Why Make Games?

DeathKitten

I was going through my place and happened upon a few relics of my past...



For my 10th birthday my dad got me my first Commodore 64 & I finally got to retire my ailing Vic20.

I was lucky that my dad had taste, the game selection was quite impressive as I got to play three of the best RPGs of all time, right off the bat

Wasteland (as I may have mentioned once or twice before ) is my favourite game and was the reason why i got interested in making games in the first place, well, that and The Bard's Tale Construction Set.



I couldn't believe how 'cool' the game development team was! I figured hey, if making computer games was all about having fun and being super geeky, then that was what I wanted to do with my life!

Well, anyways, all this got me wondering... what made you guys want to make computer games?

-DeathKitten =^..^=

FunkaDelicDass

I was introduced to gaming through the NES, and while I thought games were cool back then, I never pictured myself making them (since the credits were full of Japanese names). I didn't seriously pursue a game art career until a couple of years after I graduated high school. I had given up on my Architecture degree and wanted to get into some art field that got you a regular paycheck. So far so good.

I don't think there was any particular game that propelled me onto the games career path, but the mod community behind unreal and quake certainly had a major influence on me actually getting in.

oXYnary

The potential of what it can become with open minds. This is a new medium that mixes so many others into something never seen before.

HonkyPunch

I primarily watched my mom and my brother play video games on the nes, and really got started on Turok 64. I loved that game so much.

poopinmymouth

I was originally wanting to do film/television stuff, because of watching Reboot and Beast Wars. However when I entered college, it quickly became apparent I didn't like animation (which was my current major) It was Christmas break and I was kind of confused as to what I was going to pursue, when Hawkprey posted his "Looking for a partner in crime" Tweaky and Tweaky mom art test for Legend Entertainment.
I had never done any game art before, and only a couple high poly models, none of which were human. I started modeling Tweaky and hardly slept or ate for about 96 hours while I modeled not only Tweaky but also Tweaky mom. I UV'ed both of them as well. I got an email back from Hawkprey and one of the environment artists at legend, and found out after the fact they considered me for a junior artist position, but then Louis Ruiz (spelling? the guy who pimped the God of War models on cgchat) submited a fully modeled and textured version of Tweaky and scored the job. However I realized the second I was done with them that was what I wanted to do for a living, character modeling for games. I switched my major when I got back to school, and one semester later I got my first job at Warthog.

I didn't play many games growing up, though I enjoyed the few I did. I think it's the creative process that made me want to do games, more than the fun of playing them. In that I think I'm a bit different from the motivations of most of the other game artists here. I can't imagine working in any other medium though. I love making games.

blankslatejoe

I was never allowed to play games when I was little. I would play NES at my friends houses and come home and draw my own videogames on paper. They didn't work too well.

When I had my teen rebellion everyone around me was running around drinking and partying... but for me I said, "Oh yeah, dad??! I'm getting GAME BOY! Take THAT!"

That was the beginning of the end.

Malekyth

Ages ago, I dropped out of school after some discouraging turns and growing frantic anxiety. The next several months were spent holed up in my mother's attic, thoroughly depressed and dependent on my brother's Pentium-60 along with Ultima 7, 7.5, and 8.

A great deal of time was devoted to wallowing, of course, but as my spirits gradually picked up I found myself more and more intrigued by the art and science behind the games I'd turned my life over to. After buying more new games than an unemployed person should try and budget, and defacing a lot of notebook paper with unrealistic and unfeasible designs, I got ahold of Andre LaMothe's "Game Guru" books. That led to some programming books, and then to more games. Particularly Quake. At some point my brother pirated a copy of 3DS r.4, and that's when it all started to gel that it was actually possible for me to do this stuff myself, someday! I shifted back into gear, got myself a computer and internet access, found the Quake mod scene on cdrom.com and the modeling community at the grand ol' Q2PMP and on IRC, worked my ass off, and here I am!

So. Wewt.

Tulkamir

Interesting thread. For me I always enjoyed games, started with an SNES and then 64, but never really thought much about it. The first game I was really into though was Starcraft, after that Diablo II introduced me to RPG's, and I built from there.

First time I realized I wanted to make games was when I got Dungeon Siege. (Other than when I was like 12 and me and my brother decided to try to design an RTS, haha, not that that went far). I found out you could make your own models, which interested me despite my lack of any artistic skills, so I started modeling as a hobby. Then I joined some mod teams which didn't finish any projects, etc.

Now I go to school for game art and design.

Vermeulen

for me probably the quake mod scene on cdrom.com, i used to look it up daily to download the new various mods. After that I started to mess around with QC, taught myself C/java, made some small games, started some ambitious net projects i am pretty happy about, and now getting a computer science degree. I never really got into the artistic side of game development though, just stuck to design/programming.

ElysiumGX

Games are an interactive medium that can be used to educate, guide, and inspire. Used properly, it's a powerful tool and a work of art. I want to help it in that direction. They're not "just" games, or the newest fad to earn millions, a product, or a distraction. Or rather, they shouldn't be any of these. It's important what you can take from a game, not what a game can take from you. My interest in the game industry is to improve it, mature it from it's infancy, and reveal it as a treasure to be shared to all in our modern society.

It also keeps my mind working. Gives me a focus. Keeps me sane and productive. I spend more time learning them, than playing them...as few games recently have kept my attention.

Deep, huh?

skankerzero

very similar to poop here.

when I saw Jurassic Park, I knew I wanted to do something with computer animation of some sort.

When I was the art institute, it became apparent that I was more suited for games.

oXYnary

My god Elysium.. GET OUT OF MY MIND!

Neo_God

I was interested in cg stuff since, I'd say about 94 or so, and wanted to get into it. The way it came into games, was because it seemed like a great way to do cg stuff. I happened to like games at the time. The first things I made were maps for the game Marathon, because at the time, I only had a Mac, so my choice of games were very limited. Then I didn't do much for a long time, then I got back into around quake 3's release. And I have kept up with it since. I don't really want to just do games though, you know, I want to go further than that, and I'm not saying the games are limiting, I just feel that I want to do more than just video games.

I went to school for computer animation, and I dropped out for several reasons. I wasn't learning a damn thing and paying a good amount for it too, I mean, I had been using photoshop longer than my one teacher, I could have taught the damned class. AI schools simply suck...I know someone here at polycount told me that, but I chose not to listen and I was burned for it.

Daz

For the christmas of about 1983, my brother and I received a fabulous 48k ZX SPECTRUM. I was instantly hooked on amazing games such as Deathchase, Lords of Midnight, Valhalla, Tir Na Nog and Jet Set Willy. I even started to code in some basic BASIC. For me computer games were all about escapism I guess. We used to enhance the already 'incredible' graphics of Deathcase with a sheet over our heads to sort of fully encapsulate ourselves in the world. We were odd kids.

I played up til the age of about 16 I guess, then I discovered well, you know, those other people with the bumps in front. Lost all interest in videogames. Bought a PC in the early 90's to learn 3d studio4, hype forced me into buying Quake when it first came out. Started messing with it and the magic feeling came back and the rest is history.

TomDunne

So how are things going with the people with the bumps in front these days?

I don't actually make games for a living. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Fuse

oxy and ely echo my thoughts, i also think that video gaming is much more about making meaningful experiences, it's an interactive medium where the user can physically interface...

I've always been interested in cg, and digital animation, then somehow got into modding in the layer years of highschool and realized that what i really wanted to do was game art.

Still wanted to pursue some formal art education, so i attend an art college now, doing game art on the side hoping to have a solid portfolio when i graduate...

btw, Daz looks like quite a charming and handsome chap from the EA interview videos, i am certain he has little problems getting the bumps..

McIlroy

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btw, Daz looks like quite a charming and handsome chap from the EA interview videos, i am certain he has little problems getting the bumps..

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LINKY ?

hawken

I think I really got into the idea of making games after playing long sessions of Gauntlet, where me and my friends would sketch out imaginary maps on graph paper

DeathKitten

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LINKY ?

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*ahem* http://www.daz-art.com/resume.htm

-DK =^..^=

McIlroy

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LINKY ?

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*ahem* http://www.daz-art.com/resume.htm

-DK =^..^=

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Ahhhh did it have to be so obvious .... ..thanks

Mister Sentient

The first games that really inspired me to want to get into the industry were Monkey Island 1 & 2. They were just so unique at the time. I had never played anything like them. The combination of intelligent writing and appealing graphics was a match made in heaven for me. I would while[sp] away the hours in front of my dad's PC exploring these magical worlds.

I gave up the dream for a while though. Living in South Africa where there were basically no games companies it just didn't seem feasible. Later on (about a couple of years ago) I was encouraged by a friend who was working at the first professional games company in South Africa (I think) to apply and here I am after a self-taught crash course in 3D modelling and texturing.

Ruz

wayyy back in 1896, I played the first victorian video game called 'jack the ripper goes ape shit'. It was a steam powered console with lead cartridges designed by Isambard kingdom brunel. Unforunately the world never go to see it as it went down on the titanic.

Though in reality such it was more to do with playing tombraider, quake 1 and duke nukem shareware that got me hooked.

Mansir

For me it was this thing:



I loved playing the original adventure for the atari 2600 (Did I just give away my age?) and thought someday I'll design dragons that don't look like ducks.

Link to flash remake of the game if anyone is interested:
http://www.simmphonic.com/programming/flash.htm#

Slum

When I was growing up, I spent countless hours on Paintbrush and ANSI drawing programs. I always knew I wanted to be a "computer animator". I had no idea what that meant, though, I just liked the idea of computers + art. I think in 1997 when the star wars special editions came out, the "behind the scenes" showed wireframes of the creatures, and I knew that I wanted to make that. After a while of bugging around in POV ray, I moved up to 3ds Max 4. I always wanted to do special effects (particles and the like) for movies, but somehow I found myself making Quake and Half Life models instead. Hmm...

Paul Jaquays

I initially got into games because of Dungeons & Dragons ... it was a small publishing market that needed lots of cheap art and I was looking for someone to publish me -- that and Dungeons & Dragons (circa 1975) was what I had been looking for all my young life.

I got into video games more by accident. While I was working as a freelance illustrator and game adventure designer, a friend invited me to apply for a short term contract job at Coleco, a toy company. That played out into a staff position and eventually, being in charge of the design group at Coleco that made ColecoVision games. And to tie in a bit of name-dropping with DeathKitten's initial post -- the friend (who was also my room mate for a few months) was Michael A. Stackpole ... 2nd from the left in the Wasteland photo (I also know Ken St. Andre and Liz Danforth, two of the other designers and later on Interplay would be one of my game design clients when I designed their Lord of the Rings game).

I got BACK into video games full time because of id Software and the opportunity to create living 3D worlds. That's still one of the things that gets me up and going every morning.

Ninjas

I just wrote a huge essay about my personal experience with video games. It turns out that video games have been so important in my life that to talk about that would tell you more about myself than I think I should.

Here is the digest version.

I never went to primary school-- instead I spent that time playing video games, learning to program, reading comics and books and learning to draw.

I played just about every major game. Video games punctuate my life and define certain periods of time for me. I helped my mother learn to play Mario 64 when she was too sick to walk. My best friend moved from NY to Seattle so that we could program a game together... etc, etc. Many of the most emotional times in my life have been connected to video games.

What ultimately drives my interest is the desire to transform the world as I see fit. Since that's hard, the next best thing is to make video games.

It helps that videgames are the ultimate artform. They are the end-all teaching tool. They are new, and uncharted and amazing.

The future will look back on us as the pioneers. They will wish that they could have been given the chance to be born now, so that they could have played a part in the birth of something entirely NEW.

Gmanx

Hey Paul, I remember Ken and Liz from the 'Tunnels and Trolls' days - hows THAT for obscure. I still have the little yellow rulebook somewhere. That kind of gaming is what got me interested in computers. I used to think "I'm sure computers should be able to do this stuff" and even wrote a die-rolling routine and a map-tile generator in Basic on the BBC Micro. It wasn't really until Quake that I realised that the tools were out there and available (I had no internet 'till then). I got into trad animation, then 3d animation, then games.

sledgy

It was Tron. Good ol' Tron.

EarthQuake

I do it for the poontang.

Tulkamir

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I do it for the poontang.

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This makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong.

Gmanx

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I do it for the poontang.

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This makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong.

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..he just means he likes texture poontang, y'know, using a pen + tablet and Photoshop to poont with. :S

DeathKitten

Paul Jaquays & Gmanx, that is so neat! It's nice to see that someone else actually knows what I'm talking about

I wish I had been born a decade earlier just so I could have seen the real beginning of gaming Although, as stated, this is still a 'pioneering' time for cg...

The rest of this post has been great, although I am a bit that there isn't a little more history to some of you guys

-DeathKitten =^..^=

ebagg

Started with old NES and GameBoy, followed quickly by PC. Gmaes are a truly unique melding of many forms of art, one which the people who view it aren't just looking at it or listening to it, but running around in it, experiencing it and making experiences of their own. That and it is an art form that has an infinite amount of ways to grow.

It's kind of odd, but I also like doing the artwork because its really interesting to work within the limitations of a game engine. It's so great to see your creations rendered in real time, to walk around and view them in a game engine. Some people shirk away from game work because of that "limitation".

danr

casting around for a something resembling a career upon leaving uni, saw an advert in the back of Edge and thought "yeah, i could probably do that". Was that simple i'm afraid. And even though i'd been playing them avidly since i could remember, i never really had a burning desire to get into making games. Just kinda happened through circumstance: a combination of having a few vaguely developed skills and needing a job.

God, that sounds miserable, doesn't it?

Weiser_Cain

Telling interactive stories, Character creation without having to draw the same guy over and over again.

Gmanx

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Character creation without having to draw the same guy over and over again.

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lol, did that for a while - what's worse is having to draw just the character's arm a coupla' hundred times.