Reflections

Reflections

To be honest, the game design module was quite enjoyable, especially the way Professor Jarek and Professor Hope taught us; it provided us with the foundation for doing game design for our subsequent projects in this module. As I worked on these projects with my team, I began to reflect on what excited me and what didn’t feel right about the process I was using to create games.

While I had a fun experience, there were some things which I felt were good as well as not so good.

The good stuff

As a graphic designer with a passion for gaming, I found the game design modules to be a great introduction to the world of game design. The modules covered important topics such as game narrative, level design, writing a game design document, and presenting ideas. I was able to apply my design skills to create prototypes for our team’s game design assignments. Our team dynamic was fantastic and we supported each other with clearly defined roles, which helped me learn and grow as a game designer. Despite my lack of experience in game design, I never felt overwhelmed or left out and was constantly motivated to do self-study to deepen my understanding of game design concepts. Every game project I worked on prompted me to research new themes and generate innovative ideas, and I was able to learn from feedback and criticism to continuously improve my game design skills. Another thing I no longer feared presenting in front of people, it made me develop my presentation practice drastically. I also got introduced to making game artwork and UI, which was nice considering I could transfer my graphic design skills here, didn’t feel completely useless amongst talented game designers.

The not so good stuff

The only obstacle that has prevented me from diving deeper into game design is coding. Although I have tried learning Unity, I have not been able to grasp it so far. Perhaps it seems intimidating or I haven’t received enough positive reinforcement. I did an experiment with visual scripting in Spark AR for an AR filter, but it was basic. I am hoping to overcome this challenge, just like I conquered my fear of presentations. I feel just how I learnt After Effects to give animated life to my creations, I will eventually end up learning unity to convey my game ideas better as I work on real time game projects.

At times, I struggle with ideation during brainstorming sessions for games and finding a way to present my ideas effectively. This is still a learning process for me and I am working on improving this skill. Additionally, I often come up with multiple ideas that are not cohesive when I try to present them, and I sometimes feel that others’ ideas are better than mine, leading me to abandon my own. However, I believe this is a skill that will develop with time. I make sure to keep a note of my ideas so that whenever I want inspiration for game to strike, I look back at them.

Well, it looks like the game design journey has given me the boost of confidence I needed! Who knows, I may even conquer the intimidating world of Unity coding and stop letting self-doubt kill my brilliant ideas. Here’s to pushing my limits and becoming a game design master!