General Game Development – Page 31

Use what you have

I’ve added two pages on the right, Video Game Articles and Video Game Reviews. At first glance one may think that the content on these pages is new but in fact it isn’t.

I questioned whether or not people who visit my blog go to the parent site www.stuffwelike.com. So at first I thought why not bring over all the game reviews onto the blog. Well that would have taken me weeks. I decided to dedicate two pages with links to each individual review/article.

The great thing about this is that it adds a ton of content to this blog with minimal amount of time investment.

Now because this blog is about game development and not my site – how about you tell me how this method could be used in game dev?

Write code that can be reused in future titles, create art that can be reused, figure out if things are being effective (demos, websites, etc) and doing what they were originally intended to do, etc. Always adapt to a changing environment. I had no idea that I would start a game blog months ago but now that this is a popular blog, why not use that to my advantage? Figure out ways that you can do the same.

Advertising is useless unless…

You have a great game. Great games do not sell themselves but they do give a reason for the player to buy them. Lowzy games with good advertising will sell well but not to their maximum capacity.

So unless you have a million dollars to spend in marketing, delay the release of your game to fix it and make it shine.

Want to join the game industry? Get an internship.

‘Nough said.

Don’t bother trying to get a programmer, producer, or even a Q/A job when you have nothing industry related on your resume. Go out and apply for any internship positions at local video game developers. They’re constantly looking for additional help, especially when it’s cheap. Ideally aim for a company that has over 100 employees, at least when they’re located in California, because it is a law that they must pay anyone who works for the company – including interns!

Internships are also a great way to realize what real job you want in the company/industry. If you play yourÂ cards rightÂ you could end up with a jobÂ at the company that you interned at in only a few months. It’s the easiest way to break into the industry because you are not required to really have skills in anything. That’s the point of an internship it’s for youÂ to learn and gain experience. Never ask about salary unless it is brought up duringÂ the interview orÂ on the first day of work.

You are worthless to this company until you show them youÂ can actually do work at a fast pace. Even if you don’t want to work onÂ developing games directly there are plenty of other jobs that a game developer needs – HR, financing, IT, etc.Â At many studiosÂ you will be working with some of the brightest minds in any industry. Come to your job with an open mind andÂ a ready to learn attitude and you’ll do great!Â

Businesses that aren’t looking to the future

Netflix andÂ Gamefly

Both are good companies. Both are worthless companies.

In the near future you will not have to rent movies or games on disks, so what will these two companies do? Offer downloadable titles? But how will they compete amongst the giants who will offer similar services? Amazon, Apple, Sony, etc.

Both Netflix and Gamefly will become worthless but nostalgic nonetheless. This is the company model that you want to avoid. Why would you ever think about short-term!?

Would we have Amazon, XM Radio, Microsoft, etc if they all thought about the short-term? No, I don’t think so…

Sound and Music

They are the most emersive elements in the game. That is why they are so important. Sound effects and music are able to bring a player into your world and make them stay.Â

Also music is one of the best ways to advertise! If you have a great tune people will get it stuck in their heads and think about it whether that be humming or whistling. Eventually someone will ask them what tune that is. Just look at the Mario theme, if you start to whistle itÂ around your friends they’ll start to join in.Â

Instant Gratification

Truly the only job in this industry where you receive instant gratification is Public Relations/Marketing. You get to setup the parties, spread word of mouth, deal with the sales of your game, etc.Â In comparison to the other jobs this one is much more fast paced. The only problem is that once the game has been released, after a while you’re not needed anymore unless there’s a newÂ project being released soon. So job stability is definitely that that high. Your in the department that the company cuts from first.Â :(Â