Presenting a Game
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If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my two years of studying game development, it is that necessity is a harsh but highly efficient tutor. There is a hint of desperation in the struggle as a developer to meet each game-asset’s individual needs and requirements, under constant time pressure. Now, it may sound as if I’m not too happy about this process, but in fact, at risk of sounding like some sort of masochist, I love it! Necessity forces me to learn and adapt quickly, it demands I complete that asset on time, it doesn’t care how, just get. it. DONE. As the game finally stands finished, in spite of all the odds, I stand amazed at what I have accomplished. Each time, I could never have imagined I’d be able to create that much content in such little time. It helps me grow, as an artist (if I may be so bold as to call myself an artist) and as a person.
CritterFlux demanded something new of me, something I wasn’t too comfortable with. As we stood there with our (nearly… Well as good as) finished product, we had nobody on the team to actually present the game on stage to our audience and to our judges at the GotlandGameConference17. I’m terrified of speaking in front of an audience, I didn’t exactly jump out of my seat to volunteer. However, once again, necessity stepped in. Like a slap in the face. On shaky legs I stepped up on that stage and with some moral support from a teammember, using a cleverly designed powerpoint presentation with lots of video content, I managed to get through the whole thing with flying colours. The qeustioning part didn’t scare me because I realised that I made the game, I knew all the answers already. The experience taught me that making good first impressions with your audience is just as important as the actual game you’ve produced. You can make the best game there is, but without proper introductions and a memorable image, you wont get anywhere. It’s all about how you make people feel about your product. However, once you manage to get people’s hopes up, it becomes immensely important to not let anybody down… That’s the most nerve-wracking part!  |
