Indiegogo campaign - Journey of a Game Designer :)
Dear Make Games SA users, would you please be so awesome and take a look at my Indiegogo campaign? http://igg.me/p/801148/x/3337836
I created the campaign to raise funds/awareness for my cause. If everything works out, I will be leaving for Holland in August, as I will begin my Game Design studies in September. I need ALL the help that I can get, as at the moment, I, nor my family have the necessary funds to send me to Holland.
For safety sake, I need about R10 000 - R15000 to get me to Holland as flight ticket prices range from R4500 and upwards. The remaining money I will use to cover a months rent, until I receive my allowance in the beginning of September. A room's rent is about 300 euro, which is about R4500(current exchange rate)
My tuition and monthly allowance will be covered by the Dutch government, when my studies begin in September. So in essence, I need your help to just get me there :)
I will be doing a 4 year course which will be focusing on the actual design and producing side of games. I will work with the programmers and visual artists to create the characters and world which they will occupy. A big portion of the course revolves around conceptualizing the narrative(s) and character(s) for games. This is what I have always wanted to do, and now, I finally have the opportunity to do so.
In my 4th year, I will be partaking in a 20 week internship program where I will have the chance to intern at companies such as DICE, Ubisoft and Guerrilla Games. That in itself would be a dream come true for most... Without your feedback and help, I wont be able to make this dream a reality.
If you cannot contribute to my cause, you can always spread the word of my cause through posting/liking the link on Facebook or Twitter. The more likes the campaign receives, the more ad-space it generates on Indiegogo.
Lastly, if you do not fancy the idea of contributing over Indiegogo, you can always drop me a message in my inbox, or email me at juaburg@gmail.com. Also if you have any questions regarding me or my cause, ask away.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post, I really appreciate it :)
Kind regards,
Juan
I created the campaign to raise funds/awareness for my cause. If everything works out, I will be leaving for Holland in August, as I will begin my Game Design studies in September. I need ALL the help that I can get, as at the moment, I, nor my family have the necessary funds to send me to Holland.
For safety sake, I need about R10 000 - R15000 to get me to Holland as flight ticket prices range from R4500 and upwards. The remaining money I will use to cover a months rent, until I receive my allowance in the beginning of September. A room's rent is about 300 euro, which is about R4500(current exchange rate)
My tuition and monthly allowance will be covered by the Dutch government, when my studies begin in September. So in essence, I need your help to just get me there :)
I will be doing a 4 year course which will be focusing on the actual design and producing side of games. I will work with the programmers and visual artists to create the characters and world which they will occupy. A big portion of the course revolves around conceptualizing the narrative(s) and character(s) for games. This is what I have always wanted to do, and now, I finally have the opportunity to do so.
In my 4th year, I will be partaking in a 20 week internship program where I will have the chance to intern at companies such as DICE, Ubisoft and Guerrilla Games. That in itself would be a dream come true for most... Without your feedback and help, I wont be able to make this dream a reality.
If you cannot contribute to my cause, you can always spread the word of my cause through posting/liking the link on Facebook or Twitter. The more likes the campaign receives, the more ad-space it generates on Indiegogo.
Lastly, if you do not fancy the idea of contributing over Indiegogo, you can always drop me a message in my inbox, or email me at juaburg@gmail.com. Also if you have any questions regarding me or my cause, ask away.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post, I really appreciate it :)
Kind regards,
Juan
Comments
The ones who've returned after a decade of working overseas are a treasure trove of knowledge, though what I've gained is more about what it's like to be working in a AAA studio, or to be working with super-specialised people, and how AAA has lots of cons to come with its perks, and why they've actually returned to SA, and not so much in terms of actually being more skilled, because the vast majority of that information has been quite freely available in one of the many game development communities online. I don't think going overseas helps you to skill up all that much (though maybe that's a game art thing, where Polycount, GameArtisans and our other game art communities do so much online already), so much as giving more perspective.
It's hard for me to feel as if helping you leave is a good thing, when several locals have found success despite crap internet, spotty electricity, and whatever other hurdles they've fought through. You talk of your dream being to make amazing, lasting experiences, and I don't really see why you can't do that here. Other people have.
Congrats on getting your fees paid for though. I wish you the best of luck!
Also hit up reddit.com (find the right /r/)
etc.
@Bischonator
Thanks for the tips, I am going to give it a shot :)
@Elyaradine
At this given moment in time, I just feel that it is the right thing for me to do. We all have had a moment in our lives where something just keeps on telling you: "GO FOR IT". And this is one of those moments. It is hard to explain it, it just feels right.
The program is unlike any other program that we currently have in SA, as it focuses on conceptualizing games and seeing them through from pre-production to the actual finished product. The bulk of the course revolves around game design elements and how to ensure that you design a solid game. I will also meet a bunch of talented people as well as industry insiders, once I embark on my 4th year internship. To be honest, I want to work at an AAA studio for a few years to see how the studio system works, build some contacts and ultimately, bring back what I have learned to benefit the SA Game Dev scene. Sometimes it is better to seek "mentorship" or help elsewhere, to build yourself up, before you can go on your own and create a success.
@Angrymoose
That is a verrry good idea, thanks :) I will drop them a mail.
Thanks again for all the input. I have to make this work.
Enjoy the rest of your day. Please spread the word of my cause :)
Kind regards,
Juan
But, frankly, what you're embarking on sounds pretty freaking awesome.
I never really had the passion for working in AAA, I think AAA is uninteresting not because people aren't trying to make interesting games but because of the constraints (it's pretty constraining on a game's vision even working in a team of 6), but if I'd had the chance to do what you're trying to do when I needed to study, I would have killed to take that opportunity.
Plus, if you're keen on AAA, right now there isn't much in the way of opportunity in SA (though we'll see what the future holds).
As it stands right now, I can't really push out your message to other people. I'm sorry, but the people that follow me on twitter are all extremely aware of the indie game scene and, as such, are going to react much the same way as I did when I watched your appeal video: "Why isn't he talking about wanting to make things like Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, Journey or Bastion?"
I think it might be a really good idea for you to immerse yourself in what's going on with regards to narrative and character building in the truly ground-breaking games that are coming out of indie developers that are taking risks and having an impact. You're not going to find the sorts of things you sound like you want to be able to achieve through AAA development, which is why you're frustrated with the AAA games you keep talking about playing. That frustration isn't unique to you, there are others that share it and they're doing things about it! Look for what they've done, maybe? Except that you're not really going for it... Yes, you might be going for the opportunity, but you're putting this huge barrier to your progress in your way when it really doesn't have to be there. Assuming that yes, this studying is going to help (which is debateable for a whole host of reasons, mostly the AAA fixation with avoiding risk), R15K isn't that much money. You've already got your 3 year film qualification, right? Why not use that to write scripts and characters for Broforce? I mean, you've applied for that, right? If you haven't, get more involved here and stop missing opportunities! (Did you know about the writer's workshop that happened earlier this month?)
I'm not trying to be harsh here, if you want to study more overseas, that's great. Just be sure that you're not looking for other people's permission to do what you want to do. You don't need another degree to make games, you can start now - no coding required. You don't need other people to give you the go-ahead with money either, all you need to do is show people that their support is going to help someone that's already working their butt off to do what they dream of doing.
Right now, your Indiegogo campaign could be a lot better at communicating that: Put some games up that you've worked on; Explain your gallery better (I have no idea what's going on there); Show how much you've earned towards the travel costs already doing whatever; Demonstrate more knowledge and awareness of the frontiers of narrative in game development; Use your film background to do analyses of specific games from that perspective, switch between AAA and indie games.
But most of all, don't leave your dream's success at the mercy of the charity of others. I'd wish you luck, but my point is that you don't need it!
-edit- Looks like edits kill <3s... Doh, all I wanted to add was 1 sentence!
Look at the stuff Brendon Chung makes. Its simple but its functional.
The easiest way to get a job in the game industry is to give yourself a job in the game industry..
I think that the games created by the likes of Gearbox and DICE will never be truly character driven pieces until those studios start to give their games to a proper auteur - a place where indies shine (Phil Fish, Edmund McMillen, and people like Steve Gaynor who had AAA experience before going indie).
The few games that are driven by character and story are only given to a very select number of people (for example Bioshock or The Last Of Us) who have YEARS of work under their belt actually building games.
The problem with people learning 'game design' is that most of the people that they want to emulate have no official 'game design' degree - they are programmers or artists that work their way up in companies before being given the mantle of 'game designer'.
Without a creative skill that's directly involved in creating a game the chances are you will never reach AAA Game Designer status.
Look at someone like Neil Druckmann. He worked at Naughty Dog as a programmer for 5 years before being made lead on Uncharted 2 - and even then he had been in the industry for around a decade. It then took another 4 years before he was given any sort of creative freedom to push his own ideas forward.
He is also an illustrator and a writer along with being a programmer.
If you are wanting to have some sort of effect on crafting AAA titles, you aren't going to get there by studying 'game design'. You will get there by studying programming and art, and working on writing and design in between your studies. You will get WAY more out of it by studying writing separately from 'game design', and using those skills in combination with your programming or art studies.
A company isn't going to hire a 'game designer' when they have pools of hundreds of people who have years of experience working on the technical aspects of making games from their own ranks.