Setting up
Once I received my student number, email and information I began right away to research access for free software. Importantly if I want to commercialise a game some software I am accessing will no longer be free, I will be mindful that this may become unaffordable for a small indie games developer like me but for the moment I will be researching all the tools available.
- The GitHub Student Developer Pack includes a wide range of tools including GitHub Pro and Unity Student Pack and is available while a student.
Case Study Research
Playing games critically and reflectively will inspire my own games development. I’ve began playing games with a different eye, like reading works for inspiration in my short stories, or films for film studies it’s not just about enjoying the game any more. When I play I want to practice looking at the way the game has been made, the techniques deployed and art-work made. The games engine they used, the size of the team, how many artists were there compared to developers and so on. I’m going to post my games research under ‘reviews’ on this website.
SMART GOALS
- Specific – Play Frostpunk (2018) and critically analyse the gameplay for my blog and research
- Measurable – Create an Events, games and books page for my events, games and books reviews
- Attainable – One Frostpunk scenario has a relatively short playthrough time (and I may have played the game already)
- Relevant – Playing, analysing and reviewing the mechanics of indie games will improve my own practice in the making of indie games
- Time-bound – I plan to play and review the game in the next two weeks
- Specific – Play Little Misfortune (2019) and critically analyse the gameplay for my blog and research
- Measurable – Create an Events, games and books page for my events, games and books reviews
- Attainable – Little Misfortune has a short playthrough (around 8 hours)
- Relevant – Playing, analysing and reviewing the mechanics of indie games will improve my own practice in the making of indie games
- Time-bound – I plan to play and review the game in the next two weeks
Game Engines
In preparation for the MA, I began research into beginner tools for writing visual novels like Twine, RenPy and Love2d. There are also games engines like Games Maker Studio for beginners, and plugin’s for engines like PlayMaker, Ink, Fungus and Adventure Creator for Unity.
- In preparation for the MA, I began research into the industry-standard engines, Unity and Unreal. I dismissed Unreal quickly because it uses C++ whereas Unity uses C# and felt more beginner-friendly.
- Godot is open source, gaining in popularity and you can export to different platforms.
- Unity is industry standard, exportable to pretty much all platforms and there is a wide range of available tutorials and learning resources.
Moving forward with my research I am going to play and explore games using the engines I am interested in, while also seeing what other indie games developers are creating with the tools available. I joined game developer forums for both Unity and Godot, and a point and click adventurers group (which includes developers). I plan to settle on an engine and toolkit in week 2, so I can set a learning schedule.
Learning resources
- Linkedin Learning – free access for Falmouth University students
- edX
- Udemy
- Unity Learn
Reflection
Time is already feeling tight. I enjoy thorough research and it will be a challenge to prioritse research, rapid ideation sessions and activity, practice and development. Thoughtful planning and week on week adaption to the materials will support my ability to achieve a well-rounded critical and reflective journal for Development Practice.
References
Frostpunk. 2018. 11 Bit Studios.
GitHub Student Developer Pack. Available at: https://education.github.com/pack [accessed 24 September 2020].
Little Misfortune. 2019. Killmonday Games.
