So here i am. In my final Thesis project in my Bachelor's Degree in 3D Animation and Graphic Design at Centre NAD. I have a come a long way to get to this point in my specialty, and I finally get to show people what I can do.
So here we go.
As a Game Designer, I've been watching the trend of the industry for the last three years at NAD and I've made note of the fact that there's been a HUGE boom in the domain of mobile gaming. The funny thing is that people at my school (mostly the teachers) are slightly skeptical when the subject of mobile games comes up.
Not necessarily for the reasons people might assume (you don't need as much talent, etc...) but I believe that it's more due to the fact that here in Montreal, we have what many could very easily call one of the biggest hubs in the video game industry. With massive companies being here in Montreal (Eidos, Ubisoft, EA, THQ, Square Enix, Warner Brothers, and so many more) and the quality of the games that come out of Montreal's studios (the entire Assassin's Creed series, Deus Ex, etc...), Centre NAD is known as the leading producer of Montreal's HUGE talent in the 3D arts domain, having trained some of the best modelers and animators ever to come off of the island, but their reputation for Game Designers isn't as known.
So... What to do with me? A Game Designer, who wants to do his Thesis project for iPad (even more unorthodox than normal!), when Centre NAD has always been about the high quality, incredible graphics and about the AAA. A lot of people might think that it could hurt my credibility when it comes to my opportunities to work on AAA projects (which is where the money is, most of the time) if my "flagship" piece is on a mobile device.
I prefer to take this as a challenge though, and this is why:
Mobile games are fairly touchy because they're accessible to a much broader base of users than the average AAA console game, mostly due to the fact that they're really really cheap and a majority of them cost something like 0.99$. This broadened user base also means that a mobile game is THAT much more open to criticism than the average game, and will be scrutinized by THAT many more people, so for a Game Designer, having SOLID game mechanics are key and are PRIORITY #1! More so than they would be in a AAA game (in my opinion, of course), because though a mobile game will be targeting a basic target audience, a game designer will also want to try to make pleasing mechanics for ALL users, including the ones who fall in the extremes, out of the target audience (example, the 80 year old woman), while maintaining a simplicity in the mechanics *breathes*. Essentially, it makes things a tad more challenging to design mechanics for a mobile game (again, in my opinion.)
But i digress; What I intend to do is to simplify the RPG to a practically bare minimum and make it fun, simple, and intuitive for everyone to play. I'll be doing a recap of the steps I've taken so far, in blocks (per mechanic), to show the progress I've made over the last couple of months.
i'll also include the 4 subject I've been told i'll have to cover over the coming weeks, and somehow find a way to convey an artistic view into Game Design.
Thanks for reading!
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