Could I even start in another way? This is the very first step when you want to start developing games. Well, at least for the programmers I know.
Let me introduce myself (even if I already did in the about me page), my name is Joan Centellas Jiménez and this is what I wrote in my twitter bio in 2014:
"26. Architect. Level&Game Designer. 3D Artist. Videogaming since I was 3. Discworld reader. I love listening to jazz and rock. I also like hats."
Let me introduce myself (even if I already did in the about me page), my name is Joan Centellas Jiménez and this is what I wrote in my twitter bio in 2014:
"26. Architect. Level&Game Designer. 3D Artist. Videogaming since I was 3. Discworld reader. I love listening to jazz and rock. I also like hats."
This is fastest way to describe myself. Now let me tell you the detailed way.
I'm Joan and I've always loved videogames. In fact I started to use glasses because of them. I've grown up playing with my cousin's NES, my friend's Amiga and my first handheld: the Game. And of course my first home console, the Megadrive/Genesis.
I'm Joan and I've always loved videogames. In fact I started to use glasses because of them. I've grown up playing with my cousin's NES, my friend's Amiga and my first handheld: the Game. And of course my first home console, the Megadrive/Genesis.
I've kept playing videogames up until now that I'm making them. There was a time when I decided to study architecture because I though there was some things in common with game development. Time gave me the reason and now after completing a demo game in a master in Barcelona I started making games in a small company in the same city.
And why did I start to write all this text? Well, I got asked a few times how I got where I'm now, how it is like and other questions until one day a friend asked me for real.
There's those time when people just ask you things because they don't like the awkward silence and prefer to start a conversation they're not interested in and that they won't even remember.
This time though it felt a bit different. So I explained everything I could, and the best way I could to her. After that she told me I should write everything I learn as a journal and also as advice for more people that are really interested in game development.
So this is it, here I'll try to share everything that I learnt as an architect and game developer.And the first lesson. Well, not lesson I'm not a teacher of anything nor I even want to be. This is just an idea, and it goes like this:
There is no luck. If you want something in this industry you need to learn from the best, improve your skills, work hard and with passion. And there's nobody but you that is able to do that for you. So just keep working.
After I finished the master, it took me less than a working week to start working at the company. And every time I said this,every time, the person I was talking to went like this:
"Oh wow! Great! I'm so happy for you, you've been so lucky".
At that point I just continue the conversation in the most polite way I'm able. Although in my head I'm just screaming this:
"No!
"No!
I've spent a full year of my life working as hard as I could in this. I've dedicated my whole life for this period in making the levels feel great, in tweaking the animations of all the characters and drawing, modelling and hand drawing textureslike crazy. I don't even remember when was my last weekend without anything to work on, or when I met with more than 1 of my friends to just play basketball or go for a drink or two.
But yeah all of this might not have anything to do and all of it must be that I've been really lucky".
This is the very first thing I wanted to say here. If you want achieve something, it does not matter if it's videogame related or not, you have to work HARD and SMART to get it.
If you want to be a videogame concept artist, draw a ton. Get to draw fast and with just a few brushes. Learn to communicate an idea with few colours.
If you want to be a gameplay progammer, download Unity and start working there. Prototype everything you imagined. Test all your ideas.
Anything you want to do, just start with trying. Fail a lot. Fail a lot more and then start failing faster. Because achieving something is never about the fact that you got it. It's about everything you learnt trying.
Hell, all the gameplay of the Souls saga has to do with this.
This everything I wanted to say for this one since this has been bugging me for a while now. I hope I'm able to write on a weekly basis, or when there's something I REALLY want to share.
PLUS here's a video that has helped me many times. Go Right!