The Power of Planning (for me)

I had an interesting convo with Marc (the other GD23 class rep) last night while we were on a break during Level Design Theory.

We were discussing our deathmatch levels—just a few minutes shy from submission—and he made the comment that he *never* creates a theme before starting to work. He prefers to just dive in. No story. No characters. No setting for the events to take place. No real events, even. He just starts working. And apparently, it's working for him. His map was clean and functional and he'll probably get a good grade.

I'm the opposite. Everything starts with a plan; a group orientation meeting; an impromptu design doc. I answer every question I can before ever start the work itself, and this allows me (and other stakeholders) to focus on that vision. I also spend way more time than I would bet every other student in class on any given assignment. I also iterate and detail throughout. My map (I'll post it below) is detailed, functional, and I will also probably get a good grade.

The difference? I'm betting I spent almost twice as long on my map. There's another time management lesson here—it's the same as the last few—and one of these days I'm not only going to learn it, but actually act on that 80/20 rule I keep talking about. ;) I'm sure my planning will be very helpful in my chosen career path, but for now I have to be careful that it doesn't burn me right out.

Anyway, I *did* manage to keep my scope down this time around—it's a four-person map, and it is straight-forward in its design. I wanted something that would be fast-paced and accessible to multiple play styles. And, of course, I wanted the players to feel like they were in a set of crumbling jungle ruins.

The Role of Producers

This topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

Some of you know that my long-term goal in the videogame industry is to run my own development studio—I really crave that creative control and I can't exaggerate how satisfying it is for me to see talented people working towards the same goal (especially talents I don't really share, like real artistry). I want to influence the industry, reach out to new markets, and tell amazing interactive stories.

I've had this vague daydream these past few weeks of me running from team to team throughout the day and pitching in, solving problems, discussing others, escalating when necessary, and generally just being a go-to person when you want things done. It may not be entirely accurate to the industry, but it's very satisfying, and it all fits in with my goals.

Getting there won't be easy, of course. I need to fully understand every job in the studio, even if I'm only a novice in some of them. I need strong project management skills and an unfailing vision throughout the course of a project. Harder still, I need to communicate that vision to everyone else I want to work with—they need to love the idea almost as much as I do for it to succeed.

So, with these goals in mind, I think my best bet is to focus on becoming a Producer when I graduate. Producer roles vary from company to company, but I can expect to have some creative input, lots of control over projects without being the final say on any one thing (the leads on the core team will make those calls), and a broad understanding of the project as a whole. I love making plans and solving problems, and I'm results-focused without (usually) being too hard on people. Again, I think it fits.

What this means as I move through this year is that I need to focus on taking that role—it won't come to me. Our specialization streams are Art, Level Design, Coding, and Story (I'll probably be taking Design and Story to play to my strengths). Clearly, this lacks a dedicated project management/producer stream, so I will have to create those opportunities for myself if I want to practise those skills. Taking the lead on projects, (hopefully without squahing anyone else's ambition or ideas), being a class rep, and even putting on the Street Fighter Tournament (and hopefully other events) will help me practise these skills and teach me what I don't know.

Ideally, I would find a large studio where I could act as a producer on the story or level design side of things, marrying my "old" strengths with the "new" and pursuing my focus to its fullest.

Also? Leelee Scaldaferri (an artist who is also in the GD program a term ahead of me) just acted as the guest artist for one of my favourite things on the internet, Extra Credits (she also draws the Name Game webcomic for The Escapist). Her episode is about (surprise) the role of Producers in the industry.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the challenges. Class time.

Super Street Fighter 4 AE Tourney

Just wanted to share this. I (with help from fellow GD23 classmates) will be hosting a 32-competitor Super Street Fighter 4 AE Tourney on October 18 in the Game Design TV studio. It's going to be "off the hooks," as the kids say. ;)

That'll be my second-last day of classes for Term 1, and while I'm sure I will be busy, I really wanted to challenge myself to run this thing, have some fun, and give out some cool, game-related, hand-made prizes (plush slimes and Metroid toques). I'm also going to be donating my Sega Dreamcast and a handful of games to our library here at the school in the name of the winner.

We'll record some of the final matches, and I'll be sure to post them on here and on Facebook.

Thanks for stopping by.

Burning Out in Early October

About to enter week six of my studies. This past week (and this weekend) was a tough one.

Since classes started I've worked very hard to do more than what I was being asked for—it's a good habit to be in when you're out in the real world, and I want to make a good impression on my instructors. My projects have been detailed and I've been getting good grades, and I don't want to be known as the guy who does the bare minimum.

Unfortunately for me, several unpleasant realities collided all at once this week.

First, I can't code for shit. I don't want to be crude—in fact, I want to convince my classmates to sound less like crab fisherman and more like young professionals, at least while we're in class—but it isn't an exaggeration to say that our programming class is making me feel like goddamned Gir from Invader Zim.

On the bright side, I am a little artistic and fairly creative, and I can draw passably well. These are handy qualities to have, but (as I mentioned previously) I'm a beginner with photoshop. Our "art" class (Visual Design Principles) has been pretty interesting but easily the most frustrating class for me because I am perpetually running into brick walls because I don't know the software, and there's very little time to learn it.

Naturally, week five was the intersection of a major, challenging assignment in each of these, my weakest classes. Plus a final presentation for Storytelling (a strength of mine, but the assignment was very time-consuming), and my final project in Storyboarding/Cinematics (another time-gobbler) is due next class. Layer on a few other, lesser assignments that require time and attention and the ever-present board game assignment (I have much tweaking and polishing to do) and you have a very full schedule.

There is no room in this schedule to do extra work on these assignments, so while it's painful and frustrating to do so, I'm going to be handing in assignments that follow the instructions, and nothing more. I need to stamp it all out, ignore my pride, get back on schedule (sleeping, eating, school, and play), and focus on my strengths and being a good class rep.

The alternative is burnout and a bad attitude, which has been creeping in steadily these past two weeks. It ends today. Right after I run through that powerpoint presentation another couple of times...