Eric Spoerner & I recently submitted our game, Sonar, to the Indie Game Challenge. Sonar is about the visualization of sound to create a unique and engaging experience. We made Sonar in 2006 as a student project in CTIN 489 Intermediate Game Design Workshop. Grand prize is $100K and the 6 finalists in our category (Non-Professional) get to pitch their game to a publisher. Wish us luck!
-Waylon Fong
Losing my job at THQ was a devastating experience for me. After interning there for a year on UFC 2009 Undisputed, I failed to secure a then-available game design position which I wanted more than anything. I felt as if they told me that I didn't have what it took to be a professional game designer. While applying for jobs over the course of the next few months, it didn't help that I was either ignored or rejected by more companies than I can remember. I lost confidence in myself and I began to question whether or not I should still pursue my dream of making games for a living.
Then, I was reminded of why I chose this path in the first place; because I refuse to settle for a career that I'm not passionate about. Remembering this, I decided that I could not let myself give up so easily. There will always be people around you that will doubt you, but you should never be the one to sell yourself short. First and foremost, you must be completely honest with yourself. If you can do that and still believe in yourself, then don't let anything stand in your way.
Tomorrow is my first day of classes at SMU Guildhall for what I hope will lead to a masters degree in Digital Game Development and a new job. I hear it's an intense curriculum, but as always I will do my best. Just coming to The Guildhall was a huge step for me in the right direction. I'll leave you with a quote that I try to live by:
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." -Calvin Coolidge
It's been a while since I've last posted and a lot has happened in the meantime. I sought out Electronic Arts Tiburon in hopes of jumping in on EA Sports MMA, the competition of the previous game I worked on (UFC 2009 Undisputed). I got as far as a phone interview with the producer and designer. Unfortunately, I didn't get offered a job. I'm told they already have someone with a similar skillset. Needless to say, the last couple months have been very humbling for me. I've failed to secure a job as a designer on the 2 games I'm most qualified for, given my knowledge of mixed martial arts and fighting games. But there is hope for me.
I got accepted to The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University for a masters program that specializes in level design. I've always considered my strengths to be in system or technical design, but I will now attempt to reinvent myself as a level designer. I believe The Guildhall will be a good complement to the education I received at USC Interactive Media Division; whereas IMD has a progressive philosophy that focuses on innovation and expression, The Guildhall has a practical philosophy that focuses on relevant skills and teamwork. I'm hoping the combination of the two will allow me to finally break into the game industry.
I read something the other day that I wanted to share. Since I lost my job, it feels as if my dream of becoming a game designer has been derailed despite my best efforts. I try not to give in to negative thoughts, but sometimes I can't help the bitterness and self-pity that creep into my psyche. I was feeling sorry for myself when I happened to come across an article about Liu Yan which really put things into perspective. As the best classical dancer in China, Liu Yan was supposed to be featured in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. That never happened. While rehearsing her routine, she suffered a tragic accident and is now paralyzed below the waist. Liu Yan danced so beautifully, for her passion to be suddenly taken from her is more devastating than I can imagine. Yet she endures, still believing that she will someday walk and even dance again. I can not feel sorry for myself after hearing Liu Yan's story. While I may not have an ounce of the talent that she once possessed, I am still capable of following my dream. I will not let that go to waste.
Liu Yan outside the Olympic stadium before the accident
Today is a bittersweet day for me. Not only is it the official release date for UFC 2009 Undisputed, but coincidentally it's also the 1 year anniversary of when I started working at THQ as an intern on said game (I was let go 2 weeks ago). On one hand, despite all the things I would've liked to improve, UFC 2009 is a game that I've been eagerly anticipating for a long time as a UFC fan and I'm proud to say that I was a part of it. On the other hand, I really expected to be celebrating this day among the former co-workers with whom I spent the better part of a year pouring blood, sweat, and tears into the game. I think I'll celebrate/cope by firing up my copy of UFC 2009 and beating up some noobs on XBox Live...
With the economy being the way it is, I've come to realize that going back to school may be my best option right now. I've been strongly considering the possibility of pursuing a Master's degree in some form of game design. There aren't many accredited universities that offer such a degree, the ones I know of are the Interactive Media Division at USC (where I got my Bachelor's degree), the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon, the Digital Media program at Georgia Tech, and the Guildhall at Southern Methodist University (if I missed any, please let me know). I also considered pursuing a second Bachelor's degree in psychology at USC, which apparently will only take me 2 semesters to complete. Unfortunately, I've already missed the deadline to apply for the Fall 2009 term of most of the previously mentioned academic programs. However, SMU is still accepting applications for the next couple of weeks. Could I be spending the next 2 years at SMU starting in August? Stay tuned...
Today was the last day of my internship at THQ. For nearly a year, I worked very hard on a game that I was really passionate about (UFC 2009 Undisputed), but I never truly found my place there. It couldn't have been more difficult for me to leave though, as I was prepared to make a career out of that franchise. But after much reflection, I believe this may be the catalyst that I needed to break out of the routine and better myself as a game designer. Now it's time for me to move on and take the next step.
I've narrowed down a list of game franchises I'd be interested to work on that I think I could be a good fit for. While I'm sending out applications or waiting for openings, I'll bide my time by researching games that I should be familiar with, reading books to improve my game design, and working on indie game projects that have been on the back burner. If worst comes to worst and I can't find a job within a year, I'll go back to school I'll go back to school for a Master’s degree or a second Bachelor’s degree in something that interests me as a game designer. However long it takes, I will get my career back on track. Wish me luck...
So I just found out today that my internship at THQ is coming to an end in 2 weeks and the company will not be hiring me. Needless to say, I am really disappointed. I regret that I wasn't given many opportunities to work on game design, having spent most of my time on the mountain of production tasks that needed to be done. But I really have no one to blame except myself. I believe I did not live up to my potential as a game designer for the UFC franchise. Looking back, I should've tried harder to create opportunities for myself and show my superiors what I'm capable of. Being a mixed martial arts fan, I thought that if there was one game I'd be a good fit for, it was UFC. C'est la vie. Let that be a lesson to you: if you're not given opportunities to excel, create your own opportunities. As for me, I will need to reevaluate my future in this industry and figure out what my next step will be.
Sorry... it’s been a while, hasn't it? We just got over the final crunch to wrap up UFC 2009 Undisputed (which I'm an intern on). I’ve been consistently working up to 60 hours a week for the last month. Considering how bad many developers in the game industry get it during crunches (80+ hours a week, from what I hear), I shouldn’t even be complaining. But something has been bothering me about the way the game industry functions.
You see, the game industry is a business that is driven by production & marketing. Production is interested in finishing the game on schedule and under budget. To the game designer, that means you'll always be making games with limited time and resources. Marketing is interested in selling as many copies of the game as possible. To the game designer, that means you'll probably have to spend time assisting marketing with screenshots, trailers, public relations, etc. I’m finding that there is so much involved in making and selling games that there isn’t much time for personal growth. You just crunch to finish a game, then move on to the next one; work is more of a grind than a flow. Ironically, I think spending all my time making UFC 2009 is actually holding me back as a game designer.
Believe me, I want nothing more than to be good at my job and help make this game great. But in order to do so, I need to keep evolving as a game designer. That means learning new skills, researching topics of interest, and playing lots of games (not to be overlooked). In the game industry, it's difficult to find the time for all of that in between crunches. The more I think about it, the more I believe it’d be a good idea to take a sabbatical periodically. But enough fantasizing! UFC 2010 beckons, it’s time to get back to work…
While I was in school learning how to be a game designer (at USC’s Interactive Media Division), I took a film editing course my senior year; partially just for fun and partially to have a backup in the film industry in case this whole game design thing fell through. The professor would always tell us to “edit from the gut”. In essence, don’t over-think your editing choices, just go with what feels right. Being a bit of an introverted thinker, I didn't really understand this at first. I tend to put a lot of thought into my editing choices; I would always try to rationalize why a particular take or transition should work. It took me a while to learn how to make decisions based on intuition rather than logic.
So what the hell does this have to do with game design, you ask? Well I’ve been working sporadically on an indie game in my spare time. Going into the project, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted the game to be. Unfortunately, as development progressed, the game turned out to be not very fun to play. This is not uncommon, as no game is perfect in its first iteration. I figured it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed with some tweaking. The problem is, I stuck with some bad game design choices for a long time. I kept stubbornly rationalizing why my vision should work, even though I felt like it was hindering the player's experience. Now that I realize this, I will have to go back to the drawing board and re-design some of the core gameplay mechanics.
Like most creative endeavors, both film editing and game design are really more art than science. I believe it’s good to put some thought into your game design, as long as you don’t allow your mind to censor what your gut is telling you. After all, your audience will either have fun with your game or they won't; you’ll never be able to rationalize your game design choices to them. Thoughts?