Tag: Presentations

Sweet Validation (And I Don’t Mean Parking)

by Chris Tihor, posted in blah blah blah

I was reading over an excellent interview on Gamasutra with game designer Chris Avellone (he of Fallout 2, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment fame), when one particular question caught my eye:

“What about in terms of the differences between narrative in film or books, versus narrative in games? It seems like there’s some key differences that a lot of games don’t really seem to pick up on.

CA: I think that people [in the industry] are appreciating scriptwriting talents more, especially as games become more voice-acted and cinematic. I [think that for] anyone pursuing narrative design, scriptwriting is the best way to hone your craft, because it’s a lot of what you’re going to be doing. It teaches you all the brevity; using the environment to communicate a situation, as opposed to just the flat-line vomit of text, like Torment had. Which we had to do at the time, but that’s more of a novelistic approach to writing, which isn’t necessarily the best fit for games.

Also I think comic book writing lends itself to training you to write dialogue for games, just because you have to think so visually about what’s happening in the environment. I really enjoy writing comics. For Star Wars [Knights of the Old Republic II], for example, I found myself thinking about the process a lot differently. About how the shot was framed, what was being shown, and how that reinforced what the characters were saying and [their interactions].”

Those of you who have seen my talk, Rummaging in the Geek Culture Toolbox, may have noticed that I made some of the same points in that presentation, particularly in the section on writing for comic books. I’d like to take this opportunity to say: it’s a pretty great feeling to see your theories confirmed by an industry professional whose work you respect and admire.

Walking on clouds will now commence for the foreseeable future.

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Why We Never Really Leave School

by Chris Tihor, posted in blah blah blah, Presentations

Last Friday, I headed out to my old school, Camosun College, to give a talk to the Computer Systems Technology students. The talk (which I gave with Mel Reams, another Camosun graduate) was all about starting a career in video game development. As I stood in front of the students, consulting my notes and trying to communicate what I thought would be the most valuable nuggets of advice to help them pursue that game career, I actually felt a bit envious of them.

I could remember my own college years and my burning desire to work in games: it was what drew me into computer programming in the first place. I could also remember Victoria being sadly lacking in game companies. Oh sure, Disney Interactive were here at the time. But they operated in such a secretive fashion that they were practically a secret society. And, never knowing the secret handshake, I never made it into their hallowed halls. In addition, there was no one around to tell aspiring game developers the way to get into the industry. It was a mystery that I had to solve on my own.

These days, there are numerous game companies operating in Victoria and more opening all the time. And as for someone to pierce the mystery of gaining employment in the industry, they now have folks like Mel and myself to give them a hand. Getting a game job is easier than ever, but as we mentioned in our talk, it still requires a bit of work. The most important points I’ve summarized here below:

Finish school

The game industry is still a highly competitive one, so you need to use every advantage that you can to make sure that your resume goes in the interview pile. A diploma or degree will give you a leg up over those with equivalent qualifications but no piece of paper. A diploma also shows that: a.) you know how to code and b.) you can finish what you start – both valuable traits to have. Also, if it turns out that the game industry isn’t your cup of tea, you can still get a decent job in software development.

Do your research

Find out which languages and technologies are being used in the industry and learn them. Research the companies that you want to apply to. Determine everything you can about them: how long they’ve been around, what games they’ve made, what games they’re making, who works in key positions, etc. And play their games! Also figure out what a good salary is for where the company is located. You can find out most of this stuff online.

Network

Get out and meet the people who are working in the industry. Find out if there are any local game developer groups and join them. Victoria has the LevelUp group which is also a chapter of the International Game Developers Association or IGDA (A professional organization that you should definitely look into). Go to game conferences if you can afford to. GDC in San Francisco is the big one, but it can be expensive. Look for other ones closer to home like the Penny Arcade Expo and the IGDA Summit both in Seattle. A pass to either is way more affordable and Seattle is a 2.5 hour ferry trip away.

Make games

With all of the inexpensive and free tools available, it’s super easy to make your own games these days. Start small with small projects that are simple. Learn by doing. The goal is to finish something. It’s harder than it sounds, but do it. Even if it’s a crappy little project, you’ll feel great. Clone an existing game as an exercise. Create a mod of an existing game. Sign up for game jams. Join up with other game developers in small project groups. Just make games.
Keep learning

The game industry is a young one and as such is always growing and changing. You need to grow and change with it to stay on top of it. Develop a habit of continuous learning. If you’re coming from school you’re already on the learning train, keep on riding it.

Video or it never happened

by Chris Tihor, posted in Presentations

I discovered today that Casual Connect Seattle have now posted the video recording of my talk for the 2012 IGDA Summit along with a whole bunch of other talks from that same conference. The fact that I mention this means that I have watched the video and wasn’t horribly embarrassed by seeing myself in it. In fact, I enjoyed it enough to want to share it with you. You can find it here.

Besides watching the talk and the excellent discussion afterwards with Wendy Despain and Richard Dansky, I spent a good deal of time watching other presentations that I had attended and also ones that I had missed for one reason or another during the conference.  I particularly enjoyed watching Luke Dicken’s Skynet and You: Game AI for the Uninitiated and Brandii Grace’s Design Secrets Revealed! How to Attract a Wider Female Audience. You can find the complete list of videos here on Casual Connect’s Youtube IGDA Summit List. Check it out and let me know which are your favourite talks.

A Skedaddle to Seattle

by Chris Tihor, posted in blah blah blah, Presentations

Last week, I participated in the second annual IGDA Summit in Seattle, Washington hosted by the International Game Developers Association. I’d made it out to the inaugural Summit last year, but this year was my first as a speaker. My talk, “Rummaging in the Geek Culture Toolbox“, was a look at all of the great things that came out of  the workshop with the same title that I ran during the International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (ICIDS) last November in Vancouver, BC. The main goal of both was to explore the potential of using different forms of geek culture (in this case Role-Playing Games and Comics) to help in creating games, with a focus on writing and narrative design.

The talk went really well, I thought. Following the talk was a really interesting panel discussion of the subject with Wendy Despain, Richard Dansky, and myself. It was great to get the perspective of game writing veterans, and it gave me a few new ideas to pursue. The questions from the audience were also thought-provoking. Overall, very inspiring for me and hopefully entertaining and useful for the audience. I’m already considering doing another talk/workshop that would expand on the themes from the last one, maybe even looking at a couple new forms of geek culture to explore.

If you missed the talk, it was recorded and will be posted on to YouTube in the near future by Casual Connect. I’ll pop a link up here when that happens, unless I watch it first and find it too embarrassing. In that case, I may never mention it again. 😉

The rest of the Summit was terrific. I got to meet up with a ton of other game creators, old friends and new, exchange ideas and stories, and generally have a great time. I’ll be giving a brief talk summarizing my Summit experience and giving reasons why you should come out to Seattle for the next one. It’ll be happening during the August Level Up/IGDA Victoria monthly meeting next Monday evening. So if you have any questions come by and ask away.