Vera:
At first we had to consider from which part of the book we would be able to make a fun game.
How big should the project be? – Just a smaller promotional game.
What do we want to accomplish with it? – Mainly sell the book and make the franchise more popular.
Which skills can we bring to the table? – Pretty much all we need, provided we applied enough creative problem solving.
Which skills can we bring to the table? – Pretty much all we need, provided we applied enough creative problem solving.
Finally, we had the skills, but they were untested under real-world conditions. I have a diploma in game design from the Games Academy, but …
Unity 3D Engine
… it only came with the very beginner basics in programming. So far, I had only been able to apply these skills in school projects and online classes.
For those unfamiliar with game production: a game designer develops the concept, rules and most of the time also story or setting of a game. There’s lots of flowcharts involved. It also means planning the progression of the game as well as building levels and environments. But for this the designer usually gets a ready made kit from a programmer. That was me now, too.
Additionally I had another responsibility that is a lot more common for a game designer: organizing the team. In bigger productions this can become a specialized job for a project manager, with smaller ones it falls to the game designer. My education had prepared me for this part of my work. The most unusual aspect here was that my team was just my mother and myself.
The switching between roles was one of the biggest challenges during this project for me. Especially switching between management and production came with a surprising mental barrier since both roles have somewhat opposing interests.
To be continued…