Playing Games
polycounter lvl 13
So i have been rattling a subject around in my head. I have been thinking about my limited time to play games. There are plenty of games that are fun to play and that would have seemed to be the right thing to play years ago in my life.
As my time to play games shrink due to various obligations i can't help but think i should spend at least a percentage of my time playing games that are professional reference/inspiration to my discipline of environment art.
I am wondering how others here think about such things.
As my time to play games shrink due to various obligations i can't help but think i should spend at least a percentage of my time playing games that are professional reference/inspiration to my discipline of environment art.
I am wondering how others here think about such things.
Replies
During last 5 years or so some trigger switched in my head, and I can't play sandbox type games (even if it is GTA V) or games that require ANY type of grinding (MMOs mostly, but Dead Space 3 was awful too). It feels like very artificial trick to make me play longer, but I don't get anything in return. Long story short, I only play spectacular single-player games now. Games like Bioshock Infinite seem so packed with pure awesomemeness that I don't regret any second spent playing them.
Yeah, though granted I don't feel linear story based games are much better. I'm playing Far Cry 3 right now and there's a lot of 'filler'. It doesn't help either that the player has no input on how anything develops, same with Bioshock infinite, you're basically a marionette for the story they're telling.
Its good to take time and analyze things from a professional standpoint, but always try to save some time for good o'l fun gaming because the two views work well off each other for furthering your skill sets.
That's pretty much how I play games these days
But one thing I do notice more in playing mostly retro games sega era nes era etc is where a lot of modern hits have taken influence, Hotline Miami is quite a lot like the old die hard game, Pokemon was like a game called Emporer of destiny or something.
I don't think its a good thing to be overly inspired by what others are doing either, as you can end up imitating and it will draw you away from your own unique visions.
but having a good mind of how some things been done before can help you solve a equation of integration on achieving what you like.
Last thing I played recently was 'Amnesia: A Machine for pigs'.
I've actually also found myself catching up on any good 90's games I've missed or just never finished. I've been replaying the Dark Forces series from the start again, since I never played much of MotS, I'm near the end of DF2 atm.
I'll probs cap it at that rather than carrying over to JK2&3, I've spent years modding those so I don't think I need a refresher
For me, if a game isn't holding my attention I just ditch it. I can't keep playing a game just because I bought it. It's hard for me since I come from the school of "here's your game for the year" since that was a lot of money to my family. Now I have a massive backlog (thanks Steam!) on the cheap and will slowly work my way though that while I pick up the occasional new title here or there.
There is the occasional game I'm super pumped for and buy on launch day and maybe even spring for a special edition. The Witcher 2 and Arkham City come to mind.
Borderlands 2 is an example of a game I had fun with for about 20 hours, then started feeling burnt out and kept going another 10. Still hadn't finished it and I probably won't. Perfect length for me has gone from as many hours as possible to 6-10, unless it's amazing like GTA 5 and Skyrim.
Im the same, its fine to play the same level 10 times when you are 15 and have all the time in the world during school holidays but when you are fully employed and have other responsibilities gaming becomes much more selective.
Yup. I find myself only playing games at their release (probably how Destiny will be when released, and how I was with killzone shadowfall... both amazing games IMO but found myself wanting to get away from the electronics more than playing) and mainly only those I am super hyped on. If I am even slightly deterred, I will most likely not waste time on it. This mainly has to do with the amount of time I spend working and the amount of time I wish to spend with friends/family/significant other. Also, I play the shit out of the game I am working on at the time, so I see that as a good portion of my video game time I allot for myself.
TL;DR, cant find the motivation/time to play games most of the time, especially after a full day of playing/testing the game I am working on.
It's one of my main reasons why I'm leaving AAA art creation to do my own indie project. I want to design my own game.
I do try to fit in gaming breaks though, I'd probably go insane without them. It helps that many other aspects of my life are empty compared to many other people (I don't have family commitments or any kind of demanding social relationships which a lot of people seem to have.)
You don't need to play games to get inspiration to create something, my concept art folder is filled with art from games I haven't played and have no intention of playing. Games can definitely inspire you though, if it wasn't for the AMA or Persona series, I would have never attempted game development in the first place. Whenever I feel burned out of work, I try to take a gaming break where I'll spend my free time for a few days just playing games and relaxing rather than working on art or programming, and it usually refreshes me and gives me a desire to keep working again.
Now I play quite casually, while concentrating more on the creation process in my own personal work. but whenever an optimized mmorpg virtual reality game comes out, I will make time for it because it would be an experience I must have!
But then again, I feel like I played an insane amount of games growing up so as an adult I am less inclined to spend most of my day playing.
There's a lot of people with the attitude that if you want to be able to compete in the industry you need to be playing games, this just isn't true, youtube and screenshots are a good resource. There are a few solid artists I speak to regularly who work in games but don't necessarily play many at all, they just prefer to create.
Plus if you're busting your ass to pay rent while living with your partner (or even kids) and have an hour or 2 of free time at the end of the day, playing games may be the least of your priorities.
I could either play a 100 games with a complex modular level design and then theorize how it works based on my above the board observations, or I could sit down and watch a Bethesda talk on how modular level design actually works and get a look at the wiring underneath.
The latter is bound to be far more time efficient and effective.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135684
Personally I do think I have benefited a lot from observing how they do things in other games. Both for art and technical stuff.