Games Jam

When the Games Jam was first announced I wasn't that keen on participating. I'm not sure why I didn't want to go but I had changed my mind by the time our lecturer made the final call on who wanted to participate.

It took place over 3 days (kind of), starting on Friday evening and ending in the late afternoon of Sunday. Phil, Aiden and another chap, Phil's friend who had a lot of experience with animation (I'll have to speak to Phil so I can edit in his name)

Before it all began, Diego Richuitti, who currently works at Ubisoft Milan as a Junior Designer, spoke to us. He told us about the differences between AAA and Indie companies. He spoke about his time and what he does, and also what Ubisoft expects from team members. He may have only been a "Junior Designer" but he was treated as a professional in his field regardless of how many years you had accrued at another company. You joined as a professional. No more, no less.

He talked about how he, having only been there a few weeks or months, was asking and giving directions and orders to the people who had worked there for years. They all came together and worked as a team, even though he was the new guy. 

He then spoke about what it's like to be work at a AAA studio:

• Your decisions must be well thought out and fit with what is needed
• Communication is key. You have to be able to give the artists, 3D modellers and Coders clear instruction on what you wanted
• Mistakes can happen and you must take responsibility. If after 30 hours or whatever the time frame, your idea doesn't work and is a failure, you must be able to stand back and claim it as your fault. You are leading them, after all.
• Learn from those mistakes and try not to replicate it.

After a hectic 48 hours we ended up with our game, Unlucky Chucky. It was an experience I'll never forget and one I'll be repeating in the 2nd year of my course.

You can play Unlucky Chucky here http://globalgamejam.org/2015/games/unlucky-chucky