Who am I?

Myers Briggs

I completed an online personality test where I had to answer a bunch of questions to see which type of person I am.

These were random questions that were there to try and figure out which kind of person I am. Based on this test I was given the personality type “Logician”, meaning my thoughts have a more logical process rather than based on emotions.

I was also given a 75% introverted and 25% extraverted mark which I personally agree with heavily. I have always struggled to come out of my own box to socialise and I often get very stressed when I’m around new people, even panic attacks can occur. It takes me a VERY long time to come out of my box, I don’t feel comfortable for a very long time. For instance I didn’t initiate a conversation with any of my colleagues for the first 6 months of my job. I can still talk to people when necessary but I’d rather not.

I don’t personally completely agree with this approach, a logician is somebody who doesn’t usually let their emotions decide their feelings for them. And this is something I personally find myself doing quite a lot, if I am a logician then it’s only barely, I think this is because of the 57% thinking and 43% feeling which gave me this end result.

My backgroundI’ve always been an anxious and shut away person throughout my entire life. Having struggled with anxiety and phases of depression throughout my life I had always played games as an escape from reality. I was never really interested in school or achieving high grades. None of that mattered to me, the only thing I cared about was exploration, and playing games with my friends. I spent the majority of my younger ages exploring different places outside with my friends, often trespassing as when you’re younger you don’t think about the consequences that your actions can have. I often got into trouble when I was younger, and I never thought anything of it, I always was and still am to some extent somebody who believes that “It will all get better in the end”. However now I have learnt that you have to work in order to get where you want.

After leaving school with little to no real grades, after spending the majority of my time playing games rather than focusing on which career I will be following in life I decided to start the game development course after gaining some inspirations after a small project I had done. However, I knew that to get onto this game design course, I had to meet the requirements, so I spent two years completing my Math and English exams, as well as a level 2 IT course, passing all three. Then finally being enrolled onto the game design course, where I now feel comfortable in heading towards my future in the game design industry.

Music interestsI’ve only recently gotten into music within the past few years. I never really listened or followed any artists for most of my life. I just listened to what was popular at the time, such as drum and bass, dubstep and the occasional rock/heavy metal song which I usually got from Tony Hawk Pro Skater (Neversoft, 2001) games. It wasn’t until early 2015 when I found the first artists I followed religiously, being $uicideboy$. They have a very unique sound to them which I had not heard of before, and after being showed it by my good friend I instantly started listening to all of their songs. They were very unpopular at the time, with only around 10,000 followers and I actually had one of the artists (Ruby) on Facebook for a while because I was an early fan, and they were adding them as friends on Facebook. I followed them for many years, as they grew more and more popular over the years, now being very popular at over 700,000 SoundCloud followers, having their own label with multiple artists called G59 Records, and having multiple worldwide tours.

Another artist I found through $uicideboy$ as well as my good friend was Lil Peep. I found him late 2016, however only started listening to him at the beginning of 2017 as I originally didn’t like his music. However, after listening to it a few times, and him appearing at a $uicideboy$ concert, I fell in love with his music. I listened to it every single day, I still do today. He had a very depressing, emo type flow to his music and lyrics, however he was set somewhere in between rock and rap. Unfortunately, he died shortly after his 21st birthday in 2017 after complications with a drug being laced with Fentanyl. A very powerful and potent painkiller that when mixed with Xanax is extremely deadly. This was a huge shock to me and was the first time a famous person I followed had died, and it affected my quite a lot and still does to this day. I still listen to his music every day.

Figure 1 - Lil peep. (GQStyle, 2017)

GamesI have been an avid gamer throughout my entire life, originally starting off with RuneScape my game library quickly grew to multiple other games such as Borderlands, Halo, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004). I found video games to be an escape from my life, and I often turned to them as a form of therapy and an escape from things such as school, as I hated it so much.

Favourite Media Product:My favourite media product throughout my early and current life has been RuneScape (Jagex, 2001). An online MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) based in a fantasy world set in a similar world with many of the same characters as the Arthurian legends universe. The original creator Andrew Gower created the game from home with his brothers Paul Gower and Ian Gower, lately forming the company known today as Jagex LTD. The reason I love this game is because of the grind, you have to put a huge amount of time and effort into the game in order to succeed and rank up in the game. This gives you a huge feeling of achievement when you reach a high level with high level gear, and you know you really worked for what you have achieved. This is also one of the main reasons many people find it hard to join RuneScape, because of the amount of time you have to put into certain aspects of the game, however you aren’t forced into this play style which opens the audience up to more people.

I also love a game mode on RuneScape called Deadman Mode, which is similar to many of my favourite survival games as I am a huge fan of the survival genre. You have to level up your character and get gear, however any player can kill you anywhere at any time (Other than a few safe areas) and when you die you lose all of your items on your character and 15 of your most valuable items in your bank, as well as losing XP so your character becomes less powerful. This really gives you a huge rush of protecting your character, and when you die you really lose lots of progress you have done. This is what I love about many of my favourite games like DayZ.

However, my favourite game world and game story is in The Last of Us. The world Joel and Ellie are based in is filled with abandoned, ruined and beautiful environments. Yet with all this beauty is a dark story filled with flesh eating monsters. The environments in this game were the thing that sparked my idea to research into becoming an environment designer.

Myers Briggs

Skills TimelineAt the start of the games development course, I had little to no knowledge on game development at all. I have always been a gamer, and spent the majority of my time playing games, however before this course I never put much research into how the games were made, so I came in with a completely fresh and new mind to game development.

Over the past two years I have learnt the core processes of designing a game including but not limited to:

Researching properly for a game design project. Harvard referencing. Creating 3D models. Texturing 3d and 2d models. The basics of Game Maker. The basics of Unreal Engine. The basics of 3Ds Max, as well as some more intermediate skills and techniques, such as

normal maps. Extended knowledge on my previous Photoshop skillset. Concept art. Pre-production, production and post production phases, and which tasks should be

happening in the specific phases. Recording and implementing sound. Animation.

These are the main things I have learnt throughout this course, however there has been a huge range of other skills that I have picked up throughout the course. Despite having little to no knowledge on how to create a game, other than previous experience in Photoshop that carried over to the games course nicely, I can now safely say that I am now a student of my craft and have learnt a lot throughout my time on the UAL course.

Below is a timeline that I have created which explains what I have learnt throughout this course, as well as pictures of some of my work.

Figure 2 - What did I learn on my course 1

Figure 4 - what did I learn on the course 2

My actual CV (Taken from a retail job application)

Figure 3 - What did I learn on the course 3

My dream job would be an environmental artist at Jagex Games Studios in Cambridge. This has always been a huge target for me and something I am going to work towards in my future careers, and hopefully achieve.

This job listing isn’t for RuneScape; however, they aren’t currently looking for a new artist therefore this was the closest I could find, but I’m sure the requirements are around the same as it’s the same company, just a new game they are working on.

Essential requirements:Good games industry experience as an environment artist.

This is something I don’t currently hold; however, this will be something I will be working towards achieving while at university and after I hopefully graduate.

Expert level of knowledge in Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop and Substance Painter/Designer.

Again, this is something I will be working towards while at university. I’m currently very experienced with Photoshop having used it for around 6 years, however I have never used Maya, Zbrush or Substance Painter before, these are tools I will be using at university.

Very strong artistic skills to help realise the game’s vision.

I mainly have 3D environmental skills, rather than things like drawing and concept art. This is again something I will be working towards in the near future. However due to this game listing being for a newer MMO, I’m sure the department I’m hoping to work on (Oldschool) won’t need such high level of artistic capabilities, due to the game being based on a 2004 graphical style using very low poly models, I highly doubt they use programmes like Maya etc, but these are industry standard tools.

Professional experience creating environments in Unity.Again, this is for a new game they are creating, RuneScape don’t use Unity so this doesn’t apply for me.

A comprehensive modelling and texturing portfolioThis is something I am currently progressing on and have experience with. I have experience with some beginner level modelling and texturing, and these are things that I will be improving in university.

Able to take and interpret direction and criticism as well as constructively critique the work of others.This is something I have been experiencing a lot already, my work is constantly being given constructive criticism by my peers and tutors, and I have critiqued my peers work also.

Problem solving skillsThis is something I have worked at a lot throughout my entire life, this is more of a life skill rather than something that’s just needed for this specific job.

My CV tailored for this job:

Throughout this CV I made sure to follow the requirements given by Jagex Game Studios closely. Obviously making up the information as I have not got anywhere near the experience required for the job, however I made sure to really show them my industry experience as this is a huge factor for most jobs. They want employees that have experience in the field and know the pressure and work load required from this job.

Internships:Internships is a short term usually temporary type of work experience offered usually to students. Sometimes unpaid, its to give the person some industry experience without taking on the full responsibilities of a job. This can be incredibly useful for gaining industry experience will drastically help with your chances of being employed at a later date, but also improve your chance at getting employed at the place you took your internship if you do a good job.

Work Experience:Similar to internships these are also quite often unpaid or paid minimum wage. However, these can be for much shorter periods of times, internships usually work for at least a few months, however work experience can just be a few hours, or days. Work experience is anything where you are working for experience on a certain subject.

Networking:Networking is a very important aspect of the games industry, without it your career won’t go anywhere. This is the process of getting your name out there and meeting other industry workers.

You are gaining a network of people that you can get information from, work for, get jobs from etc. Having a network of people is crucial in such a competitive environment, as an increasing “Who you know” workplace, meaning you have a much higher chance of finding jobs if you know the people giving them.

References:Who:

You should be getting references from people you have worked with or had a good experience with. For instance, if you had a boss who you worked for and think that he/she will give you a good reference, you should be contacting them for a reference for new jobs. This lets the employer get an idea of who you are from another perspective. However, if you chose the wrong person to give you a reference, e.g. somebody who dislikes you. This can also be a negative thing. Employers will usually ask for a certain set of required references, but you can also usually include some of your own as well.

Why:

Having good references is a good way to give you a competitive edge over other people. It lets the employer get a professional review on who you are as a person, and how you work. Anybody can say that they’re the best at something, but a reference will agree or disagree with this, proving and showing who you really are as a person.

Presentation of CV and Portfolio

CV:

The layout of your CV is crucial, this is the first impression the employer has on you. A CV should be short and sweet and straight to the point. You don’t want too much writing on there, just some personal information about yourself, your main achievements, education information and employment/experience. You should also include a cover letter which shows that you put in extra effort. You should be tailoring your CV for every job you apply for in order to be a desirable applicant.

Portfolio:

Your portfolio should be something that displays your best pieces of work, this can be done in many ways. Digital flipbooks, websites like Behance or ArtStation. This is to show the employer your previous work, so they can get a visual representation of your skill level. And this should only include your absolute best pieces of work, because your portfolio is only as good as your worst piece of work.

Professional email and social media.

You should have a separate email for your business side, this isn’t only for organizational purposes but also for privacy. If somebody google searches your personal email they can find lots of things you probably won’t want them to see, and these can also be detrimental to your career if you have done something in the past which you would rather not have them know about. Also having an active social media presence, such as on Twitter and Instagram is very important. Twitter is becoming ever

so popular for businesses to employ people, so being active on Twitter is extremely rewarding, it also gives you a chance to show off your work to other industry bodies.

Social Media Platforms & Employability:

Twitter:

Twitter, as stated before is extremely beneficial to use. It’s a hotspot for employers and companies to find new talent. Its also a great way to gain some fans for your work, as well as show it off to other professionals. Twitter can be the difference between finding no work, and finding lots.

Instagram:

Another very popular social media site, this is primarily used for posting pictures. This is a good place to post your work, as well as some more “Behind the scenes” looks at some of your work. This is an extremely popular platform and due to it being visual based it’s a very good choice for the nature of my work.

Behance:

Behance is a very good social media platform to show off a professional version of your work. This can be used to find jobs and employers as well as fans.

Work Experience

Bit Crush

I created a poster for our Bit Crush gaming festival at college, this was created in Photoshop.

Demelza charity work:

I also did some volunteering at the bit crush gaming festival on the selling stands, helping them sell games and retro consoles in order to raise money for the charity.

Tesco:

I have been working for Tesco for almost 2 years now, this has given me a huge amount of experience in a stressful workplace, as well as understanding how a business runs. Following orders given by the managers and working as a team. This has also improved my social and interaction skills due to having to speak to customers.

Private website work:

I created a website for my uncles construction business, this is still in development however this has given me experience in working digitally. Sending emails, phone calls and texts messages as the main form of contact in order to come up with something together. I also had to meet a deadline which I successfully met.

Achievements:

I successfully passed First Aid Training level 3, and was awarded a certificate for it.

Future Progression:

After the course I’m planning on moving onto University where I have been offered a place, (Farnham, university for the creative arts). I also hope to get an internship while at University, desirably at Jagex, who often offer internships. I then will work towards my goal of being on the art team at Jagex Game Studios.

I will be hopefully working on my own game while at university and using this in order to gain an advantage over other applicants who apply for Jagex. I believe that making something and showing a company your skills is much better than saying you can do something. So this is my main plan while at university as well as after university.

My UCAS personal statement:

Video games have been a huge part of my life and daily routine since my early childhood. Ever since those early days of playing Serious Sam on my PlayStation and Super Mario Deluxe on my Auntie's Gameboy any chance I could, my interest in not only the world of gaming, but the environments inside and outside of the games has heightened significantly. My main enthusiasm for gaming lies within the 3D environment design. I spend hours exploring around game environments, looking at the attention to detail, and finding out the story they portray through visuals. And this truly amazes me. The style of environment design I favour is abandoned landscapes, mixed with urban decay. My favourite environments are shown in games such as The Last of Us and Fallout. Throughout my UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma course I have improved and picked up many new skills. Including but not limited to, Adobe Suite, 3DS Max, Audacity, Game Maker and Unreal engine. As well as different hardware, including graphics tablets, green screen's, sound recording equipment. Also learning new ways of researching along with using Harvard referencing. I have learnt the vital importance of thorough research and referencing. Along with this you

must research the specific audiences you are aiming your game at, along with a story that would match your target audience. I have practiced these rules throughout my College work. Because of this love for urban decay I hold, I have incorporated this style into my previous college work. Creating 3D models using 3DS Max and Photoshop that would fit in a game set in this environment, alongside a breakdown/study of the Post-Apocalyptic genre as my Extended Project for my first year. Explaining the similarities, and differences in certain Post-Apocalyptic worlds. Referencing the models, I created based on my own photographs. Achieving a distinction grade. I am open to trying out any opportunity I'm presented with, and I'm not afraid to work outside my comfort zone in order to learn something new to edge towards my main goal. Being an environment designer for Jagex. I also visited Rezzed gaming festival. Speaking to many developers, realising the amount of work they put into their games. Being told that University is one of the best experiences one can have. For the past year I have been working as a customer service assistant at Tesco, this has helped me pick up and improve my skills on time management, problem solving and staying calm under pressure. Also, having picked up financial skills due to supporting myself the past year alongside college. Also, having helped the first years with their Photoshop and 3DS Max issues, along with doing two charity gaming festivals, raising money for Demelza Hospice with a combined haul of over £5,500. Due to this I have great experiences working in a team and communicating with others. My decision to study Game Design at university is set in my mind. I wish to improve my knowledge and pick up new skills not only in the practical side, but also improve my research, social and independence skills. And I believe that university is a great way to improve these

skills. Being on a team creating a game has always been a dream of mine, and soon I wish to turn that dream into reality

Pitch

I believe that my pitch to my lecturers went very well. I was able to successfully show them my creative ideas, and in return I was given constructive feedback. One of my problems in the past is having tunnel vision with the games I take inspiration from. One of my lecturers Adam told me that I should open my research up to new sources, as this was a pattern in my first year on the course, where I would constantly take inspiration from the same games. The Last of Us, and Fallout. I still took inspiration from them in this project, and wrote about them at the start, however as my research went on I took on new films and games as my primary focus, and this was very good for my project, as it opened me up to a new type of art I have never really created before. I do believe that I could have improved my presentation by showing some more examples of some existing content that I’m taking inspiration from, I looked at some of John Sweeney’s art, however it would have been

good if I picked some game images to show them while talking about what I wanted to create, to give them a more visual representation of what it is I wish to create.

This pitch was not only useful for my project, but also a good experience pitching an idea in a more professional manner. It was very nerve racking at the start, but I gained some confidence and was able to successfully portray my idea to the lecturers and gained some critical feedback for my idea. Pitching is something I will have to do many times in the years ahead, so getting in this early practice was a very important and useful task for me.

End of year show

For my end of year show I plan on explaining my work verbally to the people who are interested. I am creating a poster with QR codes on them which people can scan to get access to my full project, as well as the sound track for my areas. This will give people a better idea on my project, and it won’t cause them to miss out on any information. I will also be handing out business cards to people. These events are very important as a practitioner to not only network and meet new contacts, but also gain a fanbase for your games and ideas.

Business CardsFor the end of year show I created some business cards which would be on my stall. This is in-case anybody wants to contact me in the future. I created a very basic business card, something that’s simple and easy to read.

I also created a poster for the show, showcasing some of the work I produced:

This shows both my 2D and 3D greybox of my area, as well as some QR codes at the bottom for people to get access to the rest of my theoretical project if they wish to.

Events like this are very important for a practitioner. Without them, you can’t network and meet other developers in person to gain contacts and get your name out there. You also can’t show off your work in person and try to gain some fans. Events like e3, insomnia, Euro Gamer and Rezzed are very important for companies to gain a following for their project, especially for smaller companies. But these events are used from the smallest 2-man indie team, to industry giants such as EA and Bethesda.

Behance Profilehttps://www.behance.net/robbiejayb4ffe

Final Evaluation about this unit

Throughout this unit I have gained a lot of experience with the marketing and community side to creating a project. The show helped me massively with being able to prepare my work for showcasing, as well as doing some simple poster and business card designs. It has also helped me learn more about the requirements to join my dream job, and has taught me that I will be having to work very hard while at university, and the years after in order to reach my goal of working at Jagex Studios. My main strengths in this unit was my poster, I believe that incorporating the QR codes was a good idea, which helps people understand the story and context behind my work which was a huge part of my project. I believe that my communication skills throughout the art show was also very good. My main weaknesses was my business card. I have never created a business card before

so it was a very first for me, even after looking at some templates online I still couldn’t figure out what to do, so I decided to just go for something very simple in the end.

My time at college has assisted me in reaching my new goal massively, without this course I would not be heading to university which is a massive requirement for reaching my goal. Getting into university not only opens me up to a higher level of academic work, but also gives me the opportunity to make some industry contacts, as well as contacts with fellow students, as I need to remember that everyone around me on the course will be working in the industry one day and could be a very useful connection to have. All of these activities have been very important, it has helped me learn the processes of finding a job, as well as showing off my work in person.