Fruits Of Labour

During my 3rd year at Abertay one of my modules was to create an entertainment product with free reign over what it was and the content within.
My team decided on creating a Tower Defence game with Fruit and Vegetable characters in the game and have it set in a kitchen.

The Team

• Alan Sambells - Producer
• Liam Campbell - Designer
• Derek Reid - Artist
• Jason Rees - Sound Engineer
• AJ Cerqueti - Lead Programmer
• JB - Programmer
• Steven Purdie - Programmer
• Graeme Haddow - Programmer

The Game

Fruits of Labour is a simple tower defence game but is in 3D. We decided that with a team of 8 we could create a full 3D games within 12 weeks of production (along with 12 weeks of Pre-Production).

The pre-production stage consisted of the whole team deciding on what our game would be and finally when we decided on our game we started to time table our production cycle.
The idea was to use SCRUM management, one of the unfamiliar Agile methodologies but in reality the strict rules of this methodology did not suit a University project.

In the pre-production cycle I created the Game Design Document for our game as well. Not as detailed as a full scale game obviously but it did have all the necessary information to follow and create our game.

Production

The production cycle got underway with good enthusiasm, we all pitched in and each week at the meetings I organised we discussed what had been done and what was our next goal. This is where most my experience was gained within a group. Eventually it became clear that managing a team is not an easy task and if the team doesn't work well together or become difficult to contact then the project can begin to slip.

The role of the producer in this stage seemed a but more involved than at the pre-production stage however my role couldn't function when the team lost the focus of staying in communication. My job was to keep the team together and converse between the artist and programmers and ease the whole process. I found I had to become almost threatening to make some people simply attend meetings or reply to emails. To have such a lack of effort just set the project off down a slope.

Luckily from the dire situation we got ourselves into it all became something to learn from. I couldn't be more disappointed with ending up without a finished piece to try and show to perspective employers. I did enjoy most of the process and at least our artist created some excellent artwork that I would have loved to see in a game. Our sound engineer also created some amazing sound effects which myself and Liam helped to record.

Fruits of Labour should have hit your nearest GAME store in June but we didn't finish it..........[This is a joke]

My Level Designing

I thought I would get round to showing some of my Level Design.
I only discovered a love for it when my class was part way through our Advanced Interaction module which we had to create an interactive piece, not necessarily a level in a game but I opted to use the Unreal 2003 level editor to create mine.

It wasn't a basic Unreal Tournament level with other players attacking each other left, right and centre. Our chance to make something original was in front of us so I didn't see the point in conforming to make a basic idea that would get me a pass. I really wanted to make something entertaining that you wouldn't normally see.

Originally I planned to make a level that was filled with blood, guts and anything that might seem horrible to the average person as seen to the right. Unfortunately it didn't work very well because having blood everywhere simply dulled the effect it had whereas having a room or two that was strangely covered in blood would create a better atmosphere. I eventutally abandoned this concept and made a fresh one concentrating on what the player would do and not what they would see.

My new concept involved the player waking up in a blank room that was part of a huge complex underground like a lab. Escaping his cell and discovering what crazy experiments were going on there he tries to get out. A monster held in a Cryo-Tube (basic cage in my level due to the lack of artisitc skill I have) escapes and the player will enconter it several times throughout the level. I have created a video of the level to show what happens. There are points where I would have liked to have a voice actor but I just placed triggers to have text appear as if it was the player speaking or thinking in his head.

Unreal Editor has so many tools to use that can make most things very simple if you take the time to learn. I plan on spending my summer to create more levels. The next idea I have will be some sort of trap filled dungeon or ancient Egyptian tomb. I like the idea that it will be quite challenging to link up enough effects in the editor and I need to make sure this wasn't just a one off thing that I enjoyed doing.

The First Hurdle - Getting into the Industry

Loving games, playing them and being able to talk about them unfortunately isn't all that's needed to get a job in the games industry. The biggest problem is getting your foot in the door of a company and for my particular course it seems that showing off your talents isn't that simple. I can't make a portfolio of my management abilities by drawing a lot of pictures of having pages of code to present to an employer. What does a manager do to stand out?

For myself, this blog is partly for that reason. Perhaps displaying what I know and feel about the games industry and maybe it couldn't benefit future students in the same situation.

For starters here's part of an article on breaking into the games industry posted in 2007.

"With each passing year the video game industry gains more and more clout among consumers. A few years back in 2001, the industry had a combined total revenue of around 9.8 Billion dollars. By 2006 the total had almost tripled to a combined 27 Billion. As more consumers opt to spend the evening at home playing their consoles and PC games as opposed to going out to the movies, the industry continues to grow. The time and effort needed to create a new, next-gen game is enormous and many people are needed on all aspects of development. From the concept artist to the programmer, working for the video game industry can be a very rewarding, and allow you to do something you really love."
- http://www.jobprofiles.org/library/guidance/break-into-video-games.htm

The industry is in the right state to get into, with the industry still flourishing in the middle of a recession it is a great place to be. Not to say that the industry doesn't have it's problems but the entertainment industry won't stop growing until people are bored of being entertained (not likely to happen).


My attempts of stepping a foot into the door of the industry have so far gone unanswered. Even to get a simple testing job isn't that simple. These are of course dependent on timing, every company doesn't constantly need a surplus of testers. Most problems were the work hours, companies can't accommodate a students timetable, I won't name the companies but at some points it feels like they're looking down their noses at you as a student.
However I have tried to take advantage of opportunities that are presented to me. I'm lucky enough to live in Dundee which has a spectacular gaming industry and events within Dundee are very useful, for example Game in Scotland which is held in one of Dundee's many nightclubs - Fat Sam's. With companies from Dundee setting up stalls where you approach them in a less formal arena. Ask questions, let them know your interested, don't be shy.
I had seen plenty of people who'd put in the effort to come but were still too timid to approach a company. No matter whether your an outward going management type or an introvert programmer, you need to be able to talk to others in the industry.

I guess until i have the experience of how I got into the industry (which I hope won't be long) there's not much I can advise you on. Just try and get the jobs you want, don't be put off by experience required or number of projects completed, chances are if your right for the job it won't matter if you can prove you can do it.

I'm sure I'll help some more later on.

A Passion for Games

Without a passion for what your doing it's hard to put in all your effort. Luckily being passionate about games isn't very hard. If you play them and love to play them, then you could easily apply yourself in the games industry.

"Find a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in you life" -

Confucius

Of course there has to be more to it than just wanting to play games all day (which is hard to get away from).
Starting with my passion, I started with a Nintendo when it came out and at first it was just this fun thing my parents got me and my brother for Christmas. Now the idea of Mario brings some tears to the eye to think how far games have progressed but to be honest my passion didn't really start until I played Zelda on the Super Nintendo, it's just became my sort of game. Sadly I can play that game start to finish in about 3 hours and i remember where everything is. If I could apply that kind of memory to anything else then opportunities would be almost endless but I can't, it only works on games.

The Final Fantasy series have become my favourite games, again with VII being my favourite I can remember almost every part of the game, as far as secrets and little extras like buying a useless apartment at the beach resort Costa Del Sol. Yet no matter how many times I play it, it's still exciting, enjoyable and can sometimes make me well up at points *SPOILER* When Aeris has to be killed by Sephiroth, the only saving fact is that Sephiroth is my favourite character. The good old silver haired nemesis of this Final Fantasy.
With such a passion for just playing this one game I have always dreamed of one day working on any type of Final Fantasy game and either get my own input into an idea for a game or even something simple as remaking VII as with a majority vote it is the said to be the best. In my opinion it is the best due to the lovable characters and compelling story but every other Final Fantasy has fantastic characters and story so personal opinion is the only way to determine the best.

To end my love for games, I left the best until last, not necessarily my favourite game but the 4Th installment of this series is the best game I have played, there was nothing I could fault it with except the fact that it had an ending, I wanted it to last forever.
I speak of the monumental workings of Hideo Kojima. METAL GEAR SOLIDThe series of games just draw you into the character Solid Snake who is by far one of the best main characters of any game. Taking inspiration from so many good films like James Bond and Snake Plissken (played by Kurt Russell) the character just screams how 'cool' he is. Working on a game like this would make my career complete as well but to work for a company as huge as Konami would require some serious work but that's the whole point of what I'm doing. I want to work my way up and prove that I'm good enough to work in such a huge company.

My journey is going to start small and I plan to stay in Scotland for the most of it but eventually Japan will be my next and perhaps final stop. The passion I have for games is what is pushing me to move. Learning Japanese is something I've always wanted to do and I have scratched the surface of the basics but if a love of computer games can make me want to learn a language then I'm sure I'm in the right place.

University

Starting a career is a hard choice. What do you want to do? Where do you want to do it? Can you afford to go and make you dream happen?

My journey started at the University of Abertay Dundee. The choices I made before University didn't have much of an effect on what I wanted to do with my life.

An article on Guardian.co.uk clearly shows that Abertay is one of the best places to go if your interest are in games or of course a range of other courses.

"You could never accuse Abertay of being stuck in the past. It offers world-leading courses in computer arts and computer games technology, has some of the best IT facilities in the UK, and an £8m library. Dundee itself is a bustling, hard-working kind of city, the fourth largest in Scotland and also, apparently, the warmest, thanks to its south-facing aspect. In 2005, a new £6m student centre with cinema, coffee shop, nightclub and exhibition space opened. There are good local arts scenes, with a particularly good track record in music. Snow Patrol was formed by Dundee students, if you like that sort of thing." - Education Guardian, Thursday 1 May 2008 14.55 BST

My first experience of university was exciting and the course just seemed to be so ideal for anyone who likes just playing games. We got the chance to write essays on our favourite games, games companies we liked and even be original with sound effects and artistic designs. The other side to the course is filled with Business, Accounting and even Law. Although it all sounds boring, not a single moment seemed pointless, I enjoyed learning about all the areas of this course.

Having originally got into the course to become a Producer, it has opened my eyes to many other aspects of the games industry that are available. Ideally I would become a great Producer and eventually an Executive Producer but the idea of a Publisher isn't bad or even a Designer but if I had to choose another area I would go into Level Designing, I love being in control of what the player will experience.

I'll post more detail on aspects of my university life at a later point, maybe even try to dazzle you with some of my level design ideas.
Leave a comment or send me an email if you'd like to hear anything from me.