The Life of a Game Development Student

Since I’ve started studying game development my life has been much more hectic and stressful and my free time has been reduced to roughly non-existent.  Now, I can’t tell you what life is like for every student studying game development because obviously I have no idea how other people live, but what I can illustrate for you is what daily life is like for me and my fellow classmates, from what I observe around the school building.

Well, I assume (from many encounters with many different ignorant people) that many imagine studying game development as a bunch of never-grown-up nerd boys sitting around playing Call of Duty all day along with their friends. Now, as fun as that might sound, we’re kind of interested in a bit more than that. For us, we typically find that we spend 95% of our time developing and designing, and maybe 3% of our time gaming (the other 2% go to sleeping and eating, which are always put on the backburner and used only in case of emergencies.) Of course I would enjoy having more time to actually play games, but in the end, I’m doing what I want to be doing and I truly enjoy developing the game more than I do playing it in the long run.

That being said, following a course as hardcore as the one I’m in requires a lot of extra time, effort and motivation, and after a while it really seems to show. Every day I’m asked by people why I look so tired; I guess the countless all-nighters have permanently scarred bags under my eyes or something. A recent example, this last Monday I had a deadline to make, so I was up all night finishing it, sent it in, and an hour later I was on my bike to work. Needless to say, when I got home at 7:00 that evening I slept for 18 hours, and I’ve never felt so rested in my life.

With this kind of lifestyle and working habit, energy drinks and caffeine really become your best friends. I personally am not one for Red Bull, but I’ve seen classmates carting flats of cans over from the supermarket for their late night cram sessions; it’s not such an unfamiliar sight.  I’m honestly lucky if I get to sneak away from the busy lifestyle for one weekend every three weeks or so to see my lovely girlfriend (who’s amazing for even putting up with all of this!), I’m kept that busy. Game development, much like anything else, requires a lot of time and effort to do properly, and if you want to make the most out of your tuition money, you’d best get yourself motivated.

Eventually though, you begin to realize just how far you’ve come since you first started out, and you really appreciate the fact that you’re creating some pretty amazing stuff you never even dreamed would be within your realm of possibility.

Also, studying game development kind of permanently perverts your perception of games; you can’t appreciate a game ever again (unless it’s an extremely well made game, and in that case, you can actually appreciate it much more than the average gamer can). You notice inconsistencies you never saw before, you find areas you could have done better, and in general you’re much less easily pleased. It’s something that happens in any field, but it’s still hard to believe. In the end, I suppose it’s all a part of making yourself into a better developer, and ultimately that’s the goal of the study anyway.

A fellow student of mine stated that,

“You become pretty engulfed in the environment, with the danger of estranging your friends that don’t understand a thing about it.”

Thinking about it, I find it to be quite true; I always ramble on about game development mumbo jumbo around my old friends and, well, they get quite fed up by it all because that’s not what interests them about the games; they just want to play and enjoy. Us students can sit around watching someone playing the latest EA title and argue back and forth about all the technical problems and poor artistic and design choices for hours on end; it’s what we enjoy doing when we play a game nowadays.

Like I said at the beginning of the column, this is definitely not the case for every game development student; it’s likely very specific for the actual course I’m currently following. However, I am a game development student, and this is what my life is like. When it really comes down to it though, if I were better rested and had more free time, I think I’d feel like something’s missing. At least with all this hard work I can be certain that I’m pushing in the direction I want to be heading in and that, ultimately, I will become the game developer I want to be.

BredaBrawl II Results!

BredaBrawl II

Back on October 18, NiSuTe, NHTV Breda and Foregames held the second annual BredaBrawl Tournament. The turn out was better than the first time around, this time with 35 eager competitors and a variety of character choices, making for one diverse event! There were some well-knows from the Dutch Brawl community such as last BredaBrawl’s champion Cenel, as well as runners up Gymmo, Nick and Güvan. This time around, however, the early stages of the tournament were held in group phases instead of knockout, allowing for more play time and less chance of one mistake leading to an early demise. Read more

TGS 09: Resident Evil 5 to be re-released with PS3 motion controler support

As we all know, Capcom loves to remake and re-release their Resident Evil games (Resident Evil Remake on the Gamecube, various ports of the other Resident Evil games on the Gamecube, as well as Resident Evil 4 on the Wii).

Now, Joystiq and numerous other sources tell us that Capcom plans to release Resident Evil 5: Director’s Cut this coming spring with support for the upcoming Playstation 3 motion controller. If the gameplay is anything like that in Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition then without a doubt it’s gonna be a real improvement on an already amazing game. Also, knowing Capcom, there will be some extra bonus goodies added to the Director’s Cut. Read more

An Interview with Ryota Niitsuma: Producer of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

So back at Gamescom Maikel and I got the exclusive opportunity to have an interview with the producer of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ryota Niitsuma, as well as Mao Sugiyama who translated for us and provided us with information regarding the game. We just have to say right now, this interview was awesome. Great experience unlike any we’ve had before, and was a lot of fun. Read more

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles

While at the Capcom booth viewing demos, I was pleasantly surprised when they put in the Darkside Chronicles CD and handed me a Wii remote. I immediately jumped to my feet, and prepared for five of my favorite minutes of Gamescom. Read more

Resident Evil 5 PC released!

After about only half a year, Resident Evil 5 is about to be released for those hardcore PC players. The game has been released in the US today, and in Europe the game is sceduled for release on the 18th of this month; that’s only three days away!

The guys over at IGN released a review of Resident Evil 5 PC and gave it a 9.3 out of 10. I suppose that means even on the PC it’s still packing a powerful punch. In the end of the review, the conclusion was made:

It may not be a radically new Resident Evil 5, but the PC version of the game still manages to hold its own with an improved control scheme and extra Mercenaries mode. While the addition of costumes is somewhat minor, and you may require a few upgrades to your computer to take full advantage of what the game has to offer, you’re exploring a great story and excellent gameplay. Plus, the inclusion of 3D is a harbinger of what gaming will probably become, and the effect is extremely nice if you have the opportunity to take advantage of it. Umbrella’s virus hasn’t completely evolved, but it’s definitely worth isolating yourself with a copy of RE5 for a while.

I personally can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. I’ve been waiting since March 13th to get this game; I guess that’s what I get for going Nintendo.

SEGA: Alpha Protocol at Gamescom

Alpha Protocol, a self-proclaimed “Espionage RPG”, is a third-person action adventure game similar to Mass Effect. The game was demoed for us at Gamescom, so we were able to get a good impression of what the game promises to deliver.

The story is quite epic, and there are so many story arcs and branches that it wouldn’t be possible for me to describe it even if I wanted to. Basically, the main character is a CIA agent Michael Thorton, and he uses all of his CIA training and connections to complete missions and get further through the story. The movement and combat is all third person, and the player can use ranged weaponry, or melee stealth tactics.

The player takes part in missions as they progress through the story, and in these missions there are a large number of outcomes. The player has the choice to accept or decline proposals from potential allies, as well as the choice to kill just about anyone they want. None of these choies lead to aparticluarly “bad” ending; it’s just a matter of deciding for yourself what kind of role you want your character to play.

The player also enters interactive cutscenes, much like the ones seen in Mass Effect, where there is a selection of responses which can be triggered whenever the player wishes. The choice made, as well as the time chosen to execute the command both have an influence on the reactions of the AI characters. Also, based on the player’s choices and actions, the plot will unfold differently, leading to hundreds of different story possibilities.

In Alpha Protocol there is a character customization system as seen in the image below. It doesn’t seem to have any other function than just to give the player some feeling of freedom in terms of their character’s appearance, however, as we did not encounter any mission where changing the charactrer’s appearance was crucial for avoiding detection or posing as a different person (as one might expect to see in an “espionage rpg”).

There is also a very extensive point and advancement system in the game, as well as many other customization systems and achievments the player can obtain throughout the story. All of these systems and options are pretty overwhelming and, I personally couldn’t be bothered to figure any of them out.

I must say though, I’m quite disappointed in the game; it doesn’t really appear to bring anything new to the gaming world as many of its interesting features have already been seen in Mass Effect, and other areas just seem unpolished. For people who enjoy deep storylines and interactive cutscenes, Alpha Protocol will most likely be right up your alley. If I want an interactive cutscene though, I’d personally pass on this game and wait for Heavy Rain instead.

Alpha Protocol is set for release on October 27, 2009.

Head of Square Enix predicts Wii 2 launch in near future

According to Yoichi Wada of Square Enix, the Wii 2 is not so far away. He speculates that the console will be likely released in 2011, and that not only will the console have capabilities very similar to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 (in terms of hardware, graphics, etc.), but it will also be sporting a brand new form of control possibly more innovative than the original Wii remote.

Though Microsoft and Sony have motion controllers coming out soon, Wada also speculates that the controllers won’t make a very large impact on Playstation and Xbox sales due to the fact that in comparison to all the features the two consoles already contain, motion control isn’t such an extensive improvement.

Source: CasualGaming.biz

Engine Software: Aliens in the Attic

Seen the movie? Unfortunately, I haven’t either. According to reviews, however, this isn’t necessary for playing the game, as the game itself is actually good! Yes ladies and gentleman, a movie license title which doesn’t completely suck. Read more

Engine Software: Mega Mindy

Those of you from the Netherlands and Belgium should know this title, apparently. I myself was unfamiliar with it as it has only aired in those areas of the world, and never shown in the U.S. where I had spent my childhood. Even so, the game itself looks very nice, and despite being unfamiliar with the franchise, it’s still a game anybody could pick up and understand. Read more

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