The Blog That I've done

This is the space of an unemployed International Bussiness graduate chronicling his journey to become a Game Designer from scratch...from home.

[carlosdomr]

We made this. Our first one. “Mega Man through the eyes of a mexican artisan.” - Guadalupe Carrillo & Carlos Dom.  

Store >>>> https://www.etsy.com/mx/listing/281573986/mexican-huichol-beaded-skull-mega-man-re?ref=shop_home_active_7

[carlosdomr]

[carlosdomr]

MY VERY FIRST GAME JAM:    BIT- JAM

Last week I participated in my very first game jam, the Bit Jam which was hosted by one of my favorite game developers out there; Daniel Linssen (Birdsong and Roguelight).

In this jam the point was to make a game with a very constraining set of rules:

A 1 bit game , with 1 pixel by 1 pixel of display, with maximum use 2 colors, no sound, text or additional feedback.

And I figured this would be the perfect jam for a rookie like me, one that is more focused on game design rather than game programming.  I was so excited because I would design a game so cool and unthinkable with only 2 simple blocks of color, I would make something so complex and emergent from such a simple set of rules that it wouldn't matter how visually poor it was.

Long story short, I spent 6 days working on a poor design that didn't work as I expected, I over-scoped my game and didn't paper-prototyped it as thoroughly as I should, otherwise I could have foreseen that it wouldn't work. 

In the end, that complicated the programming to disproportionate levels and only when I was almost finished, did I noticed that because of the design itself, the game was unplayable.

With 2 days left to submit, I was almost ready to ditch my first game jam. I had spent so much time on the game that it seemed like a gargantuan effort to go back and rework the concept from the ground up. Instead I decided to rely on the most simple and clichéd game narratives and designs I could link to the 1 bit theme, so I could make something as fast as possible. I guess by that point I just wanted to actually finish a project and submit it, just for the sake of it.

I made a little local multiplayer game called   BIT-BOMB , loosely based on Bomberman and Zombie Dice. And I even got the time to make a second game called  "WHY WRITE A LETTER THAT YOU'LL NEVER SEND?",   where you play-pretend to write hateful comments or tweets to someone in order to let the steam go off, something like a virtual simulation of the act of screaming into a pillow.

Bit-Bomb:   https://itch.io/jam/bit-jam/rate/65358

The thing is, I don't think the first game is a terrible game, it's just mehh... and can still use lot  of tuning in the manual and explanations department. In regards of the second one... I find the idea kind of interesting but not that much, it was a really lazy effort on my part ( I made it like in 10 minutes).

Why Write A Letter That You’ll Never Send? : https://steanbuck.itch.io/why-write-a-letter-that-youll-never-send

What bothers me the most is that the intention of making an innovative (but good) game got thrown away by the idea of making something quick and  safe, just because I had to get something out there before time ran out. It was kind of sad really, but it was all my fault for not designing under a proper framework from the start.

But then I got to see most of the submissions made by other participants and I got more depressed, because it was not only me who decided to lazily design the obvious. Not saying they were bad games, but a lot of them were concepts taken from traditional videogames, just simply stripped down to fit the jams rules, not a lot of thought put into them I presume and not very interesting as games.

So in short, lots of clones, little interesting stuff...

This got me to think that this seemed kind of analogue to the creative environment that big and "indie" game developers face in today's market. They may not be competing on a gamejam but they are constantly competing against each other, against a severely faster clock, that counts down the depletion of resources, both economical and human.

There's a lot less amount of people out there willing to take the risk of developing new ways of interaction , representation and narrative in games(and in anything really) because that’s not the most feasible thing to do. In big companies, where there are so many people and families at stake, having such an aversive attitude is probably the correct thing to do. The more people depend on you, the more difficult it becomes to accept risk. That is, unless everyone is on the same page and works with the purpose of innovation on the first place and economical reward on the second, but let's be honest, not a lot of people are that crazy.

For an industry that tends to pride itself so much on creativity and innovation, it's ironic how safe most developers need to play because of the market environment.

[NOTE: I am not saying there are not studios and developers out there that are making great innovative things, it's just that their numbers are just minimal compared to the other kinds of developers.]

I guess, to be able make work that moves the medium forward,  there is a very special set of conditions that have to be met. 

The right tools, methodologies, business practices and organizational structures that could help make good professional game development easier are still slowly appearing but haven't got to that special sweet spot where experimentation can be fully embraced as a daily practice by big and small companies.

Game jams provide many of such conditions and it's up to us students to take advantage of them while we can.

I personally would like to be able to make a mix of both worlds, traditional games and innovative concepts. 

Will I have to adapt to this game development environment that we as consumers and game creators have built or will I make that environment adapt to me?

------------------------------------------

Here’s a list of the games other people put up for BitJam and that I found the most interesting :

https://itch.io/jam/bit-jam/rate/65242 -   Stay With Me - Someone is dying, keep talking to keep them alive. https://itch.io/jam/bit-jam/rate/65332 -  Fast Race - Racing with only 1Bit. https://itch.io/jam/bit-jam/rate/64653 -  Thar she blows! - Whale Hunting? https://itch.io/jam/bit-jam/rate/65253 -  KBRD CLMBR - Climb your keyboard. https://itch.io/jam/bit-jam/rate/65308 -  Rainbow - RPG with some interesting design decisions. https://managore.itch.io/codex - Codex

[carlosdomr]

An introduction

There’s no amount of text or ideas that could justify the things I’m doing with my life right now better than the words “self-satisfaction/realization”.

In the eyes of many I may be wrecking my “professional and adult life”. In my eyes, I’m just doing what I have to do to keep myself sane. I’m doing what I want, I’m moving at my own pace. And I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by people (specially family) that have been able to help me economically ( Yes, I do consider myself to be very privileged, although in a couple of months this may no longer be the case.) while I’m struggling to become the person I want to be.  

This brings us to the questions:

Who does he want to be: An independent self sustaining being, a man that is able to create work (mainly videogames) that he and other people consider valuable, a man with enough freedom to move, to travel and get to know the world, and to be able to spend more than enough time with the people he loves.  I’m not talking about going out to eat lunch with the wife, or watching movies or buying stuff together with friends, or even going on sundays to family reunions, I mean to really have the time to listen to them, to understand their motivations,  their problems, having the energy to actively help them, to get involved with them, to really be with them.

Who is he right now? I’m a 29 year old unnemployed (by own decision) International Business Graduate with a determined intention of  learning to design games. I study game design from home, with free and/or cheap resources. At the same time I’m trying to create a commercial project involving videogames and traditional mexican handcrafts. Luckily I do already have more than enough time to get involved, at the same kind of level I talk about in the last paragaph, with the people I care about. I have been able to enjoy and help my family and my life partner in a way I had never been able to, which is deeply satisfactory.

*I realize I’m much more than my professional persona, but still, it’s a big important part of a whole and will be one of the focus points on this blog.*

It’s a fact that there has been a great deal of “Identity Loss and Search ” as a recurring theme in my life. From what I can remember I have been through wanting to be a singer (probably inspired by my father), a cool paleontologist (just like Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park), a super rich and adventurous mafia crime leader (like Tommy Vercetti), a music composer (again inspired by my father), an International Business man, a Videogame Marketer, and an itinerant Videogame Creator.

That doesn’t  mean I have never had a clear idea of what kind of person (professionally speaking) I want to be in life. It just means, that when I’m getting there I realize I don’t want to be that person anymore. I either get bored really easy, or get turned off by the kind of (what I perceive to be) amoral decisions needed to do to adjust to that kind of life.

Well, seeing how this has happened at least 8 times in my life I do need to make sure this is the last one, I mean you have to stop and really decide at one point right? 8ths the charm or so they say, right? No? No…ok.. And it sure does look like it is, although I am still studying and preparing myself, theres this kind of feeling that I have never felt before when working on something. The feeling that this thing I’m working towards is mine, that sensation of really being able to express myself, the feeling of fun and discovery, and the uncompromised and genuine interest in the activity of creation.

This is supposed to be a kind of diary in which I sort of write about my experiences in going from being an International Business and MKT person to a Design/Programming/Videogame person and also I will post some other projects that have been slowly coming up. A journey that will either end up with me being triumphant or me being dead (I say this jokingly but who knows).

But do be aware, if you are in some way involved in game development the stuff I will post may sound too noobish, stupid or pointless.. Remember this, I’m a simple ex-marketing guy who didn’t like marketing, and is now learning to design games , all self taught, all from home, all from 0 to 1000.

To wrap this up:

It’s really easy to visualize the kind of person you want to be, the kind of work you want to do, the kind of economic life and social circles you would like to be part of without taking into account the trade offs. What you imagine about certain styles of life is rarely matched by reality. There are always these secrets, the sometimes shameful mysteries that other people don’t tend to share, the ridiculous and kind of depressing sacrifices they had to make to get where they are or just to survive. I’m slowly discovering the ones regarding game creation and for the first time in my life I’m willing to say: I’m up for it.

Probably my next post will be constructed around this theme, but referring to my videogame mkt career…because why the hell would I just decide to get out of Konami D.E.?

—  Carlos DOMR

[carlosdomr]

- CDOM 2015

[carlosdomr]

Fundidora

CDOM 2015

[carlosdomr]

Pleasant disturbances.

(Made with a Super Metroid game cartridge and sunlight)

CDOM. 2015 

[carlosdomr]

Salt.

CDOM. 2015

@CarlosDOMT

[carlosdomr]

play. CDOM 2015

[carlosdomr]

27TH HAPPIEST INANIMATE OBJECT.

"Fun is king, but isn't enough."

CDOM 2015

[carlosdomr]

SELF PORTRAIT 3

[carlosdomr]

SELF PORTRAIT 2

[carlosdomr]

SELF PORTRAIT 1

CDOM

[carlosdomr]

Visit Original Link

h-WEEN. (Halloween Mix)

1. Sugarbread + Cropsey - Soap&Skin + Have a Nice Life

2. Skulls - Grave Babies

3. Beware the Friendly Stranger - Boards of Canada

4. Miste - The Haxan Cloak

5. Fermata in Mistic Air - Akira Yamaoka

6. Sick - Chelsea Wolfe

Yo no hice la música. Tracks hechos por todos los artistas arriba enlistados. Mix por CDOM

[carlosdomr]

SHIELDS.

CDOM 2014.

@JesusCDOM

[carlosdomr]

GRAILS.

CDOM 2014.

@JesusCDOM

[carlosdomr]

Visit Original Link

Parte de lo que sería un conjunto de breves composiciones realizadas en el Super Ultra Mega Viaje, no encajan melódicamente con el resto de los temas y por eso han sido separadas.

00:00 - Glitched V1rgins

5:14 - BlackDrops

Ambos temas fueron grabados con una guitarra acústica Diego de Murcia 1978, un iphone 4s y audacity. Composición y música por Carlos Domímguez C_DOM. 2014

@JesusCDOM