Why do you do what you do?
polycounter lvl 18
Hey all, just a quick question that I'd love to hear some answers for - why do you do what you do?
I'd love to hear some of the reasons from people here, as I am trying to get a better idea of what drives or drove game devs to be game devs.
Doesn't need to be long or complex or anything (unless it is), just your honest reasons would be awesome.
Also, although I love me some discussion, I'm more looking for personal or individual reasons. So don't worry about what other people say.
Thanks muchly!!!
I'd love to hear some of the reasons from people here, as I am trying to get a better idea of what drives or drove game devs to be game devs.
Doesn't need to be long or complex or anything (unless it is), just your honest reasons would be awesome.
Also, although I love me some discussion, I'm more looking for personal or individual reasons. So don't worry about what other people say.
Thanks muchly!!!
Replies
Though seriously whats with people always wanting other peoples insights to their life decisions, do you seriously need validation from random internet deizens to feel secure?
But really, who am I kidding? I'm doing this for the weed! Nobody has better weed than game artists. How do you think they get so inspired? Ever hear of giving it 110%? That's where those extra 10% come from.
No, I'm giving a speech at a video game design expo. Part of it is about the motivations of game developers.
I can make guesses at what the motivations of various people are, but I'd prefer to have actual opinions from people. As such, I figured a good place to get a range of opinions would be from a site like this. Don't like that, don't answer.
But I am asking what people are motivated by to find out what the conscious reasons we give ourselves are.
Like I said, I am not looking for discussion or anything at this point. Just simple, honest answers about what people feel motivated them to start or continues to motivate them.
Of course, enjoying it is also the main factor. Creativism is too rewarding to ignore, it's like a drug addiction.
My main reason for working in games though? I want to work with others on a big game. I don't care about the end product as much as the actual developing alongside some talented people. My family aren't gamers but they do understand my career choice so I rarely get to talk to people who share my passion.
Working in the industry is like reuniting with a missing family to me.
Finally, music is the other main reason. Hard to explain really but games, movies, anything creative that I consider the best of the best have the most atmospheric, overwhelming power that transforms the game beyond just pretty visuals and gameplay mechanics. Games are a journey and music is the key. It sounds like I want to be a musician but I prefer to hear other peoples work
I get to tap into that unbridled child imagination that most people have to set aside in their jobs..or their lives. It's not always like that. It's a job. But every once and awhile it gets that "new toy smell" ..and I can hear my inner 12 year old cheering...
i have always tried to make art. i have always tried to play video games. why not try to do both.
i say try because i will never be happy with the level i am at, so i'm always trying to improve my artistic side and my XP levelz.
Also, I can't picture myself going to a desk job wearing a suit and looking completely unhappy like most of the people I see downtown everyday. I love games and I think this industry will keep me somewhat young at heart.
edit: oh and if my parents were gonna send me away for school for a long time, might as well do something related to what I was doing in highschool..which was playing games and doing art.
I think Nikola Tesla said it best:
“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the (artist) as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.”
Instead, I got addicted to the game, played it all the time, LAN, dial ups, FFA, 1 on 1's then clan matches. It wasn't enough, I still wanted more and when I read about Quakeworld coming and it supporting custom skins I remembered why I had bought the PC and offered to make our Clan skin.
Then I made individual clan skins for each of us like the Xmen had individual uniforms that were still part of the same team. No one had done that yet. I accidentally found the fullbrite colors when testing the prototype ingame for the first time, no one has used those yet either, I was hooked, I was watching something I drew , standing in front of me, breathing and running around killing folk
So I made more, then I made money selling them to all the other clans as pretty soon everyone else wanted something as cool looking as the Quakelord clan
My life back then was a mess, playing Quake, meeting others like myself, editing the game and building a website and a solid reputation for myself. It was the beginning of a new life and I've rode on the energy of that change ever since then.
Now?
Now I make games in the hope of providing a doorway for someone else, like I was, back in '95. Thinking about that possibility gives me a lot of motivation and I still love to see the stuff I doodle with on the screen come alive in the game.
I still feel the need to make new things, to learn things I don't know so that I feel like I am going forward. Often I don't really think much of my work or my self, but sometimes, I can see the work ingame for what it is, for a little while, and then I feel just great
So.... obsession I guess ?
During my studies I managed to actually discover my goal of becoming a 3d artist and now I can't think of enjoying doing any other job.
During High School, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was into a lot of programming and making websites. I always had the interesting in gaming and was casually making games. I had only been doing art for a few years, because I had a friend who was an artist, and we were both really into anime(ugh @ these years). I eventually re-discovered art by circumstance in high school(another class was full, got placed into art). I then discovered Photoshop once I had my own computer and the internet and art became my primary hobby. I still only had game art as a dream though, because for various reasons I didn't believe I would be able to afford the schooling for it. Once again I was hit by some unique circumstances and the ability to go to a game art school fell into my lap as everything else I had set up crumbled to the ground. At that time, I was really disappointed that I wasn't going to be pursuing game art, but it all worked out.
I started college the morning after my formal graduation ceremony and haven't looked back for the last 3 or 4 years.
I also really enjoy gaming culture, and even when not working on the awesomest games, working with other people who are gamers and passionate about gaming is great.
I got into it when I was 14, started making Rise of the Triad levels, then later on Duke3D and Quake stuff (quake really got me started more seriously). It affected my grades at school somewhat (was doing science stuff), so thought what the hell, why not try to study art.
Hah yeah exactly! I went even further, I used to build tons of stuff with cardboard, bottle caps, pieces of plastic, wood, etc... I never got the toys I really wanted, there was always some awesome airplane, tank or boat that I read about in a book or comic that I just had to build myself. I must've built dozens of those things, bet we still have a few hidden on the top shelves and attic at home.
I'm still doing that same thing now, just virtually. Never really grew up, me
edit: Hey good quote Joshua, that must apply to everybody here.
Go figure.
Games and Art are a big part of my life since I was a small kid, the latter one only became obvious when I was in my late teen years.
And yeap, I still see this has a paid hobby!
Ditto.
I think a lot of us 3D artists were mad with something like lego and building stuff with toys when we were kids. We're just not "growing up".
^^ This. Though I had Barbie instead of Princess Leia.
Thank you guys so much for all of your answers, it is super helpful.
I'm working furiously to get my speech all happily worked out, and this thread is great.
(And if anyone else wants to add anything, the more the better!)
So my most obvious answer would be
"Because I want to"
But if I were to look for specific reasons for doing games, I'd say because it's the forefront of art. It has great potential in telling stories that I'm willing to explore.
You know how they say that science advances humanity? Well I tend to have my own opinion about it. I think that a lot of people don't give a rats ass about science, or about education, or about wanting something from their lives, or honesty, respect, friendship or tolerance.
So I think that the art that makes you think about your life, that creates better people in a sense, because what it should be aimed for in my opinion, is what advances the humanity. It's the only thing I know that could create better people rather then make peoples life better. And that makes all the difference for me.
These 2 companies have really influenced my decisions growing up. Starting off, getting quake running on my computer was a major task. I learned about hardware, drivers.. and just overall how computers work. I learned of Open GL, direct X.. And other technologies.
But it didn't stop there. I continued to learn because of these games. I went on to learn some programming languages to create a mod of my own. I learned about web design to show off my work and progress.. Even learned about 3D graphics. Taught my self how to use milkshape 3D, GMAX, then 3D Studio max.
So, these 2 companies didn't create video games for me.. They paved out my future when I was very young.
I am starting small, but hopefully one day I will be able to give these same experiences to some one just by providing a product they enjoy.
Bottom line is, I need to do something. Might as well just do something I enjoy.
haha seriously though Ive always loved art, I wanted to be a comic book artist or illustrator while growing up and then my brother got into a games studio and I was like, 'what? people get paid to make games?......awesome!!!!' I still get to draw and now its all in lovely 3d
I guess it was either this, or be an architect. :P It was pretty amazing when I found out there was such thing as a job to make levels for games. I wanna build awesome places.
Edit: heh, this!
Then I kind of forgot about editing games after high school, as I worked on college and getting a "job". I made water skis and snow boards for HO, I did a few other misc jobs to get me through the first two years of college and that paid off pretty well. I landed a job and dropped out because college was all about getting a "graphic arts job" and once I had the job I didn't need it, I had experience and a portfolio which mattered a lot more, even back then.
Then UT and Half Life came out and my job had me laying out pages of the next issue of Game Developer before it shipped. I started to collect copies that where being tossed out as well as new ones. I really got into it when Half Life multi-player was just getting started. I joined a few mods and had some laughs, I never thought it would turn into a job I had that already, it wasn't a career option back then it was what crazy people did in their garage and most of the time they lost their shirts and you never heard from them.
For me this is just another way to be creative in my spare time that turned into a full time thing. I stick around because there is always something new to learn or some way to create something it won't be like design where you have templates and creative freedom is "how many points can you put on the starburst". It also beats building water skis or working outside...
There is more to it, but I'm already running long...
I continue to do it because I genuinely enjoy seeing the progress I make in every task/project I do. I love every project I start, and hate every project I finish. the day I stop improving, and learning new things is the day game art dies for me.
It's not just taught me how to make cool shit, but its also opened my eyes to a general life philosophy of continuous learning, improving, and development. I take joy in playing the cards, not getting dealt a good hand.
(end of my deep personal mini rant:) )
- programming was too boring
- I like to tinker with stuff (that's why I headed towards the TA route)
- i always wanted to make my own game (starting on the ole' C64)
- i'm not made for regular corporate environments with their policies, conventions, dresscode, etc. games is more relaxed
- i like seeing different parts of the world - a job in games just allows me to do that
- you meet interesting people
I've just known that there was nothing else I've wanted to do with my life, since the time I was about 12-13... and that's half of my life so far.
Why would you, the colours are duller, the people less interesting and in reality we weren't super heroes!!
In all seriousness, that's a pretty accurate account of what brought me into this field.
My parents really urged me to imagine, explore all worlds not just the one I lived in. That and 80's TV and film.
When you run out of room in your head it spills into the world in what ever form you find appropriate for you... writing, drawing, painting, music, sculpture.
After a while you want to share these worlds and the people that populate them with others. You find like minded people and BAM...you are working at games/film studio.
In some way I now get to realise my dream of making a world and entering it whenever I want, there are just more people helping to build it now.
So I don't know if it's motivation as such, maybe closer to a compulsion stemming from countless hours of living in my own mind. haha...heee...ooh awkward. :poly108:
Like Malus, I liked to escape reality though not out of boredom but because reality usually sucked for me.
When I was a kid I spent a lot of time building castles and space bases out of Lego and also drawing huge maze like caverns with stickmen armies battling it out, which interestingly enough after reading what others have said seems to have been a common childhood activity among Polycounters.
As a teen I spent my time lost in game worlds and fantasy/scifi novels.
Then in college I took up programming thinking it might lead to a career in making games (in a round about way it sort of did) finally I learned about real time 3D art just followed that path.
Creating interactive imaginary worlds just seems like a logical progression to what I've always done.
Also like Kwramm straight up programming was a bit too boring for me. Though lately I'm getting back into it mostly so I can have more power over the creative process of making games.
Add to all of that I love the challenge and the aspect of learning new stuff all the time.
I want to live in a fantastic world full of imagination and other people that share that imagination.
Imaginaaaation Land, IMAGINAAATION LAND!
- always played games since the zx spectrum
- went to France for extended periods of time for holidays, my parents were teachers, so I always had a ton of time on my hands and started to draw lots. Mainly inspired by anime on the French tv - club Doroth