GDD710 Development Practice Module - Weeks 11 & 12 - Research
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The remainder two weeks have been combined due to coming to a close with the end of the first module. Of course there has definitely been greatness from small beginnings. Week 11 consisted of Falmouth University services for potential employment.(Falmouth University, 2020). Whereas the finale of week closes the chapter on Development Practice. Now is a good time to look back on how far I have come since the start of the course and how it has aided me in discovery for what I want to learn and achieve through this MA in Indie Games Development. Where will it take me? Lets fine out!
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Pre-Course Enrolment Prompt
Befrore I considered enrolling onto any course, I was at a crossroads regarding career opportunities. I had spent the last year as an Indie Graduate, constantly applying for numerous junior positions withn the gaming industry and after a long period of unresponsive and declining feedback. I was starting to differ wandering "Have I made a huge mistake?" My current area of employment at the time was as a restaurant bartender with a deadend belief in excelling even into a higher position to gain neccessary leadship and and potentially managerial skills.
My mental state was leaning towards a negative low due to all these setbacks excluding the constant life interferences with Covid-19. I was to the point where I missed studying which you wouldn't consider to miss after doing such a soul-crushing dissertation. It was a weird emotion because being in education gave me a sense of purpose in where to go in life and that is games development. That this is when this masters degree reached out to me and persuaded me to enrol and solely focus on a new chapter of development within gaming. _______________________________________________________________________
Post-Course Enrolment Prompt
Even before enrolling onto the MA, I knew exactly what I thrived on most in games development, as well as what areas I wanted to improve upon throughout this degree to be in a more industry-ready posiiton. One of them being programming skills. This has been mentioned throughout the entire module as it is something that I aim to get under my levels of expertise and be in a better status than during my undergraduate studies. Indie games development gives that self-involved choice to try abit of everything and become stronger through transferable department skills, or just trying a piece of the indie cartridge cake you may find a calling for like sound, QA, business, art, animation or design.
I personally consider myself to relate within the design and production departments of games, followed by minor sound art and program skills to further develop through upcoming projects. I just really got to the point where I need to grasp the basics of C# and push myself to stand out knowing I can program with such strong self-esteem and knowledge where I only spend half the time researching script forums or online tutorials. That is when I know I have reached my destined goal to become more proficient in C#.
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Use of Emotion within Games
Ever since my first experience in playing, as well as developing games, I have always been fascinated in how the use of emotion is projected into the design of a game. My dissertation consisted of a first-person emotional user experience that acted as a historical tourism game, surrounding a delicate manner with children living in an orphanage during the 1930s. I would have to say that this is one one of my main achievements (Kyle Cornwell, 2020). Not because this was my first proper game to develop and release onto steam, but in how I grasped how emotive impacts are displayed in specific games using the elements of story, level and sound design. I hope to apply these similar skills to future projects throughout this course and at the same time, improve on my depth of research and realistic scheduling.
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Next Module Goals
With the end of Development Practice on the horizon and the commencement of a new module about to take place. I thought I would take this time to reflect on what my aims goals will be to carry through into the next module. I have to say it has been a struggle to balance both the part time study of this MA, followed by my full time work being constantly overun due to the summer period kick off and finding the medium between to maintain a structured calender to work around and not ehaust myself. It is sad to say that the majorityof my study work has been during the hours I should be sleeping to work. Admittingly I did not want to go back to my old habits of cramming work in a ridiculous times which in return, will get its revenge when I finally have a free moment to relax and do something for me and I'll eventually crash.
I intend to monitor my health by putting it first in these upcoming modules, that means planning a project schedule where the slots of study only change if neccessary using my trusty organiser on HacknPlan to ensure I stick to a solid structure throughout. The same goes when certain levels of work are required as I will make modifications to benefit much need project commitments. I also be sticking to a more agile workflow as I personally believe I displayed slight waterfall processes during my Rapid Ideations. Another goal will be to become more social through Discord and webinar to ensure have peers for future feedback during playtesting. Applying and sticking to these goals towards the next module will measure my willingness, in following the best professional practices learnt possible.
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Final Major Project Consideration
I have not really considered what I want my Final Major Project to be based on, let alone proposed ideas. This will be something to keep in mind as the modules go on. Anything I consider worth developing I shall make notes off in the background to be prepared when the time. As a provisional project porposal, I would suggest something mainly programming based regarding the areas of maths and physics. A madly event-driven projec which may or maynot be a game. It could end up being a built-in software tool. This will all depending not where the course will take me, but where I will take myself.
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References:
Falmouth University, 2020. Week 11: Introduction. [Online] Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/912/pages/week-11-introduction?module_item_id=54155 [Last Accessed 24/08/2021]
Enchantress, 2020. Kyle Cornwell. [Online] Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1313150/Enchantress/ [Last Accessed 24/08/2021]
HacknPlan, 2015. Chris Estevez. [Online] Available at: https://hacknplan.com/ [Last Accessed 24/08/2021]
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