I would like to tell you a tale. It's of my experiences over the last few months and my efforts to achieve my goal. It begins back in February this year and it starts with a confession that's not easy to admit to. It's in relation to my previous job I was positioned at in a professional development studio. I was a mid-level game designer. I wasn't doing my job good enough. There are reasons and excuses as to why I wasn't producing the 110% of effort that this and mostly all studios ask of their employees. But these are of a personal nature. And upon reflection while some problems was unfortunately out of my control there was much that I could of done to gain back my position as a mid level designer. But I came to a conclusion on the day I was given that 1-month notice to pick-up my game. It wasn't that I wasn't capable of improving to their required level of productivity and everyday excellence. It was that my mind and my heart wasn't in what I was doing and it hadn't been for months. And after over 2 years of working on 3D platformers, of designing and constructing levels. I decided it was best for me to move on from this studio and seek out the title and position I had studied and worked so hard towards in the first place straight after I finished school. Game Design. But how would I reach this title? The requirements of entry for your modern day designer are exceptionally high and while I had the benefit of professional experience to guide me that alone would not get me the position. The state and indeed the country I lived in have plenty of designers. As to quote one of the game designers I often talk to in Melbourne; the city I live in needs no new game design blood in the professional studios. I asked the studio HR and even some CEOs. An unproven designer can cost a studio thousands if it all goes wrong. So an unproven designer is a risk they will not take. And most importantly of all there was no tangibility to my claim that I was a game designer. I had not designed and executed a game of my own. I had only designed and constructed levels that which was given to me in briefs and outlines. I could call myself a game designer. But I would have no tangible evidence to prove this claim correct. I needed to prove to others and to myself that I was indeed the game designer I thought I was. I went for the mindset that If you wanted to be a game designer. Then you need to design, create and release games. An intimidating prospect. So in February I started my own project. I called it Tower City. A freeware project with intentions of skill development for all involved. Initially what I thought to be small in scope and design. I designed and wrote out many wiki pages on the subjects of player control, camera design, level design, weapons, monsters, inventory systems and much more. With this all in hand how hard could it be to make just one level of a PC-based dungeon crawler? As it turned out, very hard. Why would this project be so difficult? Why has tower city become only a fraction of the completeness that I had planned? It came down to one simple factor that is seemingly obvious yet so many of us make. Freeware projects don't aim to make money. Freeware projects are asking for volunteers to work for free and so the rewards for volunteers are intangible. People disappeared from the project. Without reason and without a trace. Every time this happened the optimistic production plan took a blow until it was in tatters. The project is still running and aiming to be completed in November. There are 7 volunteers, not including myself who have strived to consistently deliver over a number of months. So that's nothing to complain about. And I'm truly proud of the teamwork and achievement of getting this project as far as it's gone to now. But at the end of the day I sorely underestimated the nature and dynamics of freeware development. So while Tower City will be 'completed' in a few months time. I don't think the finished product will be enough to convince others that I'm indeed the game designer they want to bet their payroll on.
I'm very proud of all the hard work that's gone into Tower City from all its dedicated volunteers. But I don't think any studio will hire me over it. The lesson learned was that the scope of this project was just to large. And the prospect of no profits turns off most volunteers. I came to the conclusion that I would need to create a smaller project with the intention of releasing it onto a market. Jump to early September. I had just attended a number of independent game events in Melbourne. Over here iPhone development is the buzzword for independent developers due to its comparatively cheap start up costs. Of course with thousands upon thousands of games in the app store and dozens being added every day the prospect of getting rich or even breaking even with an iPhone game looks grim. So jump to this moment in time. 8 months after I started my journey am I a true game designer? No. I've learned many lessons. Came to many realisations and have certainly gotten closer to that goal. I feel much more confident with my writing and documentation and a grasp of how to communicate game ideas to other team members. But the goal is still not obtained. I've gotten into contact with an experienced programmer. He's impressed by my design and production work on tower city. And from that we are now jumping into a small-scale iPhone project named Mole. The initial and detailed design documentation has been fully written out along with a full asset list and production plan.
An art mock-up for the currently in development iPhone game - Mole. We are kicking into the prototype phase within the next few days. We'll be looking into a government digital distribution grant to help funding of the project [We can make the game without it. But a grant would surely help.] and exploring the opportunities to show Mole at upcoming independent game expos in Melbourne. With this small 2 man team and a clear and concise vision of what this game is and how it's to be made. I feel confident that perhaps when it's released in the App store a few months from now that I can finally call myself a game designer with some tangible validation. My journey has been long. It's been hard. And it's far from over. I'm not a game designer yet. Thanks for reading.
