Awaken Your Fantasies – Create and Develop Your Own Game

Designing your own game is no cakewalk, but if you have an idea that can have you rolling in millions by the end of the year, it would be unwise to not act upon it.

There are various software’s out there to assist in creating the game of your dreams, whether you want to create it for cell-phones, tablets, laptops or gaming systems. However, having taken a Visual Effects Course helps colossally, as it facilitates perspective and advanced illustration techniques that make your work easier and the game more appealing. Visual appeal is an essential requirement to attract gamer. And the best part about these courses is that they aren't heavy on the pocket!

Here’s a Guide to Creating a Video game:

(1)    Decide the Game’s Genre: Ascertain the genre for your game beforehand to make the creation process easier. After deciding the type, you could look at other games in that genre for inspiration and to know what works.

(2)    Choose Software that Suits your Requirements: Choosing the correct platform for the game dictates the games controls and considerably impacts the games development. Some examples include touch and tilt based, keyboard and mouse, console, stick controls, etc. Game Maker Studio is popular for 2D while Unity is recommended for 3D. Many other such engines are available.

(3)    Make an Initial Prototype: List the basic features of the game before investing time and energy in creating the artwork. You need to know whether your vision is actually going to work, therefore, it’s best to start with a simple rough framework and test it while adhering to the games rules. This way, if it doesn't work you can either make appropriate changes or abandon the idea.

(4)    Create Graphics: Once you have succeeded in making the game work, the next step is to create graphics. Write down the littlest details and create them. Now, if you aren't very good at it, you can definitely outsource it for payment or even give credit to the graphic designer. Alternatively, you can also add photographs using Photoshop or like software or create an easy-to-build pixellated screen.

(5)    Add Music and Sound Effects: Today it is relatively easy to create a unique tune for each accomplishment or occurrence during the game. Readily available tunes can also be added to your game.

(6)    Market Research: You will definitely be the first one to play your own game, but it is primate to test the waters by making a few friends play your game before launching. You may be surprised to find that they may play the game in ways that you hadn't envisaged. Bug testing is paramount before unveiling the game and also, the controls need to be refined.

And finally, you can launch your game; however, don’t expect to mint money overnight or you can be thoroughly disappointed.

Is Professional the Way to Go?

The best way to figure if you should enroll in a professional program is to first create games by yourself and see whether you are enjoying it. After launching a few relative successes, you can sign up for top of the range Game Development Education courses that offer promising career opportunities too.

Summary

Follow the above mentioned steps to create a phenomenal game that will take the world by storm. Bring alive your fantasies, because in the virtual world of gaming everything is possible.

Jumpstarting Your Creative Career

Is your creative career in a rut? It might be time to shake things up a bit.

Let’s be honest, taking the path to become a creative can be a road filled with disappointment. Like myself, the majority of the creatives who are just starting out find that the reality of it is not as rosy as one may have pictured. Those who choose the creative path are often lured by the idea of not being deskbound, and are avoiding the humdrum of a 9 to 5 job. Perhaps the idea of chasing after a passion, of doing what they liked for a living also helped to draw them into their field of choice. For those who have already taken the leap, like myself, can tell you that the reality of being a creative is bleak for those who come unprepared.

For starters, the competition out on the freelance market is simply astounding. The market is filled with cutthroats who are willing to cannibalise on their brethren’s work, and undercut prices to the point where it devalues the work of their fellow creatives. For example, a case study recently done on graphic design, took the service portal known as Fiver into question. Fiver is a website where logo designers can promote their services online, for cheap, some promising design services for as low as five dollars. If that did not sound dubious enough, the case study revealed that many of these designers were blatantly stealing or taking designs and altering them slightly from existing logo designs (what creatives refer to as cannibalising). The case study touched on two main topics; how the general public viewed design work to be of little worth, and how websites and some unscrupulous “designers” themselves are compounding the matter by undercutting the market.

Creatives can also tell you that there is little to no freedom as a creative working in a firm. Forget 9 to 5, creatives are often expected to slave away long hours without overtime compensation in most cities, and are grossly underpaid for their time and effort. These creatives, who often have crippling student loan debts to pay off, often lose heart in their first two years within the industry, and often cite feeling undervalued as the reason for leaving and jumping to a different industry. Career progression and job satisfaction is also a large issue; most creatives find that there is no difference between what they do, and the humdrum of a 9 to 5 desk job. Firms often do not take input from the creatives, often directing the project based on their own or client needs. The creative thus finds himself nudged out of the creative process, and leading the life of a disgruntled worker. In fact, designers and artists who work in firms have often described it as working in a “factory line”, where they are just given a task and a deadline to complete it by, with no questions asked. Financially, a job in the creative line is nothing to hoot about either – designers can expect a starting annual salary of as low as 20,000 USD in some developed nations!

With both freelancing, and full-time employment facing such issues, the creative industry is facing an ever shrinking pool of talent – with larger numbers leaving the industry every year. But all hope is not lost yet.

My advice for aspiring creatives, is to start out by working in a firm. This will allow an iron rice bowl for at least a year or so, while easing you into the long hours of being a creative. Don’t get too comfortable though, because the idea is to essentially meet potential future clients during your time there and removing that cap on your earning power.

When you’ve made the leap into being a freelance, remember not to underprice your services! Creatives who are just starting out fear that due to the lack of their experience, clients may not feel justified to shell out a decent sum for their work. However, this is no excuse for offering a measly sum of money in return for your skill and time. You’ve spent years learning your craft, and your work will take time to do, so charge in accordance to the amount of hours you will be spending on your work. Remember, if you charge obscenely low prices for your services, you are not just devaluing yourself, but hurting the image of all creatives in the field.

Lastly, remember that as a designer, learning never stops. The advancement of technology demands that we keep ourselves constantly updated with the digital tools that are out on the market, and picking up a new skill doesn’t hurt your chances of making it in the industry either. For example, considering how most industries are moving away from print media, graphic designers may want to consider looking at motion media courses, in order to be able to integrate their design principles into dynamic media platforms, such as the web, film and television.

Game designers can also take a leaf out of their book. Game development with Unity 3D, the revolutionary engine that takes programming languages out of the equation, allows designers and artists to easily pick up the scripted language in order to effect changes without the help of a programmer – shortening the development pipeline to more than a quarter in the case of most games.

With that, I hope to wish my fellow creatives the best in their future endeavours and to not buckle under the initial harshness. Speaking from experience, with a  little bit of luck, your hard work will pay off, granted you make smart choices along the way. Here’s to a fulfilling career as a creative. Cheers!

Baby Steps: Game Development at its Infancy

Game Development in Asia in Singapore can still be considered to be in its infancy. While it has been around for over a decade, it has come nowhere near to fulfilling the potential that a nation of its stature should be able to. Now, before you start screaming foul play… that was in no way a criticism of the industry here. 

The truth is that Singapore boasts perhaps the best infrastructure countrywide in the world. Political stability, state-of-the-art technology and excellent funding from the government has meant that the stage is set for companies to set up on the island and take the world by storm with its games. In fact, with the tools at their disposal, one would expect them to be rivaling traditional game dev powerhouses such as the United States.  So, why aren't they? 

Most people who are not from the industry tend to point fingers at the lack of creative talent in Singapore, and to be honest, they could not be more wrong. In truth, Singapore’s creative education sector have in the past 10 years, unearthed some diamonds in the rough. Heard of Portal? Yes, that very same game from Valve which took the world by storm was made in Singapore – and by students no less! The game featured revolutionary game play and mechanics for a first person shooter, and the founder of Valve was so impressed with their initial build that he hired the entire student team that built the game. The game’s quality and planning was living proof that the standard of game level design courses and that other technical aspects of its education was up to scratch with the very best. The fact that it featured ground-breaking game play mechanics also meant that the creativity of the local developers were nothing to sniff at. So why then? 

The truth is that the larger household studios who come here don’t give enough opportunities for the local creative talent to flourish. The common complaint for local game developers working in large local firms is that they have no creative input into the games that are being made. Take for example, Ubisoft and EA, both of whom have made Singapore their Asian hub. It’s been several years since the two giants have settled here, but there has been no noteworthy titles coming out of their Singapore headquarters. Those employed in this part of the world, are given bit part support roles to their American and European counterparts. How then can the country’s talent be expected to flourish? 

The solution is simple, and it is something that the nation has started to see. For one, it is no secret that the country is stepping up efforts to support local development studios, with only Gung Ho Entertainment the recent addition to multinational companies added to the list of game developers in recent years. Educational institutions are also doing their part, ensuring that students are up to date with the latest development tools. 2013 saw a large spike in the number of schools that started integrating 3D game development with Unity 3D. Even the media is doing its part, with the Straits Times creating a new category for local games in its yearly awards – “Best Made in Singapore Game” in 2014. 

 Whatever the case may be, the future looks set to grow brighter for local game developers in Singapore, and this reporter for one, cannot wait to see what the little island of innovation will come up with next.