning "gamers." Instead of admitting the wrongdoing or doing their own, proper research (if they don't agree with internet vigilantism) it was the gamers' fault. They took what was a mostly-isolated issues and spread the blame on a broader scale. Choosing to deny the problem, essentially confirming everyone's suspicions, instead of assuring the people of their journalistic integrity (then again, the game's industry long hasn't had any of that.)

That's a legitimate problem. That is worthy of calling "Gamergate" (again, I hate anybody saying [something]gate, because it actually trivializes the issue by making it sound trendy.)


Now I hear that Anita Sarkeesian is being lumped into this issue, which, sure, she's got her own problems with regard to that sketchy Kickstarter that really didn't live up to expectations. People were in the right about a lack of faith in her work, however because of the toxic environment that surrounded that Kickstarter, it ended up giving her more and more attention to fuel her half-assed crusade; the mysognists made a bigger problem for themselves by coming out of the manchild woodwork. If they had left it alone, it would've gotten barely any funding, proved how ill-equipped she is, and she probably would've been out of the news a month after the Kickstarter ended.

There's apparently some other woman being involved in stuff now, who was apparently doxxed and fled home over death threats, but I'm really not clear on why she was targeted.


The problem with any situation like this is that it's the internet. The most hurtful and hateful people have the loudest voice and drown out the reasonable ones, and the major networks have done a horrible job of not poking the bear, so they're at just as much fault by turning on their audience en masse rather than treating the situation for what it is. I think I brought this up earlier on the board, there's nothing wrong with being a gamer, but there's plenty wrong with what I call an "internet person" who puts too much stock in the power of anonimity and snide cynicism. Unfortunately with gaming having such a wide-ranging reach, across cultures and ESPECIALLY AGE GROUPS, you get a bunch of people who just don't know when to quit, and when lines are crossed.

Fick: Having a sudden surge of inspiration for a design at 2 AM: Not a good idea.

Especially when you need to wake up at 7 T__T

Taiyz wrote:

(In response to my post.)

Due to the fact it was a woman that was exposed for this stuff, a lot of this has come off as a gender issue thing because it was exposing a woman's sex life, which tends to happen more than men (maybe the gender issue thing is why Anita was lumped into it). In fact, the ones I have been around are saying this whole thing is nothing more than a misogyny campaign (even after they did research).

Like in regards to Anita, the problem seems to be instead of some just disagreeing with what she said, the internet comes off as trying to commit some smear campaign on her. Some hours ago, I saw this on my Twitter timeline from someone retweeting it. In that link, it was debunking things in regards to Anita (Being a con artist, taking someone's Let's Play footage, etc). I'll admit, I only skimmed this one but it was something I saw in regards to saying that those things about Anita are more like conspiracy bull.

If anything, you'll have to excuse me since everything happening in regards to these issues is still a hard pill to swallow and I still feel like I'm having a hard time feeling like I found the truth. While I know women aren't that innocent, it doesn't cover up that there's serious gender issues in society. As I said before, I've been paranoid recently in regards to issues with sexism & racism that I don't actually know jack about those issues. It's why I feel like if I even dare doubt that side, then I'm a moron.

I can agree on how a situation like this on the internet comes out as a complete cesspool. Regardless of who's right here, both sides are being completely asinine.

I know bringing up a controversial topic is going to be a touchy topic but all this doubt really has feel like a bummer. I really did have to get it out there, even if it is a train wreck.

Pos: Mattress is finally set up and literally within minutes of it being done my cat claimed it all for himself. Then again I guess he's rewarding himself after putting up with night after 'harrowing' night without me sleeping upstairs. He gets separation anxiety if I'm gone for more than 5 seconds.

Pos: For the last few days I've been spawning a specific tamable npc in WoW for hunters to get as pets. The reason I'm doing this is because to spawn it you need a quest that only rarely shows up so most people don't have the item to summon the npc. Must've helped like 20+ hunters by now and it feels nice to get help em.

Edit: Pos: Saw two shooting stars tonight!

DylDawg wrote:

Pos: I found Monster Hunter Jazz songs. Monster Hunter. Music. Jazz'd.

Best discovery ever.

Jazz is the greatest thing ever.

Yes. I agree.

So guys I'm going to disappear for a bit, really trying to get my shit together. See ya'll later.

Arn wrote:

So guys I'm going to disappear for a bit, really trying to get my shit together. See ya'll later.

Good luck!

Cless Aileron wrote:

"Gamergate" continued

Yeah that's the problem, it's not only hard to separate fact from fiction because this has turned into a Reddit-style witch hunt, but it's hard to separate genuine criticism from internet person misogyny (and at the same time it's hard to separate genuine rebuttals from the "SJWs," which is another mind-numbing phrase I just learned the other day.) There's both going on, and unfortunately the only people with an official voice are not bothering to differentiate, and so we come full circle because the journaists are just fanning the flames by lumping us all together and denying everything, causing people to seek out more evidence.

Pos: Back home.

Big neg: Tomorrow it's time to say goodbye to grandmother since her time is running out How do you even say goodbye to someone who's going to die? Dad says she's crying all the time and I wish there was something I could do to make her feel better. I'm devastated Tomorrow it's mine and Joni's engagement anniversary day too. Not that it changes anything, but it feels weird to celebrate with a yummy dessert and stuff when I just want to hide under my bed and cry.

Oreo: That awkward moment when you realize for the first time in your life that pickles are cucumbers, just fermented. I've always thought they were separate entities....  


Fick: Been busy the last few days since we had the father of one of my childhood best friends staying over working on stuff.

Fick: Hearing about what his sons have been up to in life (work, etc.) kinda sorta bummed me out a bit. For a very very very short period of time I was comparing my life to another's again - which is admittingly hard when you grew up with 2 out of 3 of 'em.

Neg: I got a headache Winter is coming. Why some dudes hit on meh?!

Pos: I assasinated a tennis ball today and I am loving life right now.

Pos: The Phineas and Ferb Halloween Special: Night of the Living Pharmacists is amazing.

Neg: I'm very much behind on schedule with everything for my university T__T