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Making games replacing playing games?

polycounter lvl 9
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Drav polycounter lvl 9
Has anyone else found that modelling has gradually replaced playing games to some extent?

I dont just mean in terms of time, but also fulfilling your brains need to think and solve puzzles, one of the reasons I play games.

For me, I dont tend to play games so much any more, certainly not for hours at a time, more just as a social thing ith friends. While this is a good thing (my gf doesent know how lucky she is!) I think pushing verts around is kind of a crap puzzle game, and on some level gets my fix of problem/challenge solving.

So ye, while I like a blast on bf3 as much as anyone else, I dont really play Civ or Settlers, or anything where I have to think too much any more.


Anyone else find this, or is it just me? And, if so, massive assumption mode on, are we making shallow games nowadays because we arent spending the time playing the deep involving ones?

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  • leilei
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    leilei polycounter lvl 14
    I know it's happened to me. Sometimes a game's soundtrack even 'gamifies' a modeling process. UV mapping at this point becomes a Tetris variant.

    Shame it's not multiplayer. Blender verse never really took off.
  • Zombie Acorn
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    Whether working on programming or modeling/sculpting I still like to wind down with some games at the end of the day. I don't play as much as I used to, but my life has filled with other things to occupy my time.
  • ParoXum
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    ParoXum polycounter lvl 9
    I personally tend to get more satisfaction from creating them than playing them.
  • JostVice
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    JostVice polycounter lvl 12
    It is more fun to play if you've created it though... like driving your car in your map or something like that :) for me creating is awesome, though i always spend time thinking of how awesome it will be at the end when it is finished and ingame.

    Playing games is good too for reference, inspiration etc

    Also today's games get boring in a few hours anyway
  • xvampire
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    xvampire polycounter lvl 14
    the older I get, the more I refrain from doing things that doesn't give me long term benefit.
    sad truth. :(

    but on the flip side, I never satisfied playing available games, I just want change the way I want and play it. maybe thats why im making game O_o ...
  • biofrost
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    biofrost polycounter lvl 12
    A bit yes, but part of that is just because I'm not in high school anymore so I don't have as much free time. Id say about 5 hours or so playing games and 6 hours modeling, texturing etc... Granted this varies like if I am on a roll while working on something I may not play anything that day, but I find that not de-stresses me more than relaxing and playing a game(unless its a fighting game online then I tend to get more stressed)
  • Parnell
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    Parnell polycounter lvl 18
    The minute I started modeling/texturing I could never look at games the same way. I'd spend hours in EQ (this was a while ago) just running along walls and staring at objects. Then I started walking around in the real world looking at objects trying to break them down in meshes/texture maps etc. Talking with other artists they went through the same process. Years later I can turn off that habit but it's still there and will always be there. Deus Ex HR was the most recent game I could just turn my work brain off and play the game but I really had to lock myself down and even take time off work to let it all sink in.
    To some degree, I always picked apart games even in the Genesis days. Once I got to playing with the toolsets, games for the sake of playing games was never the same again. To be honest I don't mind it, I find making games and making game art more rewarding.
    B
  • biofrost
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    biofrost polycounter lvl 12
    I find my self doing that too, more than once I have been killed because I was walking looking at the ground or the wall.
  • passerby
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    passerby polycounter lvl 12
    biofrost wrote: »
    I find my self doing that too, more than once I have been killed because I was walking looking at the ground or the wall.

    thant happens to me so much, get killed because im busy looking at a mesh or material or taking screens of a cool effect i seen.
  • System
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    System admin
    Parnell wrote: »
    The minute I started modeling/texturing I could never look at games the same way. I'd spend hours in EQ (this was a while ago) just running along walls and staring at objects. Then I started walking around in the real world looking at objects trying to break them down in meshes/texture maps etc. Talking with other artists they went through the same process.

    +1 to all of the above.

    I still love playing games as much as I ever did, but sometimes I do wish I could 'revert' back to the mindset of someone who isn't a 3D Artist.
  • Blaisoid
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    Blaisoid polycounter lvl 7
    yeah, it's hard to enjoy everything in the same way if you know what's going on behind the scenes.

    also, i have the same thing going on with music. once i started making it myself i've become much more analitical about it and can't help but to hear it all separated into instrument tracks or layers of various fx, and all the little things that contribute to the whole feel.
    i know that in the past all distorted guitars would sound same for me. now i can't even recall what was it like to percieve music that way.
  • Azreality
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    I find myself looking at objects a lot in games and getting inspiration for projects I'm working on. It's interesting to look at how other artists put things together in games and then thinking about how you would do it differently, etc.

    Currently, I'm google eyed in SWTOR looking at all the hard surface modeling that went into that game. Some really good details that many just don't notice like (we) the artists do.
  • Snacuum
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    Snacuum polycounter lvl 9
    I've become a lot more critical than I used to be, since gameplay design fascinates me I often find myself quizzing the developers in my head over design choices as I play.

    Probably not critical enough... Just finished Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams on PS2 and I'm now wondering if the 60hrs was worth it.
  • gsokol
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    I keep telling myself that when I gets a jerb I'll actually try to play games more...

    Needless to say I'm backlogged on a lot of great games.
  • JacqueChoi
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    JacqueChoi polycounter
    I'm either in full-game mode, or full-art mode.

    I prefer linear games that are under 8 hours, or pickup n play iphone games.
  • chrisradsby
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    chrisradsby polycounter lvl 14
    Yeah, I'm with JacqueChoi on this one. I seem to lose all interest in playing video-games when I'm actually working with my own personal projects. I'm not in full art-mode all the time though, it usually lasts 2-3 weeks then I go over to 50/50 and sometimes full game-mode.

    Right now I'm in full art-mode , so spending all my energy working both with the art at work and my own personal stuff after the workhours are over.
  • Lamont
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    Lamont polycounter lvl 15
    I go on gaming/art(study) benders. So either I am playing a game from start to finish for enjoyment (8~25 hour games), or I spend a ton of time with C#, art or Japanese and don't play a thing.
  • Mezz
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    Mezz polycounter lvl 8
    gsokol wrote: »
    I keep telling myself that when I gets a jerb I'll actually try to play games more...

    Needless to say I'm backlogged on a lot of great games.

    Lol! Yup, basically this.
    I still make time for a game or two here and there, but it's certainly not what it used to be. I just don't want to take the focus away from my art. I can play a bit, but no more than a few hours here or there, when I want to get something done.

    Though, games that are just simple addictive puzzles often still get a lot of attention, since it's a nice relaxer for me I find.
  • Bruno Afonseca
    I stopped playing endless/multiplayer/MMO games. Now I just look for linear and shorter games like JacqueChoi said.
    I'm always working too much, so every minute of free time I get, I'd rather spend it outside in the sun, riding my bike or socializing!
  • Pangahas
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    Pangahas polycounter lvl 10
    For me personally ,at the moment I enjoy trying to actually make a game/game art more than I do spending time playing.It was when I realize I want to pursue a career in game dev.
  • JonathanLambert
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    JonathanLambert polycounter lvl 6
    I would play more but I don't have the time. It's 12hrs a day at work, shower, eat dinner, try to squeaze in some time with my wife and 7 yr old son, work on my portfolio until 11:00pm, sleep a few hours, and then start the process over at 4:30am. My wife has been very suportive and my son sits in my lap while I model. I probably spend 2-3 hours a week playing games but it will be worth it in the end. :)
  • Mark Dygert
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    Parnell wrote: »
    The minute I started modeling/texturing I could never look at games the same way. I'd spend hours in EQ (this was a while ago) just running along walls and staring at objects. Then I started walking around in the real world looking at objects trying to break them down in meshes/texture maps etc. Talking with other artists they went through the same process. Years later I can turn off that habit but it's still there and will always be there. Deus Ex HR was the most recent game I could just turn my work brain off and play the game but I really had to lock myself down and even take time off work to let it all sink in.
    To some degree, I always picked apart games even in the Genesis days. Once I got to playing with the toolsets, games for the sake of playing games was never the same again. To be honest I don't mind it, I find making games and making game art more rewarding.
    B
    +1 only replace EQ with Quake2 and Half-Life.
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    Strip Battlefield?
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    I'm like Jacque and Chris. I will art it up for a month then take a weekend or week off and get into a game. I don't really plan it. Just if a game comes out or I find a cool game then I'll take a slight break to breathe. I've actually found that when I do go back to making art I've not only got more energy for it but also leveled up my skills a bit. I think my 'eye' just gets tuned more while I'm taking breaks.

    When playing games I've stopped combing over them breaking things apart and just enjoying the experience. When I first started doing this I would do that with games, movies, whatever. It gets annoying to other people you're around, and it's tiresome. Just enjoying the ride in the story and gameplay is way more fun for me. Otherwise it's not a real break your brain is still in art mode.
  • Blaizer
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    Blaizer interpolator
    I'm the only one that still play games?

    For me, the weekends are for playing 4+ hours, and i barely can play 2 hours in a day. I wish i could play more, because in constrast to all of you, i still see the games as a gamer. I know too many polycounters that after the work, they go to World of Warcraft :).

    I'm sure that most of you when you finish your daily job, you don't touch the 3d anymore... There are still people that play games like always, and others that prefer to spend their time chatting or writing on forums like this one :P.

    For me, the games are a way to disconnect from the work, like films or music. With Dead island as example i have enjoyed a lot, and i bought recently the second dlc. i'm also awaiting my copies of kingdoms of amalur, Darkness II limited edition and COD MW3.

    The other day at lunch i was enjoying Pinneaple Smash Crew, a jewel.

    I still have passion for games :D, and i play most of them cuz they are a heavy source of inspiration and reference in what design refers.
  • Drav
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    Drav polycounter lvl 9
    Well this is what I was wondering Blaizer, am I missing out on inspiration from not playing enough games? I still have yet to play GTA 3 or 4, mass efect, dead space, Uncharted.....the list goes on!
  • JR
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    JR polycounter lvl 15
    I just play old arcade games, and sometimes, some old Sega Genesis titles. I don´t have patience to spend a lot of hours or days, to complete a game. I love games like MS Pac Man, Golden Axe, SF2, Metal Slug and so on. They are simple, they are fun, they are classic. And inspirational.

    They help me to never forget that you could do something really great keeping everything clear and simple.
  • mdeforge
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    mdeforge polycounter lvl 14
    Lol, yes! I'm not crazy! I was thinking about this the other day... about how when I'm playing a good game, I no longer think, "Man, I could play this forever." Instead I think, "Man, I can't wait to hit a save point so I can return to Unity and start making something." I think I find my joy in that than *most* games these days. Skyrim and Cave Story+ really destroyed my work ethic, lol.
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