Behind the Release of Axis Descending: Getting Out There



There is a hurdle that many of my students encounter during their studies in game development. Through an exploration of everything game creation and design, marketing, and salesmanship, they train themselves to execute their leap successfully. Well, potentially. After creating their concept, presenting core mechanics and establishing themes and styles, and iterating and validating their intended user experiences, it is time to show the game off to the public beyond Lawrence Tech's campus. Their project becomes more than just a student exercise. It becomes more than a grade. As it should be, the project becomes real-world and industry-applicable. While their efforts are grounded within the structure of a safe academic environment and platform, their success goes beyond meeting course competencies and objectives. Their success can become entrepreneurial and profitable. Such is the industry, enabling the individual or individuals with a fun and engaging game product game to become their own publisher, tapping into tools, documentation, and business channels that are widely available.

Getting there, to getting work out there, is not the simplest of processes. Students are learning how to do the work itself, which means at times they will fail. Students are learning how to collaborate with others of varying disciplines, which means at times they will fail beyond their control (or not). Without sounding too repetitive, their experience is all about being bad enough times to get good. Their failures lead to successes and understanding. I speak of this generally, mind you, as these failures are not just within the realm of development. They will fail socially. They will fail professionally. They will make bad decisions regarding time management, presentations, or posting their work on studio walls. They will disregard internship opportunities, dismissing it for a number of reasons, or turning them away because they feel unprepared or inept. They must learn how to communicate their ideas, concepts and selling points. They must learn to act, take risks, and hone instincts telling them to do something instead of being dismissive. They must learn to engage and remain engaged.

They must learn to be good students, professionals, coworkers, and adults simultaneously.

Initial passes of an intro cutscene. This should provide players with the understanding of the game world, its history, and where they fit in.

The significance of some of the exposition is expanded upon as the game and plot progress, unveiling secrets to the player through cinematic in-game narratives.
A number of LTU seniors attended GDC 2016 this year. One of them, Brett Gregory, has been developing a slick RTS game called Disunity for his capstone project and received a good amount of encouragement and validation from developers he met there. He has woven all of his course studies into aspects of the game's development, like a directed study to examine and iterate upon its interface design and a capstone course to oversee the development more generally. When asked about his work, he always has content to show despite all of his responsibilities. His Tumblr is updated regularly, he is working on a trailer, and is engaging social media soon to spread the word.

His process is not unlike the process I am following with Axis Descending. When you work on a project solo you accept responsibility for every part of its development. As I've noted previously, indie developers duck dive and dodge their way through the process, taking things as they come and working as many hours as possible. It is important for my students to understand small-scale development and the relevance it has in the industry today. It is also important for my students to understand that working alone is not working alone. You do the work alone, but without users, testers, purveyors and so on no potent connection can be made with our little pocket of game space and the outside world.

Lucas Pope. Alexey Pajitnov. Ede Tarsoly. Eskil Steenberg. Nelson Sexton. Luke Hodorowicz. Robert Pelloni. Brian Provincianos. Jasper Byrne. Derek Yu. Daisuke Amaya. Eric Chahi. Markus Persson. Joakim Sandberg. Zoe Quinn. Jonathan Mak. Tom Francis. Terry Cavanagh. Alex Lanzetta. Anna Anthropy. Mitu Khandaker. Sophie Houlden. Erin Robinson. Paulina Pabis. Brett Gregory. Mars Ashton.

Solo indie developers. All working within the limitless potentialities found within today's industry. Want to make games for a living? Show. Tell. Talk about it. Engage with others. Develop a community. Get your work out there. Most importantly, have a way for people to keep coming back to it. Show enough, work enough, sell it enough and you will find fame or infamy.



I watched The End of the Tour recently, in which writer David Lipsky looks back on an interview he did with novelist David Foster Wallace. While based on a true story, I'm only commenting on the drama performed by Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenburg, playing Wallace and Lipsky respectively. During their brief time together, the two writers became very close, but their egos weren't always in alignment. They fought over the attention of multiple women, fought over the potential perspective of Lipsky's story, and fought over the fame and success that Wallace had and wanted more of, but that Lipsky didn't have and merely desired. At times Wallace notes how he becomes extremely reclusive and isolated during his writing process, struggling professionally, but more so personally, as he was his biggest critic. He tells Lipsky at the end of their time together that he wasn't entirely sure Lipsky would want to be in his shoes. This struggle with the ego, creating content that is so deep and empirical and locking yourself away to do so, is not uncommon.

Imagine working on a project for an entire year solo. This is the most personal, professional, deep-rooted struggled you've had with anything you've done in your entire life. You finished it, even though it feels unfinished or surreal to have it completed. And people love it. And people buy it. And you're suddenly getting phone calls, emails, and offers. Would it validate you? If you were told you're one of the most innovate designers, educators, artists, writers, or whatever of this century, do you think you would feel it to be true?

From a young age, I spent the majority of my time in my room engaging my own creativity and entertaining myself with games of all kinds. I emulated the styles of my favorite game characters. I built everything from vehicles to environments with Legos until I was 16 on a table in my room entirely dedicated to the hobby. Recently, my Mom discovered boxes of my notebooks filled with sketches, notes and ideas from my childhood. I am an introvert, through and through, so when I found myself in college culture, it was a bit of a shock. Presenting in front of others left me with a hurdle to jump over. I needed to learn how to be confident about what I was talking about, which meant being informed and responsible for what I said. Considering my grade school history, including not graduating high school and earning my GED to get into college as soon as I could, my skillset was limited. I was not involved in team sports. I only had one or two close friends growing up. Most of my social experiences involved a girlfriend or two and the circle of friends they introduced me to during those relationships. However, I had a few friends online that I spoke with on a regular basis. In a way, they fulfilled the social aspect of my life I never had throughout high school.

The program held an annual conference called Interfaces that brought in some big names and companies. I remember spending plenty of my time then working through the Creation Kit for Fallout 3, modding and familiarizing myself with the tools. At the conference, Chris Avellone, who was working on Fallout: New Vegas, attended. I did not introduce myself. I didn't even know the opportunity that was placed directly in front of me. I did not inform myself. I didn't know his work well enough, his business, and I surely didn't see myself making the cut to get on the team shortly afterward when I found out what I missed. I regret that, and never wanted that to happen again. So, I had to learn how to talk to people in the same room the way that I spoke to my friends online. I made mistakes. I said the wrong things at times. As my studies went on, I was learned how to be a good student, professional, coworker and adult.

Through academics I've pushed this concept. I've placed many opportunities directly in front of students, only to have them bail at the first possible chance they can get to do so. I see it, I make them aware of it, and hope that they see the result of their inaction and move forward with a stronger dedication to not only the craft, but the social aspect of the business. You aren't just trying to make great work, you also need people to like you and become interested in you as a professional and coworker. You don't need to be loud and outgoing. Just be interested in what other people are doing.

Below are a few noteworthy points of interest for this "getting out there" endeavor. I've tapped into many of them. Maybe you should too.

TIGForums
Boston FIG
Ludum Dare
Global Game Jam
SXSW Gaming
IGF
Polycount
Gameartisans
Artstation
LinkedIn
SIGGRAPH

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