Life skills

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amit
In Life skills, My Journey

Game Dev Experience learned at 2008-2012

It is time to write another blog post. I am continuing from my previous post My journey from 2004 to 2008.
These years were probably the most time consuming and hectic times in my life as I knew nothing of what I was getting into. During this time I was being an intern, owner, advisor, jury, studying, traveling and helping out other game companies. It all started with…

Agenius Interactive AS

Agenius was owned by my first mentor who was also my teacher when I was studying Game Development. Since he was familiar about my ambition, skills and drives he gave me an opportunity when I came back from UK after completing my bachelors. So, for the next year I learned a lot about Educational Games and game development start up.

QA Manager

I helped organize, set up and create questionnaire of our play testers. We would play test in our office building after working hours due to parents and kids being available after school hours. In other cases we would be allowed to play test in schools. These files needed to be organized, studies and used to iterate for the next play test and then the next play test after that.

3D

Occasionally we did some 3D work so I would create simple things such as animated 3D statistic.

Assistant Producer

At times we would require translators, 2d artist and other contractors in which I was responsible of locating, interviewing, managing and tracking.

Translator

Due to it being a educational language game I also did the base translation between English and Norwegian to help the translators speed up their work for French and Spanish.

Localization

I was responsible for ensuring the localization was correct and completed by the translators. That means I also was in charge of the XML list and Excel list that tracked and was used by the programmer to implement the words into the database in the game itself.

Game Design

I was responsible for doing minor adjustment to the game and ensuring its layout and design was good enough based on feedback from playtesting.

Content Developer

I was responsible for putting together the strict user manual required by Nintendo to become validated for the e-shop.

Summary

In short, in just a year I had the opportunity to learn several roles and be part of something very amazing due to picking the right mentor and opportunity for myself. What is important to remember is I did this unpaid for a whole year. I got about 25 dollars a day from the government that went into my bank account. They got about 100 dollars a month or something for having me. That is why I state that if you really want to make it you need to put in the work and hours. After this I decided to do multiple things but I will pick out that I did help another company also with advice, qa testing, marketing and was offered to be general manager of the company. However, the team had already burned out by that time. Below is the video of the game that was released before they went on to other things.

Yes, this was one of my first trailers that I put together.

FatCow Games AS

I eventually decided to build my own brand and start on my own. So for the next couple of years I tried many things, failed many times and had to learn how to be extrovert, negotiate, business and so on. So, these are some of the things roles I learned to perform.

CEO

I learned a bit about the responsibility and workload that comes with running a company and including other people into it. I learned about strategy, branding, marketing, finance, funding, pitching, public talking and much more. I was able to acquire funding on first attempt, try and build up department, do freelancing, complete a game and learn from all of this.

Producer

I learned more about being producer. I learned about planning, task management, risk, recruitment, interview, interpersonal relationship, communication, public talking, pitching and so on. I was able to hold talks, be in a jury and travel the world to learn from Square Enix, Sega, Nexon and so on. I learned to research trends and was one of the first onto Unity, iPhone and doing what people do today in social media.

Public Relations

I learned to manage the customers, clients and PR such as dealing with press release, press kit, interviews and social media. Dealing with publisher opportunities and so on.

Social Media Manager

I was one of the early adaptors of Content Marketing and understood Social Media and how it works. I built a community with engagement in which today I am friends with some of my own customers at the time. I was in charge of making sure the content was out there, engagement and so on. I was early adopter of facebook, twitter and so on.

Game Designer

I learned to play a lot of games and research what was trending. I studied psychology and learned how to create an addictive game. I was one of the first who took endless runner into a different angle by introducing endless jumping, powers, boss and a stronger theme.

Outsourcing Manager

I learned to build international small teams to developer and manage freelancing, local web design, game development and other bigger clients. I learned the hard way of spreading out thin too early.

Summary

In short I learned a lot, I did a lot of mistake and I failed a lot. During this time I probably lost projects worth around 1.2 million krone and lost over 12 staff members. My game was pirated over 112 000 copies. I had many hats and many other roles during this time. Below is my own video trailer of the game that I did manage to complete eventually.

I hope you enjoyed some of my key experience and moments during this time. Be sure to like, subscribe and watch my upcoming interview at Elderblaze for even more details. Lastly, if you need mentorship I do provide it. You can look me up in one of my social media if you want some.

Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitginni…​
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/amitginnipat…​
Twitter – https://twitter.com/AmitGinni​
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/amit.g.patp…​
Artstation – https://www.artstation.com/amitginni

amit
In Business, freelancing, Life skills, My Journey

My Journey from 2004 to 2008

In this blog post I will show you some of the ridiculous things I have done, tried and experienced when learning game development. This has been a trip down memory lane for me as I have kept these images over two decades soon. So without further ado, let us backtrack into my memory lane. I hope you enjoy it.

This is when I probably starting getting a bit more serious in learning tools and getting into something creative. It was also around the same time I started studying for game design. That is not to say I did not do anything before but it started taking off around this time. So, one of the first 3D I did was by copying someone else and it was something along this.

Around the same time I obviously started getting into Photoshop due to texturing. However, I was curious about manipulating images into other images. For some reason I wanted Will Smith into other movies. And iRobot. And Matrix.

During this time I was active in forums and community in one way or another. So I obviously had to create signatures. At the time I was focusing mostly on Level Design.

I started getting into Neverwinter Nights 2 community and took parts in designing big worlds for the next couple of years in community servers like Frontier and later Khalidine under other usernames. We would research the main game and then design our own town, forest, dungeons and more. It was one of the coolest time of my life. Enjoy some of my earlier modding works of NWN2 Community work below. Some part of a team effort obviously.

At this stage I started improving in my skills, storytelling and lighting a bit.

You can see that some of my later work started having better level design, story telling and lighting.

I started rotating trees in a creative way to make roof roots.

It was not long until I started entering other genre and exploring other engines. I expanded to Unreal Engine fairly early in the days, offering level design for others and becoming part of the communities. First I had to learn the engine and this is literally how the first map looked like where I just dragged everything in.

Around this time I had started year 2 in game design studies. And together with my classmates we had put together a custom level from scratch, our own game mode and I had created a custom weapon on the side for another project while also doing linear level design for another artist. I was first doing linear level design so let us look at that first.

Meanwhile I was improving with my team mates by troubleshooting issues, scripting and learning to be a project leader too.

Eventually we finished our level while I was juggling external projects and learning extra things on my own, below is the team effort of Nahnoc our level and game mode.

After this I started my last year in my studies where I started writing long particle tutorial and learning particle editor. I went back to 3DS max to experiment with some ideas and model some ships for some of my other effects. I learned to make procedural skybox and planets etc.

I realized 3D modelling is not for me so I stopped over a decade ago. 10 years later I did resume to teach 3D modelling and learning Maya. But that is another topic for another time. I never did relearn my modelling skills though after leaving it for over a decade or two. Technically this was my last 3D model a few years back when learning Maya. So, I guess you never stop to revisit on some occasions. The reason is because even if you are not trying to be the best in something, it does not mean you should not stay up to date in it.

After doing some 3D and Engine work I tried experimenting a bit with drawing briefly as I was also figuring out 2D texturing a bit.

Around this time I realized I like shading and at the time I did not think much about it. Only to realize later it is kind of related to lighting when it comes to my artistic skills and preference at this stage.

So the point here is that I have tried quite a lot, practiced different things and gained a lot of experience during my student years. You can tell that I was not particularly good or talented but I put in the hours, time, networking and hard work. So, if you feel things are doing slow. People are not supporting you. Other people are better. Whatever the reason. I hope I am a living example of making professional living out of games in one way or another for about 14 years.

amit
In Life skills, Understanding Light

Improving as Lighting Artist

Learning to be a better Lighting Artist can be a daunting task. What seems to be an easy task to many quickly becomes a very complicated process. A lot of people think it is about placing out lights and then you are done. If you are a lighting artist you might sometimes get frustrated over how people simplify your speciality. That sounds like a good blog post for another time. Today, we are pointing out one or some of many things that helped me as a learned of Lighting for Lighting Artist.

Learning Style

First one must understand one self. I learn in a very different way than others, and in a different order of events. That is not to say I do not listen or take the advice seriously, I just know I need to learn in a certain pattern or method to truly make sense of things. This has frustrated people trying to help me in the past. They have a hard time understanding my process, thinking and why I am doing something. You might be told to learn photography, watch movies, do painting and learn the software to name a few things. It all depends on how you process information and apply it. Since I knew nothing it made it very hard to get started since my basic knowledge was below average, as I did not focus a lot on 3D Art to begin with. Not to mention I am a snowball learner. Snowball learner means I am super slow compare to others but eventually I catch up. And that is okay. You do you!

Mentors

I always look for mentors and I do not pay attention to persons age or title. You could be a Junior Lighting Artist or a Student. If I think you possess superior skills I will learn from you openly and gladly. Having this mindset has helped me a lot in learning and improving as lighting artist. I have also paid to check my knowledge up against experienced lighting artist through Game School Online where I had a mentor named Thomas Wright. This was very affordable and worth the investment. I have also paid a lot more to learn from CGMA and the tutor was Omar Gatica. I have also paid very little to explore from younger Lighting Artist but talented artist such as Florent Tunno who create courses and has a beginner tutorial at EXP Points. In the same community I also tried Maria Yue who is Senior Lighting Artist and talks about Lighting Theory. I sometimes go back to my own course for refreshment which combines most of the content anyone teaches online the way I understood it. It is 10 hours of Unreal Lighting going through Lighting Theory, Practical Lighting and more for a small price. By learning from others you will understand that lighting has many approaches, people know things you do not know and you will gain confidence because often these are known as talented, skilled or senior lighting artist. Arguably I might be doing this also due to my very high Imposter Syndrome.

Photography

It is useful to learn Photography as it will help both your eye, understanding of light, composition, framing and also technical understanding in the engine. Exposure anyone?

Movie Production

It can be useful to learn or do a short movie too. It will also teach you many relevant skills related to Photography but also you get a chance to learn lighting in a practical sense, colour grading, story telling with light and thought process that goes into creating a short movie.

Drawing

Learning to draw a little bit helped me also in terms of understanding framing, composition and traditional skills relevant to Lighting. Obviously, I did not become a master sketch artist but it trains your eyes which is very important. You need to understand shape and form which is relevant in Lighting.

Painting (Digital in my case)

Painting was probably the most useful boost in terms of improving my lighting due to the skills it improved for me. It improved my eyes, understanding of light, shading, reflection, shadows, shape, form, colour theory and is a traditional form of lighting.

Editing

The first thing I started with was actually filming myself and learning to edit. To get an understanding of camera and storytelling using cuts. This aided my understanding of light placement, thinking ahead and planning for cinematic lighting later.

Storytelling Lighting for Games

I also specifically created a horror prototype in Unity to learn the thought process, design and technical skills to do lighting in more than one game engine. This improves your technical skills, limitations, strength and put emphasis on what you need to learn technical to achieve your creative vision.

Apply your knowledge for someone else

I will often apply the knowledge in other peoples project. As this teaches you the challenges and difference in having full control over your creative outlet versus other peoples limitations, pipeline and designs. In my case I redid lighting for the game Intruder for Superboss games.

Visual Effects

It is helpful to do some visual effects as it teaches you post production, how lighting works with green screen and related skills to lighting.

Create learning content

Sometimes I will try and pass on knowledge that I learn to see if I understand it. And have someone who actually knows the software tell me if I am right, wrong or close. This is a humbling experience and certainly efficient way of eliminating uncertainty. However, this method is not for the faint hearted.

Color Grading

It is a good idea to learn color grading specifically as it helps improve your understanding of color theory, post processing and reading graphs. I found Davinci Resolve very useful in that context.

This is just a handful of methods, techniques and approaches I go through to push myself and my understanding. What are yours? Please share.

amit
In Life skills

How to ask game dev tech questions?

There you are. Working dedicatedly and persistently until you stumble upon some issues. You look around and there is no help to be found. After all, you are probably working from home. You pull up your sleeves and you do not even search online for help, heavenly forbid you might solve the problem on your own! Even worst, you might waste your own time solving your own problem.

Rule Number 1

Search thoroughly online using short hand words, sentences and alternative keywords. Dig deep into QA forums of your topic. In our case, game engine topics.

Frankly, learn how to search for potential solutions. You would be surprised how poorly some people search online. So, if YOU happen to be the person to ask “Did you look online?” You should probably follow up with “How did you search for it online?”. Trust me, people definition of searching online is not the same as everyone else’s. Especially, if you have an academic research background you most likely do not define “I searched online already” as actually searching for a solution. No, a single attempt at looking on the first couple of links on page one does not constitute a complete search for a solution. If YOU are the person skipping this process then please understand that if you are not willing to do the work yourself first than others might not feel inclined to help.

You spend a few hours searching online. You realize this is not a new issue. You go through every suggestion that has worked and not worked for others. A few hours later you realize that even though some of them worked for others, none of them solved your problem. You grab the nearest utensil which happens to be a pencil. You are chewing it like Goofy did in the cartoon from the 80s. You admit defeat briefly and realize you life in the era of “every person smarter than you is somewhere online so let us find them and ask them a question before I break the nearest valuable item I possess”. And breeeeath. Okay, we are ready to dive into a community to ask for collaborative problem solving.

Rule Number 2

Do not ask vague and open questions with little to no information. Make sure you break it down and provide information on what you already tried.

Let us be honest. Most people ask questions like “How do I do X?”, “I have a problem and it is this”, “Do you have any feedback?”, “What do you think?”, “Can someone please tell me how to fix this weird looking issue?” So, what is the difficulty with asking such questions? First, if it is a common problem that you can search with a single search, you are losing points from anyone who knows you can search for the answer. It shows you are lazy or unable to problem solve simple issues on your own. So, if someone still helps you then you better be grateful for that persons time. Second, there is no information on what you already tried, so the person wanting to help has to spend additional time asking follow up questions as if they are your 24/7 customer support. Respect peoples time. Third, it does not specify specifically what you are trying to achieve. By explaining what you are trying to do can reduce the amount of questions and narrows down the possible reasons to your problem.

You asked your question. You decide to go do something else while someone solves your problem. You go surf around in social media and just chill. After all, why would you accept that you might have done a poor job at solving the problem? There can’t possibly be an alternative approach to your work. There is no way you can change your process or end result in another way, it has to be this specific way…right? Wrong.

Rule Number 3

While someone takes the time to help you out. Go look for alternative approach to your end goal. For example, what can you do instead of using A to get result X. Is there a B approach to get result X? There might be.

Do not go surf the internet, watch a movie or relax after asking for help. There is often alternative approach to getting your results even if one approach has many problems. This will allow you to learn more tricks for the future, and hopefully next time someone has your problem you could provide them with the other solution.

After a few weeks you have another problem. And you come back and ask for more help. People are starting to recognize your picture, nick or name. The person who always ask for feedback or help after a few days. You do not want to be that person. Does that mean you should stop asking for help? No.

Rule Number 4

Contribute to the community. I am sure you have some knowledge or answers to something that someone is asking online.

Take time out of your week to help others. This shows you are able to solve other problems and not just receive help. This makes you valuable and a person of interest. So, do not just ask for help but give it too. Even if you do not know the answer, consider looking up the answer because chances are that person did exactly what you did…very little…even if the think they exhausted all options…which we have learned is not the case. So, join the cycle and learn how to ask a question and give help. WE have all been there but together we can break it and follow these simple rules.

Farewell. And do not hate the messenger.

amit
In Life skills

Shit…Do I have extreme imposter syndrome?

Introduction

The Imposter Syndrome was first described in 1978 by a group of researchers and was noticed to be common among both men and woman and age group. In other words it has been known for awhile and there are numerous research tackling this mental conundrum which apparently affects between 9% to 82% of people according to another research paper.

So what exactly is imposter syndrome? Or what are the signs to look for?

According to research it is an individual who struggle to accept their own progress or success in life. They have a sense of self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud. They would often give credit to luck or others who helped them rather than accepting it is their own intelligence or skills. It unfortunately goes deeper than this. In more extreme cases the person might fear not meeting expectations, overachieve or even self sabotage themselves. This is very apparent in professional settings. In fact there was a research paper that says it seems to be highly prevalent and intense among high achieving women. That said half of other studies suggest there are no difference between the gender.

There are in fact over 60 studies and a high interest about imposter syndrome all over the internet but no clear treatment for it. Most of the articles suggest how to manage it and reprogram your mind to deal with the feeling of being fraud. Those research mention how imposter syndrome is prevalent among ethnic minorities, that it declines with age, burn out, job performance reduction, job satisfaction and increased depression and anxiety.

Despite the fact that a lot of people have the imposter syndrome and the proven evidence of how it can affect a person mentally, it is not considered a recognized psychiatric disorder. Last I checked, it is not featured in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. It also not listed as a diagnosis in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Despite this Psychologists and others acknowledge this is a real and specific form of intellectual self-doubt that can lead to anxiety and, often, depression.

The scientific signs

Do you have people who considering you this? Perhaps skilled? Talented? Successful? Did you ever feel you did not deserve the acknowledgement, praise, academic level, promotion or just success in general?

Perhaps you have experienced the “imposter syndrome”? According to Caltech Counselling Center the definition of the Imposter Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon “a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist even in face of information that indicates that the opposite is true”

So why do I think I might have a high degree of imposter syndrome? I do not necessary lack confidence in my areas because I openly spam everyone about it. That suggests I should not have imposter syndrome? But contrary to the public display you probably missed a few clues. Let us analyse myself using The Imposter Cycle based on Clance (1985). Hopefully it will help you too.

The imposter Cycle starts with some type of achievement task which leads to anxiety, self doubt or worry. This leads to either procrastination or over preparation etc. This after feeling of relief and positive feedback becomes ignoring the feedback. This then leads to self-doubt etc.

Interestingly enough the repetition of success increases the issue rather than breaking the cycle of imposter syndrome. It is suggested that it is connected to failing if they do not overwork, their high expectation for their goals and own concept of ideal success. An imposter will ignore their own success if it is not according to their performance and ideal standard. All very true in my case. The fear of failure which tends to make them overwork. Also true for me.

In fact, research suggests (Clance 1985) that imposters secretly want to be the very best compared with their peers. Imposters are often successful early in life, especially in school. Also true in my case. In fact, it is not until after University they realize the amazing people and talents that actually exist, and they are not special. This results in them dismissing their own talent and conclude they are not really smart after all. Also true in my case.

My personal signs

After seeing a lot more people openly talk about Imposter Syndrome I started doing scientific research on it. And then I broke down my own life style, actions and choices which led me to conclude that it might be connected to imposter syndrome. Perhaps, a more extreme form.

Here is open but brief summary of what my self-analysis informed me about.

I have not one vocational degree. But two. I have not just a Bachelor Degree. I also have a Master. And I am secretly (not anymore) doing another master. I also have about 200 certificates to this date. And I have paid people to teach me stuff I already know, professionally and successfully done myself.

Why would I do that? Because I do not believe what I have previously achieved was my own doing. I do not think I am good enough. Despite practically, professionally and successfully doing things both career, entrepreneurship and academically.

I have changed career several times out of fear that I am not suppose to be doing it, that I am not the right person or because everyone else around me are better than me. While I am doing these things successfully by any normal standard. I am overworking myself. I am overachieving. Always.

Why would I do that? Because I feel like a fraud. I do not want to fail others. I want to be the best. Then I see someone better. And I put in the hours to not be seen as a fraud.

I have paid 100 000 thousand dollars to learn from others, despite having done it myself. I have paid thousands of dollars to have someone else show me something, despite getting comfortably paid to offer services myself.

Why would I do that? I think it was just luck. Luck that I got a contract. Luck that I got paid that well. Luck that it happen. It was not because I worked hard for it, sacrificed for it or went over and beyond to achieve it. No, it was not me. It was the person who helped me or luck. So, the more success the more unsure I get, the more afraid I am, the more I think I am fake and so I invest more into it to prove that I am not.

I get burned out because I do a lot, and I spend a lot of time doing it when I know others might do it for less. I will over prepare. To perfection. To the point that it has opposite effect. To the point that I even will post it online that I am either behind schedule or putting in a lot of hours to prepare something. So, I wake up earlier to make time, to keep up and not be the “imposter”.

Why would I do that? I think you get the idea. The list is pretty long of actual things I do, life style wise, daily and for most of my life that connects to the imposter syndrome. However, most people feel it I act on it to the extreme.

I normally do not write such personal things but I know Imposter Syndrome is a wide spread thing, and people who have it feel they are the only one who have it. So, I hope it gives some insight onto your own actions and how it connects.

Do not worry. Since then I have managed to let go a bit, okay with failing, comfortable not being the best and perfectly flawed. Maybe…kind of….erm..we will see.

Free Guide here https://impostersyndrome.com.au/index.php/the-free-guide/

amit
In Life skills

Things we aren’t taught in pursuit into technical careers.

Although this article uses game industry as an example, I think it works for most technical/artistic careers.

You know when you are doing exactly what you want, you are happy and content with your work? You know when things don’t get your way? You know when you have to do something completely different? You know when you just finished a project and there is a transition over to a new project, that can often take months?

During that period and series of event something happens to most of us. We go through psychological challenges. We are wondering if we should stay or move on. We might become negative and complain a lot. We might not see things in a very positive manner anymore.

It can also be that you want a raise, a promotion or feel things are unfair. For some it can be the long hours but in this case we are not talking about crunch time. Whatever it might be we all have or will go through this emotional and psychological challenge. And that is sometimes what breaks a person. It is sometimes what decides whether you are a professional or not in the game industry.

You might be thinking that the definition of professional game developer is if you work fulltime or released a game. Interestingly enough, some veteran will say it is not until you are laid off, go through these challenges and how you deal with it, that defines if you are a professional game developer.

Since I started a decade ago I have been part of many failed projects, companies and also seen people give up for whatever reason. We can argue that once you are in the game industry there are different types of professional game developers. You have the one going into the game industry, the ones who are in the game industry and the ones who “failed” and managed to get back up over and over.

That is where I have seen many fail, because they gave up. We can argue that is because we don’t really learn enough about mental aptitude, psychological strength and emotional control when we grow up. Especially during education, training or coaching. The focus has been technical skills in my experience.

So if you spend hours everyday just being technical or artistic, when are you training your body? Your mind? When are you learning to think? When are you making time to experience difficult things? How often do you purposely go into uncomfortable situation, or turn your life around knowing you might fail miserably? And how often did you rise up stronger, and kept trying things out?

If you do get in this situation remember that you are in control of yourself, and only yourself. Remember that only you can change yourself. Make an effort to learn what you can do better in non-technical areas. After all we are working as a team with other human beings. The technical part is mainly a way to create something, to express something and not the only thing that matters. And more importantly you should have a vision, plan or road map for yourself. No one is going to make one for you. Not your teacher. Not your parents. Not your mentor. Not your boss.

In short, we should all strive to improve our communication, reduce our assumptions and learn more about how we deal with failure, disagreement, conflict and unpleasant situation. In the long run, I believe that will decide who falls and rises to the top. Whatever that top is for you.

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