Good Morning everyone! I'm relatively new to the game industry.  Games have always been a huge part of my life and who I am as a person, it wasn't until the last year or so that I strongly considered learning how to create them. I've been taking online classes in game design and have just now started to dabble in learning how to use various programs such as Maya, Unity etc. As an online student I feel rather isolated. I am trying to figure out how to get more involved in the community (hence the reason I made this account). What are some ways you guys recommend that I as an online student network and meet others? Also, on top of what I am learning what  "extra learning" would you all recommend to a student who has little to no prior experience? 

Thank You! 

Game jams - either in person, or online - can be a fantastic way to meet others as well as getting some practical experience. 

They normally have a fairly short timeframe ranging from just a day or two to a couple of weeks, and people are often encouraged to team up with strangers and to socialise with other jammers.  Because of the short timeframe people make small, achievable projects, and expectations are fairly low, and they're an excellent way to practice your creativity and try out different ideas.

Check out this calendar if that sounds interesting.

15 minutes ago, jbadams said:

Game jams - either in person, or online - can be a fantastic way to meet others as well as getting some practical experience. 

Nice tip! i didn't knew about those ;-)

And welcome LaurenDenise!

31 minutes ago, jbadams said:

Game jams - either in person, or online - can be a fantastic way to meet others as well as getting some practical experience. 

 

They normally have a fairly short timeframe ranging from just a day or two to a couple of weeks, and people are often encouraged to team up with strangers and to socialise with other jammers.  Because of the short timeframe people make small, achievable projects, and expectations are fairly low, and they're an excellent way to practice your creativity and try out different ideas.

Check out this calendar if that sounds interesting.

Nice! I've never heard of that! I'll have to check it out asap. Thank you

17 minutes ago, Tanzan said:

Nice tip! i didn't knew about those ;-)

And welcome LaurenDenise!

Thanks

8 hours ago, LaurenDenise said:

What are some ways you guys recommend that I as an online student network and meet others?

In addition to game jams, just get out there and meet people from the industry. Opportunities for that vary, depending on your locale. Maybe there's an active IGDA or WIGI group in your area, for instance.

4 hours ago, Tom Sloper said:

In addition to game jams, just get out there and meet people from the industry. Opportunities for that vary, depending on your locale. Maybe there's an active IGDA or WIGI group in your area, for instance.

I'm about 2 hours away from Chicago where there is an IGDA chapter I was wanting to join. As for the WIGI group I'll have to look into that! I haven't heard of it before. Thank you!

Do you have Twitter?

You can also follow game developers and engage with them if you see a conversation that interests you, or even reach out politely for some advice - a lot of people in the industry are surprisingly approachable, and you have nothing to lose if they don't want to help.

And of course this community here!  Blog, get involved in the forums, maybe join the Discord chat if that interests you.

10 minutes ago, jbadams said:

Do you have Twitter?

You can also follow game developers and engage with them if you see a conversation that interests you, or even reach out politely for some advice - a lot of people in the industry are surprisingly approachable, and you have nothing to lose if they don't want to help.

 

And of course this community here!  Blog, get involved in the forums, maybe join the Discord chat if that interests you.

Yeah, I actually started using Twitter again the other day (not familiar with it yet) and joined the discord this morning (I'm Lorly2 on discord btw). I'll have to go through and see who to follow I already started following a good number of people

If you want to be a 3D artist, cant stress enough to start drawing from Life, and picking up some books about Anatomy. You don't have to learn the names of all the muscles but you should know which ones will stand out if flexed, and where they all are, as well as understanding how they move the human form. When i started Game Design school they made me take a 2D Art and Animation course before i could go into Game Design, and i never picked up a pencil in my life before hand..... I was just like you and knew that games were a huge part of my life and that I wanted to try and give back to it some how. I hated 2D back when i was starting, and when i Graduated I knew i wasn't good enough to attempt to get a job in the industry so i buckled down and i Focused on my 2D skills. It was a long road, and still is but looking back I absolutely agree 2D is an important part of becoming any type of artist. That being said I also know people who are very good at 3D without being able to draw a stick man, so take it as you will, I just believe 2D art, or at the very least an understanding of the principals can never hurt when pushing towards a 3D artist. 

As well as which software to learn, because I myself looked at a lot of them, and I would always google to see which ones people thought were the best for 3D. You definitely need Photoshop, that's a given, but as for Maya, 3D Studio Max, Blender. It's all very much personal Preference. I have spent a lot of time in Maya and 3D Studio Max, and i'm currently learning Blender as I can't afford to pay for a license for the first two, but I personally love 3D Studio Max. I know a lot of people hate the interface for that program, but i find it better than the others, as well as the modelling tools are so intuitive, I feel like they almost thought of everything to make modelling easier with that program. For animation most people will pick Maya, and while this may be true, I really love the use of a Biped in 3DS Max which is essentially a one click shop to get an entire human skeleton made so you can start Rigging your characters. It's just funny when i was doing Game Design back in 2004, the big 3D program for games was 3D Studio Max, and as the years go by i'm seeing a ton of game designers moving towards Maya. Long story short pick one, and if you like the way it feels stick with it, if you don't try another.. You can attain the same end result with all the programs, it just comes down to skill. But i will say this if you don't have a license for Maya or 3D Studio Max, you can use them for learning, but be aware that you can't use anything you make in the Educational version of those programs in your game. This is why i'm learning Blender. Also if you are looking to work for a AAA Studio the industry standard is for 3D Software is Maya or 3D Studio Max, so this may help when deciding which one to learn.

Kind of a long post, but I hope this helped some.   

17 hours ago, Uncharted_Artist said:

If you want to be a 3D artist, cant stress enough to start drawing from Life, and picking up some books about Anatomy. You don't have to learn the names of all the muscles but you should know which ones will stand out if flexed, and where they all are, as well as understanding how they move the human form. When i started Game Design school they made me take a 2D Art and Animation course before i could go into Game Design, and i never picked up a pencil in my life before hand..... I was just like you and knew that games were a huge part of my life and that I wanted to try and give back to it some how. I hated 2D back when i was starting, and when i Graduated I knew i wasn't good enough to attempt to get a job in the industry so i buckled down and i Focused on my 2D skills. It was a long road, and still is but looking back I absolutely agree 2D is an important part of becoming any type of artist. That being said I also know people who are very good at 3D without being able to draw a stick man, so take it as you will, I just believe 2D art, or at the very least an understanding of the principals can never hurt when pushing towards a 3D artist. 

 

As well as which software to learn, because I myself looked at a lot of them, and I would always google to see which ones people thought were the best for 3D. You definitely need Photoshop, that's a given, but as for Maya, 3D Studio Max, Blender. It's all very much personal Preference. I have spent a lot of time in Maya and 3D Studio Max, and i'm currently learning Blender as I can't afford to pay for a license for the first two, but I personally love 3D Studio Max. I know a lot of people hate the interface for that program, but i find it better than the others, as well as the modelling tools are so intuitive, I feel like they almost thought of everything to make modelling easier with that program. For animation most people will pick Maya, and while this may be true, I really love the use of a Biped in 3DS Max which is essentially a one click shop to get an entire human skeleton made so you can start Rigging your characters. It's just funny when i was doing Game Design back in 2004, the big 3D program for games was 3D Studio Max, and as the years go by i'm seeing a ton of game designers moving towards Maya. Long story short pick one, and if you like the way it feels stick with it, if you don't try another.. You can attain the same end result with all the programs, it just comes down to skill. But i will say this if you don't have a license for Maya or 3D Studio Max, you can use them for learning, but be aware that you can't use anything you make in the Educational version of those programs in your game. This is why i'm learning Blender. Also if you are looking to work for a AAA Studio the industry standard is for 3D Software is Maya or 3D Studio Max, so this may help when deciding which one to learn.

Kind of a long post, but I hope this helped some.   

This definitely helped! I appreciate it! I'm the same as you were! I rarely spend time drawing (which lucky is something I can do!). I have already started to dabble in Maya because it is the program the school has us learning on and I find it to be quite interesting and fun. I've never used 3D studio max but that may be something I look into! I was pretty bummed out to find that I can't use anything from Maya because I am using the student version...As of right now I'm leaning more towards wanting to start off small and work my way up. Who know's I may never end up wanting to work for a AAA studio but I can agree it does help to be versed in a few programs and they really do/will help me decided where to go from there.