Believe me when I say, however
complicated you think games are to make, they are a lot, lot more
complicated than that. I have never felt so out of my depth as I did
during the first couple of years. People throw around the phrase
“mind blown” all the time, but during the first week my mind was
blown in a such a tangible way it was like a fuse had actually popped
in my head. Just Google 'global illumination', 'radiosity',
'inverse kinematics', 'cloth dynamics' or 'particle physics' and
you'll see what I mean. Nonetheless, the past 3½ years have been
quite a roller coaster ride and I wouldn't change a thing. I got my
name on the credits of 4 released games and 2 others that are still
in development and I've worked with guys who helped create some
genuine classics, including Blur, Warhammer Online, Timesplitters,
GTA, The Sims, Tomb Raider, Lemmings, Micro Maniacs and James Pond.
Sadly, there's little or no future for
me in the games industry and I am unlikely to ever return. When I
started I had dreams of becoming a designer or maybe even a producer.
That idea quickly went out of the window when I discovered “crunch
time” meant working 12 to 18 hour days for months on end in order
to get everything done on time – a problem I was spared in my role.
And so it's time to come back down to
earth, stop bumming around in jeans and a T-shirt and get a “grown
up job”. I start my new job at the beginning of June, which not
only shows there are jobs out there if you look, but also gives me
some time to play few more games before I start.
MTW
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