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Guys I need help!


echo
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I was telling my son about Derek and the games because he wants to grow up to be a game designer. ANYWAY now he wants to get the game and play etc.

I have not played in I do not know how long and do not even know what to do to get him up an running.......

Oh by the way HI!!!!!

Can anyone help tell me what to do?

I am going to start looking around but you know me, I will get distracted. If you remember I found the forums because I couldn't get the game running on my Gateway computer in like 1999........

xoxox

T

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because he wants to grow up to be a game designer.

...and why would he want to do a thing like that?

Getting into the industry is not like it used to be. The industry has changed a whole lot and getting hired without any experience (for the most part, nobody cares about degrees due to the specific skills required) is a fool's errand.

Heck, with all the consolidations, closures etc there is an abundance of experienced talent - all with impressive track records - looking for work. Those are the people who, more often than not, get hired due to the high risk venture that is game development. I see dozens of resumes each week and the last time I saw one from someone with no industry experience, I think Clinton was president.

Let him stick to playing games and just find a less stressful and rewarding career. Most of us in it don't have a choice since it is all we know. Even most of the people I started out with have left to pursue other ventures.

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Thanks Derek I appreciate your honesty. I was just giving him the anything is possible speech. He was giving me rebuttals such as what you mention in your post.

He is almost 11. He has a brilliant mind, currently he is bored with WoW and loves Sim like things where he can make his own stuff. He just likes to make his own stuff.

His hobby currently is customizing (I think that is what it is called) I was shocked there was a community of people who do this: he takes a figure and uses apoxy or clay or whatever he wants to make horror figures. He LOVES horror, loves it and he is good. He writes he studies horror movies and critiques them. If he made a game I am quite sure it would be gruesome. I am trying to pull out what other interests and genres he is into. It seems design and special fx is his niche right now.

Who knows last night he came in telling me he wants muscles like the ones on the hulk figure he is creating.

At any rate he was showing interest in seeing or playing these games because I told him about them. As I said, I haven't played in forever and none of my new computers have it on it. He may not stick with it or play for long but is interested in checking it out. I don't even know what they system requirements are.....

Oh and Derek since I am getting into the life coach business, you (or anyone) can do anything you want to do, Last year I left Finance on my own (quit one day) started working with mentally disabled kids, fell and have been out of work for a couple months, BUT have launched my business website is not up yet but almost- Energy Life Coach using Reiki, Human Design, EFT and Card Reading along with meditation and hypnosis. Once the site is up I will have classes and free tele-semminars etc - I do things from home and a local wellness center and I am pretty sure after the holidays that will be my almost full source of income but I will get a 15 hour a week job with mothers hours just to have some extra cash. OH and I also just got my associates degree in October! AND reconciled my marriage. All this while maintaining my girlish figure :rotfl:

I did watch my husband self destruct and bounce off rock bottom for being out of work, he is a tech guy with no degree, 2 years of mope and groan, he recently got a break and is back to his old self. All he had to do was look and talk to the right people.

I really have no idea what to tell and 11 year old to want to be, but I know the world can change in a minute so I will support whatever he is into. I know what I am starting to do now is very similar to what I wanted to do when I was 11.

OK is anyone reading this like.....shoot what happen to flighty echo?!?! hahahahaha

OK so back on topic what should I get him to play?

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That's great to hear!

And yes, anyone can do what they want. But then the questions become i) what are you willing to do to get there? ii) how far are willing to go?

A starving actor would have no problem waiting tables until he gets a break. Most never do.

If he is 11 years old, then he has a long road ahead of him and my guess is that he'll probably move on from this at some point. And if he doesn't? Well, that's what chasing a dream is all about. My missive was to paint the picture of how that dream plays out today for people trying to live it. Who knows, it may get better (highly unlikely) or much worse (even money is on current industry trends) by the time he even starts thinking about girls, let alone high school, college and beyond.

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OK is anyone reading this like.....shoot what happen to flighty echo?!?! hahahahaha

Flighty Echo has a kid who keeps him grounded :P

But yea, and to be honest it's not just the gaming industry that has issues with 'saturation'. There are many other carrier fields that have become saturated, to the point where most employers are hiring those with experience over those without.

The best advice I can give, is to prepare your kid for the future in whatever way you can. He's only eleven, just a kid, though I'm happy to hear he wants to plan for the future - at that age he should just be enjoying childhood while it lasts.

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OK ... to answer your question: -

1) From 3000ad, most regulars on this forum (and SC) would know I have a bias, but get him to play Echo Squad. My 13 y.o. loves it, as do I. It has "some" of the complexity removed that tends to make the "bigger brother" titles a bit out-of-reach for some, but at it's heart is very much a BC / UC game.

2) If he's into horror, depends on what level of self imposed parental censorship you engage in, but get him to play STALKER ... his gaming world will never be the same, and the whole Hollywood style console type world will evaporate before his young impressionable mind :-) (Yes, I am very melodramatic)

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May want to try editing an existing game that comes with a nice toolset or has third party toolsets available. One of the current best is the toolset that is downloadable for the game Dragon Age:Origins. It comes with lip synchronizing, level designing, script designing, model manipulation engines that all come together with good art work to form a nice looking game.

To take a step back, all the editors available for the Quake 2 engine, and the Unreal engine are also great places to learn how to design a 3D space to play in. Side scrolling editors for various engines can also be found for mobile games or arcade/super retro pc games.

No matter the skills, there has to be a story. Have your 11 year old stretch their imagination to come up with their favorite environment that they would like to explore/flesh out, and choose the tools that can expand from there.

Happy imagionering!

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Thanks Everyone for you input and your hello's!

Sho I am never too far away! I am just usually on facebook!

Derek have I told you lately that I love you?!?!?! :rolleyes:

I just found your blog and plan to read it whenever you write. I do appreciate your real life experiences and I will gladly share with my son every word you say.

Badman, I do not censor his play too much. We talk about games and movies and life and what is real and what isn't. It can be tough sometimes especially one of his Grand Theft Auto games there was a part with a guy in a "suit" and "ladies of the night" killing people with very alarming weapons! Good thing we were able to block that but he saw it, it was too late.

I will try not to be such a stranger, I am just a very busy gal these days.....hey where is Chavik is he still around????

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