ALL FOR ONE. ONE FOR ALL.
Last month, Laguna College of Art + Design’s (LCAD)
Game Design team, “Scorchers” competed in the
Chillennium 2019 Game Jam at Texas A&M. It truly was an amazing glimpse of what students can do when tasked with making a fully playable game in 48 hours.
Companies from across the US had representatives acting as mentors to the students as they worked against the clock to create games that addressed the theme "All for One, One for All." LCAD was a sponsor for the event, so during our downtime I took the opportunity to visit with mentors to see what words of wisdom they felt were essential to game design, based on their areas of expertise. Here are some of the quotes they shared:
“Humility and patience.” – Nick Kippes, WIN Reality
“Fault tolerance is basically a systems ability to fail, so it does not overly affect the player”. Fault Tolerance is a method of writing your system to allow your game to continue running when small crashes occur. This helps keep the player in the experience and lowers frustration.”
– Jeffery Peith, Star Citizen Team, Cloud Imperium Games
“Have fun and make something. Show the commitment to finish.” – William Good, Insomniac Games
“Communication in any situation.” – Kodie Tapie, WIN Reality
“Keep it clean and be creative.” – Alex Magee, AEM Dallas (Is this supposed to be “Texas A&M, Dallas”?
“Failing fast, don’t be afraid to throw out your ideas.” – Patrick Calhoun, Insomniac Games
“Never quit, always be content, but never complacent.” – Chase Hardy, Schell Games
“No matter how successful your game is, in twelve months it will be in the discount bin. The memories and friends you make along the way is where the real treasure is and it’s what lasts forever.” – Barry Rooney, Robot Entertainment
LCAD’s Scorchers was comprised of MFA Game Design students, Brandon Cluff and Ian Ring, and two BFA Game Art Students, David Gigliello and Niki Wichman. They collaborated to produce "Piggy Punch," a competitive arena fighting game that encourages players to use teamwork.
