Game Dev Quote of the Week – New Year’s Resolution Edition

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 9, 2014

I thought I’d deliver a triple whammy this week for quotes, in the spirit of the New Year – some comments from game developers not necessarily specific to making games, but in the motivational / New Year’s Resolution theme.

First up, from Cliff “Cliffski” Harris, of Positech Games, in an article entitled, “What’s Holding You Back?”

The new dividing line between the talented, the capable, and the employable will not be related to their background, their school, or their parents wealth. This is becoming *less* relevant. The difference is going to be motivation, confidence, and a willingness to work. The reason you don’t understand quantum physics, is you haven’t bothered to investigate it. There is simply no other answer. I have no excuse for any gap in my knowledge, and I know it. I don’t blame anyone but me. And tools? if you are a software developer or artist there are a crazy amount of free tools. In short, a lot of the excuses I might have thrown around as a kid for not achieving what i wanted to just do not apply, at least in the IT world.

Next up, Josh Sutphin, lead designer of Starhawk (among other games) offers this advice for breaking into the video games industry (as well as explaining why much of the “traditional wisdom” about how to get a job in the games biz is wrong):

Two words: “MAKE GAMES”.

It’s really that simple. Once you’ve made a game, there’s no question whether you know what you’re doing: you’ve already done it. After that, getting a game design job is no different from getting a job at your local Wendy’s.

I’m speaking from experience: shortly after high school I built Gem Feeder, a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, as well as a handful of levels for the same game. Those projects got me my first game design job. (Interestingly enough, they also got me my second, despite now having professional experience on my resume.)

Finally, Tobiah Marks, a Game Evangelist at Microsoft (yes, that’s a real job title) and indie game developer offers a suggestion on the best time to learn to make games (and were you expecting anything other than the words, “Right now?”) and more importantly, some reasons and motivations. In particular – and reminiscent of Cliff’s advice above – he brings up another answer to “What’s holding you back?”

What’s the worst case? What horrible fate will befall you if you choose to become indie and aren’t as successful as you’ve dreamed?

You will:

• Make exactly how much you’re making from your games now (aka: none)
• Have learned a ton and gained practical experience with programming, art, design, and business.
• Have created a portfolio of finished content and the ability to put “entrepreneur” on your résumé.
• Have spent your time doing something you [hopefully] enjoyed doing, and are now able to proudly say you took a shot at your dreams.

Yeah, those risks are there. I won’t argue that. The way I see it, even if your worst fears come true and you “fail” you still come away with much to show for your time and effort.

It’s never too late to come up with New Year’s Resolutions. Well, okay, maybe in August you should call them something other than “New Year’s Resolutions” and just call them “Resolutions” or “Goals” or something.

Now yeah, it’s one thing to get all pumped up with goals and plans and a “can-do” attitude when you jump in. It’s a lot harder to sustain that fire and enthusiasm as the first day, first week, first month, and even first year go by. Turning a goal into a habit and lifestyle is not easy – at least for me, anyway. But one way to look at it is that you can’t fail if you don’t give up… you simply haven’t yet succeeded.

Anyway, good luck with all your endeavors, whether you take on game development or anything else.

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