I get asked a lot of questions from modders about how if I can rate their success or which direction they should be walking in to one day become a successful video game designer. A lot of the time I can only tell them it is a long hard and sometimes a very unfulfilling role, I won't lie to you about this it is a dream that very few seem to stick with because of the amount of time required it takes to reach a point where people notice your work. Telling the people who ask that, sometimes sucks.
We are not talking about weeks or months here, we are talking about years of hard dedicated work. The ones that make it in this now over inflated world we live in are the ones who live, breath and love modding/developing so much they are willing to spend the time needed to get where they want to be, no matter the length of time.
I started to write this after I was linked to a video that a web comic artist put together, sure it does not talk about game developing but it sure does touch on the same mindset you should have.
If there is one thing I learned from all my time in College is that you make your own success, and that sometimes takes a very long time. Hopefully this helps some of you put aside that mad rush you currently have to make it big, slow down and enjoy the process.
So true.. it's kind of sad to see a lot of people that are like "I wanna be a game designer" give up when they realize it takes a lot of work.
I'd like to become a 'game coder' myself.. eventually. But I know it's going to take a lot a work and time. And I'm not planning to give up. Dreams won't come true by themselves (most of the time), so you'll have to work for it ^^
This is very true. And a very important point at that. I constantly meet people who are in it for the "short-time-success" without realising, that that is something that rarely ever happens. They read/hear something about people who came up with an incredible idea, which boosted them to the top and all of a sudden they feel they can do it, too. Gotta give them some credit for trying, but the fact of the matter is, that you need to invest a lot of time, energy, in most cases money and you need to have the willpower to stick it out. Otherwise everything that you have done will have been for nothing, and THAT really would be a shame.
Just look at the modding world, thousands of great mod ideas hit the scene on a regular basis and only a few months down the line, they call it quits because something didn't quite work out the way they had thought it would. I can only advise current and hopeful modders to take this article and video to heart.
thats very true. i like it.
Nice movie. I do not believe that people who go only for success will make it big that easily.
Designing games or mods has to be a passion above everything else and if it's a passion, you'll keep doing it, whether you're successful or not.
By this logic... letsssee let me do some math now.
Hm... dang looks like I still got 4-5 years to go.
Still, if nothing else the story in the video is uplifting when you're really down about taking forever and worrying about not being good enough fast enough.
Great video. After all whats 12 years of doing something that you enjoy.
Love it. So true.
In my world no one would know how old they were, or what their date of birth is.
You'd just be alive and living, as appossed to almost 30.
Excellent article with many good points that everyone should take note of.
This is a must see for everyone out there.
"Don't give up!"
I enjoy modding, therefore I will keep doing it until I'm sick of it.
It's a shame that people drop out of creative industries like game, indie, and mod creation so easily without even truly trying. However on the bright side... less competition! ;)
This is great. Who is the author?
2 Years and I'll be more successful at what I do? (in theory)
Excellent.
But this was very uplifting. Merci.
If you love what you're doing you won't stop doing it. And if you don't love it its not worth doing at all.
Makes sense. Great video! :)
I dunno.