Anyone else here not play any video games?
polycounter lvl 6
I used to be really into this community and soent a good amount of time modelling and improving my skills but I always had a recurring problem.
For every hour I spent modelling I'd soend an hour playing games. Soon I realised I was gaming far too often and quit cold turkey.
That was 77 days ago and initially my desire to model dropped off immediately (started going to the gym, dates etc)
However now my itch to model again is coming back and I'm developing an app in unity at the moment (coding + modelling).
The thing is I don't want to play games, maybe never again - I think theyre a waste of time and unethically designed (addiction + gambling). I still love making textures, models, scripts, levels though.
Anyone else successfully model but rarely play games? I may play a game just to assess the art style and thats it.
For every hour I spent modelling I'd soend an hour playing games. Soon I realised I was gaming far too often and quit cold turkey.
That was 77 days ago and initially my desire to model dropped off immediately (started going to the gym, dates etc)
However now my itch to model again is coming back and I'm developing an app in unity at the moment (coding + modelling).
The thing is I don't want to play games, maybe never again - I think theyre a waste of time and unethically designed (addiction + gambling). I still love making textures, models, scripts, levels though.
Anyone else successfully model but rarely play games? I may play a game just to assess the art style and thats it.
Replies
but i also have the same "problem". most times i sit down to play, i think to myself; "what if i CREATED my own instead?"
I don't see not playing games as a badge of honor though. i enjoy gaming, I honestly wish I could play more games more often, but I work on them full time and my spare time beyond that is limited. Wife, kid, health, sleep, learning new skills etc takes a significant precedence over games, so it wasn't even really a choice to stop playing them.
One day though, I'm going full bore. Ill retire and it'll be my hobby.
This whole shtick that one needs to be passionate about games to work in games is utter nonsense imo. You need to be passionate about making game art. The time spent playing is better spent watching tutorials and practicing skills.
I did spent months just working, not seeing friends, no video games or any distractions. While that time helped me greatly to improve my skills (and I regret none of it), I found that it pushed me to a point where I stopped enjoying anything. I couldn't enjoy games or movies, and working on my art became a detached robotic task that brought me less and less fullfillment.
Nowadays, I work 40-ish hour weeks on a project I enjoy, I have tons of ownership on the visuals and a real implication in our small team. My personal work is mostly doodles with the odd contract, but it keeps me busy and helps me improve my art. On top of that, I do play games for a few hours a week to remind me why I'm there and experience the work of other artists and designers. I get the feeling it helps me get involved in our project a lot more and be able to bounce feedback and ideas with the rest of the team.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that everything is good with a proper balance. But really, whatever works for you, it's different for everyone!
"The thing is I don't want to play games, maybe never again - I think they're a waste of time and unethically designed (addiction + gambling). I still love making textures, models, scripts, levels though." I feel like this is pretty damn contradictory in its own right (and a stereotype, though I introduce some stereotypes myself in my own generalizations), but I do know many developers that are not gamers. They haven't played more than the games they have worked on, and have no intention of widening that scope. Some come from film, others are purely artistic and love to just hangout in that niche, etc. If you want to be purely an artist, have nothing to do with design, I say avoiding games will not be detrimental as a game artist. Keeping up to date via news and reviews of games, however, is a must IMO for obvious reasons.
To play or not to play also depends on how many hobbies do you have. I`ve found I had too many and it was time to dump some of them, active gaming included.
I just don't take interest in most games. Especially when I could be reading a book, or following some wikipedia/internet rabbit hole (cetology is super interesting), or learning a hobby, or something. Games are just very very low on my list of priorities in life, so they don't happen often.
I still play games occasionally (burned through DS3 in a weekend a couple months ago) but not nearly as much as I used to. And I avoid multiplayer games like the plague because they are an unbelievable time sink.
My gaming habits have dropped off substantially over the past five years. Maybe once a month I'll play Flight Simulator for about an hour, and I like to have a round of PGA Tour with my father when I see him, but other than that the only gaming I do is at the office to test my work.
Many games these days require a massive time investment to complete/become proficient at. I'd rather put that time into learning and creating things.
I learn more from looking at art dumps/portfolios and checking out assets,levels/environments in editor (if the game allows it) then actualy playing.
Indik mentioned Feng Zhu a few posts above. I remember him even having a very negative view of his students playing games despite him teaching them to become artists in the industry.
Unfortunately, I haven't bought a game since like 2 years (Black Flag) and I still haven't finished it.-_-
Whenver I do launch the game, I play a few hours but this only happen like once or twice a month....
Though, when FF XV will be coming on PC, I do plan on spending some serious time on it.:-)
"Hello, my name is stinger88 and I'm a Rocket League™ addict... It has been about 8hr 32mins 15secs since my last game..."
Competitive gaming doesn't interest me anymore. I haven't owned a console since snes.
But I do watch youtubers play through games..that's something that can play on the side while doing something else, and still get a bit of the experience.
It may seem odd not to play games if you are in this industry, but I never worked on games because I'm passionate about games, but because I'm passionate about 3d.
The fact of the matter is, who has the time? I haven't 'made it'. Any free-time I have needs to be spent working at my craft! Do I love games? YES! That's why i'm in this, it's my favorite medium to experience a story. When I was younger i certainly was a gamer, but i also just....had no responsibilities. If I could, I would. But I am way too busy, so i just watch playthroughs on YouTube instead.
Having said that, I do play games. But the wrong ones for turning them into a job interview bonus point. I totally focus on the fun and relaxation I get from it. I don't care about graphics and tech any more... back to the roots, I guess.
I certainly don't see it as an "addiction"
I acknowledge that all that extra time I spent on Team fortress 2 is precisely my fault and my fault only.
Some times you are just creatively dead and can't bring yourself to work, no?
Video games usually help with that,
Finding some way to get around a map that I swear the level designer didn't expect in TF2 usually helps lift my spirits up
Also they're are a great source of inspiration.
If the guys at Eidos Montreal managed to make Rifleman bank station with what I perceive as a shitty engine(at least according to the developer commentaries) without fancy PBR shaders
Then I have no excuse not to make a single still image with fancy raytracing tech from blender cycles.
They're only a time sink if you allow them to be a time sink
One match at 2fort won't be the end of the world
One hour in Counter Strike Global Offensive's Demolition won't be the end of the world either
Also, gambling is completely optional.
I came across this forum thread accidentally and I wanted to share my POV.
First of all, I don't play games, literally. The only game I play is the game of Basketball (the real sports game).
I can imagine my selft playing some really old games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or WW2 (Call of Duty, Medal of Honor) just to cure my nostalgia or some newer games to keep up with trends or get some new ideas and knowledge about ever changing standards.
If you are a content creator PRIMARILY, IMO playing games should not be considered as waste of time because while you play the game you can have fun, get inspiration, motivation, discover and learn the secrets of game's fame.
Also, I would go as far and say that even the gamers should know bits about game creating, especially pro online gamers, because that could give them (legal) advantage. So, it's OK to play games as long as you have the right balance between creating and playing.
I personally can't focus on working 1 hour to play 1 hour, I'll be 1 hour working and thinking about the hour of play time that comes next and can't really seem to enjoy one or other thing.
There were a lot of masterminds, Tesla, Mozart, Edison, that had different takes on keeping this healthy relation of work and fun.
Check this out: https://podio.com/site/creative-routines
Did it matter? As long as you get aware of the work hours that you need to get the work itching, you should be good.
Personally I only play at the end of the day and after dinner, and try not to work after that, unless I'm doing something I really enjoy and wanna finish.
But don't just ban games from your life, I'll be like trying to straighten out rough water with a flat iron. And I read somewhere, can you imagine a film director who doesn't watch other people's movies??
Sometimes I wonder if I should be playing more games though, as being a game designer/level designer you should always be creating new gameplay and keeping up with whats going in the most recent titles. Its a bit weird to myself when I think about it.
I'd say I probably don't play as much games as I could be mostly because I'm also just burnt out from making them 24/7 too. A man needs a break from the computer.
I play a lot less than I used to, but it's not due to re-prioritizing my life as much as less games coming out which fit into my interests. Most recently when Dark Souls 3 came out, everything in my free time went on hold to accommodate it because I think it's important to experience what I consider a peak artistic accomplishment in the medium I chose to devote my life to. Similarly with other great games I've played, my excitement for video game development and art creation was immediately reinvigorated and heightened.
I don't think it's possible for me to experience the same feeling just sitting in a vacuum of personal artistic accomplishment. That's not to say I don't get inspiration from other mediums like film or fine art, but the interactivity and agency of games colors the experience in a totally different way for me.
Why work in the games industry if you aren't playing games?
There are better industries to work in.
Well personally I don't play a lot of games. But here are some reasons why people would want to work in games but don't play a lot of them.
The workflow for films does not suit their taste. I enjoy seeing what I create in realtime, not through render times/alot of post work. Also games usually have allowances for crazier art direction. because you don't need to fit a design onto a real thing. I personally got interested in games because of the aesthetics more than anything else.
However, I do have to disagree with the attitude of "I'm an artist, so I don't need to stay up to date with games, looking at portfolios is enough". I think that experiencing game art in the environment they are meant to be used is just as important as learning new production techniques.
You could have a killer portfolio piece that overflows with detail and is beautiful to look at in a portoflio setting. However that does not mean it will necessarily make the player experience better. There is just so much more to games art than looking pretty. For example, does that ledge you're making look like a part of an environment, or an object that tells the player they can grab onto it? Does the environment you're making clearly show which areas work as cover or will it conflict visually with collisions of the level? Is the design/silhouette of your characters distinct enough for players to tell them apart at a distance in a scenario that requires quick response?
Personally, I've been playing a lot of Overwatch lately and I'm greatly impressed not with just how pretty its art is, but also with how functional it is. Similarly, I'm a huge Dark Souls geek and there is nothing more frustrating than fighting an enemy whos design doesn't properly communicate where its hitboxes are.
I almost thought of it as a badge of honor not to play video games when I was working hard to get into the industry. And that may have been due to time restraints aswell, didn't really have time for much else than school and portfolio work. ^^
I don't judge anyone for not playing games. There are tons of reasons like not having the money or time. But to actively stay away from them as if that's a good thing is a bit weird to me.
We're making games! Our assets only value is making the experience better for the player. If you can't put yourself in the shoes of the player I think that will impact your art in a negative way. Flow, composition and readability from all angles in real-time is something that portfolio or prop work never really prepared me for when it comes to environment art. I also think a crucial skill, in any creative field, is to analyse and reverse-engineer tricks from the competition. You can't do that from just looking at screenshots.
On the other hand, no one should feel forced to play games. Playing games is by far the best way for me to get inspired and a means of relaxation ( Fuck horror games! :O ) and there's nothing I enjoy more in this world than playing a great game, where I have to chuckle at the pure brilliance. ^^
I'll buy a game just to play for an hour and look around at all the art. And that's what most games are to me. The exceptions being few, but they do exist.
As for "imagine a director who doesn't watch films" thing; a lot of great singer/songwriters/etc don't listen to much other music, a lot of great directors don't really watch other movies, and it goes on and on. For those sorts of people, seeing other examples of what they're trying to do only creates limiting boundaries for them. They see what they're "supposed to be", and it can be discouraging of what they "want to be". Instead, they consume other sorts of art and information, which informs their medium of choice from a different angle than if they just lived and breathed games/whatever.
I won't say it's better to play or not to play; but I will say it's not unheard of to not consume the media you make.
In my opinion, I strongly believe that you have to play video-games to be a good game developer. I see myself as a game-developer and not just "an artist" and I'd like to be treated as such. I would not recommend playing too much either obviously, you need to be able to keep up with latest standards and workflows as well, however, I still feel like you should at least play some games.
Experiencing tons of different games, genres , visual styles will only make you stronger in a production setting. You have a library of experiences, feelings and gameplays you can draw from when you're designing your own areas or trying to capture a certain feeling you had when playing a certain game. It also helps your co-workers immensely when you make functional art, instead of just art.
This said, I also believe there are some art-roles that require more and less involvement with gameplay. Me being an environment artist, I'm always smack in the middle during development. Talking to every department, planning whole levels, coordinating with level design, game design, sound, visual effects, tech etc , it's just good to have played most new games on the market to know the standards and also draw examples out of your mind from every experience even if it's outside of your "expertise".
To me it's still a fantastic feeling that you're part of the whole thing and your're making a frickin game together! It's badass.
the latest games and modern competitive gaming just can't hold me, the perfect gaming experience for me as an adult is something like hotline miami or faster than light, something I love and enjoy and can complete on the weekend.