Being a student is hard, you don’t know your place in the industry, you don’t know what will happen in the future, you don’t really know how to program that game or create that art piece and you don’t know where this industry is going. It’s okay though because you're not the only one that feels this way.
That was a lot of assumptions and I apologize for that but in the grand scheme of things I’m sure we can all relate to something like those points once in our lives. It’s a scary thing but that’s okay. Because being a student is the best time to allow yourself to fail and learn from it.
Something I noticed at GCAP17 in most of the talks I attended not their main focus but mentioned in one way or another was don’t be afraid to fail. The more you fail, the quicker you’ll learn to adapt to situations or know not to do it that way again. Failing and learning is how we grow as individuals and how the industry will keep on growing.
So without further ado I would like you to stop thinking of yourself as a student. I feel it may be used as a word to provide a shield that covers up the fact if you make a bad game or fail at code, that it’s okay because you’re not a ‘professional’. But it’s time to embrace those failed creations or situations to learn from it, just like the ‘professionals’ do.
I would like you to ask these next questions out loud to yourself.
Have you made a game?
Have you made assets for a game?
Have you coded for a game?
Have you written a narrative for a game?
Have you worked on a game as a producer?
Have you done quality assurance on a game?
If you answered yes to any of those Questions, your a Game Developer.
Congratulations, you have leveled up!
The main point of this post is to explain to you that it’s okay to allow yourself to fail because everyone does and also to accept that you’re a game developer even when you’re not creating your best work or failing daily. Just because you may be a student doesn’t mean once you graduate you never fail again, it would be a dream of course but then what would be the challenge of creating games.
So if you can bare reading anymore, I’d like you to reread the first two paragraph in this post but replace the word ‘student’ with Game Developer, you may find yourself relating to this more closely.
My experience in failing:
Currently I am in the process of acting as the role of producer in our final year projects at AIE. It has been a pleasure so far, extremely challenging and stressful at times but enjoyable for the most part. I’ve failed many times during this project, from over scoping, balancing the workload throughout the team and not keeping on top of task tracking. Every time I have failed (Yes, I get annoyed at myself but that's only human) I look at the issue and try to resolve it and then sometimes that even fails, in the end I know I will eventually fix the issue and learn from it.
“Failure and iteration” is always going to be there in the future and it’s always going to be something that needs to happen for myself to learn, adapt and become a better problem solver in the future, so I’ve begun to embrace it a lot more throughout the last year and will carry it into my future.
8 Likes, 1 Comments - (@megatron_vm) on Instagram: “Fanart for #extraplay
Firelink crew!
Realizing that drawing characters from memory and drawing them on model are two different things... But still, not sure if Dan “sucks at Dark Souls” anymore.
@brucelee and @morningcoach both use the term "fail faster!" Gotta love when your mentors agree not only on ideas, but even in the way they describe things! 🧠 #success #failfaster #personalevolution #personaldevelopment #personalgrowth #bewatermyfriend @therealshannonlee https://www.instagram.com/p/CWYH5FKIvS1/?utm_medium=tumblr
Stay Focused, Go After Your DREAMS and Keep MOVING FORWARD. But Remember to Chase 1 Dream at a Time, Not Multiple Dreams. There is a Time and Place for Everything But Not Everything at the Same Time. Imagine Every Dream is a Race Track by itself, and that there is prize and momentum to be won at the end of each race. How can you finish even one race if you keep hopping onto different race tracks? And by when would you get the reward? Even if You Failed or Suffered a Setback, Fail Forward, Fail Faster to Recover and Resume Faster. #StayFocused #Focus #GoForYourDreams #FailForward #FailFaster #MultiTasking #Faster #Dreams #MovingForward https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ0s-OHtuXt/?utm_medium=tumblr
You may have been holding back a bit too long. Time to step out and test the waters! #NoLimits #NoBorders #NonStop #FailFaster #CarpeDiem #MondayMotivation (at Aguadilla, Puerto Rico) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKeGTW4D3OY/?igshid=1qf3anxddkn93
