So I wrote an article for the IGDA Perspectives Newsletter...
Well I guess I can start by saying
when it comes to walking down a sidewalk with more than one hat on, things can
generally get a little heavy and unsociable. So this doesn’t change when we’re
talking about jobs in the game industry. The world is getting over it, but like
many businesses… we have no idea how much money, work, and talent is needed to
create a project and distribute it to an audience. When you tell your neighbor,
cab driver, or train stranger that you make games, you then have to explain to
them that you didn’t make Halo, or at least not by yourself. Not only are
bigger games a team project but a studio production. We’ve all gotten the “You
should make a game like Call of Duty, but better…”, when you just explained
that you do pixel art. However a lot of how the world sees us is why we’re such
a close family. All we are are a group of out casted nerds that share similar
skills and a want to birth our own creations. The majority of the industry
moved from other fields and shared a talent and a like for games. Today this is
probably more different than similar in video, because of the difference in
industry age. However the same rules can apply because we depend on each other
in the same way. An artist can learn to do illustrations and rendering
techniques specific for games to help a team out. Or your programmer might find
it easier to learn by programming in a game engine instead of coding outside of
one. We all have our reasons to have the
coolest jobs in history, but do we all really really need each other?
When you see Epic is looking for a
Game Programmer, Ubisoft hired 3 new Artists, or Nintendo is changing their
Lead Designer, one can ask what do these titles mean to us. Why do we only judge
them by what they can do under a title, verses who they are and everything they
can bring to a game. The fact is that the more a studio (or its game) becomes
more of a business, the bigger the studio has to get. The bigger a studio gets,
the more hats are required. And the more hats that are required, the lesser one
person actually does for the game. This is one of the causes of the grey line and
back and forth between staying Indie and becoming a AAA studio. Delegating
responsibility, time management, the art pipeline, programming the
engine,
programming the game, marketing and relations of the team, these are all things
that can’t be over looked. Of course a bigger studio still has a building full
of talented people, but this topic is more subjective to indie development
because of its freedom. The idea that “this HAS to be done, so I should learn
how to do it” is applied more. I know what you’re thinking, when dealing with
salaries and human beings, it’s incredibly important for people to establish rules
and lanes that they should stay in… which can’t be overstated. We all know that
working outside of titles can be dangerous to teams, resulting in not making it
passed preproduction. A programmer might decide to do half of the artists’ job
through script, or an artist might redesign the gameplay with just a change in
the level. However when you’re a group of friends with a gaming idea, Unity 3d,
and internet access, you’re focus is making something cool not assigning
titles. When teams are able to communicate, pull their own weight, and keep the
goal in mind, even teams of 4 or less can wear all hats comfortably.
Even in
college, my personal experiences taught me that groups and team projects are
fictional creatures of the populous that can never be tamed and those that
tried… were driven crazy. It’s always been easier for me to work on my own,
mainly because I wasn’t counting on someone that could eventually leave. I’ve
been on a lot of teams that ended up failing because the lack of team work,
schedules conflicting, programmer losing interest, and disagreement about
direction. So once it dawned on me that I was able to program, I decided I
would focus on my own games, unless I was getting paid to work on a project.
Because unless you guys are best friends/family, have no other obligation and
won’t for years, or getting paid, it’s hard for a group of people to devote
their time and skill towards the development process from beginning to end.
That’s just life #TrueStoryBro... It happens and it’s okay, but understanding
this I decided to be by myself until I can afford some help. That’s at least
how most Indies do it. Developers grow once their game can generate some money,
or at least a publisher. The downside is you just run into all the issues of
doing EVERYTHING yourself. The more hats, the heavier the pressure, and the
more reclusive you have to become to achieve the same goal. This is a double
edge sword because you need to talk and market to people to learn what you need
to finish the game and sell it. So I’ve been having my artsy, creative side
struggle with my programming, logistical side. Not everyone can do both, but
finding a balance along the pipeline process is key for those that can. Even
having one partner means my game would have twice the brain power, two times
the amount of ideas and contacts, and twice the amount of work getting done. It
can definitely be overwhelming and sometimes depressing by yourself. Being only
one incredibly attractive yet talented individual, I feel like I can only
either focus on finishing my game, or focus on talking about it. Now that I’m
writing it all down, I’m thinking this really sucks lol… But I wouldn’t change it
for anything.
Part of
the reason why bigger studios give Indies so much respect is because they were
able to overcome all of this and produce something that was exactly what they
envisioned without caring about the return. Also one unlocks the achievement of
being a Badass, assuming the title of Indie Rockstar. If a guy named Notch
could quit his company to work on his own games. Then generate enough money
from a prototype to make his friends quit their jobs and start a studio. Then
become millionaires BEFORE the game’s release. Then anyone can be inspired to
turn an idea into a success. The message wouldn’t be “making a game all by
yourself”. The message would be to work on something personal until it’s
personal for your friends, then until it’s personal for the world. At the same
time however, that “making a game all by yourself” is labeled on the Rockstar or
face of your game, which some will love or grow to hate. Especially if the
publicity is all negative in spite of the truths, it can totally distract from
the game itself. Of course I’m talking about Phil Fish and his game Fez. It’s
his creation, but he wasn’t the only one working on the game. And despite how
awesome of a concept Fez was and is, the face of it was an internet fueled,
raging, opinionated face of Phil. Of course he’s just a guy that made a game,
but the internet has ways of taking things out of control. The very medium of
independent games is the internet because of that very fact. The interconnected
web can turn your at home, unfinished project into an award-winning, ad-whoring,
house hold name. The accessibility of the internet can give a nine year old the
tools to create the next best game. Maybe because he doesn’t even notice the
symbolic hats, he just realized he can do something cool and went for it.
That’s the kind of reality that I envy, the one where we make our own…
physically and virtually.
The topic was "Wear the Hats, All the Hats"... I had a lot of fun with it!
Read the published version here.
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