Home General Discussion

What games influenced you the most when choosing a career in game development?

1
polycounter lvl 8
Offline / Send Message
MaVCArt polycounter lvl 8
So, I've recently been setting my first steps into the games industry, and looking back, I've noticed that sadly, the biggest game franchises in the history of gaming so far, all started when I was still a kid, playing them. Of course, a lot of them had a big influence on my decision to pursue a career in game development, some more than others.

A good example of this, for me personally, would be the Uncharted series, the half life games, the counter-strike games and, of course, star wars: battlefront 2. Obviously there were lots of other games that influenced this decision on my part, but I'm not going to bore you with the list.

What I think would be fun to find out is the top three games for each of you that influenced you the most when choosing a career in game development.

for me it is:

Star Wars Battlefront 2
Uncharted: Drake's Deception
Assassin's Creed

Replies

  • biofrost
    Offline / Send Message
    biofrost polycounter lvl 12
    My number one is Shenmue. Shenmue had such a wonderful world to explore. It was one of the first true open world 3d games on consoles. People had lives they lived, would go to the store on different days etc.. Not since Shenmue have I been so immersed in a game world and is the largest reason I want to be in the industry.

    Second up would have to be Sonic. That hedgehog was their all throughout my childhood and I've stood by him though the worst and his now uprising. Bright colors and fast platforming is not something too common now a days..

    Last up I guess would be a tie. A mix of Outrun and Halo. Yeah I know its a odd combo. Outrun for its great environments(original and Outrun 2) and halo for its immersive world and great gameplay
  • reverendK
    Offline / Send Message
    reverendK polycounter lvl 7
    first: Super metroid. but i didn't know it at the time.
    then: Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. changed my art forever.
  • Kwramm
    Offline / Send Message
    Kwramm interpolator
    Maniac Mansion (+the other Lucas and Sierra adventures) because of the story and the cool pixel graphics. Pirates and Ultima V because of their sandbox design....yes, those were the good C64 days :)

    When I had my C64 and my PC I always wanted to make something that tells an interactive story or features a world to explore. Escaping into a digitial world that allowed you to interact with it and with its characters is just great. And that's why I still love games like Skyrim so much. I hope some day in the future I manage to work on a title like Skyrim, or one of the Bioware RPGs. But for now I'm having too much fun at my current job.
  • Sean VanGorder
    I remember stepping out of the crashed drop ship for the first time in Halo:CE and seeing the epic environment surrounding me and just being amazed. So that and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion were probably my two biggest influences.
  • daphz
    Offline / Send Message
    daphz polycounter lvl 13
    Zelda! mainly Majoras mask, and Links awakening. Metroid Prime 1&2, and Shadow of the colossus. If I had to live in a video game, I would gladly hop in any of those worlds.
  • GrevSev
    Offline / Send Message
    GrevSev polycounter lvl 9
    Metroid Prime 2
    Mass Effect 2
    Majoras Mask

    These 3 sealed my fate completely for a many reasons
  • Froyok
    Offline / Send Message
    Froyok greentooth
    Haaa, Half-life 1 and Worldcraft of course ! <3

    This is the one that made me thought "I want to make games too".
  • boyluya
    Offline / Send Message
    boyluya polycounter lvl 10
    Been a gamer since grade school but Gears of War made me decide to work in the game industry.
  • joeriv
    Offline / Send Message
    joeriv polycounter lvl 7
    eve online, but actually mostly because of fanfest and the presentations CCP did there.
  • Joshua Stubbles
    Offline / Send Message
    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    Colony Wars/Magic Carpet/Mario64/Ocarina of Time/Twisted Metal 2/Myth and Myth II

    Those games pretty much solidified my desire to create environments.
  • Farfarer
    Deus Ex was the first game that really showed me what games could do. There hasn't been another game that's surpassed it yet, but it was Half-Life 2 was the game that really got me into game art, though (after some failed attempts at Quake 2 skins).
  • Renaud Galand
    Offline / Send Message
    Renaud Galand polycounter lvl 19
    quake 2 and Half-life, period.
  • Joopson
    Offline / Send Message
    Joopson quad damage
    Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion...
  • imyj
    Offline / Send Message
    imyj polycounter lvl 13
    Delta Force 1
    Counterstrike
    Every game by R*/DICE
  • Autocon
    Offline / Send Message
    Autocon polycounter lvl 15
    Zelda Ocarina of Time

    The first time I KNEW I wanted to make games for a living instead of just playing them all day was when playing Zelda Ocarina of Time. Roaming around that world, especially Hyrule field for the first time had me awe struck. I went from, I want to play video games all day! To, I want to build worlds like these that people can escape to for hours and hours of enjoyment.

    At the time I had no idea what it took to make a video game, what an artist was, or any of that as I was like 12? or some shit. But I knew I wanted to create the worlds I got lost and fell in love with. And so that was my goal and here I am today :)
  • Goeddy
    Offline / Send Message
    Goeddy greentooth
    Fable, Zelda the Windwaker and most important: Warcraft 3
    Importing custom skins was so damn easy that you just couldn´t resist making your own content.
  • JamesWild
    Offline / Send Message
    JamesWild polycounter lvl 8
    Temporary insanity
  • passerby
    Offline / Send Message
    passerby polycounter lvl 12
    For me it was Zelda Ocarina of Time that first got me interested in games as more than just something to play.

    But it was Half-Life 1 that really got me into thing. Found my self looking at the files in its game directory only to discover worldcraft editor being there. Than countless hours of my life were spent in that editor.

    Than it was seeing mods like natural selection 1 that got me thinking about making textures and models for games and missing.
  • Fwap
    Offline / Send Message
    Fwap polycounter lvl 13
    Morrowind and Star Wars Galaxies fo sho.
    Always been a huge fan of SW and jim henson films like the dark crystal for instance.

    I was drawn to games rather than film and TV because, those world in video games could last you a lifetime, whereas the worlds in movies, only last about 2 hours, then i go kicking and screaming back to my dull reality, where Wookiees aren't my best friend :(
  • Kwramm
    Offline / Send Message
    Kwramm interpolator
    Fwap wrote: »
    I was drawn to games rather than film and TV because, those world in video games could last you a lifetime, whereas the worlds in movies, only last about 2 hours, then i go kicking and screaming back to my dull reality, where Wookiees aren't my best friend :(

    That's an interesting way to see it. Originally I was drawn more to film because a good movie you can watch in 30 - 40 years from now, but try getting a good game to run on old hardware... makes me wonder if my old 486 PC still works
  • Bal
    Offline / Send Message
    Bal polycounter lvl 17
    Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3D, and Quake.
    Those are the three that got me firmly into game editing, even if the actual games aren't necessarily the ones that have influenced me the most (except Quake, which is still in my all-time top 10 games).

    Hard to say for actual influence otherwise, probably Metroid, Deus Ex... there would be so many to name.
  • Bek
    Offline / Send Message
    Bek interpolator
    Farfarer wrote: »
    Deus Ex was the first game that really showed me what games could do. There hasn't been another game that's surpassed it yet, but it was Half-Life 2 was the game that really got me into game art, though (after some failed attempts at Quake 2 skins).

    +1, Deus Ex is the most amazing game I have ever played. I think HR and Dishonored came pretty close to its level though, which is awesome after all these years (Possibly an exaggeration since I first played Dx1 in 2009 I think).

    2nd I'd have to say Oblivion, not because it's a very good game, but purely because it got me started with playing around with construction kits. Kinda cool that a mod I released when I was 13 is still on the old planetelderscrolls website.

    3rd... Planescape: Torment. Although that's more inspiration to be a writer more than a game designer :poly124:
  • glottis8
    Offline / Send Message
    glottis8 polycounter lvl 9
    Final Finatasy cinematics. Parasite Eve. Most of lucasarts oldschool game, like Curse of Monkey Island. Super Punch Out. F-Zero. Metroid. Shenmue... all games really....
  • EmAr
    Offline / Send Message
    EmAr polycounter lvl 18
    Quake 3 and Team Fortress Classic started it for me.
  • almighty_gir
    Offline / Send Message
    almighty_gir ngon master
    quake 3, half life, dragonball z (tv show), jedi knight 2: jedi academy.

    i got into modding Q3, and then half life due to my then love of DBZ, so i joined a DBZ mod for half life. and i started making other characters for jedi academy.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    Warcraft III all the way.

    Cinematics that were 10years ahead of their time and an amazing, incredible, godly map editor sealed the deal for me. Even though I didn't know a lick of 3D back then, I kept on making map after map with the eventual goal of making a map with *gasp* custom models.

    The story was fantastic (for an RTS) but more importantly it built a world. The first game that made me 'get' a world, see how it would work and immersed me in it to where I could suspend my disbelief.

    The control was tight, the level of entry low and the skill ceiling high with a bursting modding and competitive scene.

    I could gush about that game for hours...
  • Nomad6
    Offline / Send Message
    Nomad6 polycounter lvl 4
    Half life 1 (SP & MP)
  • uncle
    Spudnik wrote: »
    Warcraft III all the way.

    Most of Blizzard games, but this one is most significant. W3, the bridge between my childhood an adulthood :). Sadly I don't believe there will be a sequel worthy of its predecessor, if ever done.

    Also, my first RPG, ALbion (RIP Blue Byte). The rich alien world just blew my mind. It had substance and artistic fidelity.
    albion-image725826.jpg
    albion2.gif
    dosbox2009-10-0819-33-53-95.jpg
  • WarrenM
    Old man alert! Doom and Quake. Once I discovered level editors, I was done for.
  • Ark
    Offline / Send Message
    Ark polycounter lvl 11
    Definitely Half-Life, discovering Worldcraft on the CD, then finding all the other maps people had made and discovering modding as a whole.
  • jordan.kocon
    Offline / Send Message
    jordan.kocon polycounter lvl 13
    Diablo 2, GTA 3, L4D :)
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    MechWarrior II, Total Annihilation, and probably Deus Ex.

    It doesn't really seem like almost 15 years ago, y'know...?
  • d1ver
    Offline / Send Message
    d1ver polycounter lvl 14
    Is it bad that I liked all of them?
    The sheer fact that there was life on the other side of the screen just blew me away.

    From Mario to Mortal Kombat 1 to Wolfenstein, Doom, Heretic, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Prince of Persia (1,2), Prehistoric and even Fury of the Furries :D

    Later on major inspirations were

    GTA, MGS and Final Fantasy :)
  • SaferDan
    Offline / Send Message
    SaferDan polycounter lvl 14
    Tomb Raider 1. That first level, with the cinematic and those doors opening at the start, excitement wasn't the word!
  • Farfarer
    Fwap wrote: »
    I was drawn to games rather than film and TV because, those world in video games could last you a lifetime, whereas the worlds in movies, only last about 2 hours, then i go kicking and screaming back to my dull reality, where Wookiees aren't my best friend :(
    I originally started down the route of film/TV 'cause 3D animation seemed cool, but I really didn't like the limiting factor that it's all just rendered down to an unchangeable series of 2D pictures. Games let you actually walk around inside the scene and interact with the things you made and that's what made them better to me.
  • Mark Dygert
    Doom, in high school about a year after it came out I learned you could change the game and make levels, which I did with a buddy of mine, we also did dial in multi-player. We had so much fun making custom maps and playing against each other. It was a pain in the ass there was no one around to ask we just had to figure it out.

    Actually probably before I even started playing games, I loved legos and lincon logs. I would use blankets and anything I could find to build bases for my Star Wars and GI Joes. My backyard was endor and when it snowed... oh man it was magic... It was like the whole world was covered in clay and begging to be twisted into some kind of base or fort. Where I grew up it gets dark at 4:30 and I got home from school at 3:30 so I had an hour to go nuts in the show and often had to be dragged back inside.

    I didn't get back into editing until Half-Life and Unreal Tournament came along. I got into mods and dabbled with characters and weapons a bit, textures and some simple code and I was hooked. Suddenly there where tons of people that had the same bazaar interest to make weird and cool characters and frag each other.

    Then just about every PC game that shipped came with tools and ways to tweak it and I went from game to game seeing how they did things and making custom content. Every Unreal based game, Star Craft, Jedi Knight, Dawn of War, FarCry... There where so many I have trouble remembering them all.

    When piracy started to become an issue and places started locking things down a bit more especially when things started to shift to the consoles, the pool of editable games grew really small for a while. Then the major engines started being released on their own so you could build and create without having to tweak a game.
  • Arno
    Offline / Send Message
    Arno polycounter lvl 8
    Diablo 2 !!!
    Legend of Zelda

    Also Fire emblem and the first Fable.
  • .morph3us
    Offline / Send Message
    .morph3us polycounter lvl 14
    Spudnik wrote: »
    Warcraft III all the way.


    definatly!
    was scanning the first page and worried there was no wc3 going on, good that its one the second page :)

    i couldnt really play well, so i started making maps. but only with ingame models it sucked, so i started making my own.
  • leleuxart
    Offline / Send Message
    leleuxart polycounter lvl 12
    Halo 1 and 2, and probably UT2k4. Playing those games all the time made me really want to do something with games, which back then was just become a 'professional' gamer. It wasn't until I started playing even more that I paid attention to the art side of them.
  • Justin Meisse
    Offline / Send Message
    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 19
    Quake - I modded Doom & messed around with RSD Gamemaker before that but it wasn't until I got the internet and started modding Quake that I realized I could possibly make a career out of this.
  • Thegodzero
    Offline / Send Message
    Thegodzero polycounter lvl 18
    Ultima 7, Starcraft, Halo, and Fable.
  • Acid_Wire
    Definitely Metal Gear Solid 2, Quake 2, Summoner 2 and (mostly) Unreal Tournament - the game that finally convinced me to get UnrealEd and abuse it to the point of overheating my first laptop many, many times.
  • MaVCArt
    Offline / Send Message
    MaVCArt polycounter lvl 8
    interesting response to this - as expected the big classics like quake, doom and half-life are the prominent ones, but i must say i've seen some surprising titles that i never heard about before (to my shame). also, I must say that it's a great personal regret of mine that I never went into modding before I started game art school; I've been wanting to pick it up ever since, but never found the time for it...

    so yeah, great read guys, thanks for the responses! anyone else? ^^
  • StephenVyas
    Offline / Send Message
    StephenVyas polycounter lvl 18
    Doom1/2
    Quakeworld
    Marathon
  • SouthpawSid
    Offline / Send Message
    SouthpawSid polycounter lvl 7
    I'm going to get so much shit for this, but the biggest inspirational game for me so far has been MW2 while I was in college studying to be an environment artist.

    The favelas mission in particular.

    Oh, and Halo CE of course. :D
  • Jon Rush
  • fmnoor
    Offline / Send Message
    fmnoor polycounter lvl 17
    Another World and Prince of Persia 2.

    Started tinkering with level creation with Quake 1 and Quark
  • moose
    Offline / Send Message
    moose polycount sponsor
    Quake 3, Unreal, Unreal Tournament
  • praetus
    Offline / Send Message
    praetus interpolator
    Duke Nukem 3D. It was the first game I played where you could go online and download maps that other people had made. I tooled around with the editor but could never understand it. Still, it is what sparked off my interest.
  • Isaiah Sherman
    Offline / Send Message
    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    Secret of Mana 2, Diablo 2, Worms: Armageddon and ES: Morrowind are the games I messed with the most with editors / emulators.

    Some various GB games I had on emulator on PC, I would go in to the "code" and change things around, felt cool bro.
1
Sign In or Register to comment.