Having just over a month left before starting my last academic year doing Computer Games Design at UCS, I've already been thinking about what I want to learn from my dissertation. Having been inspired by Dong Nguyen, the Flappy Bird creator, who was at one point making 50 000$ a day, I've decided that in the near future I'll be creating simple and addicting 2D computer games for mobile devices using Unity.
Before this can happen however, I need to break down all of my strengths and weaknesses, to see whether I'm prepared to develop a fully working game as of now.
Having taken part in the Dare to be Digital competition, where I was given a chance to see and experience what a professional gaming industry feels like, I've learned that when it comes to producing a game for a mobile device, there's a need for the following people:
So how confident do I feel about each quality?
How do I want to structure my dissertation?
So let's break things down:
So what sort of dissertation will provide all these points?
My idea is to replicate mechanics of a range of computer games that have already been done before. I'll pick games that are simple enough to do within a specified time scale and also that will teach me something new not only about C#, but also Unity.
As an example let's pick the Impossible Game. If I was to make a short prototype of it, while carefully replicating all its mechanics, I'd have learnt how to:
In conclusion, I know what my strengths and weaknesses are, and I've got a brief plan A for my dissertation. It doesn't mean, that this is the plan I'm going for - maybe the lecturers won't like it, maybe I'll change my mind. Either way, I know that whatever I'm going to do in the end, will involve learning C#, because this is the one quality I'm currently missing, in order to achieve my aspirations.
Having taken part in the Dare to be Digital competition, where I was given a chance to see and experience what a professional gaming industry feels like, I've learned that when it comes to producing a game for a mobile device, there's a need for the following people:
- Designer - comes up with the game idea and pushes it in the right direction
- Manager - makes sure all deadlines are met
- Artist - provides all the art assets, and puts the game in the right mood
- Animator - brings the game to life by providing visual effects
- Sound engineer - reinforces aesthetics using audio elements
- Programmer - turns all the theory into practice by making things interactive with code
So how confident do I feel about each quality?
- Designer - my course has taught me a lot of design work, so I'm comfortable that I can design creative and fun games, and improve the right things to make it better
- Manager - I've successfully managed 2 full projects, and generally I'm a very organised person, so I think being a manager is my strength
- Artist - I can use Photoshop and Illustrator, I've never had any issues with my artwork, so I don't think I should improve upon being an artist as of yet
- Animator - during Dare to be Digital, all responsibilities regarding animation laid on my shoulders and quoting my team mates I've done a good job, so animating is not my current worry
- Sound engineer - I can get sounds I need off the internet, without running the risk of copyright infringement, since most of them aren't under any copyright law, so I'm not interested in this area
- Programmer - I've coded in ActionScript before, however Unity only supports JavaScript, Boo and the more advanced C#. I cannot code in neither of them
As it turns out - coding is the aspect that I need to undertake in the coming academic year, in order to become an independent mobile game developer, and successfully make games in Unity. What comes with learning code, is also operating Unity itself. Certain functions and variables will provide different functionalities in the Unity engine, so I'll find myself learning new things about the software as well. Being ambitious and thoughtful, I decided that I want to code in a language which has the biggest potential in the gaming industry - C#.
How do I want to structure my dissertation?
Having spoken to a couple year above computer games design students who have gotten 1sts and 2.1s, I realised that apart from having an aim, I also need a structure. I can't just say - I'm going to learn C#; I've got to plan out how I'm going to execute that effectively.
So let's break things down:
- I want to mainly focus on learning C# and the Unity engine altogether, which means that I don't want to do any design, art, or audio work
- Since I'm a C# newbie I need to work my way up at the right pace, so taking things slowly without delusionally going for impossible tasks is a must
- I need deadlines taking place multiple times throughout each semester, to keep me going nonstop
My idea is to replicate mechanics of a range of computer games that have already been done before. I'll pick games that are simple enough to do within a specified time scale and also that will teach me something new not only about C#, but also Unity.
As an example let's pick the Impossible Game. If I was to make a short prototype of it, while carefully replicating all its mechanics, I'd have learnt how to:
- put gravity
- allow a place holder to jump
- scroll place holders across the screen
- make one place holder destroy another
- make one place holder support another when its jumped on
Replicating the mechanics of this one simple game would already teach me a lot of things, that would prove useful in the future considering I want to be developing simple addicting games similar to that.
In conclusion, I know what my strengths and weaknesses are, and I've got a brief plan A for my dissertation. It doesn't mean, that this is the plan I'm going for - maybe the lecturers won't like it, maybe I'll change my mind. Either way, I know that whatever I'm going to do in the end, will involve learning C#, because this is the one quality I'm currently missing, in order to achieve my aspirations.
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