GDD710 Development Practice - Module 1 - Week 2 - Research
________________________________________________________________________
Following up on the lecture video "What is Creativity" discussed in my previous Blog, I was fascinated by some areas of creativity that are rarely recognised as their own concept. This lead me to review "Indie Game: The Movie". Initially a fund-raised project from Kickstarter raised by documentary filmakers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, this insight on Indie Game Development covers a variety of Indie game successes, followed by the hardships and struggles the developers went through to launch their soul-crushing masterpieces.
It was not portrayed as negative journeys, but a heartfelt deliverance of work that demonstrates and improves games, as well as the development processes they follow. I researched this inspirational film a few years ago during my undergraduate studies and looking back, it presented a strong eminence of indie game development and that creativity is not as easy as people think once coming up with a concept and carrying it through a challenging project.
________________________________________________________________________
Figure 1: Super Meat Boy. Team Meat [Online] http://www.supermeatboy.com/
________________________________________________________________________
Synopsis
The movie itself observes the dynamic duo creators of Super Meat Boy, Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, as well as Solo developer Phil Fish and his postponed 2D/3D indie title Fez. Not to mention Jonathan Blow contemplating life after the unexpected success of his artistic puzzle platform Braid. The original plot for Indie Game Making was meant to follow a more extensive approach. But due to the golden stories found in Super Meat Boy and Fez, there was just too much strong material to reject. There is a big essence of drama coming from all directions on these individuals. The cinematic reality is alot of the drama was more behind scenes that were chosen not to make it to theatre.
This I feel takes away alot of in-depth experience, making Indie gaming come across as a brand, with not enough backstories to exemplify how the brand itself came to existence. The coverage has a mixture of emotions throughout the movie. For instance, Team Meat sharing each of their aspirations that bound the friendship they made from a young age. Not to forget contributing as many hours as possible within a daring two month-crunch period to promote Super Meat Boy onto Xbox Live promotions, opening up additional marketing assistance which is deeply required for two indie devs like themselves. The negative side can be confused with humour and seriousness regarding the development of Fez.
Phil Fish's personal struggles to put his investment and passion towards an unfinished game due to his own perfectionism. He states that "It's me, my ego. My identity is at risk. It's my perception of myself". Claiming that eveything will be down to the outcome of Fez (Oli Welsh, 2012). Fish went into deeper and darker moments when he was questioned what the long term goals are if Fez doesn't make it to the shelves. His non-hestitant response being "I will kill myself, That is my incentive to finish it." with such meaning and confidence. This is a very confusing moment for viewers as the humourous side of the situation is being overwhelmed by a man on the edge towards something serial.
I think this specfic share and exposure of emotion here truly reveals the troubling times of a developer who is on the brink of depression, loss or self-control. Putting everything on the line to determine whatever it takes to achieve completion and release. Blows story is a somewhat informative and self-examining experience. There are mentions of his development with Braid, but in a complex way as players would not pickup firsthand that the idea was originally built upon his own personality and ideas. He mentions the success of Braid being both a blessing and curse (Alex Navarro, 2012). The hype in allowing his diverse thinking to be metorphically playable and at the same time, reviewers not grasping or engaging the games theme.
________________________________________________________________________
Figure 2: Braid, 2008. Number None [Online] http://braid-game.com/
________________________________________________________________________
Highlights
The highlights of the movie consisted of Phil Fish ploughing through to reveal his game in a positive and shining glory, give or take some repetitive issues that did not affect how he felt. Only to be warm-hearted from players having enjoyment in playing his life-draining treasure that is Fez. As for Team Meat, their glorious moment was one of their partners sharing tears of utmost happines seeing their work finally achieve some recognition after all that effort into a game, that sparked alot of inspiration for new indie game dev generations to come. That is not to say it is a clear pathway for being creative and building upon your innovative ideas as these developers can tell you, it is a stressful industry to work in, especially a solo developer. It will either be challenging and fun or fustrating and disastrous.
________________________________________________________________________
Figure 3: Indie Game Movie Poster
________________________________________________________________________
Personal Thoughts on Indie Game: The Movie
After coming into close contact with Indie Game Development as a whole, it can feel like a do or die scenario. You must always ensure your heart is in the right place as well as your enjoyment, otherwise you will just end up developing a game with no essense of life that drove you to spark that creative fury in the first place. I have to agree that Indie Game: The Movie covers alot of areas within games development, whether having a partial interest in the industry, game development itself or even the journey of artistic creation. Admittingly there are alot of hardships undescribed and left out which could have been down to guidlines and censorship when introducing such a documentary with delicate emotion.
If I had any lesson to learn after watching this movie, it would be that game development, especially for indies is no joke. it can be seriously hard and one of the most complicated, self-efficient careers out there. The struggles and harshness itself in this line of work can be really taken for granted as anyone willing to put themselves out there to create something from null and void has great potential to make an industry-standard difference. It gave me alot more appreciation and understanding when researching more about this movie. I myself have felt the similar hardships within small group work, as well as my own projects and it is resources like this that give me that driving urge to persist in doing what I love, developing games.
________________________________________________________________________
References:
Kyle Cornwell, 2021. Creativity: The Building Blocks of Design. [Online] Available at: https://www.kylecornwell.com/post/creativity-building-blocks-of-design [Last Accessed 09/07/2021]
Super Meat Boy, 2010. Team Meat. [Online] Available at: http://www.supermeatboy.com/ [Last Accessed 09/07/2021]
Fez, 2021. Polytron Corporation. [Online[ Available at: http://fezgame.com/ [Last Accessed 09/07/2021]
Braid, 2008. Number None. [Online] Available at: http://braid-game.com/ [Last Accessed 09/076/2021]
Oli Walsh, 2012. Indie Game: The Movie Review. [Online] Available at: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-06-indie-game-the-movie-review [Last Accessed 09/07/2021]
Alex Navarro, 2012. Indie Game: The Movie: An Honest and Important Look at Independent Game Development. [Online] Availbele at: https://www.giantbomb.com/articles/indie-game-the-movie-an-honest-and-important-look-/1100-4209/ [Last Accessed 09/07/2021]
Peter Glagowski, 2017. Team Meat’s Tommy Refenes explains the duo’s split. [Online] Available at: https://www.destructoid.com/team-meats-tommy-refenes-explains-the-duos-split/ [Last Accessed 09/07/2021]
Comments