It was late in 2012 that I became a Windows Games Ambassador, organised by Microsoft, the Windows Games Ambassador Scheme encourages students to develop games and release them online through the Windows Store and Windows Phone App Marketplace. It was through this that in the start of 2013, that I step-up my game development efforts by producing more content and be more active in the games development community.
This included updating the website you are looking at now into a more professional looking site, I created a Facebook page, an IndieDB Company Page and got myself more involved with the Indie Game Community such as Newgrounds, TIGSource, IndieDB, and much recently, GameJolt.
I attended more events, such as LAUNCH Studio Showcase, LAUNCH Conference and Eurogamer, as well Norwich Games Expo as an exhibitor. I even took part in game jams such as Global Game Jam and Ludum Dare, as well as GBJam and the Newgrounds TouchJam, not to mention running my own games jam back in May, which was one hell of an experience.
Most importantly, I've been working on more games, both in and outside of education. Most of these games were produced during game jams, with some projects continuing outside of the competitions, such as GridLocked from the Unity Hackathon and Secret of Escape from the Midsummer Jam Week. As of writing, I have completed eight games/demos and three academic projects in 2013, which can be verified by the amount of games listed on the site for that year, with dates of completion. This is more than twice my completion rate from 2012, which had only five academic projects completed and sadly no games. My increased effort was noticed in November when I was one of ten candidates short-listed for the Best Portfolio LAUNCH Award, and while I didn't win, I find that being short-listed is a considerable achievement for a second year student, going up against graduates and even a master degree student!
So in conclusion, 2013 was clearly a year for me to step my game up! Being more active has shown me a lot about getting yourself known, getting to know others and earning feedback for your hard work! Now I need to see if I can keep up that level of work in 2014, which won't be easy with my additional work, and my eventual return to University for my final year. In the meantime, how about we take a bit of time to celebrate, maybe by setting off a few fireworks, going on a wild ride, looking at what is yet to come, or maybe enjoy the last moments of this current year.
Either way, hope everyone has a happy new year, and hope your 2014 will be better than 2013!
