SMag Issue 17 | Page 44

How did you get into game development, and what tips do you have for people wanting to do the same? As a kid, I made board games with a friend. Then in the early 2000’s, I started making video games on my own in a program called Director. Later on, I did QA work for a few years before getting tired of not being directly involved in creating things, and started doing freelance multimedia work. Eventually a friend who works on The Sims told me they were looking for quest designers on Sims Medieval - so I interviewed, got the job, and finally started making games professionally. When I was getting started in this stuff there weren’t nearly as many opportunities and tools available as there are now. For people who want to get into video game development now, I suggest you start learning Unity or something else like it. There are tons of resources online that 44 simnation.tv/smagazine can help you learn the ropes. I also recommend that you start making board games. You don’t need to know how to program, animate, or any of the other time-consuming tech parts of game development, but you can learn a ton about game mechanics. Lastly, get involved in online forums and communities that are about games and game development. At the end of the day, if you really want to do it, take advantage of all the resources out there and push yourself to learn and practice! Thank you so much to Aaron for taking part in this interview! We really appreciate it. You can follow him on Twitter to get a better insight into what goes through a Guru’s head... Follow Aaron on Twitter